Bangladesh and 19 other countries that are among the most vulnerable to global climate change have come together to foster greater investment in climate resilience. The alliance, known as the 'Vulnerable Twenty' or V20, was formed in Peru the capital of Lima on October 08, 2015 ahead of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund (WB-IMF) annual meeting. Finance ministers of the V20 countries that have a population of close to 700 million people urged the developed countries to curb greenhouse gas emission. Their finance ministers would meet every two years. In a statement, the group said that responding to climate change was a "foremost humanitarian priority".
Earlier on October 07, 2015 in Lima the IMF Chief Cristine Lagarde said that failure to take urgent action on global warming will condemn humanity to the same fate as the Peruvian poultry that so many delegates to the group's annual meeting are enjoying this week in a country famed for its cuisine. Ms.Lagarde said that "If we collectively chicken out of this we'll all turn into chickens and we'll all be fried, grilled, toasted and roasted".
Her comments came in a panel discussion involving World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, U.N. climate talk's executive secretary Christiana Figueres and economist and climate expert Nicholas Stern. Ms. Lagarde and Mr. Kim argued strongly for removing subsidies on fossil fuels that are worth more than US$5 trillion a year. They also stressed on the immediate need for carbon taxes so that the burning of fossil fuels can fund clean energy replacements.
Efforts are already underway to find out the means to get out of the problem of greenhouse gas emission. Small nuclear reactors are being planned to be built to fight climate change. Nuclear reactors that will fit on the back of a truck are the great new hope for nuclear industry expansion. As delays and spiralling costs hit plans for big nuclear power stations, building thousands of small reactors could be part of a strategy to fight climate change. According to Climate News Network, these small modular reactors (SMRs) are being backed by the US, China and the UK as part of a low-carbon electricity strategy to deploy alongside renewable energy sources.
The push to develop SMRs comes at a critical time for the nuclear industry as the building of traditional large nuclear power stations is increasingly marked by cost over-runs and delays. They are also seen as out of step with modern grids, where the small-scale renewable, close to the point of use, are beginning to dominate.
The idea of SMRs is that they can fit the modern pattern and be deployed close to population centres where the power is needed, so avoiding the 10 per cent power loss from large reactors that is inevitable because of the vast distances the power is transmitted. In most countries, safety and the need for large quantities of cooling water dictate that traditional large nuclear power stations are sited on the coast, or in remote places isolated far from big towns and cities.
The UK's National Nuclear Laboratory, a government body, believes there is vast potential for SMRs, estimating that they could provide 65 gigawatts to 85 gigawatts of new electricity production by 2035, valued at £250 billion to £400 billion (about US$400 billion to US$615 billion) of business. If this estimate is more or less correct, it would mean around 3,000 small reactors being deployed worldwide in the next 20 years.
The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre.
Sarwar Md. Saifullah Khaled [email protected]
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