[LINK] Telstra propose biggest rollout in Australia's history

David Lochrin dlochrin at d2.net.au
Thu Jan 18 13:34:24 AEDT 2007


On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 12:11, Adrian Chadd wrote:
> References please? Correlation vs causation and all that..

>>    Another bit of corporate welfare is LJH's campaign for nuclear power.  Nuclear power in Australia will not contribute much to reducing greenhouse gases - even Dr. Switkowski thinks the most ambitious rollout of nuclear power (25 stations by 2050) will only result in an 18% reduction over business as usual.

   See, for example, Dr. Switkowski's speech to the National Press Club published on the Dept. of Prime Minister & Cabinet website at http://www.dpmc.gov.au/umpner/reports.cfm

/QUOTE
Our panel considered one possible future scenario for Australia which saw a fast deployment of nuclear reactors beginning in 2020 and leading to a national network of 25 nuclear reactors by 2050.

At that point, about a third of Australia’s electricity would be nuclear-sourced, and greenhouse gas emissions would be 18% lower than business-as-usual.
/UNQUOTE

   I think this was the most aggressive scenario, and others showed lesser savings in greenhouse emissions, down to 8%.

>> In the mean time, Britain, with a target of 60% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050, is reducing its nuclear capacity from the current 20% to 4% by 2023 and 0% by 2035.

   See an item from Reuters quoted in toto at http://www.planetark.com.au/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39669/story.htm

/QUOTE
Britain to Close Two Oldest Nuclear Power Stations

UK: January 2, 2007

LONDON - Britain will on Sunday turn off its two oldest nuclear power plants as part of a process that will retire all but one of the country's ageing nuclear fleet within 16 years.

The large Magnox Sizewell A and Dungeness A reactors respectively on England's east and south coast have generated electricity for the past 40 years but have now reached the end of their extended design life.

"Combined we produce 1.2 percent of the nation's electricity, but we have been assured by the National Grid that even on New Year's Eve no one's televisions or lights will flicker when we switch off," a spokesman told Reuters on Friday.

Nuclear power supplies some 20 percent of Britain's electricity, but that will have slumped to just four percent when the Torness station closes in 2023 leaving just Sizewell B operating until it too closes in 2035.
[...]
/UNQUOTE

   As to Britain's 2050 targets, I've forgotten where I found this information but it should be easy to check.  The figures for several western European countries were as follows:

-       United Kingdom: 60% by 2050;
-       Netherlands: 30% by 2020 and 80% by 2050;
-       France: 75% by 2050;
-       Germany: 40% by 2020;
-       Sweden: 60% by 2050.

> References please? Correlation vs causation and all that..

   I'm not sure what you're getting at there.  I wasn't trying to show that not using nuclear power led to high greenhouse-reduction targets, merely that high targets are possible without nuclear power.

David




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