Page 31 - combinepdf

April 2017

Facts and Issues of Energy Productionacts and Issues of Energy Production
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A solar photovoltaic system array on a rooftop in Hong Kong (Image: Wikipedia user - Wpcpey)

Dr Lou Sai LEONG, Expert nuclear engineering analyst at Mirion Technologies CANBERRA Japan

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Present situationresent situation

There is a variety of developments for energy production in the world. A lot of opinions are given and
discussions are made: fossil fuels (coal, oil or gas) pollute the atmosphere and produce a lot of CO which
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largely contributes to global warming; renewable energies are in nite resources that produce very few
greenhouse gases, but have the constraints of meteorological variability which means that the energy
production is intermittent; nuclear energy produces a huge amount of energy without emitting CO , but draws
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unfavourable public opinion because of safety issues. Scientists as well as politicians have their own opinions
and their own interests to support di erent types of energy development. However, one of the main
parameters for sustainable development is not limited only by the capabilities of each technology, but also by
the efficiency of production.

So far, there is no large-scale storage system that can store a huge quantity of electricity. Therefore, in theory,
the more electricity we can produce, the more we should consume. In that case, it is necessary to manage and
control the energy production rate and the consumption rate based on the needs of the di erent countries