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U-Battery – 47th G7 Summit focuses on low-carbon solutions to climate change

23 June 2021

Earlier this month, the UK hosted the 47th G7 summit in St Ives, Cornwall and welcomed leaders from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan as well as leaders from the EU Commission, Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa.

In what has been one of the first in-person meetings in some time, and the first overseas trip for US President Joe Biden since his election, one of the key points on the agenda was the global response to climate change. The group outlined several commitments in its joint agenda for action, at the close of the summit. Alongside a pledge to reaffirm the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold for climate warming, the group committed to accelerating zero emissions energy deployment and to the launching of a G7 Industrial Decarbonisation Agenda, which notes the importance of clean, inclusive, energy solutions to support industry to transition.

The joint agenda for action positively links the need to enhance industrial energy use and resource efficiency with accelerating the role of nuclear energy, along with other low-carbon technologies. Given that the G7 nations operate approximately 63 per cent of the world’s fleet (World Nuclear Association, 2021), they are powerful advocates for the use of nuclear and it is positive to see this grouping include nuclear in its agenda for decarbonisation.

The link between nuclear energy and industrial decarbonisation that has been outlined in this programme is critical to our efforts to decarbonise. Small nuclear, such as U-Battery’s AMR design, as a source of localised low-carbon energy, is one of the best means of enabling critical and strategic industries to successfully decarbonise, and in so doing, sustain and preserve jobs and capabilities.

Low-carbon, innovative, and elementary nuclear solutions, like U-Battery, employ existing technologies to produce the high-heats and power required to sustainably decarbonise industrial operations and reduce these businesses’ cost of energy. Heavy industries are major employers and invest in local communities, across the world, and require low-carbon power to sustainably transition to a greener, cleaner future.  

Alongside heavy industry, this technology can provide a source of low carbon power for off-grid mining and desalination sites in variety of locations, which will also be key areas to decarbonise. U-Battery is already working to deliver its solutions in Canada and the UK, where the need for sustainably decarbonising industrial sites and remote operations is acute.

Innovative, nuclear, solutions will ultimately have a positive impact on the global drive to reach Net Zero and it is positive to see the G7 taking this important step forward in backing nuclear power to deliver Net-Zero and decarbonisation.