§ Dr. LadymanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on current station lifetime plans, what projections have been made of the production of greenhouse gases if electricity produced from nuclear power stations is replaced with electricity produced from gas-fired power stations. [17368]
§ Mr. MeacherOn central assumptions, electricity generation from UK nuclear power stations is projected to fall from 86 terawatt hours in 2005 to 27 terawatt hours in 2020, as existing power stations reach the end of their licensed lifetimes (see table). Were it physically possible to replace all nuclear capacity by gas-fired power stations similar to the type presently being installed by 2005, the related greenhouse gas emissions would be about 8.3 million tonnes of carbon per year in 2005, falling to 2.6 million tonnes of carbon by 2020. This includes the effect of carbon dioxide arising from combustion plus minor associated emissions of methane and nitrous oxide.
2005 2010 2015 2020 Nuclear generation (TWh) 86 66 40 27 Greenhouse gas emissions from fuel switching1 8.3 6.4 3.9 2.6 1 Million tonnes of carbon equivalent