Could nuclear power help B.C. reach its climate change goals? SFU research makes the case
Global News
Recent modelling from SFU found that B.C. will need a massive boost in electrical generation if it hopes to meet its climate goals, and argues nuclear power could help do the job.
New research out of Simon Fraser University is suggesting that British Columbia may need to look at nuclear power as a part of its electricity mix if it aims to meet its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Recent modelling from the university’s School of Sustainable Energy Engineering found that meeting the province’s climate change goals will require a near complete electrification of energy use.
B.C.’s current energy mix, for everything from transport to industry to home use, is roughly 80 per cent fossil fuel and 20 per cent electric, according to Taco Niet, associate professor of professional practice with the program.
Bringing it up to nearly 100 per cent would require doubling or tripling current electrical production, he said.
“We’d need another 20 Site C Dams,” Niet said.
“We are lucky right now that we have the hydro system that we do and that we can build the Site C, which will give us a little bit of a surplus for the next few years, but then building out the rest of the system and addressing the bigger challenge that’s coming really needs to be dealt with.”
Renewables such as wind and solar alone won’t be able to do the job, Niet argued, suggesting the province may need to look to look at nuclear power in the form of small modular reactors (SMRs) as a part of the solution.
Advocates say SMRs are safer than conventional reactors, cheaper to build and operate and can be built with a much smaller physical footprint.
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