Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of the fuel that might otherwise have to be stored for many thousands of years in a
geologic repository. The lower temperature may also allow more spent fuel to be
stored at a deep geologic repository, delaying the need for additional repository
requirements. This continuous recycle and burning of spent nuclear fuel materials
is key to the GNEP program.
The gas-cooled very high temperature reactor is also being developed through
DOE's Next Generation Nuclear Plant program because the high temperature
allows for the efficient production of hydrogen by splitting water. U.S. industries
annually produce over 9 million tons of hydrogen to, for example, manufacture
fertilizer and refine petroleum. Very high temperature reactors may become an
efficient and emissions free alternative source of hydrogen, which is made
primarily from natural gas. The very high temperature reactor can be more
efficient than current reactors and is designed to be versatile, capable of
generating small or large amounts of electricity. DOE requested $31.4 million for
fiscal year 2007 for the Generation IV R and D efforts.
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Advanced renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy technologies all face key
challenges to their deployment into the market. Renewable technologies face
technological and market barriers—such as efficiency and high up-front capital
costs—to substituting for oil and for generating electricity. Advanced fossil
technologies also face key challenges—such as controlling harmful emissions—to
deploying advanced technologies for generating electricity. Similarly, advanced
nuclear technologies face key challenges—such as public opposition and high
capital costs—that must be addressed as the industry considers constructing new
nuclear power reactors for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Renewable Energy Technologies Face a Variety of
Technical and Deployment Barriers
The primary renewable energy technologies with the potential to substantially
expand their existing production capacity during the next 25 years are biomass, a
partial substitute for gasoline in transportation, and wind and solar energy
technologies for generating electricity.
