The Energy Race

There's no time to lose in the fight against climate change. In our new video The Energy Race, we explain that meeting this challenge will require a team effort including all of our low-carbon technologies. Each member of the team—nuclear energy, wind and solar, advanced nuclear and carbon capture technologies— offers unique attributes and is vital to help us overcome the tough hurdles that stand between us and our emissions goals.

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Meet the Team

	Our existing nuclear fleet is our largest source of clean power, providing almost 60% of our current low-carbon electricity. Literally the “powerhouses” of the grid, today’s reactors produce reliable energy 24/7 and give us a big head start in the race to decarbonize. But if we keep letting nuclear facilities shut down, we’re going to fall way behind.
	As the world’s fastest growing energy sources, wind and solar are essential zero carbon technologies. Over the past decade they’ve soared from 1% of our power generation to 6.5%. Wind is already one of the most affordable new low-carbon technologies and the cost of solar is declining rapidly, so we’ll probably see them take on an even bigger role within the clean energy team in the future.
	A new crop of nuclear reactor designs could be another powerhouse of low carbon energy that’s on whenever you need it, and can fill-in when our renewable teammates need backup. Advanced reactors could help bring down the cost of nuclear and create additional opportunities to replace dirty fossil fuels in both the power sector and in industry.
	Coal and natural gas plants—both in the U.S. and around the globe—will continue operating for decades. Technologies that capture carbon and store it underground (or lock it into useful products) are the only way to reduce emissions from these plants and keep our decarbonization team on pace. Carbon capture is also our best shot at cutting emissions from carbon-heavy industries like steel and cement.