Nuclear energy has some distinct advantages in strengthening the external dimension of energy supply security. These include:
• Nuclear power plants produce electricity domestically. Their capital and labor inputs are also provided domestically. With more than 90% of its inputs in terms of value sourced domestically, it can be considered a largely domestic source of energy and electricity.
• Of course, a majority of OECD countries import part or all of their requirements of uranium plutonium. (more…)
Bioenergy produced from biomass is sometimes called a carbon-neutral energy source, because the same quantity of carbon released when the biomass is burned is sequestered again when the crop or forest is re-grown. Referring to bioenergy as carbon neutral or having zero net emissions may be misleading; there are emissions associated with producing biomass, such as from fossil fuel used in cultivation, harvest, processing and transport, and in manufacture and construction of fuel conversion technology. (more…)
It shows Well-to-Wheels Greenhouse Gas emissions of the 23 vehicle/fuel systems. For each system, the bottom bar represents CO2 -equivalent emissions of CO2 , CH4 , and N2O, combined with their greenhouse global warming potentials (GWPs). The top bar represents CO2 emissions only. For the two ethanol pathways (corn and cellulosic ethanol), there are some negative emissions. They represent carbon uptake during biomass growth. The carbon is eventually emitted to the air during ethanol combustion air. (more…)
The aim of emission trading is to achieve emissions reductions at the lowest economic cost. Emission trading occurs when a factory reduces its emissions and environmental impact and then transfers ownership of the emission reduction to another party. Emission allowances are typically given by regulators to large sources of pollution, and allow those sources to release a prescribed amount of a pollutant. Surplus allowances can be sold, traded, or banked for future use. (more…)
