8 in 10,000 — Net Zero Choices · Renewables vs Nuclear

From number to policy choice

4 stages

CO₂ in air today

~420–430 ppm

about 4 in 10,000 molecules

Doubled CO₂

~560 ppm

about 8 in 10,000 molecules

Policy frame

Net Zero

Infrastructure choice

Renewables vs Nuclear

A concentration number is not self-explanatory. It does not by itself choose the technology pathway.

Environmental trade-offs to audit

12 items · filter by burden type

Burden

Different technologies shift environmental burdens in different ways. Click a burden category above to see how it splits between the two pathways.

Renewables pathway

Different
technologies
shift
burdens
differently.

Nuclear pathway

Consequences if the audit is weak

6 risks · click for detail

Net Zero decisions should compare trade-offs, not assume one pathway is cost-free or impact-free.

Core Audit Questions

1

What is measured, and what is only scenario-based?

Direct measurement (concentrations, costs) vs scenario output (long-term forecasts, deployment trajectories). The audit asks which is which in any given headline number.
2

What assumptions connect CO₂ numbers to Net Zero policy?

A long chain: which feedbacks, which scenario, which damage function, which discount rate, which technology mix. Each link is its own audit.
3

What environmental burdens are shifted, not removed?

Decarbonisation does not eliminate environmental cost — it shifts it. Onto land, materials, water, waste, and risk-governance regimes. The audit asks which burdens are shifted where.
4

What trade-offs differ between renewables and nuclear?

The category filter on Section 2 surfaces the answer: each pathway concentrates burden on a different mix of land, materials, infrastructure, waste, and governance.
5

What is the claim actually entitled to support?

The framework's signature question. Neither pathway is impact-free. The audit asks: which trade-offs has the chosen pathway honestly accounted for, and which has it assumed away?

Without an audit, a small number can drive very large commitments while hiding environmental trade-offs.