Assessing the impact of a nuclear pathway on Australia’s emissions

New analysis by the Climate Change Authority has examined the impact on Australia’s emissions from a proposal to overhaul the electricity system with nuclear in the mix.   

Australia’s current policy direction aims to modernise electricity generation through deployment of renewables, storage and firming. The report, Assessing the impact of a nuclear pathway on Australia’s emissions, explores how the adoption of an alternative pathway with nuclear could impact national emissions reduction targets and commitments to 2050.

Compared with the current national pathway which is set to see coal-fired generators fully replaced by a mix of renewables and firming by 2040, the analysis finds the alternative pathway would mean: 

• an additional 1 billion tonnes of emissions from the electricity sector, and likely at least that amount again economy-wide by 2050  
• pursuing a pace of climate action that is consistent with a global pathway to around 2.6°C of warming, a level at which scientists, economists and governments anticipate major social, economic and environmental harm  
• missing Australia’s legislated 43% national emissions reduction target for 2030 by more than five percentage points, and still not achieving this level of reduction by 2035.