Clean, green, within our means
Will a new generation of nuclear power stations get a green light to help combat global warming? Recent press coverage and comment suggests that the nuclear lobby regard climate change as a convincing argument. Electricity generated by nuclear power is carbon emission free runs the argument and the conclusion is that Britain will only achieve its climate change targets with a revival of nuclear power. This is misguided.
Electricity generation contributes only 25% to the total carbon dioxide emissions of the UK. Electricity supplied by nuclear power contributes only a fifth of the total power generation in the UK. So a new generation of nuclear power stations replacing those being decommissioned in coming years cannot really tackle the issue of climate change at all. Nuclear is neither necessary nor desirable for this purpose, and would entail avoidable risks.
The downsides of nuclear are stark. It’s far more expensive. The Government's Performance and Innovation Unit estimated electricity generating costs from onshore wind at 1.5p- 2.5p per kilowatt hour by 2020, from offshore wind at 2p-3p, and from gas at 2p-2.3p. Generating costs from nuclear power were put at 2.5p-4p per kilowatt hour, half as expensive again as gas, up to twice as expensive as wind. In a competitive capitalist economy that is the killer point.
Besides, nuclear power means nuclear waste. No country has yet solved this problem. Britain has an enormous amount of it. Without any new nuclear build, the DTI has admitted that the 10,000 tons of nuclear waste currently stored mostly at Sellafield would increase to half a million tons by the end of this century. This waste stream contains some of the most toxic materials known to man. Yet no one knows what to do with it. Does it make sense to add to the pile? The nuclear lobby’s argument that we already have such a massive amount of this dangerous waste and adding a bit more wouldn't make much difference is frankly contemptible.
Following 9/11, security considerations also make it far less sensible to build what some would inevitably see as more targets.
If, then, for very good reasons a nuclear future is rejected, where are we to find our energy? Nuclear reactors currently supplying some 23 per cent of electricity generation are to be steadily phased out in the next two decades. What is the potential for development of renewables - wind-power, biomass, wave power or tidal barrages, and ultimately solar power? At present, we have the worst of all worlds. The renewables contribution to electricity generation is still tiny at about 3 per cent. The Government made a clear declaration two years ago to push strongly down the renewables route, but has done far too little to deliver on the scale required. Yet the potential for wind-power in Britain is recognised to be far ahead of both Germany and Spain, the EU's leading markets and, on a global basis, above Texas, the previously strongest market.
Renewables have not failed. They have never been seriously tried. Despite attractive pricing under the Renewable Obligation Certificates system, far too little has been done to deal with the principal barriers to expansion - planning blockages, aviation issues, grid network constraints, and grossly inadequate funding, all of which were correctly identified by the White Paper.
Three new initiatives are urgently needed to keep Britain's strong record on climate change firmly headed in the right direction. We need a global policy of Contraction and Convergence in carbon emissions between developed and developing countries. Only then will we have a fair, equitable way to get countries like China and India on board. A global problem is needs a truly global response.
Fossil fuel industries enjoy enormous subsidies which should be steadily phased out and the savings transferred into a massive expansion of renewables. And the prodigious waste of energy by both industry and domestic households should be addressed by much stronger incentives to maximise energy efficiency. Unlike new nuclear power stations, energy efficiency addresses itself to all electricity generated, not the small proportion currently provided by the nuclear sector. For the UK to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, energy efficiency has to be given a far greater emphasis.