18 May 2021
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Illinois will need to expand its nuclear capacity - not just maintain existing plants - in order to meet climate goals, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has concluded. Keeping the state s existing nuclear plants open at the same time as investing in advanced nuclear technology and renewable energy is the most economical path to zero-carbon that generates the lowest life-cycle carbon emissions, the study has found.
Exelon s Byron plant (Image: Exelon)
The report,
Economic and Carbon Impacts of Potential Illinois Nuclear Plant Closures: The Cost of Closures, was prepared by researchers and students at the university s department of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering (NPRE) and led by Kathryn Huff - who has recently been appointed principal deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the US Department of Energy - and Madicken Munk. The researchers modelled the state s electricity grid and conducted simula
The US’ smooth transition away from coal
Coal trains near the North Antelope Rochelle mine in Wyoming, the largest coal mine in the world.
For the US to move away from coal, it is important to leverage the social cost of carbon as a tool for making key government decisions about coal mining and cleanup while remaining mindful of environmental justice and coal communities as the transition to other sources of electricity pans out.
This is according to Mark N. Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School, whose essay “Accelerating and Smoothing the Transition Away from Coal” is part of a recent book titled
There’s no denying the world is already paying for climate change. The price is stronger hurricanes, bigger wildfires, and unpredictable heat waves. So, how can people living on a changing globe
literally pay to mitigate the effects of climate change? One solution is to utilize the social cost of carbon, says economist
Michael Greenstone. He co-led the development of the US government’s social cost of carbon as chief economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. President Biden has raised carbon’s value back to Obama-era levels after the Trump Administration lowered it. Greenstone, who leads the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning
Economists want drastic action to stop climate change: Survey | Business and Economy News aljazeera.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aljazeera.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Economists weigh in on the merits of net-zero climate goals – survey bworldonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bworldonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.