Nuclear programme will clean up the skies

Abu Dhabi's decision to turn to nuclear power will cut the country's future carbon emissions by 32 million tonnes a year.

Nuclear power is emission-free, say experts, which should help the UAE reduce its global warming footprint.

Abu Dhabi's decision to turn to nuclear power will in 10 years cut the country's future carbon emissions by 32 million tonnes a year, equivalent to the total carbon footprint of Bahrain, new Government figures show. If all four nuclear reactors are operating by 2020 as planned the UAE's carbon emissions will be lowered significantly as the country reduces its dependence ever larger quantities of fossil fuels, according to an internal study by the Abu Dhabi Government. The country's total emissions will continue to grow, but at a lower rate than originally forecast. In 2008, the latest year for which data are available, the UAE emitted 199 million tonnes of carbon, according to estimates by the US Government's Energy Information Agency. Up-to-date figures from the Abu Dhabi Government were not available. The 32 million-tonne figure is equivalent to Bahrain's 2008 emissions and represents between 16 and 20 per cent of the UAE's emissions in that year, according to US estimates. The UAE was singled out in a 2008 report for having the highest carbon footprint in the world on a per-person basis and has come under heavy international criticism. The plants, deployed with other clean energy technologies, could help slow the rapid growth in the country's carbon emissions. The nuclear programme will form a key part of the Government's voluntary commitments to reduce emissions as part of an international effort to tackle climate change, said a senior government official who was involved in the launch of the Emirate's nuclear programme but was not authorised to speak to the media. Without nuclear power, Abu Dhabi would have continued to rely on natural gas and increased its use of oil products in power stations, he said. "The business-as-usual case saw the deployment of additional gas and liquid-fired generation," he said. "The deployment of nuclear power would be what we consider a national appropriate mitigation action." The effect on the country's carbon emissions will be felt over the long term, yet was not discussed with the international community at last month's climate change talks in Copenhagen, said Dr Saad al Numeiri, an adviser to the federal Minister of Environment and Water who attended the negotiations. "It will definitely help," Mr al Numeiri added. "You will not be relying on fossil fuels for energy, so it will reduce the total emissions." The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) last month awarded a $20 billion contract to a consortium of South Korean firms to build and operate the country's first four nuclear power plants by 2020, with the first one expected online by 2017. Mohamed al Hammadi, the chief executive, said the plants' output would meet 23 to 25 per cent of Abu Dhabi's electricity needs by 2020, and said ENEC would likely award contracts for additional plants. The Government's study estimated that each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from natural gas releases between 400 and 500 grams of carbon, while each kWh of oil-fired power releases closer to 700g. The nuclear reactors, by contrast, would produce almost no carbon over their lifetime, the study found. The amount of emissions displaced by the reactors is equivalent to the carbon output of over eight natural gas-fired power plants of the size and type built in recent years in Abu Dhabi, according to calculations by a climate scientist based in the capital. The nuclear power plants form the cornerstone of a broader clean energy strategy that has taken shape in the last two years. Abu Dhabi wants to supply 7 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources like solar power by 2020. Masdar, the Government-owned clean energy firm, also has plans to deploy a network of carbon capture and storage projects that will divert carbon emissions from three power plants and a steel mill and bury them permanently underground in ageing oil wells. The scheme is expected to reduce emissions by a further 6.5 million tonnes per year if Masdar elects to go ahead with the full project. [e-mail]