NEI Nuclear Notes

The G7 leaders met Monday in Germany to discuss a number of issues, but the one of interest to us is climate change. Not in and of itself, but in terms of what pledges the leaders made to address the threat. The G7 also reaffirmed the goal of limiting global warming in the 21st century to 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, first agreed at a 2009 UN climate summit in Copenhagen. "Urgent and concrete action is needed to address climate change," the G7 leaders said in a final statement after a two-day summit in Germany. And that’s not all . First, a deep cut in carbon emissions by 2050 and second, an eventual end to fossil fuel use by 2100. That’s startling. Saying things is easy, especially if you can slow walk it over 85 years. How to do it is the hard part. We can think of a very helpful way, but why not let the G7 have a go at it. Several environmental groups praised the G7 countries for declaring war on carbon, which, they say, will ...

From AFP : Finance chiefs from the G7 industrialized countries have endorsed nuclear energy, an increasingly attractive power source as governments confront global warming and over-dependence on fossil fuels. The Group of Seven, following a meeting here Friday, described energy diversification as an important priority for both rich and poor nations. "Diversification can include advanced energy technologies such as renewable, nuclear and clean coal," said the ministers and central bank governors from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The group at previous meetings had been unable to agree on a text citing nuclear power, notably in the face of opposition from Germany. But a steady rise in oil prices, from less than 30 dollars a barrel in April 2003 to nearly 80 dollars last year, as well as increased energy nationalism in producers such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran have managed to change minds. Thanks to NAM Blog for the pointer.