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Nuclear power key to least-cost, zero-emission electricity systems

Carnegie Institution for Science - Lei Duan - Ken Caldeira
USA world
2022
techxplore.com

Nuclear power generation can play a crucial role in helping the world reach a key goal of zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century, especially in countries with low wind resources, according to new work in Nature Energy from Lei Duan and Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie's Department of Global Ecology.

Human activity is spewing carbon pollution into the atmosphere, affecting the global carbon cycle and causing warming, as well as altered precipitation patterns. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to minimize catastrophic climate impacts, it's important that humanity work to keep the global mean temperature increase under 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, the panel said carbon emissions from across the energy system would have to reach zero by the middle of this century.