Climate change has meant a renewed interest in nuclear power as a means of providing for the world’s energy needs. Discuss the implications for Australia’s mining industry?
Australia is the world’s largest coal exporter and has the second largest deposit of coal in the world. Although the world is currently in the throes of a global financial crisis, Australia’s economy one of the few in the developed world to stay afloat has been buoyed considerably by its exports industry, particularly that of coal. Despite Australia’s promise to reduce carbon emissions by 5% in accordance with its commitment to the Kyoto protocol, the coal industry has been lucky enough to avoid almost all penalties that other industries are set to receive under the proposed carbon emission trading scheme . This combined with Australia continuing to stall further international discussions on combating climate change has earned Australia the reputation of “A nation of climate sinners” . It is obvious that despite a lot of rhetoric on the importance of addressing climate change, the Australian government is not willing to commit to solving the global challenge of climate change to an appreciable degree while such a large part of the Australian economy is at stake. For the Australian government to fully commit to its promises on combating climate change, a way to free the Australian economy of its coal dependence needs to be found.
The world is in a new era of energy production where it is no longer a question of which energy technology will prevail, but rather how swiftly can countries become energy independent and meet the needs of economic growth with the lowest possible environmental impact. Globally there has been an increased interest in nuclear power as a potential solution to the problems of climate change.
There are many advantages of nuclear power as a solution to climate change.