Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy

by Arjun Makhijani

Sponsor: A joint project of Nuclear Policy Research Institute and Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Publisher: IEER Press and RDR Books

Year Published: 2007

Pages: 257 pp.

Binding: Paperback

ISBN: 978-157143-173-8

In a world confronting global climate change, political turmoil among oil exporting nations, nuclear weapons proliferation, nuclear plant safety and waste disposal issues, the United States must assume a leadership role in moving to a zero-CO₂-emissions energy economy. At the same time, the U.S. needs to take the lead in reducing the world’s reliance on nuclear power. This breakthrough joint study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute shows how our energy needs can be met by alternative sources. Wind, solar, biomass, microalgae, geothermal and wave power are all part of the solution. Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free is must reading for people concerned with energy politics and everyone who wants to take action to protect the planet's future.

"This Roadmap could liberate us from an energy policy that is trashing our climate and our mountaintops, that is polluting our land, sea, and air, that is trying to resurrect dangerous nuclear power, and that has America so dependent on imported oil that our foreign policy is the prisoner of oil." – S. David Freeman, President, Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, and former Chairman, Tennessee Valley Authority

"Arjun has produced a study which fulfills my greatest hopes — an urgent action plan to move the Earth in a dignified way out of intensive care." – Helen Caldicott, M.D., Founding President, Nuclear Policy Research Institute

Press Releases and Articles

Landmark Energy Policy Study Points the Way to U.S. Energy Future without Fossil Fuels or Nuclear Power: Protecting Climate Will Require Essentially Complete Elimination of U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions by 2050

Press Release by IEER

July 30, 2007

New Book Shows U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Can be Completely Eliminated by 2050: A Roadmap for U.S. Global Climate Change Leadership after Bali Conference; Nuclear Power Is Not Needed for an Economical and Reliable Energy System without Fossil Fuels

Press Release by IEER

December 20, 2007

Executive Summary: Special Issue of Science for Democractic Action

Number 39, Volume 15: Number 1, August 2007

Carbon-free without nuclear power?

by Bob Audette, Brattleboro Reformer

Monday, January 21, 2008

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Preface

Climate Change

Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

Oil

Lifestyles and Values

Conclusions

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage – A Brief Historical Overview

The Need for a Zero-CO₂ Economy in the United States

Historical Overview

Plan of the Book

Chapter 2: Broad Energy and Economic Considerations

Analysis of Energy Prices and Implicit CO₂ Prices

Implicit CO₂ Price in the Electricity Sector

CO₂ and Petroleum

Defining "Zero-CO₂ Emissions"

Chapter 3: Technologies – Supply, Storage, and Conversion

Wind Energy

Solar Electricity

Biomass – Introduction

Microalgae

Grasses

Other High Productivity Biomass

Some Conclusions about Biomass

Solar Hydrogen

Wave Energy

Hot Rock Geothermal Energy

Energy Storage Technologies

Batteries

Capacitors

Compressed Air Storage

Long-term Sequestration of CO₂

Chapter 4: Technologies – Demand-Side Sectors

Residential and Commercial Sectors

Lighting

Transportation

Fuel for Jet Aircraft

Public Transportation

The Industrial Sector

Chapter 5: A Reference Zero-CO₂ Scenario

Residential and Commercial Energy Use

Transportation and Industry

Electricity Production

Methodological Note on Thermal and Other Losses in Electricity Production

Electricity in the Reference Scenario

Overall Results

Land Use Considerations

Chapter 6: Options for the Roadmap to Zero-CO₂ Emissions

Hydrogen Production from Solar and Wind Energy

Efficiency and Electricity

Stationary Storage of Electricity

Feedstocks and Industrial Energy

Natural Gas Combined Cycle and Coal as Contingencies for the Electric Grid

Structural Changes in the Economy

Some Considerations in Setting Target Dates for Zero-CO₂

Historical Examples

Demand Sector Considerations for a Target Phase-out Date

Estimating a Phase-out Schedule

Ozone-depleting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

A Range of Dates for Zero-CO₂ Emissions

Chapter 7: Policy Considerations

A CO₂ Emissions Cap Declining to Zero

Early Action Rewards

Defining "Large Users" of Fossil Fuels

Penalties

Revenues

Small Users of Fossil Fuels

Time-of-use Rates

Incentives and Rebates

Achieving Zero-CO₂ Emissions for Small Users

Government Actions

New Coal-fired Power Plants

Ending Subsidies for Nuclear Power and Fossil Fuels

Corporate and NGO Actions

Chapter 8: Roadmap for a Zero-CO₂ Economy

A Preferred Renewable Energy Scenario

Timeline for Transformation

Macroeconomics of the Transition

The Residential and Commercial Sectors

Transportation

Projecting Business-As-Usual

Chapter 9: Summary

Findings

Recommendations: The Clean Dozen

Afterword

Glossary

Appendix A: Nuclear Power

History

Nuclear Waste

The Global Nuclear Energy Program

Cost

Nuclear Power and Global Climate Change

Appendix B: Interview Regarding Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Appendix C: Japan Focus Interview on Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free

Endnotes

References