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The world needs five times as much energy as fossil fuels now produce to spread prosperity to its poorest people, Irish said.

Due to pollution concerns, we can’t raise up all of these people from poverty by burning five times more coal, oil and natural gas. Solar and wind are too costly, land-intensive and unreliable, so much so that countries like Germany that have made monumental efforts to switch to solar and wind have been unsuccessful in reducing carbon emissions and have seen energy price spikes.

Photo by Supplied / 00087346A

Only a few energy sources have worked to slash carbon emissions, namely hydro and nuclear in countries like France and Sweden, noted U.S. environmentalist Michael Shellenberger has argued.

Terrestrial’s molten salt reactor is designed to produce energy with one-quarter the carbon footprint of solar and wind power, Irish said. It should also cost much less to build than a conventional nuclear plant. In essence, it’s a simpler reactor design than the conventional model, burning fuel more efficiently at a higher temperature, but not needing high pressure and water coolant. The efficiency and simplicity should drive the increased safety, reduced nuclear waste and reduced cost of molten salt reactors.

American multi-billionaire Bill Gates has invested in Gen 4 reactors. Gates recently singled out Terrestrial’s work in the MIT Technological Review as being one of the Top 10 technological breakthroughs of 2019.

“This is a competitive race and involves many companies and many nations who are committing ever more aggressively to their projects,” Irish said. “We are the only Canadian technology company in that race. And by some measure we’re in the lead.”

In the United States, there’s strong bipartisan support for Gen 4 reactors. In Canada, political support has been more muted, with the Green Party, sadly stuck in old ways of thinking about nuclear power and climate change, actually pushing against Canada’s program.

Of course, there are still questions around Gen 4 reactors. There’s work to be done to prove their promise.

But Canadians want and need abundant energy. We want the prosperity we know to spread.

At the same time, many folks are keen to stop feeling frightened, helpless and ineffective in the face of global warming. We are open to solutions that will work.

I strongly suspect the first major political party that gets behind Gen 4 reactors will earn favour with a great many voters.