Is uranium the energy of the future? It seems what was old is new again. Back in the fifties, there was widespread optimism that the whole world would be powered by clean, plentiful and safe nuclear energy. We would even be driving nuclear powered vehicles. During the eighties and nineties, the atomic dream turned into a financial nightmare for those involved in the nuclear industry.
The nuclear mishaps of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl killed public demand for nuclear energy. Nobody wanted to be near nuclear power plants or have nuclear waste stored in their backyard. Furthermore, prices for conventional energy such as natural gas and oil were cheap and plentiful. In this environment, nuclear energy did not make financial sense.
Nuclear Energy Coming Back
During recent years, many developments had made nuclear energy become feasible again. Most industry analysts believe that nuclear power plants will generate an increasing share of the world’s electricity needs. The factors helping the case for nuclear energy are:
Rising Energy Demand: Global demand for energy in all forms is forecasted to grow 54 percent over the next two decades, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's long-term forecast to the year 2025. Oil consumption alone is expected to surge by 40 million barrels of oil per day during this period. Energy use in developing countries and the industrialized nations are expected to climb by 91 percent and 33 percent respectively over the next two decades. Thanks to their booming economies, China and India are expected to post the strongest growth in energy use.
Conventional energy production is not likely to match the growing energy demand. Alternative energy sources need to be developed. Wind power and solar power are so far proven to be uneconomical and expensive. Given its generating capacity and relative low costs, nuclear energy is expected to meet the world’s future power needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment