Weekend Edition: A Green Pipe Dream? |

Green Peace Canada slammed the IEA following its 2011 World Energy Outlook report for underestimating renewable energy’s role in replacing falling nuclear output into the future. The IEA believes that post Fukushima there’s uncertainty facing nuclear power and presented a “low nuclear case” scenario where nuclear power generation drops 50% by 2035. According to the IEA, the nuclear energy gap would be bridged with 33% Coal, 33% gas and 33% renewable leading to higher costs and emissions. But Green Peace believes the solution is both unrealistic and unpractical, governments should be focusing on energy efficiency and renewables:

“… the IEA is once again putting politics ahead of science by suggesting that a reduction in nuclear power will lead to higher energy costs and emissions – the opposite is the case. A combination of energy efficiency and renewables would be the way forward and could lead to a complete phase-out of nuclear power by 2035, while lowering electricity costs and carbon emissions”.

To which the deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency, Richard Jones answered with:

“We think the people who just say, ‘you can wave a magic wand and replace all of these other technologies with renewables’ are smoking dope.”

So we have the IEA who believes there’s no way renewable energy sources can expand so dramatically by 2035 and Green Peace insisting on the contrary. Which party is smoking the dope?