During the COVID-19 crisis, nuclear power has continued to generate electricity reliably and around the clock, ensuring the continuous resilient operation of critical services indispensable to cope with the global health crisis and maintain social stability. Nuclear power has been an important source of power system flexibility, helping to maintain electricity security by operating in a load-following mode, complementing the supply of variable renewable generation. Electricity security is an essential public need, at the same level as food security and access to health care. Nuclear energy is a key contributor to electricity security and already contributes positively to building a low-carbon resilient infrastructure at the plant and system levels. Nuclear energy, both new nuclear projects and the long-term operation of existing reactors, can play a key role in the post-COVID-19 economic recovery efforts by boosting economic growth in the short term, while supporting, in a cost-effective manner, the development of a low-carbon resilient electricity infrastructure in the long term.

The sheer size of nuclear projects might be a barrier in some markets where private investors are looking for short-term paybacks. However, during a period of economic recovery, large-scale and long-term energy infrastructure projects, such as nuclear power plants, can galvanise the social cohesion and economic spill-overs required to relaunch general economic activity. Governments should incentivise investments in resilient low-carbon energy infrastructure, such as nuclear energy, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Proper policy and market frameworks to incentivise investment in essential infrastructure that supports low-carbon electricity security and economic development are needed. Transitional, targeted government support for nuclear energy projects will be indispensable to unlock the benefits of nuclear energy in the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. Government support can and should be leveraged to attract cost-effective private financing to deliver nuclear energy infrastructure projects. There is currently a window of opportunity for governments to support sustained cost reductions in nuclear energy projects through timely new build decisions - thus reinforcing the process of learning by doing and allowing these designs to move along their learning and cost curves.

This publication provides an update on the current status of nuclear power and prospects for its contribution, together with other low carbon energy sources, to ambitious mitigation strategies that will help the world limit global warming to 1.5°C in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement. Since 2000, the IAEA has issued such information and analysis regularly, in order to support those Member States that choose to include nuclear power in their energy system as well as those considering other strategies. The focus of the 2020 publication is on the significant potential of nuclear energy, integrated in a low carbon energy system, to contribute to the 1.5°C climate change mitigation target, and the challenges of realizing this potential. Energy system and market related factors affecting the transition to a low carbon energy system are reviewed. This edition also outlines developments needed to realize the large scale capacity increase required to rapidly decarbonize the global energy system in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

"As the damaging and costly impacts of climate change increase, the rapid development of sustainable energy has taken on great urgency. The electricity industry has responded with necessary but wrenching shifts toward renewables, even as it faces unprecedented challenges and disruption brought on by new technologies, new competitors, and policy changes. The result is a collision course between a grid that must provide abundant, secure, flexible, and affordable power, and an industry facing enormous demands for rapid, systemic change and power. The fashionable solution is to think small: smart buildings, small-scale renewables, and locally distributed green energy. But Peter Fox-Penner makes clear that these will not be enough to meet our increasing needs for electricity. He points instead to the indispensability of large power systems, battery storage, and scalable carbon-free power technologies, along with the grids and markets that will integrate them. The electric power industry and its regulators will have to provide all of these, even as they grapple with changing business models for local electric utilities, political instability, and technological change. Power after Carbon makes sense of all the moving parts, providing actionable recommendations for anyone involved with or relying on the electric power system"--

This open access book is based on the research outputs of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) in 2021. It covers major topics of Chinese and international attention regarding green development, such as climate, biodiversity, ocean, BRI, urbanization, sustainable production and consumption, technology, finance, value chain, and related topics. It also reviews the progress of China‘s environmental and development policies and the impacts from CCICED. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing insight for policy makers in environmental issues.

With more than 170 parties having ratified the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, viable, financially sound and integrated solutions for providing low carbon, affordable, energy is of critical interest. This, by necessity, encompasses the development of resilient production processes for the generation of electricity, heat, chemicals and fuels for deep decarbonization. Two principal options for low carbon energy are renewables and nuclear energy. While many institutions have expressed interest in one or the other of these options, few have explored the possible synergies between them. This publication consists of the proceedings of an IAEA Technical Meeting held to review and discuss concepts and innovative solutions, including the advantages and challenges associated with each option, pertaining to nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems for decarbonized energy production and cogeneration.

The NEA encourages governments to take advantage of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery to accelerate the energy transition towards meeting climate objectives. Post-pandemic recovery plans to reconcile climate objectives with economic goals need to put system costs at the heart of energy policy. Nuclear energy projects achieve deep decarbonisation with optimal use of land and mineral resources. Moving to a carbon neutral electricity system without nuclear power would significantly increase system costs and threaten security of supply. Achieving cost-effective decarbonisation requires structural reform of the electricity market.

The latest World Energy Outlook offers the most comprehensive analysis of what this transformation of the energy sector might look like, thanks to its energy projections to 2040. It reviews the key opportunities and challenges ahead for renewable energy, the central pillar of the low- carbon energy transition, as well as the critical role for energy efficiency.

The world is currently undergoing an historic energy transition, driven by increasingly stringent decarbonisation policies and rapid advances in low-carbon technologies. The large-scale shift to low-carbon energy is disrupting the global energy system, impacting whole economies, and changing the political dynamics within and between countries. This open access book, written by leading energy scholars, examines the economic and geopolitical implications of the global energy transition, from both regional and thematic perspectives. The first part of the book addresses the geopolitical implications in the world’s main energy-producing and energy-consuming regions, while the second presents in-depth case studies on selected issues, ranging from the geopolitics of renewable energy, to the mineral foundations of the global energy transformation, to governance issues in connection with the changing global energy order. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers in energy, climate change and international relations, as well as to professionals working in the energy industry.