Nuclear Energy vs Solar Energy Abdulla E. Abdulla American University of Sharjah March 2015 Abdulla Abdulla 59950 March 26, 2015 WRI 101 – Sec16 Would you like to jog with a gas mask? With the rise in the awarenessof the dangers of burning limited resources and the fear of depleting what is left of the crude oil in the UAE, government and private firms in the UAE are investing large amount of capital to develop new sources of unlimited clean energy to sustain its ambitious goals with solar energy and nuclear energy leading the way. Even though there are some considerable similarities in terms of the availability of the required resources and its positive impact towards the environment, the differences regarding the required input and the expected …show more content…
In fact, according to (Bosshard, 2006), both solar and nuclear energy will provide us with Carbon Dioxide (along with other gasses) saving of 1330kg per year for every 1kW of electric power produced which indicates that both solar and nuclear energy are similar in terms of minimizing the emissions of the Green House gasses. Another similar feature in which both solar and nuclear energy experience is the abundance and availability of the resources required to produce electricity. In the UAE, access to long term supply of sunlight is not an issue; in fact, the UAE is provided with up to 4000 hours of sunlight per year. Moreover, despite the fact that the UAE does not produce Uranium locally, Australia, which holds 40 per cent of the world’s Uranium reserves, has agreed to supply the UAE with Uranium that is worth 20 billion dollars which would be sufficient to supply 4 nuclear reactors (Shehab, 2012). Despite the similarities that are shared between the solar and nuclear energy, the differences regarding safety and security are pronounced. To begin with, solar energy is relatively safe and secure compared to other sources of energy; in fact, it is the safest …show more content…
However, it is still inevitable to invest in the nuclear energy considering that countries in Europe, including Germany, are closing down nuclear plants in order to prevent any future crisis which forces us to believe that the UAE has to reconsider such a step towards adopting nuclear reactors in the UAE. In conclusion, solar energy and nuclear energy are similar in terms of the positive impact towards the environment by minimizing the emissions of Green House gasses and in terms of the availability and the abundance of the resources required to generate and produce electricity. Despite that, there is a massive difference between solar energy and nuclear energy in terms of the safety and security of operating solar power plants and nuclear plants as well as the magnitude of the crisis that can occur in case of a leakage or technical issues in the operation. Abdulla Abdulla 59950 March 26, 2015 WRI 101 – Sec16 Bibliography Bosshard, P. (2006). An assessment of solar energy conversion technologies and research oppurtunities. California: Stanford