The Recent Overview and Prospects of Nuclear Power Policy and Industrial Strategies in the UK, Italy and Sweden

European countries that had moved away from nuclear energy or frozen the construction of new nuclear power plants have begun to return to the construction due to their pursuit of low-carbon electricity sources, energy security and requirements for replacements for existing nuclear plants. Particularly, we should pay attention to developments in the UK that vowed to launch the construction of new nuclear power plants in its 2007 Energy White Paper, and in Italy and Sweden that have begun to reconsider their legal ban on new nuclear plants. These countries launched nuclear power generation development comparatively in the early stage in the world, and built solid nuclear industry infrastructure, however after that, suspended the construction of new nuclear power plants for energy-related or economic reasons. In view of recent conditions, however, they are trying to reintroduce nuclear energy or expand nuclear energy use. Given these points, the three countries are viewed as symbols of Europes return to nuclear energy.nuclear energy, nuclear power, regulation, energy security, carbon emissions

Current Status and Future Prospects of Electric Power as Automotive Fuel

The deployment of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the premise of using low-carbon power sources (renewable energy and nuclear power) is expected to not only contribute to a stable energy supply by lowering dependence on oil (dependence on foreign supply sources) as fuel but also help to reduce CO2 emissions. Moreover, the use of night-time electricity is likely to help spread the use of electric vehicles for commuter use by reducing energy cost. However, it is important to remember that if conventional electricity, mainly generated by coal-fired power plants, is to be used as a power source, the deployment of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles may not necessarily be effective in reducing CO2 emissions. It is also true that compared with vehicles powered by an internal-combustion engine, electric vehicles still have some shortcomings, such as their short driving range, some 100 km on a single charge of the battery, and the long battery-recharging time. To significantly increase the use of electric vehicles in the future, the key will be to develop a low-cost, high-performance battery. It will also be necessary to further reduce the cost of wind and photovoltaic power generation. As the use of electric vehicles spreads, it will become necessary to conduct a quantitative study on the optimization (cost minimization) of the power source mix (cost minimization), including additional power sources for automobiles.electric vehicles, optimization, power source

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of CO2 Reduction in the Automobile Sector

Various problems relating to energy and the environment clearly exist, such as global warming and a steep rise in the price fossil fuels, and resources. These problems should be addressed in the medium term or long run. As for the abatement of greenhouse gas emission, active discussions have been held on the stage of world politics to achieve the long-term goal. Although various approaches have been proposed by several research institutions and countries, sufficient studies have not yet been conducted on the roles of individual countries and sectors. Specifically, in the automotive transportation sector wherein oil demand and CO2 emissions are estimated to rise in the future with the marked progress of motorization in developing countries, it is increasingly important to study these subjects. We focused on the automotive transportation sector and studied the CO2 abatement potential and its cost performance in this sector. This article reports the results of the study.energy and the environment, Climate change, automotive transportation

The Recent Overview and Prospects of Nuclear Power Policy and Industrial Strategies in the UK, Italy and Sweden

European countries that had moved away from nuclear energy or frozen the construction of new nuclear power plants have begun to return to the construction due to their pursuit of low-carbon electricity sources, energy security and requirements for replacements for existing nuclear plants. Particularly, we should pay attention to developments in the UK that vowed to launch the construction of new nuclear power plants in its 2007 Energy White Paper, and in Italy and Sweden that have begun to reconsider their legal ban on new nuclear plants. These countries launched nuclear power generation development comparatively in the early stage in the world, and built solid nuclear industry infrastructure, however after that, suspended the construction of new nuclear power plants for energy-related or economic reasons. In view of recent conditions, however, they are trying to reintroduce nuclear energy or expand nuclear energy use. Given these points, the three countries are viewed as symbols of Europe’s return to nuclear energy.nuclear energy, nuclear power, regulation, energy security, carbon emissions