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Potential for worldwide displacement of fossil-fuel electricity by nuclear energy in three decades based on extrapolation of regional deployment data

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dc.contributor.authorQvist, S.
dc.contributor.authorBrook, B.
dc.contributor.editorMerk, B.
dc.date.issued2015
dc.description.abstractThere is an ongoing debate about the deployment rates and composition of alternative energy plans that could feasibly displace fossil fuels globally by mid-century, as required to avoid the more extreme impacts of climate change. Here we demonstrate the potential for a large-scale expansion of global nuclear power to replace fossil-fuel electricity production, based on empirical data from the Swedish and French light water reactor programs of the 1960s to 1990s. Analysis of these historical deployments show that if the world built nuclear power at no more than the per capita rate of these exemplar nations during their national expansion, then coal- and gas-fired electricity could be replaced worldwide in less than a decade. Under more conservative projections that take into account probable constraints and uncertainties such as differing relative economic output across regions, current and past unit construction time and costs, future electricity demand growth forecasts and the retiring of existing aging nuclear plants, our modelling estimates that the global share of fossil-fuel-derived electricity could be replaced within 25-34 years. This would allow the world to meet the most stringent greenhouse-gas mitigation targets.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityStaffan A. Qvist, Barry W. Brook
dc.identifier.citationPLoS ONE, 2015; 10(5):e0124074-1-e0124074-10
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0124074
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/97163
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science
dc.rights© 2015 Qvist, Brook. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124074
dc.subjectHumans
dc.subjectCarbon Dioxide
dc.subjectElectricity
dc.subjectFossil Fuels
dc.subjectNuclear Energy
dc.subjectGreenhouse Effect
dc.subjectPower Plants
dc.subjectFrance
dc.subjectSweden
dc.subjectClimate Change
dc.titlePotential for worldwide displacement of fossil-fuel electricity by nuclear energy in three decades based on extrapolation of regional deployment data
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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