Faster German Nuke Phase Out Can Sink Kyoto-Expert
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - German nuclear power plant
decomissioning could sink the Kyoto global warming protocol if
pushed at too fast a speed, climate experts said at a conference
in London on Tuesday.
Last week the German government set a 2020 deadline for a
pull-out from using nuclear plants for electricity generation but
Germany's Green party wants a faster phase out.
"You could not phase out German nuclear power in 10 years and get
Kyoto. It would sink the protocol," said Michael Grubb, professor
of climate change and energy policy at Imperial College, London.
Green activists would most likely seek an end to nuclear policies
ahead of global warming proposals, the conference on the Kyoto
protocol organised by the Royal Institute of International
Affairs heard.
But the experts said nuclear power was needed during the early
phase of the Kyoto agreement to provide enough greenhouse
gas-free power generation.
"It is very hard to see action on carbon gas emmissions that
would not add greater value to nuclear energy," said Henry
Jacoby, William F Pounds professor of management at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Nuclear power is essential to Kyoto over the first 10 years,"
Grubb told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.
"The Germans cannot have all three things they want - concrete
celings on greenhouse gas trading mechanisms, the Kyoto protocol
and nuclear decommissioning," he said.
Renewable energy sources were not ready to bridge the gap and
further development was needed for them to be a commercial
success, he said.
Jacoby added that nuclear power could see a regeneration, unseen
just five years ago, to bridge the gap in providing energy
sources which did not contribute to global warming.
Two U.S. nuclear plants had recently been relicensed, he said.
News by Reuters
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