Community Matters: Net-zero needs nuclear

Climate change and Net-Zero. They are two terms you read and/or hear on a regular basis these days, and they’re being talked about in all corners of the world.

This month, leaders and international partners are gathering in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (a.k.a. COP26) to chart a brave new course in the fight against climate change. What will be critical is not the targets that are set but the actions taken to meet the targets.

At Bruce Power, we strongly believe nuclear has a major role to play in that fight. We are committed to supporting efforts here at home, and globally, to provide future generations with clean energy. That includes Net-Zero, which means the amount of generated emissions of carbon - a very harmful greenhouse gas - is equal to the amount removed from the atmosphere.

With the shared commitment of our employees, government and other stakeholders in the Canadian nuclear industry, we’re pushing hard toward achieving Net-Zero by 2050 with a series of initiatives that we’ve been introducing throughout 2021, and especially over the past month.

Two weeks ago, we announced with our partners at Ontario Power Generation (OPG) the launch of Net-Zero Needs Nuclear. The message for this campaign is very simple: there is no path to net-zero without nuclear power (to learn more, visit www.netzeronuclear.com).

We’ve proven it by being a major player in eliminating coal plants across Ontario, making way for the largest greenhouse-gas reduction in North America. The province’s electricity system today accounts for about two per cent of our carbon emissions, thanks to nuclear supplying 60 per cent of our power every day. Gram-for-gram, nuclear fuel generates one-million more in energy than fossil fuels. Also, to generate the same amount of energy as nuclear, solar would require almost 100 times and wind about 500 times more land area.

When Ontario phased-out coal with the help of nuclear power, air quality improved significantly and it reduced respiratory illnesses and deaths. The world can no longer ignore nuclear power and its vital role in achieving net-zero.

With the support of Plug’n Drive, a non-profit organization committed to accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles to benefit the environment and the economy, we also announced the launch of Bruce Power Net-Zero. By taking what we already do around decarbonization, this initiative will exploit the potential of complementary technologies such as storage, renewables, hydrogen and electrified transportation to realize a Net-Zero future.

We plan to use a new company we launched recently, called Bruce Power Net-Zero Inc., to identify and invest in clean energy programs that complement the nuclear energy we generate on our site. Bruce Power will also leverage investment and the relationships we have with industry, regional and community partners to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions from our own site by 2027.

As always, please contact me at james.scongack@brucepower.com if you have any questions. You can also follow me on Twitter @jscongack.