Challenges in Delinking Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation for Sustainable Development

Energy security means ensuring that a country can supply lifetime energy to all its citizens at affordable cost. The paper discusses the impacts of climate change based on the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; it puts small islands into a category of their own, owing to particular vulnerabilities. Electricity, fuel for transportation sector, and energy resources for other human activities are required for economic development and in a sustainable manner without degrading the environment and causing climate change. The world electricity demand is likely to increase by almost 80 per cent during the next 25 years with China and India accounting for major share. Fossil fuels will continue to dominate the power sector but their share will decline and will be substituted by carbon-free renewable energy, including hydro, solar, and wind. In addition, increasing penetration of low-carbon technology deployment of gas-based generation in place of coal, supercritical and ultra-supercritical boilers, and CO₂ sequestration will also help in minimizing CO₂ emission. However, even in spite of all these, the CO₂ emission from the power sector will rise from 13.2 Gtons in 2012 to 15.4 Gtons in 2040, a rise of 40 per cent global emission over the period. Nuclear fission energy has a relatively short history of some 60 years but has emerged as an economically attractive and reliable primary energy source for base-load electricity with minimum carbon footprint. Presently, nuclear power reactors contribute 11 per cent of global electricity, but it is projected to increase by 60 per cent from the present level 375 GWe to 624 GWe by 2040. In fast neutron breed reactors, integrated ‘closed’ fuel cycle will enable multiple recycling of actinides that will ensure longevity of natural Uranium resources and minimize the long-term radio-toxicity of high active waste for permanent underground disposal. This paper covers present and projected world scenario of energy and the associated climate change, highlighting the prospects and challenges of nuclear energy for generation of electricity, hydrogen fuel for the transportation sector, and desalination. The upcoming small modular reactors and the nuclear power and related fuel cycle programme in India are also discussed.