Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

A Deeper Climate Conversation

How Natural Gas and Nuclear Are Essential to Decarbonization

A complex and productive conversation over the role of natural gas and nuclear, one that contrasts the simplistic conception of decarbonization as a shift from fossil fuels to exclusively renewable technologies, has emerged in the public discourse. In our two recent reports, ‘Coal Killer’ (left) and ‘How to Make Nuclear Cheap’ (right), we aim to show that the promise of natural gas and nuclear for energy access, decarbonization, and energy innovation do not replace hopes and efforts to expand renewables like wind and solar. Rather, given renewables' short-term and long-term obstacles for providing abundant zero-carbon energy on a high-energy planet, we believe it is crucial that natural gas and nuclear gain more than reluctant acceptance.http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/a-deeper-climate-conversation/