Author: Victor Nian
Energy Review, Vol 4. Issue 9. 2022
The global climate pledge has advanced towards carbon neutrality by 2050, thereby putting tremendous amount of pressure, especially on emerging economies. In the pursuit of common good, increasing number of emerging economies are putting a stop to building new fossil-fired power plants, particularly coal. However, due to uneven access to renewable energy resources, rising energy demand from industrial and economic development needs, and the high and rising fossil fuel prices caused by the geopolitical turbulence, countries are running out of options to ensure energy security while meeting their climate pledges. Nuclear energy, especially the advanced small modular reactor technologies are now believed to be a game changer for providing clean, safe, reliable, and affordable carbon-free baseload electricity. Integrated with co-located hydrogen or ammonia production, small modular reactors together with renewables can enable countries to build and expand future net-zero carbon industrial parks to meet the energy need for industrial and economic development while assuring their commitment towards carbon neutrality by 2050.
(Dr. Victor Nian, Co-Founder & CEO, Centre for Strategic Energy and Resources (CSER), Singapore)