Diary of a Mad Webfarmer

Just released, a new report from the Maryland Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) on the prospects for nuclear power. New happenings at Calvert Cliffs nuclear power station probably had something to do with the motivation for this report. AREVA now controls Constellation Energy which runs the Calvert Cliffs plant.

The High Cost of Nuclear Power - Executive Summary - Maryland PIRG [Complete PDF here]

"Clean energy solutions are able to meet demand for electricity in small, modular amounts – posing far less financial risk than new nuclear power plants.

The 2008 meltdown of the U.S. financial system and the ensuing economic crisis could retard growth in demand for electricity. As a result, the demand a nuclear power plant is meant to serve may not materialize. And since nuclear power plants are large and inflexible, this possibility poses a serious financial risk for any utility considering a new nuclear power plant, and its customers. Construction of a nuclear power plant cannot be halted halfway to get half of the power output – it’s all or nothing.

In contrast, clean energy solutions are typically modular – they can be assembled into units tailored precisely to an evolving need for electricity."

Firm Applies to Expand Nuclear Plant in Maryland - Washington Post - 31 Jul 09

"The first application to build a new U.S. nuclear power plant in three decades has been filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, bumping a proposed third unit at a Calvert County site to the front of a list of reactors being considered by the nuclear power industry.

Constellation Energy Group of Baltimore has filed a partial application with the NRC, asking the commission to review environmental plans for a 1,600-megawatt reactor at the Calvert Cliffs site in Lusby, Md., that could cost $4 billion."

Groups Aim to Stop New Nuclear Reactor - HometownAnnapolis.com - 01 Apr 09

"Neumann said nuclear power is 200 percent costlier than combined heat and power technologies - a single integrated system of electricity and thermal energy - and 50 percent more expensive than wind power. The consumer groups are asking the Public Service Commission to deny UniStar Nuclear Energy, the joint venture of Constellation and Electricite de France, its request to build a third nuclear reactor in Calvert Cliffs, Calvert County."

I've been starting to follow Nicholas Kristof on Facebook and Twitter (will probably unfollow on Twitter). His latest column notes the latest silent disaster of the poor. A couple thousand dead killed by terrorists in the USA is enough ignite nationalist fervor and switch on billions flowing to the military industrial complex. By contrast, there's almost a complete silence on the generation of the collective mass graves of the poor on this planet.

At Stake Are More Than Banks - Nicholas Kristof - NY Times - 01 Apr 09

"According to World Bank estimates, the global economic crisis will cause an additional 22 children to die per hour, throughout all of 2009. And that’s the best-case scenario. The World Bank says it’s possible the toll will be twice that: an additional 400,000 child deaths, or an extra child dying every 79 seconds."

"The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, has a steady hand on his economy and has pioneered approaches to bank nationalization that we could learn from. But much of Europe seems paralyzed. Japan’s prime minister, Taro Aso, drew on the lessons of Japan’s 'lost decade' to scold Germany in an interview with The Financial Times for its dithering about a stimulus. When a Japanese prime minister scolds you for passivity, you know you’re practically a zombie.

As usual, the greatest price for incompetence at the summit will be borne by the poorest people in the world — who aren’t represented there and who never approved any bad loans. I’m just back from Haiti and the Dominican Republic where I saw the impact of the crisis firsthand. In the Haitian slum of Cité Soleil, ravenous children tore at some corncobs that my guide had brought; it was their first food that day."

"One of the most preposterous ideas floating about is that the world’s poor feel 'entitled' to assistance. Entitled? Wall Street plutocrats display a sense of entitlement when they demand billions for bailouts. But whether at home or abroad, the poor typically suffer invisibly and silently.

Oxfam has calculated that financial firms around the world have already received or been promised $8.4 trillion in bailouts. Just a week’s worth of interest on that sum while it’s waiting to be deployed would be enough to save most of the half-million women who die in childbirth each year in poor countries.

The 500 richest people in the world, according to a U.N. calculation a few years ago, earned more than the 416 million poorest people. It’s worth bearing in mind that the first group bears a measure of responsibility for the global economic mess but will get by just fine, while the latter group has no responsibility and will suffer the worst consequences."

Obama Depressed, Distant Since 'Battlestar Galactica' Series Finale - The Onion - 31 Mar 09

"Obama told aides he feels 'like a cylon without a Resurrection Ship.'"

The process of de-industrializing, and de-unionizing, the USA for fun and profit seems to be almost on autopilot now. China has so many advantages, it's hard to see Detroit or any of what remains as a manufacturing base get back into the game without some major policy shifts. Even more than what the Obama folks may have in mind. It's not like they've got radicals in those areas.

China Vies To Be World's Leader in Electric Cars - NY Times - 01 Apr 09

"Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that. The goal, which radiates from the very top of the Chinese government, suggests that Detroit’s Big Three, already struggling to stay alive, will face even stiffer foreign competition on the next field of automotive technology than they do today."

"To some extent, China is making a virtue of a liability. It is behind the United States, Japan and other countries when it comes to making gas-powered vehicles, but by skipping the current technology, China hopes to get a jump on the next."

"China is tackling the challenges with the same tools that helped it speed industrialization and put on the Olympics: immense amounts of energy, money and people. BYD has 5,000 auto engineers and an equal number of battery engineers, most of them living at its headquarters in Shenzhen in a cluster of 15 yellow apartment buildings, each 18 stories high. Young engineers earn less than $600 a month, including benefits."

How long does it take a pack of politicians, lawyers and judges to screw in a light bulb in MN?

Answer: The same time it takes to figure out a simple vote count?

Court Leaves Coleman With Little Hope - Politico - 31 Mar 09

"[E]ven as Democrat Al Franken’s campaign celebrated a three-judge panel’s decision to put at most 400 ballots back in play, the Coleman camp is still promising to take its case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. And it’s not ruling out an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or filing a new lawsuit in federal district court.

Ben Ginsberg, a central player for George W. Bush during the 2000 Florida recount and Coleman’s lawyer, said, 'If the court does not reverse its decision, it will give us no choice but to appeal that order to the Minnesota Supreme Court.'"

It's an itch they can't not scratch! I hope this neverending legal nonsense dooms Coleman from any further electoral adventures.

I signed up for their very low volume e-mail list some time ago and forgot all about them. Then a notice with this link came today. Low to no-growth economics is nothing new but it's always good to see a bit now and then in the news. Especially with the "stimulus" business that dominates economics at the present time.

Redefining Prosperity - Economics - Sustainable Development Commission (UK)

"Two objectives other than growth – sustainability and wellbeing – have moved up the political and policy-making agenda in recent years, challenging the overriding priority traditionally given to economic growth. SDC's 'Redefining Prosperity' project has looked into the connections and conflicts between sustainability, growth, and wellbeing.

As part of a two year programme of work, we commissioned thinkpieces, organised seminars, and invited feedback. This project has now resulted in a major SDC report: 'Prosperity without growth?: the transition to a sustainable economy' by Professor Tim Jackson, SDC’s Economics Commissioner. Prosperity without growth? analyses the relationship between growth and the growing environmental crisis and 'social recession'. "

PDF of the full document can be downloaded here.

And here I thought everyone loved safe, clean and efficient nuclear power in France! And they'll be getting all the extra waste from reactors outside of France that AREVA and Sarko are currently pimping.

Strong Local Opposition to Storage Site in Eastern France - Guardian (UK) - 26 Mar 09

"Public opposition to storage sites for highly radioactive waste could derail France's prized nuclear energy programme, the scientific adviser at French nuclear energy group Areva told Reuters on Thursday. France, where 58 nuclear reactors produce 80 percent of the country's electricity, has not found permanent underground storage with the capacity to bury nuclear energy waste it has generated in the past three decades and the waste it will produce in future.

The highly radioactive waste generated so far is currently stored in above ground facilities at Areva's nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in La Hague on the northwestern coast of Normandy. Under French law, Areva will have to bury the waste in a permanent repository by 2025."

"'A general opposition (to underground storage) in France would eventually kill the nuclear (industry),' Bertrand Barre told Reuters in an interview at Areva's headquarters. 'But we have good reasons to think that this will not happen because little by little things are taking place (abroad).'"

I just sent off a note to Mr. Wald noting one critical factor apparently left out of this analysis. When a wind farm deal is done, the price per kWH is fixed over a 20 year period. So while the wind may be more expensive in the near term, it's also a hedge against increases in conventional fuel prices. Good luck trying to find a coal, nuclear or gas supplier who would guarantee the price per kWH for 20 years.

BTW, I profess to be neutral too. Just like EPRI and Black & Veatch. :)

Cost Works Against Alternative Energy in Time of Recession - NY Times - 28 Mar 09

"Some experts not aligned with either camp estimate that wind power is currently more than 50 percent more expensive than power generated by a traditional coal plant. Built into the calculation is the need for utilities that rely heavily on wind power to build backup plants fired by natural gas to meet electricity demand when winds are calm."

"Organizations that profess to be neutral about what new technology gets built suggest that renewable energy probably has a steep hill to climb.

For example, the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit consortium financed by investor- and publicly-owned utilities, predicted in November that even for plants coming on line in 2015, wind energy would cost nearly one-third more than coal and about 14 percent more than natural gas. The cost of solar thermal electricity, made by using the sun’s heat to boil water and spin a turbine, would be nearly three times that of coal and more than twice that of natural gas. (It would be almost double the cost of wind energy, too.)"

"At Black & Veatch, a company based in Overland Park, Kan., that has been involved in the construction of coal, gas and wind plants, analysts recently compared the costs per kilowatt-hour of different energy sources for the big energy competitors. A kilowatt-hour is the unit of energy that the utilities use to bill homeowners, with the current retail cost averaging around 11 cents.

A modern coal plant of conventional design, without technology to capture carbon dioxide before it reaches the air, produces at about 7.8 cents a kilowatt-hour; a high-efficiency natural gas plant, 10.6 cents; and a new nuclear reactor, 10.8 cents. A wind plant in a favorable location would cost 9.9 cents per kilowatt hour. But if a utility relied on a great many wind machines, it would need to back them up with conventional generators in places where demand tends to peak on hot summer days with no breeze. That pushes the price up to just over 12 cents, making it more than 50 percent more expensive than a kilowatt-hour for coal."

That would be my guess as the response from the long-time "Do you want to freeze in the dark?" opponents of renewables. As Chomsky has said, "It can't be happening, therefore, it isn't."

Cave 'Batteries" Will Store Wind Power - Times (UK) - 29 Mar 09

"The compressed-air technique may sound far-fetched, but it is already in operation. At Huntdorf in Germany, a 290MW plant — powerful enough to run 290,000 homes — has been running for 25 years. A 110MW facility at McIntosh, Alabama, opened in 1991."

"Walter Doyle, boss of Dakota Salts, said the technology had the potential to transform the economics of wind farms. 'In the midwest, the local grid will buy off-peak power at 6-8 cents per kilowatt-hour. Peak prices are more like 26 cents an hour. With the storage option, you can guarantee your availability for the peak.'"

"The resulting caverns will be about 16m in diameter and 160m tall, and capable of generating some 100MW of electricity. Sirius and Dakota plan up to eight caverns in the project’s first phase, with the units coming on line in about five years. Doyle said that he was looking at similar projects in China and Australia."

"Gaelectric has begun investigating a storage facility near Larne in County Antrim. Subject to further geological investigation and planning permission, Gaelectric plans to spend £200m on a cavern with a minimum 136MW capacity — and possibly 300MW."

"It will store air at up to 68 times atmospheric pressure. A modern compression plant should be able to have an overall efficiency of about 75%. A crucial part of the process is capturing the heat generated when air is compressed. If that heat is not harnessed, the efficiency can fall to 65% or less."

March 26th was the anniversary of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear reactor melt and release. The Nation has an article in remembrance with a questionable conclusion, imo. Some say it was a big deal healthwise, others say it was no big deal in that department. On a similar theme, the Sand Jose Mercury News put out a report on the haps at Chernobyl.

A bit of irony. The same folks who are pushing for new nukes are often the same people who don't believe in global warming and certainly not cap-and-trade or other carbon tax or credit systems which would actually help the new nukes become halfway cost-effective. At least in theory, as noted in the MIT report on the future of nuclear power a few years back. They don't pencil out well even if you go that way compared to several alternatives.

Three Mile Island, the NRC and Obama - The Nation - 27 Mar 09

"It was thirty years ago this week that the Unit 2 reactor of the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant began a partial meltdown. As its fuel rods began to burn out of control, a hydrogen bubble formed, causing a small explosion."

"The crisis was eventually brought under control. How narrow the margin of error. That accident was bad--43,000 curies of krypton radiation were released--but it could have been catastrophic.

One reason more radiation was not released was because 'paranoid' anti-nuke activists worried that the plant, built directly in the flight path of the Harrisburg airport, could be hit by a jet. They demanded a very strong containment shell be built over the reactor. As a result, TMI had one of the strongest such protective seals in the country."

The Lost City of Chernobyl - San Jose Mercury News - 28 Mar 09

"More than 20 years after the atomic genie was released from the bottle, the invisible danger in this modern ghost town remains. Zaburin tells me not to worry, but I can see the readout on his dosimeter. It says 1,800. Only a few hours earlier he told me that 50 is normal. What am I doing here?"

"While it wasn't a nuclear explosion, the reactor blew apart, shooting radioactive debris more than a mile into the sky. In the days after the explosion, winds carried radioactive fallout across most of Europe.

Eventually more than 300,000 people were forced to relocate. It may seem a macabre place to visit, but is Chernobyl any different from the sites of tragedies like Auschwitz or New York's ground zero? It too has become hallowed ground where people come to witness history and to remember."

"Pripyat, the power plant's support city, once had a population of about 50,000. Today it's zero.

Back in 1986, officials told residents that the evacuation was temporary and they need only bring a few days' worth of clothes. As a result, most people left everything behind, unaware that they would never return.

Pripyat was a modern city before the disaster. Today, it is a crumbling shell, a surreal place where empty roads are lined with street lamps that never light. The only traffic is the occasional bright yellow dump truck emblazoned with radioactive symbols. Zaburin warns us not to breathe when they pass by. The dust could be hazardous to our health."

More fun from the "Obama is a Socialist" camp.

Michele Bachmann Seeks ‘Armed and Dangerous’ Opposition to Cap-and-Trade - NY Times - 25 Mar 09

"'I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us, 'Having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,' and the people – we the people – are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.'

Ms. Bachmann also expressed some skepticism on global warming, saying, 'The science is on our side on this one, and the science indicates that human activity is not the cause of all this global warming. And that in fact, nature is the cause, with solar flares, etc.'"

My impression is that when Obama or Chu says that should be "in the mix" that translates to: "We won't be shutting down any nukes and we'll let the 18.5 billion in loan guarantees from the 2005 bill keep moving on but we're not likely to spend any more than we politically have to on this turkey technology. We'll throw a bone to the coal industry on sequestration to keep those congress critters off our backs too."

I was expecting maybe three or four nukes from the current loan guarantees but as the states start passing legislation to dump the cost onto the consumers in advance of the plant starting, that might go up a bit. I'm not sure that's policy will stick once people start opening their bills with the new charge on it. Good analysis work here.

EMISSION CRITICAL: Nuclear Sector Lags In US Energy Policy Shift - WSJ - 26 Mar 09

". . . nuclear power is still struggling to win unequivocal government and market support, even as developers prepare to break ground on the first new reactors since 1996. A new nuclear plant costs too much to compete with natural gas or coal. Opponents of the industry have successfully argued that nuclear is too mature a technology to receive new government incentives. Legislation aimed at building up alternatives to fossil fuels has largely left nuclear out in the cold."

"The 26 proposed nuclear plants are for now an industry wish list. Nuclear plants are expensive - Progress Energy Inc. (PGN) recently estimated that two new reactors outside Tampa will cost $7 billion each. Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) plans to spend $1.8 billion to build a coal plant near Charlotte to produce nearly as much as one reactor.

'The cost of these plants is quite high...if you look at the companies sponsoring them, that's greater than their entire market capitalization,' said Glen Grabelsky, a managing director at Fitch Ratings in New York."

"Barring a dramatic change in the loan-guarantee program, four to eight nuclear plants are likely to be built by 2016, said Tom Kauffman, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group."

""Nuclear power has received the lion's share of subsidies over the last 40 years, and despite all that has not managed to create a competitive technology," [Daniel] Lashof [of the NRDC] said."

A nice Q&A piece on burying power lines. When I moved back to Nebraska from Hawaii some years back, we had this too early monster heavy wet snow storm that took all the power lines down in the downtown neighborhood I used to live in. The snow on the leaves overloaded the branches (you could hear them breaking with a sound like gun shots going off in the neighborhood) which then took out the power lines.

That was in my old neighborhood. In my new neighborhood, the wires were all underground. No major problems there.

Why Don't We Bury More Power Lines? - Renewable Energy World - 24 Mar 09

"Many people believe correctly that burying power lines solves lots of problems like the icing of powerlines and the avoidance of falling tree limbs on windy days that knock down lines. On the other hand, buried power lines make them more susceptable to damage from floods, earthquakes mudslides and can limit how quickly they can be repaired.

But the real limiting factor is that the cost of ditching and burying lines can be more than US $10 per foot. In fact, the state Public Service Commission staff found that burying Louisiana's utility lines to protect them from hurricane-force winds could cost $70 billion — far too much for the state's 2 million electricity customers to pay. Plans to go underground often hit a brick wall nationally, because burying existing overhead power lines costs about 10-15 times more than stringing them from poles."

"In Florida and North Carolina, statewide initiatives to bury power lines would have prompted a rate increase of 80 to 125 percent, according to a report by the Edison Electric Institute, the utility industry trade group. All of that said, the national trend in cities is to bury lines when the city's infrastructure is being upgraded."

At least the kids understand their proper roles in this corporate effort, eh?

Idaho Falls Students Prepare to Travel to AREVA Headquarters in France - KPVI News 6 - 20 Mar 09

"AREVA was so impressed with the students, that the company is paying for the group of 25 to visit the company's headquarters in Paris, France. The students will have time to visit the Eiffel Tower, but say the trip is about reporting back to the community about AREVA and what it can do for Eastern Idaho."

"Alyssa Jordan, I.F. High senior: 'Our responsibility is to inform people about what AREVA is doing in France and tell them about nuclear energy and what AREVA will bring to Idaho Falls.'

Beth Westfall, I.F. High senior: 'We are AREVA's advocate, we are their link to the community. We're from here and we will have gone there and hopefully learn so much and bring the info back because it will be kids who are graduating now and going on to college and who will work at AREVA.'"

I still think compressed air is going to be the best near term bet but it's interesting to see other efforts underway too. Unfortunately the now mythical ERCOT story about how the failure of the wind almost generated a blackout in Texas is once again repeated. It was a relatively minor event with a two hour ramp down. The AICE study that says that only 15% renewables could be handled without storage is also at odds with other studies that say something around 20-25% is more the figure where it gets interesting. Denmark is already around 20% with no additional storage. They are working with IBM to use wind energy to store power in electric vehicles for transportation and for grid storage and regulation uses.

How Enormous Batteries Could Safeguard the Power Grid - CSMonitor.com - 22 Mar 09

"Without the ability to store massive amounts of energy, “renewable power can only be piggybacked onto the US grid to supply not more than 15 percent of the power at best,” the AICE study says. Yet the potential costs of building the storage necessary to allow renewable energy to expand to supply just 20 percent of US energy needs would be enormous – more than $340 billion to develop some 912 billion watt-hours of storage capacity, the AICE study found."

"Until recently, relatively little funding has flowed to grid-storage development. In 2007, the industry overall spent a relatively tiny $2 billion on energy storage at the utility level, according to a report last year by Climate Change Business Journal. That’s starting to change.

Before the recent financial crisis, venture investing in utility-energy storage had risen from about $300 million in 2004 to nearly $700 million in 2007, according to Lux Research, a market research company. 'It’s still an incredibly hot market right now,' says Brad Roberts, chairman of the Electricity Storage Association, a trade group in Morgan Hill, Calif. He expects at least $200 million in new federal funding to accelerate development that languished with just $4 million to $10 million annually over the last 10 years."

"Dr. Smyrl, federal researchers, and utility executives are looking at the same renewable storage problem in Luverne, Minn., where the nation’s first wind-to-battery setup is using a small wind farm to charge batteries that release that power onto the grid. These aren’t your ordinary flashlight batteries – but rather high-temperature, sodium-sulfur batteries the size of two semi-trailers that soak up 7.2 megawatt hours of power generated from seven nearby wind turbines owned by MinWind, a Minnesota wind-power developer."

Two percent for 90 percent. Fair enough.

Wind Turbines to Ward Off Bat Killings - Washington Times - 23 Mar 09

"A soon-to-be-released study conducted last year at two wind facilities owned by Iberdrola Renewables in Pennsylvania and West Virginia finds that shutting down the turbines during low wind periods can reduce fatalities by more than 90 percent. Ed Arnett, the study´s coordinator, said the deaths occur almost exclusively when turbines are operating at night at low wind speeds. That is when bats are active and feeding because the wind is light enough for insects to fly.

One theory is that the bats think the turbines are large trees and inspect them as potential roosting places. Researchers also think insects are attracted to the white towers at night and may draw bats to the turbines as a feeding ground. Environmentalists and industrial officials say there is a cost to cutting off the turbines at night. Andy Linehan, a bat specialist at Iberdrola Renewables, said that shutting down the turbines during last year´s experiment resulted in a 2 percent reduction in electricity generation. "

Robert Redford and Lola Redford were early activists in the development of a solar powered future. Lola Redford co-founded Consumer Action Now and the movie below was linked to that organization. As I recall, she was once also very active in some solar efforts up in Montana that included a traveling solar trailer exhibit. Robert Redford has a new entry on the Huffington Post that, in turn, inspired my post today

I participated a bit on 'Sun Day' as the coordinator of an effort by the NU Public Interest Research Group (NUPIRG) at UN-L to identify barriers to solar energy development (that included wind in those days) in Nebraska. Had a nice little staff to work on it too. It was funny to hear from someone who recently re-discover that old document all these years later. Of course, the report and its conclusions were all circular filed by the then Powers-That-Be in the state government.

Lola Redford and Ilene Goldman of C.A.N. - The Plowboy Interview - Mother Earth News - Jul/Aug 72

"'Just being for trees, fresh air and pure water isn't enough, ' reasoned Lola Redford, wife of actor Robert Redford, and Ilene Goldman, wife of author William Goldman. 'We're all for ecology but few of us know how to begin living our lives in ecologically sound ways. We need information that will help us distinguish between environmentally good' and 'bad' products so that we can vote for (buy and/or recycle) the good and vote against (not buy or use at all) the bad every day of our lives.'"

I Was Too Early on Solar Power -- Let's Not Be Too Late - Robert Redford - Huffington Post - 17 Mar 09

"I saw that ingenuity emerge three decades ago, when the promise of renewable energy became clear to many of us. We were so eager to spread the word about solar power that we created 'Sun Day,' the solar equivalent of Earth Day. We had events from Maine to Chicago to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. I even got the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to participate in one event.

People were just starting to get excited about pollution-free power, but then Ronald Reagan became president and the solar panels came off the White House and the policies promoting renewable energy were stripped from the books.

That same year, a short documentary I produced came out called The Solar Film. The people interviewed in film say they like how solar power cuts down on their bills, doesn't have to be imported, and makes them worry less about terrorists. All of those benefits remain extremely relevant today, but we have lost three decades in the effort to extend them to more Americans.

I was too early in my efforts to promote solar power, but now is the time. We are getting a second chance -- another American trait. If we don't seize this moment, we will be too late to get the competitive advantage in a global marketplace, too late for the economic dividends, and too late to stave off the worst of global warming."

"The Solar Film" (1980) - Das FilmFest (Flash or Quicktime required) - 9:30 minutes for original film.

The first guy on the video is completely wrong about the mythical intermittent Texas wind problem. That problem was the utilities not using wind forecasting. Forcasting that they already had available. Also the ramp rate, it took almost two hours, wasn't that big of a deal. This is very unlike scramming a large plant like a nuke, btw.

More Companies Focus on Utility-scale Renewable Energy Integration - Renewable Energy World - 17 Mar 09

( Video behind cut . . . )

This NY Times Op-Ed piece is spot on. The near constant nattering of congress critters to Dr. Chu - complaining about how poor little nuclear is being ignored - indicates the depth of this systemic problem. This is especially true of the Senate critters as this column also notes.

A Nuclear Waste - Stephanie Cooke - NY Times - 17 Mar 09

"Given the department’s [nuclear bomb] origins, it is not surprising that nuclear programs have won out over other energy technologies. Of the $135.4 billion spent on energy research and development from 1948 to 2005 (in constant 2004 dollars), more than half, or $74 billion, went to nuclear energy, while fossil-fuel programs received a quarter, or $34.1 billion. The leftovers went for alternatives, with renewables getting $13 billion, or 10 percent, and energy efficiency $12 billion, according to a Congressional Research Service report written in 2006.

That historical pattern of spending continues to this day. This year nuclear energy research is receiving $1.7 billion, including for a weapons-related fusion program being touted for its supposed energy potential. Nuclear weapons programs are getting $6.4 billion, with an additional $6.5 billion allocated to environmental cleanup. Millions more are spent on efforts to reduce the risk of weapons proliferation, and recovering nuclear and radioactive materials from around the world.

Against this background, alternative energy solutions are but an afterthought: in the current fiscal year, for example, all of $1.1 billion is apportioned for programs falling under this category, not including the stimulus money."

"Al Gore, You've Doomed Us All. Run!" - xkcd webcomic

As Gore notes, he was at one point a very active nuclear power supporter. All the way back to the Clinch River Breeder Reactor days at least. Recall, he represented the state of Oak Ridge National Laboratories and a big chunk of nuclear-friendly TVA. Lots of interesting tidbits sprinkled through this interview.

Gore On Lovelock, Nuclear Power and Climate Change Sceptics - Guardian (UK) - 16 Mar 09

"James Lovelock has forgotten more about science than I will ever learn. But in analysing political systems he is perhaps allowing his understandable frustration with the way politicians have dealt with this crisis to obscure some of the opportunities for change in the political system. There are tipping points in nature, but there are also tipping points in politics."

"If you're looking at the trends towards more conservation and the rapid introduction of renewables, it's hard for you to project what your demand is going to be with as much precision as when the world was more predictable. As a result, you are less inclined to take all of your money and place one big bet on something that matures 12-15 years from now at an uncertain cost. That what's called a 'lumpy investment' and they want smaller increments that give them smaller flexibility."

"For the eight years that I spent in the White House every nuclear weapons proliferation problem we dealt with was connected to a reactor programme. People have said for years that there are now completely different [nuclear] technologies. OK, but if you have a team of scientists that can build a reactor, and you're a dictator, you can make them work at night to build a nuclear weapon. That's what's happened in North Korea and Iran. And in Libya before they gave it up. So the idea of, say, Chad, Burma, and Sudan having lots of nuclear reactors is insane and it's not going to happen."

This just in from a report conducted by the German Aerospace Center (German's NASA) for Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). Nothing but good news from the German rocket scientists on the future of renewables and climate change in the US of A. Curiously, there are complaints that it doesn't include some important benefits on top of the ones listed. The original scenario asks what happens if you phase out coal and nuclear also. The whole report can be had here in PDF format.

Energy [R]evolution - Greenpeace USA

"The Energy [R]evolution U.S. scenario provides a blueprint for how  the U.S. can use energy more efficiently and increase renewable energy generating capacity to cut current C02 emissions levels some 23% by 2020 and 85% by 2050."

"As the report states, 'According to the University of Massachusetts’s Political Economy Research Institute, investments in wind and solar power create 2.8 times as many jobs as the same investment in coal; mass transit and conservation would create 3.8 times as many jobs as coal.' We project that the Energy [R]evolution Scenario would create 14.5 million more new jobs by 2050 than would be created by meeting our energy needs with continued dependence on fossil fuels."

Greenpeace Grossly Understates Value of Energy [R]evolution - European Tribune - 12 Mar 09

"What is missing?

- The avoided costs from catastrophic climate change (whether disasters, refugees, agricultural disruption, infrastructure destroyed by rising seas, etc ...).
- The avoided costs from reduced acidification of the oceans.
- The savings and benefits of reducing the 24,000+ deaths annually, in the United States alone, attributable to pollution from coal-fired electricity plants. (Not to mention the 500,000+ asthma and 38,000+ heart attacks).
- The improved average IQ (in the US and globally) through reducing mercury (from coal emissions) in the food chain.
- Improved water supplies due to reduce fossil-fuel processing and power plant demands, and reduced pollution of supply sources.
- Improved National Park views due to reduced fossil-fuel pollution.
- Improved business productivity ('greening' work spaces leads to 10-25% productivity improvement) and educational performance"

Sure looks like it. And there's good news on the New Nukes for Freedonias effort.

'Madame Non' in Battle to Keep the Nuclear Hot Seat - Financial Times - 12 Mar 09

"First there was the sudden decision in January by German partner Siemens to withdraw from a long-standing reactor venture, to set up a rival alliance with Russia’s Rosatom. Then there was the revelation of a staggering €1.7bn ($2.2bn) loss on Areva’s first new generation EPR reactor in Finland, raising questions over the costs of the technology that will spearhead France’s nuclear ambitions.

The events have weakened her in the eyes of the very government officials who must decide how Areva should finance its hefty investment needs: through a capital increase, as Ms Lauvergeon wants; or with an unwanted and controversial alliance with French turbine group Alstom.

Worse, they have given fuel to Ms Lauvergeon’s enemies – many of whom are close to President Nicolas Sarkozy – to argue that it is time for a change at a company combining France’s sensitive uranium enrichment and waste treatment activities with its reactor technology, honed by 50 years of atomic research. According to one presidential adviser: 'Anne Lauvergeon has never been as weak as she is right now.'"

France Mulls Mideast Investors for Areva - Paper - Reuters - 12 Mar 09

"The French government is mulling opening the share capital of Areva (CEPFi.PA) to Middle Eastern investment funds with a view to reinforcing its political influence and the nuclear group's prospects in the region."

The more the better. Then let the market sort them out.

Think to Open U.S. Electric Car Factory - Green Wombat (Fortune) - 12 Mar 09

"Think spokeswoman Katinka Von Der Lippe told Green Wombat on Thursday that the interim financing has been extended but that the company is still seeking a new infusion of capital to resume full production of the City, a two-seater that goes 112 miles on a charge with a top speed of about 62 miles per hour.

The company said that it will apply for a low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Energy under its Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program to help pay for the factory. After the first-year startup phase, the U.S. factory will initially employ 300 workers and produce 16,000 cars annually, according to Think. Capacity would eventually be expanded to 60,000 cars and a workforce of 900. A research and development center will employ about 70 people."

"The question for Think, Tesla Motors other EV startups is whether they can gain a foothold in the market before the major players big-foot them with their own electric and plug-in electric cars. Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Toyota (TM), Renault-Nissan and other global automakers all are accelerating plans to introduce electric vehicles."

I'm very happy with my latest Ubuntu install on the newer Toshiba laptop. Looks like I'm not alone with the thumbs up effect. Only major problem I've had with it so far is that it's not communicating well with my microphone port so I can't use it for Skype or Audacity recordings.

Dvorak Likes Linux - PC Magazine - 09 Mar 09

"Every so often I take a stab at Linux, to see exactly what I like and do not like about the OS. Many of its problems, for me, stem from its inability to run on my overloaded hardware, or the occasional driver that makes the OS impossible to use without hand-tweaking something or other. That said, I seriously like the Ubuntu 8.10 implementation and will now install it permanently on my latest machines. It's a winner."