Nuclear Power Versus Renewable Energy—A Trend Analysis [Point of View]

Discusses the key trends, new technologies, and future for nuclear power generation versus the deployment and development of renewable energy sources. The year 2013 saw a number of developments that dramatically widen the gap between nuclear power and renewable energy trends. This is particularly important at the current time as Governments around the world are formulating their post-2020 climate change mitigation policy in preparation for the UNFCCC summit in Paris, France, in December 2015. The importance of action on climate change is underlined in the 5th Assessment Report (AR5) of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which suggests that under current policies, CO₂ emissions from the energy sector could double or triple by 2050.¹ Reducing emissions to a level unlikely to cause dangerous climate change will require a significant drop in the energy intensity of global economies, along with the rapid reduction in the use of fossil fuels.