Nuclear Renaissance - Essay Example

Nuclear Energy Name: University: Date: Support for Nuclear Energy Introduction Following decades of unsatisfactory growth, it appears that nuclear energy is poised for a comeback in what is termed as ‘nuclear renaissance’. The nuclear capacity is expected to triple or double by 2050, and nuclear power will be disseminated to new markets in the Southeast Asian as well as Middle East countries. New techniques for fuel-reprocessing as well as new types of reactors will be developed during the nuclear renaissance. Still, the certainty of nuclear energy’s future remains complicated. With major amendments in policies as well as financial support, Chapman (2014) posits that nuclear energy can facilitate in global electricity generation and reduce reliance on oil. Currently, two sustainability challenges facing the energy include: the need to substitute the oil used in the transport system as well as the need to avoid climate change. Therefore, as suggested by Forsberg (2008) far-reaching changes within the energy system is needed so as to meet such challenges. Besides that, such challenges need different sources of energy, especially the nuclear sources to be tight coupled so as to generate liquid fuels that can replace oil in the transportation sector. Besides that, nuclear energy can help meet the growing demand for electricity as well as other energy needs. Basically, nuclear energy fuels releases less greenhouse gas as compared to liquid fossil fuels used in the transportation sector. Therefore, nuclear energy can possibly match the world needs for sustainable liquid transport fuels. This essay will agree with proponents of nuclear energy arguing that ‘it is needed because of the need for an energy source for producing transport fuels once the world reaches peak oil production’. Discussion Peak oil as described by Chapman (2014) is the point whereby the global conventional oil output gets to its maximum level leading to decrease in flow rates. The peak oil was coined by King Hubbert, a Shell geologist in the 1950s, whereby he accurately predicted that the crude oil production in United States would peak between by 1970. During the predicted duration, almost 50% of the oil supply in the world had been produced leading to the fall of the output. For this reason, proponents of nuclear energy as cited by Toth and Rogner (2006) believe that overreliance on natural gas as well as foreign oil can be reduced by nuclear energy. Many concur that nuclear energy can help in combating the ever-increasing costs of energy and in realisation of energy independence, especially for countries that export oil. Nuclear energy as claimed by a number of its proponents is experiencing a ‘renaissance’, and had a 2 per cent growth between 2009 and 2010, especially in European countries such as France. The increasing prices of fossil fuel as well as the emission of green- house gas has coerced a number of countries to shift to nuclear energy, which is normally uninterrupted and offers security to national energy security and domestic electricity during global unrest such as the 2008 global recession that made the prices of oil to climb sharply. The opportunity of a sustainable transport fuel through nuclear energy appears to be greater than ever thanks to the on-going development of safer and cleaner thorium reactors. For industrial economies and transport sector, energy is without a doubt the lifeblood; therefore, there is need for a more sustainable energy in the future considering that oil are about to reach their peak. Besides that, secure energy is having an energy supply that is affordable, adequate and reliable. While the oil as well as natural gas prices continue rising, energy security remains uncertain. Evidently, higher prices of oil and gas has brought about challenges in a number of economies; for instance, price disputes between Ukraine as well as Russia in 2006 and 2008 affected the Central and Western Europe because natural gas from Russia was temporary cut-off. Besides that, Russia in 2007 stopped supplying oil to Slovakia, Germany, Azerbaijan and Poland. All this provide evidence why nuclear energy is considered to be a sustainable source of energy for countries that rely on other countries for oil. Political volatility, technical anomalies, severe weather conditions as well as efforts or nationalisation are a number of factors that contributed to temporary oil and gas production shutdowns in 2006, especially the Trans- Alaskan Pipeline, Gulf of Mexico Bolivia and Nigeria. Therefore, it is true that nuclear power can successfully reduce overreliance on foreign oil, especially in the transport sector. As argued by John McCain during the 2008 presidential election civilian nuclear energy offers responsible countries such as United States a means for achieving energy independence as well as reducing overreliance on the decreasing oil. This is echoed by Chapman (2014) who argues that nuclear energy is the best option for environment conscious countries, since nuclear power emit no greenhouse gases. The world is currently depending heavily on petroleum in the transportation, but many believe that it only nuclear energy that can take over the burden after depletion of oil resources. Without doubt, there are a number of options, but as mentioned by Forsberg (2008), nuclear energy will be the major contributor. Hubbert in his theory of Peak oil argues that after reaching the peak, only 50% of the total resource will be remaining. However, the oil prices have increased tremendously in the last decade while the production has in the same period has reduced significantly; thus, it seems that the world has passed the world production peak. Basically, 41 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions related to energy is generated by electricity production. Form a climate change context, nuclear energy is more sustainable as compared to oil, coal and natural gas compared. Akin to renewable sources of energy like hydropower, biofuels, solar and wind, no greenhouse gases is emitted by nuclear energy while generating electricity. Similar to coal, enormous amounts of base-load electricity are produced by the current nuclear power plants, but they it is very expensive; thus, creating need for construction of more nuclear power plants. Proponents of nuclear energy cite continuous generation of electricity ability as the key benefit of nuclear energy over solar as well as wind energy. In the US, it has been observed that biomass liquid fuels can effectively match the country’s need for liquid transport fuels, and this principle can be applied across the globe. When biomass liquid fuels is utilised to offer this energy, Forsberg (2008) posits that nuclear energy is used as the enabling technology for converting biomass from an auxiliary liquid transport fuels source to the main source within the transportation system without emitting the greenhouse gases. The futures of nuclear–fossil and nuclear–biomass involving the nuclear plants offering heat will require no new technology. Eventually, nuclear energy will become the enabling technology for extensive utilisation of renewable energy since nuclear energy will be able to offer peak electricity. Conclusion In conclusion, I have provided evidence why I agree with proponents of nuclear energy arguing that nuclear energy will be a crucial source for producing transport fuels once the world reaches peak oil production’. The increasing prices of oil as well as the widespread comprehension that oil resources will at one point deplete have renewed interest in nuclear energy across the globe. Progressively, it has become palpable that nuclear energy will be the only resource accessible capable of matching the take growing demand for oil and gas. Arguably, the available uranium can help generate enough nuclear energy to meet the growing demand for sustainable energy in the transportation industry for thousands of years. References Chapman, I. (2014). The end of Peak Oil? Why this topic is still relevant despite recent denials. Energy Policy, 14, 93-101. Forsberg, C. W. (2008). Sustainability by combining nuclear, fossil, and renewable energy sources. Progress in Nuclear Energy, 51(1), 192-200. Toth, F. L., & Rogner, H.-H. (2006). Oil and nuclear power: Past, present, and future. Energy Economics, 28, 1-25. Read More