Aktualita

Mirek Topolánek se zúčastnil 5. Kazenergy Eurasian Forum v kazašské Astaně

5.10.2010 | Sdílet

Plné znění příspěvků v angličtině:

Welcome speech

Каирли кун, доброе ютрo, good morning, or not so officially and seriously salam alejkum, здравствуйте, and hello.

Dear Prime Minister, distinguish participants, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great honor to be here with you at this prestigious event – at The Fifth KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum, here in Astana, in the capitol of Kazakhstan, in this beautiful Palace of Independence. I appreciate the opportunity to welcome you to the main city of crucial energy discussion in the whole world today. I’d like to thank the organizers for kind invitation to this forum as well as for chance to address you with this opening speech. I am very satisfied to come back repetedly to Astana, without a doubt as you. I thought before my coming from Prague how to formulate the key sentence, the basic mission, the main objective and content of our conference. We will discuss about balancing risks and new opportunities, we will try to define the right balance of interests, we will find solutions to the energy security issues, we will indicate new potential sources, we will determine influence of the global crisis to the energy sector. Generally, we will discuss about Eurasian energy map. The key words are responsibility, certainty, stability and security. Nevertheless, I hope, we will discuss about future, about cooperation, about exchange of ideas and experience between friends more than about raw materials, barriers of supply, shortages, bottlenecks, threats etc. The pipelines should not be only tools of interconnection between suppliers and consumers. They must be the lines of our understanding, friendship and flow of people, visions, cultures and knowledge. It is the basic goal of our talking. It could be a leading spirit in this amazing hall. I wish ourselves to fulfill this mission and to start the new period of prosperous, secure and perspective time for all of us. I’d like to thank organizers for hospitality and for organization. Allow me express a persuasion. It will be successful forum. Good luck.

---

Future of the new Energy Sources

Despite of the rapid spread of using renewable sources and energy saving technologies it is evident, that hydrocarbons will continue to be a main source of energy for the foreseeable future. Especially for heating and transport. EU is one of the largest consumers of hydrocarbons in the world. EU has only limited domestic resources and simultaneously constantly increasing consumption. EU has parallelly – as a global leader – ambitious binding targets in reduction of CO2 emissions. Perhaps because this, EU should focus on ensuring of these resources on global energy market. On the other hand, and it will be the content of my presentation, we do have to focus on perspective, low-carbon technologies and sources according to results of R&D activities. Just for I will not concentrate in my speech to importance of the Southern Corridor, I will not emphasize key role of potential gas pipeline Nabucco.

I do not believe in depletion of resources, I believe in ability of gray cerebral cortex, ability of people to research and invent. Just and only Research, Development & Demonstration and implementation of new and modern technologies, especially in three areas – nuclear energy, renewable sources and savings, and unconventional sorts of energy sources and means of transport – should be another important segment of our strategy. The research, development and demonstration (RD&D) of innovative technologies are crucial to meeting future energy challenges. But just developing new technologies is not enough. Most new technologies will require, at some stage, both the “push” of RD&D and the “pull” of market deployment. This means that governments and industry need to accelerate energy technology commercialization through a number of parallel and interrelated pathways, including RD&D, incentives, market mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, information campaigns and other programmes.

There exists a three challenges and limits of the choice:

– The security of supply
- The cost – competitiveness
- The reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions

Each of our solutions must be found somewhere in the middle of this imaginary triangle. I will not deal with the most effective way of reduction of CO2 emissions – the savings. I’ll resign detailed description of the CCS – carbon capture and storage technology, and my famous CCT – clean coal technology. Concerning renewable resources, I would like to address the main problem and that is the price and instability of supply. The causes are done of the price advantage, system of subsidies and incentives, uncontrolled expansion, hitting the grid and distribution system, increased costs for support and system services. High expenditures reopened the question of storage of electricity, either by accumulating in district heating systems, pumping plants, batteries or hydrogen fuel cells etc. again. It is a big challenge for our research centres. All these technologies are very important. For all that I will focus in detail just on nuclear power.

With these three challenges in mind, it should be noted that:

• To meet Europe’s commitment to substantially reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 and beyond, a long-term energy policy urgently needs to be implemented. Nuclear power and hydro – power are currently the only sustainable large-scale means for producing continuously available base-load and almost carbon-free electricity. Sustainable nuclear energy has the potential for further reducing CO2 emissions over the very long term;

• To secure Europe’s energy supply and its competitiveness, generation-III light-water reactors should be developed and supply a significant share of the EU’s energy needs. Gradually, generation-IV fast reactors with closed fuel cycles should be introduced. Through multi-recycling, such nuclear systems will maximise the use of the energy potential of the fuel, thereby ensuring that nuclear energy remains an economical and sustainable source of energy for thousands of years. Increasing the relative share of nuclear electricity production will reduce Europe’s external dependency on fossil fuels, thereby further enhancing the security of its energy supply;
• To effectively combat climate change, the cost of greenhouse-gas emissions must be taken into account at a worldwide level. Nuclear power must be included in the post – Kyoto international negotiations, as a part of clean development mechanisms, contributing to sustainable development.

What are the basic goals? • Proposal a vision for the short, medium and long-term development of nuclear fission energy technologies, with the aim of achieving a sustainable production of nuclear energy, a significant progress in economic performance, and a continuous improvement of safety levels as well as resistance to proliferation. • Development and deployment of potentially sustainable nuclear technologies, as well as actions to harmonise Europe’s training and education, whilst renewing its research infrastructures. • Public acceptance for the development of nuclear energy. Therefore, research in the field of nuclear installation safety, protection of workers and populations against radiation, management of all types of waste, and governance methodologies with public participation will be promoted.

And what are the long-term objectives?

• To preserve and strengthen the European technological leadership and nuclear industry through a strong and long-term R&D programme, involving fuel cycles and reactor systems of generation-II, -III and -IV types.

• In order to ensure the development of sustainable nuclear power on a large scale worldwide, the fuel cycle must be closed, i.e. recycling uranium and plutonium. Such fuel – cycle strategies can already be implemented with currently available technology in conjunction with generation-II and -III reactors. With further technological breakthroughs and R&D efforts, multi-recycling of all actinides can be implemented in conjunction with generation-IV reactors.

• In order to maintain its technological leadership in a worldwide context of nuclear market renaissance, Europe has to build a generation-IV prototype. The construction of a sodium fast-neutron reactor prototype is planned in France with international and industrial partnerships. In parallel, Europe should work on an alternative design of fast-spectrum experimental system (helium cooled or lead-cooled fast reactor). Sustained research and technological breakthroughs are needed to design and build such generation-IV systems.

• In order to maintain a high level of safety, based on national and international standards, safety regulations and guidelines have to be further developed and harmonised. Research programmes on reactor safety and protection against radiological hazards should continue to be conducted. Risk-governance methodologies with participation of representatives from the public at large should be further developed; enhance Europe’s techno­logical leadership in nuclear science and engineering by the production of scientific and technical skills to keep pace with the corresponding industrial and R&D demand. Therefore, in addition to electricity production, the use of nuclear power to produce hydrogen and industrial heat should become a high priority R&D topic.

Future research, development and demonstration (RD&D) tracks that the nuclear fission sector must follow to address three plus one objective:

1. To maintain the safety and competitiveness of today’s techno­logies,
2. To develop a new generation of more sustainable reactor technologies – so-called Generation IV fast neutron reactors with closed fuel cycles
3. To develop new applications of nuclear power such as the industrial scale production of hydrogen, desalination or other industrial process heat applications.
4. Last, but not least – to educate and train young researchers and engineers as the necessity how to maintain existing knowledge and to carry out the research and the development programmes described above. I am convinced the last one condition is the narrow neck generally.

Projections indicate that by 2030, nuclear energy will continue to produce more than half of the electricity produced by non-fossil fuel-based technologies. This objective is to be achieved by acting now to “complete the preparations for the demonstration of a new generation (Gen-IV) of fission reactors for increased sustainability”. From 2040 on wards, it is envisaged that this new generation of Fast Neutron Reactors will be operating in parallel to the advanced Gen-III Light Water Reactors now being built in Europe, thereby maintaining the current 1/3 share of nuclear electricity in Europe. Yes, the nuclear is a real future.

Conclusions and recommendations

In summary, we can deduce that, if no fundamental changes in the energy sector will be realised, the following changes occur in 2050, compared to the year 2000 will be:

• Population will increase
• Consumption of primary energy will grow
• Electricity consumption will grow
• CO2 emissions will rise

The result of these factors would increase prices and tense situation in the supply of oil and then natural gas, despite the obvious reserves for several hundred years. There will be a shift to other primary energy sources – the coal, renewables and mainly nuclear energy.

The above changes in the energy sector can only occur by accelerating the cycle of innovation, developing new technologies and the consequent industrial deployment after due verification of the demo units – RD & D policy. We want to achieve the desired goals by 2050. Given the long period of economic recovery (life) and long-time construction must begin with all the action as soon as possible, preferably yesterday. The new energy sources are only way, how to achieve the optimal point in the middle of our dreamed triangle. Security of supply, acceptable costs and protection of the environment. That is all.

« zpět na přehled aktualit