January 2018 – @alvaroriosroca – Very little is the impact on the media about nuclear energy and its future on a planet that will definitely be electric. The information is generally focused on the price of oil and natural gas, shale, OPEC, non-conventional renewable energies, storage batteries, electric vehicles, smart grids and others.
Planet Earth is preparing to turn very decisively to operate on electricity with water, solar and wind power, with backup storage batteries and with smarter, more robust, efficient and dynamic networks, to leave behind fossil fuels such as coal in electricity generation and petroleum derivatives in the transport segment.
England and France have said no to petroleum-based vehicles after 2040. California has just approved another US$ 3 billion fund so that electric vehicles can be acquired and more charging stations can be promoted. China, the country that most demand vehicles, analyzes a series of measures to accelerate the entry of electric vehicles and clean up their atmosphere. Several other countries study public policies in this same sense.
The question that arises immediately is where will the electric supply necessary to meet the needs of traditional generation and now for the transport segment go out from? Renewable energies (with their efficiencies), the coupling of storage batteries and smart grids are part of the solution and together with natural gas, they will play a fundamental role in this transition. But what can be said about nuclear energy and its future?
According to the IAEA, at the end of 2016 nuclear energy represented 13% of the total electric power generated globally with a total of 448 reactors in operation in 30 countries. The Fukushima effect in 2011, caused plants to be delayed and paralyzed. In addition, the costs for its implementation have risen significantly and the rejection and public perception is much more remarkable.
Some countries, such as Germany, have partially or totally eliminated their nuclear power plants. However, in the case of Germany, for example, it still receives strong support from nuclear energy produced in France, which has not diminished its offer. That is to say, nuclear energy is not dead, nor defeated. The projections indicate that by 2030 the planet will still have around 11% of nuclear energy in its matrix.
However, what calls us to reflection, is what was indicated in a recent investigation by Peter Diamandis, where we learned that many billionaires of communications technology are making very strong bets in nuclear energy startups and also in nuclear fusion.
The report states that 55 startups are under financing with an estimated 1.6 billions of dollars, which can significantly revitalize this industry and give it a new dynamic and future.
There is Bill Gates in Terra Power, with a startup to develop technologies that offer independence, environmental sustainability and medical advances. Bill Gates has invested a part of his fortune to promote the “Travel Wave Reactor”, a system that uses uranium and that only needs to be fed back every 40 to 60 years.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon bet resources to the startup of “General Fusion” in Canada and has raised US$ 94 million to use high-tech hammers to create nuclear fusion. Paul Allen, former co-founder of Microsoft in the startup Tri Alpha Energy, also stands out, promoting what is known as “Friendly Fusion”, in a combination of particle accelerator and physical plasma. The co-founder of Paypal, Peter Thiel, bets on the “Fusion Machine”.
There are many other startups to analyze and especially nuclear fusion, which is understood to deliver unlimited energy for the future. Undoubtedly, if these visionaries are involved in these startups it is because they see something in them. In short, more technological competition for hydrocarbons, mainly oil.
* Current Managing Partner of Gas Energy Latin America.
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