No2nuclearpower.org.uk Briefing

Climate solutions – nuclear vs sustainable pathways • Energy efficiency represents an economic bonanza, which will enable a significant share of energy demand to be provided by renewable sources and allowing nuclear power to be phased out. • The biggest single obstacle to improving energy efficiency is that in most countries, utilities are rewarded for selling more energy. We need to reward them for cutting their customers' bills. • Electricity production in the 25 (pre-2007) European Union countries is responsible for 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and over 2600 tons of dangerous radioactive waste every year. • It is perfectly feasible to phase out nuclear power at the same time as reducing CO 2 emissions. An Energy Scenario produced for Greenpeace shows that Europe could produce 70% of electricity and 50% of heat from renewable sources by 2050. • Europe and Japan are about twice as efficient as the US. But even then they have barely begun to tap energy efficiency's profitable potential. And developing countries are about three times less efficient than the US. • Combined Heat and Power plants can make much more efficient use of fossil fuels by producing heat for district heating as well as electricity. They can also be converted to run on renewable sources. • 12% of the world's electricity needs could be provided by wind power alone by 2020. Onshore wind electricity would cost around 2.3-3.8 Euro-cents per kWh and offshore around 3-4.5 Euro-cents per kWh compared with 4.5-6 Euro-cents per kWh for electricity from new nuclear reactors. • Offshore wind could provide up to a third of Europe's electricity by 2020. • Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies could provide 5% of global electricity supplies by 2040, offering a comparable opportunity to the sunniest countries of the world as offshore wind offers to Europe at a cost around 5 Euro-cents per kWh. • Solar photovoltaics could be providing 1% of global electricity by 2020, rising to 21% by 2040. PV electricity is economically viable in a large variety of applications where no mains electricity is available. • Even France, which depends on nuclear power for 80% of its electricity, could phase out nuclear power AND reduce carbon emissions by up to 40% by 2050 by implementing a sustainable energy strategy.