Nuclear

Putting the ‘Sustainable’ in Sustainable Energy Future

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As some of the world’s foremost energy experts from business, academia and government gathered in Austin, Texas for a major energy conference, the Northeastern US was still reeling from Hurricane Sandy’s devastation that took lives, homes and disrupted power and fuel delivery for millions of people. This stark reminder of how fragile US energy infrastructure can be makes the conference theme, “Transition to a Sustainable Energy Era: Opportunities and Challenges,” all the more timely and important.

The 31st US Association of Energy Economics/International Association of Energy Economics North American Conference kicked off this morning with an opening plenary session that was appropriately titled, “Putting the ‘Sustainable’ in Sustainable Energy Future.” Keep reading →

 /  Published November 5, 2012 at 5:00 PM

Why the New York Times is Wrong on the National Ignition Facility

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On Saturday October 6th, the New York Times wrote an editorial that criticized the mission, effectiveness, and budget of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), an experimental laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. This editorial followed an article from the prior week noting scientific challenges in the NIF’s mission and airing division among scientists about the facility’s future.

The NIF consists of 192 lasers, each of which is among the largest and most energetic in the world. It was built between 1997 and 2009 for the purposes of conducting experiments with fusion energy. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Key Uranium Deals May Point Towards Greater Demand and Higher Prices in 2013

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During the month of August, the Australian uranium mining company Paladin Energy released some news that sent a much-welcome shock wave through the industry: Not only had it entered into an agreement to supply about 14 million pounds of uranium to a major utility, but it would be receiving $200 million as a pre-payment-even though the actual delivery of uranium would not begin until the year 2019.

The confidence in the marketplace reflected by the Paladin deal represents major news for an industry whose product is thought by several analysts to be significantly undervalued. In the wake of the Paladin announcement, for example, both Credit Suisse and RBC agreed that uranium prices could potentially rise as high as $80 to $90 per pound in a healthy market-up from $48 per pound as of mid-September 2012. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Experts Pose Critical Energy Questions for the US Presidential Debates

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Memo to: Jim Lehrer, PBS; Candy Crowley, CNN; Bob Schieffer, CBS

In re: Energy questions you should be asking when you moderate the upcoming October Presidential debates Keep reading →

 /  Published September 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM

NRG Energy Cleans Up on Coal

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Decarbonization of the US electric grid is an almost impossible task. But in the absence of climate legislation, the most effective carbon reductions might fall to electric power companies that burn a lot of the black stuff, rather than Congress.

NRG Energy has 7.3GW capacity in coal assets and 11.1GW in natural gas. But those figures are dramatically reversed in generation: 48TWh (66%) comes from coal and 14TWh (20%) from natural gas. The Princeton-based company could double those figures pending its $1.7 billion acquisition of GenOn, which would bring its fleet to 46GW and make it the largest independent power generation company in the US. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 31, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Voices of Energy: Governor Christine Todd Whitman

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As we prepare for Breaking Energy’s 38 Degrees event in Washington, DC in October, we wanted to find new ways for the voices of our energy community leaders to be heard even when they couldn’t attend the event in person.

Former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman has built on her leadership in the CASEnergy Coalition and her vast experience as an EPA Administrator to bring attention to some of the most pressing issues in the energy sector. Especially after the Fukushima accident in 2011 and the resulting storm of controversy around the nuclear industry, Whitman took a brave stance and relied on the facts to make clear arguments about often difficult and complex topics. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 20, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Today in #Energy: Uprates can increase US #nuclear capacity substantially w/o building new reactors http://go.usa.gov/f4x #electricity

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Today in #Energy: Uprates can increase US #nuclear capacity substantially w/o building new reactors http://go.usa.gov/f4x #electricity @EIAgov

 /  Published July 17, 2012 at 3:30 PM

Nuclear Concerns, Policy Fuel California Energy Storage Boom

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California energy regulators believe energy storage capacity could reach up to 8,000 MW by 2020, and could be further accelerated by renewables targets and the ongoing closure of one of two of the state’s nuclear power plants.

Michael Gravely, deputy chief of R&D at the California Energy Commission said he anticipated “fairly substantial amount of increase in services” in energy storage to balance the grid and integrate renewables over the next decade. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 3, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Across the Pond, A Model for Reform?

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An ambitious plan by the UK government to replace aging power stations with low-carbon generation could be a model for other countries that are also searching for ways of hitting tough emissions targets while satisfying higher future demand for electricity.

On May 22, the government introduced its latest proposal for attracting the 110 billion pounds (roughly $171 billion) that it says is needed to build new generation including nuclear, offshore wind and carbon capture technology to take the place of the 20% of current capacity that will go off line over the next decade. Keep reading →

 /  Published June 1, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Text of the G8 Energy and Climate Change Action Fact Sheet

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(From L) Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Francois Hollande, US President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, (From R) Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel take part in a working session of the G8 summit in Camp David, Maryland, on May 19, 2012. AFP PHOTO/RIA NOVOSTI/POOL/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV

At the Camp David Summit, G-8 Leaders recognized that the development of and universal access to environmentally safe, sustainable, secure, and affordable sources of energy is essential to global economic growth and to their overall efforts to address climate change. As such, they identified several actions for the G-8 to take together: Keep reading →

 /  Published May 21, 2012 at 9:00 AM
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