SIERRA CLUB - Power plants emit 40% of total U.S. carbon dioxide pollution, the primary global warming pollutant.

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We all use electricity in our daily lives, almost without thinking about it -- turning on the lights, listening to the radio, using computers. If we stopped and learned about the energy we use, we would encounter some shocking realities about how energy production affects our health and our environment.

Where Our Power Comes From

With all the amazing technological advancements over the last century, one thing that has not changed very much is our reliance on fossil fuels, in particular, dirty coal to generate electricity. More than half of the electricity generated in the United States comes from coal.1   The producers of the largest share of our nation's energy, coal-fired power plants are also one of the dirtiest sources of electricity.

To address global warming, we need a profound transformation of the ways in which we generate and consume energy. The urgency of this situation demands that we be willing to consider all possible options for coping with climate change.  In examining each option we must take into account its impact on public health, safety, and security, the time required for large scale deployment, and its costs.

While there are currently some global warming emissions associated with the nuclear fuel cycle and plant construction, when nuclear plants operate they do not produce carbon dioxide. This fact is used to support proposals for a large-scale expansion of nuclear power both in the United States and around the world. 

UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS - UCS Position on Nuclear Power and Global Warming

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CENTER OF AMERICAN PROGRESS - Global Warming and the Future of Coal - Carbon Capture and Storage

(MUST CONFIRM WITH DATA - Estimates are on the high side)

Ever-rising industrial and consumer demand for more power in tandem with cheap and abundant coal reserves across the globe are expected to result in the construction of new coal-fired power plants producing 1,400 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. In the absence of emission controls, these new plants will increase worldwide annual emissions of carbon dioxide by approximately 7.6 billion metric tons by 2030. These emissions would equal roughly 50 percent of all fossil fuel emissions over the past 250 years.

In the United States alone, about 145 gigawatts of new power from coal-fired plants are projected to be built by 2030, resulting in CO2 emissions of 790 million metric tons per year in the absence of emission controls. By comparison, annual U.S. emissions of CO2 from all sources in 2005 were about 6 billion metric tons.

Nuclear power is getting another look in the United States because of growing concerns about global warming and the plumes of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere by coal-fired plants.

But with so much cheap coal around, many experts are skeptical that nuclear power can make a comeback — unless some environmental laws change in Washington.

The United States has 104 nuclear reactors generating electricity — the most of any country in the world — but they are aging. After an accident at Three Mile Island and the Chernobyl disaster, the country lost its stomach for nuclear power. Utilities canceled 96 new nuclear projects, and a new reactor hasn't been built in the U.S. since.

NPR - Global Warming Sparks New Look at Nuclear Power

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The chemistry of the atmosphere is changing, and there is a high-enough risk that "true believers" like Al Gore are right that world economies need to wean themselves off fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gases, he said.

"It's like buying fire insurance," Moore said. "We all own fire insurance even though there is a low risk we are going to get into an accident."

The only viable solution is to build hundreds of nuclear power plants over the next century, Moore told the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. There isn't enough potential for wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal or other renewable energy sources, he said.

IDAHOSTATESMAN - Greenpeace founder now backs nuclear power - Patrick Moore tells the Boise chamber that the world must wean itself from fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gases.

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EPA - ENERGY PRODUCTION AND USE

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Energy production and use are sensitive to changes in the climate. For example, increasing temperatures will reduce consumption of energy for heating but increase energy used for cooling buildings. The implications of climate change for energy supply are less clear than for energy demand.

Climate change effects on energy supply and demand will depend not only on climatic factors, but also on patterns of economic growth, land use, population growth and distribution, technological change and social and cultural trends that shape individual and institutional actions.

To address this issue, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) commissioned an analysis on the Effects of Climate Change on Energy Production and Use in the United States. The analysis was led by the U.S. Department of Energy and was published in October 2007.

EPA - ENERGY USE

(MUST CONFIRM WITH DATA)

Changes in temperature due to climate change could affect our demand for energy. For example, rising air temperatures will likely lead to substantial increases in energy demand for air conditioning in most North American cities (IPCC, 2007). On the other hand, energy needed for space-heating may decrease. The net effects of these changes on energy production, use and utility bills, will vary by region and by season.

There may also be changes in energy consumed for other climate-sensitive processes, such as pumping water for irrigation in agriculture. Rising temperatures and associated increases in evaporation may increase energy needs for irrigation, particularly in dry regions across the Western U.S.

Depending on the magnitude of these possible energy consumption changes, it may be necessary to consider changes in energy supply or conservation practices to balance demand. Many other factors (e.g., population growth, economic growth, energy efficiency changes and technological change) will also affect the timing and size of future changes in the capacity of energy systems (IPCC, 2007).

EPA - ENERGY PRODUCTION

(MUST CONFIRM WITH DATA)

To date, less research has been undertaken on how climate change may affect energy production. Some of the possible effects are discussed below.

• Hydropower generation is the energy source that is likely to be most directly affected by climate change because it is sensitive to the amount, timing and geographical pattern of precipitation and temperature. Furthermore, hydropower needs may increasingly conflict with other priorities, such as salmon restoration goals in the Pacific Northwest (IPCC, 2007). However, changes in precipitation are difficult to project at the regional scale, which means that climate change will affect hydropower either positively and negatively, depending on the region.
• Infrastructure for energy production, transmission and distribution could be affected by climate change. For example, if a warmer climate is characterized by more extreme weather events such as windstorms, ice storms, floods, tornadoes and hail, the transmission systems of electric utilities may experience a higher rate of failure, with attendant costs (IPCC, 2007).
• Power plant operations can be affected by extreme heat waves. For example, intake water that is normally used to cool power plants become warm enough during extreme heat events that it compromises power plant operations.
• Finally, some renewable sources of energy could be affected by climate change, although these changes are very difficult to predict. If climate change leads to increased cloudiness, solar energy production could be reduced. Wind energy production would be reduced if wind speeds increase above or fall below the acceptable operating range of the technology. Changes in growing conditions could affect biomass production, a transportation and power plant fuel source that is starting to receive more attention (IPCC, 2007).