Page 28 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine May 2024

28 I Companies & Markets bne May 2024
Jan Chadam (centre), the acting head of Poland's nuclear power SPV Polskie Elektrownie Jadrowe (PEJ), comments on the cost of the planned nuclear power plant. / Konferencja Energetyczna EuroPOWER.
Rain, rain go away Ben Aris in Berlin
The hotter the world gets, the more water the air can hold and the more it will rain. Last year’s disaster season saw catastrophic floods around the world caused by record levels of rainfall. After putting in the hottest year on record, this year is going to be worse, with sea temperatures already breaking all-time records – records that were only set last year.
The atmosphere already holds circa 10% more water vapour today than just 30 years ago. The warmer the atmosphere gets, the more water it can hold – about 7% more per 1°C of warming according to the Clausius-Clapeyron equation – and scientists have already observed a significant increase in atmospheric moisture, reports Climate Signals.
“Storms supplied by climate change with increasing moisture are widely observed to produce heavier rain and snow. Research indicates that the increase in atmospheric moisture is primarily due to human-caused increases in greenhouse gases [GHGs],” Climate Signals reports.
All the attention has been focused on CO2 emissions, with now rising awareness that methane emissions are also a big problem. But NASA points out that water vapour is actually the world’s most abundant GHG.
“It’s responsible for about half of Earth’s greenhouse effect – the process that occurs when gases in Earth’s atmosphere trap the sun’s heat. GHGs keep our planet liveable. Without them, [the] Earth’s surface temperature would be about 33C colder. Water vapour is also a key part of [the] Earth’s water cycle: the path that all water follows as it moves around Earth’s atmosphere, land and ocean as liquid water, solid ice and gaseous water vapour,” NASA said in a note on water vapour.
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Despite these challenges, Poland remains committed to nuclear energy as a way to reduce carbon emissions in its energy sector, currently dominated by coal and lignite.
A report by consulting firm PWC, commissioned by Westinghouse, estimates the first 20 years of the project could contribute PLN118bn to Polish GDP.
Poland's foray into nuclear power marks a significant shift within Central Europe. Poland currently stands alone as the only country without such facilities.
A decision on the location of the second plant is expected by 2028, with construction starting in 2032, according to the government's strategy.
Having said that, water vapour is not a driver of Earth’s current warming, but a consequence of it, explains NASA, although increased water vapour in the atmosphere amplifies the warming caused by other GHGs.
The global average temperature has risen by about 1.1C since the start of the industrial age in 1800 and that has led to more water being evaporated, says NASA. And the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report states total atmospheric water vapour is now increasing by 1% to 2% per decade.