Cutting Emissions for Good: What Role for Nuclear?
What role can nuclear energy play in helping cut CO2 emissions for good? On the occasion of the launching of the 2020 edition of Climate Change and Nuclear Power, the IAEA organised a webinar to discuss this question. The Covid-19 crisis and lockdown in many countries saw increasing shares of low carbon generation technology, with nuclear power providing flexible, reliable and resilient power supply. But usage of fossil fuel and associated carbon emissions are likely to rebound as economies restart. The panellists will share their views on the role nuclear energy can play in a post-COVID 19 recovery phase, and how they can support clean energy transitions in the longer run, including through the development of clean hydrogen.
Factoring Climate Resilience into the Design of Clean Power Infrastructures
The challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the catastrophic cold snap seen in Texas in February 2021, highlighted the need to ensure the built-in resilience of future energy systems and cope with a broader range of external shocks, including more variable and extreme weather patterns expected from climate change. This webinar will review scientific evidence suggests that global weather conditions are changing gradually but also that more sudden and extreme weather occurrences are to be expected in the future, threatening the entire energy infrastructure and the reliability of energy services. The electricity sector, which will act as a catalyst for an economy-wide transition to carbon neutral societies, is first in line. Power and grid operators are thus increasingly factoring in changing weather conditions and are investing in adaptation measures in anticipation of their exposure to future climate risks. This webinar will review climate resilience in the design of clean power infrastructures.
Young Voices on Nuclear Energy's Contribution to a Net Zero World
This webinar will feature conversations with international young professionals who are vocal on the global climate crisis and exploring different solutions to it, including the role of nuclear energy. IAEA experts taking part in this event will provide snapshot presentations introducing its key topics. The webinar will consist of three parts on the following topics:
- Moving away from coal: the nuclear energy option.
- Driving energy systems to net zero with nuclear, renewables and hydrogen.
- Energy policy, financing, and sustainable development.
Nuclear Power's Contribution to Sustainable Development and Clean Energy Systems
The IAEA is partnering for this event with the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. Experts from both agencies will cover the topics of: nuclear energy’s contribution to a net zero world, in particular in the context of decarbonization scenarios, including the recently published Roadmap to Net Zero scenario of the International Energy Agency, and the IPCC 1.5 degree scenario report; the contribution of nuclear power and more generally, nuclear technologies, to Sustainable Development Goals; and the importance of nuclear investments in the context of the post-Covid 19 recovery.
Nuclear Heat to Decarbonize the Energy Sector
Global climate change has already observable effects on the environment and there is an international consensus now on the urgency to act in order to decarbonize the whole energy sector. Worldwide leaders will gather this year in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, planned for Nov 1 - Nov 12, 2021 in Glasgow to discuss how to join efforts and address the urgency to mitigate climate change.
Using nuclear power plants not only for electricity generation but also to provide simultaneously electricity and process heat for industrial applications is an attractive option for decarbonizing the whole energy sector, while also boosting the efficiency of nuclear power plants.
Nuclear Energy for a Net Zero World
Two weeks before the start of COP26, on the occasion of the launch of IAEA’s Nuclear Energy for a Net Zero World, join IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment Michal Kurtyka for a live discussion on the role of nuclear energy in the transition to net zero energy systems.