Do we need nuclear energy to stop climate change? More and more voices from science, environmental activists and the press have been saying so in recent years – but this comes as a shock to those who are fighting against nuclear energy and the problems that come with it. So who is right? Well - it is complicated.
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Content
0.48 -> do we need nuclear energy to stop
2.96 -> climate change
4.48 -> more and more voices from science
6.399 -> environmental activists and the press
8.72 -> have been saying so in recent years but
11.36 -> this comes as a shock to those who are
13.599 -> fighting against nuclear energy and the
15.92 -> problems that come with it
17.76 -> so who's right
19.52 -> well
20.4 -> it's complicated
22.24 -> to slow rapid climate change the world
24.56 -> needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
26.72 -> to net zero
28.24 -> in 2018 three quarters of global
30.56 -> emissions were released through energy
32.32 -> production namely by burning fossil
34.559 -> fuels
35.68 -> energy is a broad term that describes
38 -> all sorts of stuff from moving things
40.16 -> and people around to putting things big
42.399 -> and small together or heating our homes
45.76 -> currently 84 percent of the world's
48 -> primary energy comes from fossil fuels
50.719 -> 33 from oil 27 from coal and 24 from gas
56.16 -> around 10
57.44 -> of the global oil supply is just used to
59.84 -> burn in boilers to make our homes cozy
61.92 -> and warm
63.359 -> only about 16
65.199 -> of global energy is from low emission
67.36 -> sources almost 7 from hydroelectric 5
71.2 -> from solar wind bio energy wave tidal
74.24 -> and geothermal combined and about four
76.799 -> percent from nuclear
78.96 -> so we pretty much rely on coal oil and
81.759 -> gas to keep our civilization going which
84.24 -> means it's actually very hard to
86.4 -> transition away from them
88.32 -> to have a chance of escaping fossil
90.4 -> fuels without throwing humanity back
92.32 -> into the stone age one of the most
94.32 -> impactful things we can do is to
96.64 -> electrify as many sectors as possible
99.92 -> electricity is the stuff that appears
102.159 -> like magic when you plug something into
104.159 -> a socket so you can watch youtube
106.64 -> every industry that can switch from
108.56 -> burning fossil fuels to electricity
110.799 -> needs to do so from electric cars to
113.36 -> electric heaters
115.28 -> why do we need to bet so hard on
117.439 -> electricity
118.799 -> because we can produce electricity with
121.36 -> low emission technologies like solar
123.68 -> wind or nuclear
125.52 -> so electricity is a real lever for a
128.08 -> radical transition
129.599 -> but there are a few problems making this
131.84 -> transition really hard
134.8 -> first of all in most places in the world
136.959 -> electricity is still generated mostly by
139.52 -> burning fossil fuels and not only that
142.4 -> in the last 20 years the world's
144.56 -> electricity usage increased 73
147.76 -> in absolute terms
149.68 -> while we are installing renewables at
151.76 -> record speeds at the same time the
154 -> amount of fossil fuel we're burning for
156.08 -> electricity still keeps rising year by
158.48 -> year
159.519 -> renewables have so far not been able to
161.76 -> catch up with the demand for new
163.36 -> electricity and so despite our progress
165.84 -> emissions from electricity are still
168.239 -> rising worldwide the other alternative
171.36 -> to fossil fuels is nuclear and even
174.239 -> though it's not renewable its greenhouse
176.56 -> gas emissions are tiny compared to
178.879 -> burning stuff
180.239 -> but in the last 20 years nuclear has
182.72 -> basically stagnated
184.72 -> countries like china india and south
186.72 -> korea built new reactors while germany
189.28 -> and japan have been actively taking
191.12 -> their nuclear plants offline which seems
194 -> a bit weird if we look at the countries
195.92 -> with the most low carbon electricity in
198.239 -> the world that get most of their juice
200.159 -> mainly from two sources nuclear or
202.64 -> hydropower
204.64 -> take france and sweden in france only
207.519 -> around 10 percent comes from fossil
209.599 -> fuels while 67 comes from nuclear and 23
214 -> from renewables primarily hydro
216.879 -> in sweden almost 30 comes from nuclear
219.84 -> power and about 45 from hydro
222.959 -> so we know that nuclear energy can work
225.44 -> at scale
227.04 -> on the technical side because of the
228.72 -> lack of investment and innovation in the
230.64 -> last few decades the majority of the
232.56 -> world's nuclear reactors are pretty old
234.879 -> technology that's very costly to replace
238 -> in most western countries building
239.92 -> nuclear reactors has become very
242 -> expensive for a variety of reasons like
244.48 -> a loss of know-how in constructing them
246.64 -> policy changes and increased regulatory
249.04 -> constraints so it can take a decade or
251.12 -> longer just to finish a power plant
253.439 -> in contrast countries like south korea
255.84 -> china india and russia are able to build
258.079 -> new nuclear reactors comparatively
260 -> quickly and at a competitive cost
262.88 -> still generally in the west the current
265.12 -> generation of nuclear power plants are
267.199 -> more expensive to build and maintain the
269.52 -> most fossil fuel alternatives
272.16 -> there are also the concerns about
273.68 -> nuclear waste and the fear of accidents
275.84 -> but we cover those in other videos in
277.68 -> more detail
279.44 -> we have designs for nuclear reactors
281.68 -> that solve many of their problems namely
284.08 -> small reactors that take less time and
286.24 -> money to get started there are also next
288.8 -> generation technologies that can already
290.96 -> turn radioactive waste into new fuel but
293.6 -> so far these have not been deployed at a
296.16 -> scale where they can have a significant
298.16 -> impact on the nuclear sector
300.96 -> considering these uncertainties some
303.12 -> argue that nuclear power is a dangerous
305.36 -> relic of the past and that we should
307.039 -> just let it go and focus on renewables
310.16 -> but while renewables undoubtedly are the
312.56 -> future of electricity they still have
314.8 -> their own huge challenges to overcome
317.039 -> before they can take over the vast
318.72 -> majority of the electricity grid
321.28 -> the main problem is reliability and
324.16 -> consistency
325.68 -> it's not always windy and the sun
327.52 -> doesn't always shine especially in the
329.28 -> mornings and evenings when humans need
331.36 -> the most electricity
334 -> the variations between seasons don't
336.08 -> make this issue easier to make
338.639 -> renewables reliable and not risk
340.8 -> blackouts we need massive storage
342.88 -> capacities where we can save energy
344.96 -> collected when the sun or wind are at
346.8 -> their peak and release it later when we
349.12 -> actually need it
350.88 -> until this is possible other sources of
353.28 -> electricity need to provide a
355.039 -> controllable load that creates the
356.96 -> reliability of supply that our
358.72 -> civilization needs to run properly
361.759 -> eventually we will be able to do this
363.84 -> with renewables but we need a lot of
366.08 -> batteries or storage power plants
369.12 -> right now we simply don't have the tech
371.44 -> and the capacities to make this
373.039 -> transition fast enough to replace fossil
375.44 -> fuels
376.72 -> but even if we could there's another
378.639 -> aspect we have to take into account
381.36 -> we're not just trying to kick fossil
383.12 -> fuels out of electricity we're trying to
385.68 -> replace energy with electricity
388.88 -> if we're going to electrify sectors that
390.8 -> currently use fossil fuels like cars or
393.36 -> heating we will need significantly more
396.08 -> electricity than we're currently using
398.4 -> everywhere around the world
400.479 -> and if the electricity needs of the
402.319 -> world population continue to grow as
404.319 -> they have over the last 20 years we'll
406.56 -> need even more it all comes down to one
409.68 -> thing no energy source is perfect all
412.72 -> have their own unique problems both
414.88 -> renewables and nuclear energy require
417.36 -> time investment and technological
419.68 -> innovation
420.8 -> on their own neither is ready to remove
423.199 -> fossil fuels from our electricity grid
425.52 -> although activists on both sides claim
427.68 -> that they are
429.199 -> in the end the question is how we want
431.199 -> to deal with all these challenges
433.759 -> should we give up nuclear immediately
436.08 -> and at least temporarily accept higher
438.479 -> emissions
439.84 -> will we try to extend the life of
442.08 -> current nuclear reactors and shut them
444.319 -> down afterwards while solving the
446.24 -> shortcomings of renewables or will we
449.199 -> invest in new nuclear technology to get
451.919 -> new nuclear reactor types that are
453.759 -> cheaper and safer or will we maybe do
457.36 -> both
459.039 -> opinion part starts here
462.08 -> considering the risks that climate
463.919 -> change poses for the biosphere and
466 -> humanity any technology that has a
468.16 -> chance of contributing to a solution
470.16 -> should be pursued that's just good risk
472.72 -> management and strategy
474.8 -> if preventing rapid climate change as
476.879 -> quickly as possible is our goal it might
478.96 -> be a good idea to see nuclear and
480.879 -> renewables not as opponents but as
483.12 -> partners
484.24 -> we know there's no time to waste so we
486.479 -> should keep all of our lower mission
488.08 -> players on the field
489.919 -> as things are both nuclear and
491.919 -> renewables need innovation and
493.919 -> investment but if we don't know yet
495.919 -> which technology will be ready how
497.68 -> quickly why not just invest in both and
500.4 -> see what happens
502.08 -> and on the topic of current capacities
504.24 -> if we take nuclear energy offline right
506.479 -> now then that missing capacity will be
508.96 -> replaced at least partially by fossil
511.52 -> fuels
512.719 -> even if new nuclear power plants in the
514.959 -> west are expensive in the long run it
517.68 -> may be cheaper to build them as long as
519.76 -> they prevent more fossil fuel capacity
522.24 -> being added and paying for the
524 -> consequences of rapid climate change
526.959 -> so do we need nuclear energy well it
530.72 -> really depends how hard we choose to
532.8 -> make things for ourselves
534.64 -> and in a world that's already having a
536.88 -> really hard time quitting fossil fuels
539.12 -> why should we make things harder than
540.8 -> necessary
543.279 -> starting the change process and trying
545.6 -> something new is always difficult
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549.839 -> your own if you want to get out of a rut
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