LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Germany plans to phase out nuclear power and Japan may follow, but history shows that neither can make up the energy supply gap with efficiency alone.
It can be concluded that the bulk of any retired nuclear power would likely be taken up by cheaper fossil fuels including gas. In 2009, Germany's nuclear power plants produced 135 terawatt hours (TWh) and Japan some 260 TWh in 2008, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). If four-fifths of these were replaced by natural gas (less carbon-emitting than coal) that would add about 118 million tonnes of CO2 annually, or 6 percent of their combined fossil fuel emissions.
ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/03/nuclear-power-solution-climate-change?newsfeed=true Nuclear power is only solution to climate change, says Jeffrey Sachs Earth Institute director says urgency of problem and immaturity of renewable energy industry leave little option but nuclear guardian.co.uk, Thursday 3 May 2012 17.02 BST 欧州の温暖化議論に一石、コロンビア大学のジェフリー・サックス教授が「カーボン・フリーには原子力発電以外にはない」 英・ガーディアン
But Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and professor of sustainable development at Columbia University in the US, said the world had no choice because the threat of climate change had grown so grave. He said greenhouse gas emissions, which have continued to rise despite the financial crisis and deep recession in the developed world, were "nowhere near" falling to the level that would be needed to avert dangerous climate change. He said: "Emissions per unit of energy need to fall by a factor of six. That means electrifying everything that can be electrified and then making electricity largely carbon-free. It requires renewable energy, nuclear and carbon capture and storage ? these are all very big challenges. We need to understand the scale of the challenge."
PERTH, May 4 (Reuters) - Japanese demand for liquefied natural gas is set to jump by 9 percent this year to 85.5 million tonnes as the world's largest consumer of the fuel replaces nuclear power after the March earthquake, a Reuters poll of analysts showed. Below is a table of estimates:
JAPANESE DEMAND FOR LNG IN 2011 AND 2012 (in million tonnes per year) 2012 2013 --------------------- --------- --------- Australia Bureau of 80.1 75.3 Resources and Energy Economics Barclays 88.8 90.3 Bernstein 80.1 75 CLSA 86 82 Eurasia 87 FACTS Global Energy 82 81 IEA 84-87*^ PFC Energy 81.5-85.5 Poten 83 84 Tri Zen 86-89 80 --------------------- --------- --------- Low 80.1 75 High 88.8 90.3 Median 85.5 82 Average 84.8 82.5