Solar’s deathly spiral and the $650 million Suntech fraud | Climate Spectator

The headline here is somewhat overdone, as the main point at the end of the article is consolidation and dropping share, and product, values are predicted to continue falling until 2105/2016.  

It is important to see the top manufacturer lists of 2011 and 2007, to illustrate the 'first mover' advantage doesn't exist (on the manufacturing side).  

Solar’s deathly spiral and the $650 million Suntech fraud | Climate Spectator:

Subsidies for solar, particularly in Europe, led to rapid production growth through the lure of decent profits. It encouraged plenty of new competitors to try their hand in the sector and as the new entrants gathered, particularly in China, prices began to fall rapidly – 75 per cent since 2008 and 45 per cent last year alone.
With prices falling so swiftly on the back of innovation and an oversupply, solar manufacturers in developed economies have been caught short. Most simply can’t reduce prices as quickly as the likes of manufacturers in China due to considerably higher labour costs. That being said, even the Chinese firms are struggling.

Continue reading at Climate Spectator:

GE Chief: Nuclear 'hard to justify'

I recall a study showing emissions rising rapidly the past 2 years, demonstrating that if emissions targets are to be achieved, emissions reductions would need to be achieved globally at a rate only sustained over a decade twice: once by France's move to nuclear, and once by the UK's dash for gas period.

I also recall gas subsequently getting more expensive as it became scarcer in the UK.

As Stephen Colbert once said (I paraphrase):  "There's a great saying about history ... I can't remember what it is, but it's a great saying"

GE Chief: Nuclear 'hard to justify' - CNN.com:

"(Financial Times) -- Nuclear power is so expensive compared with other forms of energy that it has become "really hard" to justify, according to the chief executive of General Electric, one of the world's largest suppliers of atomic equipment.
"It's really a gas and wind world today," said Jeff Immelt, referring to two sources of electricity he said most countries are shifting towards as natural gas becomes "permanently cheap".
"When I talk to the guys who run the oil companies they say look, they're finding more gas all the time. It's just hard to justify nuclear, really hard. Gas is so cheap and at some point, really, economics rule," Mr Immelt told the Financial Times in an interview in London at the weekend. "So I think some combination of gas, and either wind or solar ... that's where we see most countries around the world going."
Mr Immelt's comments underline the impact on the global energy landscape of the US shale gas revolution," 

A Renewed U.S. Interest in Japan's Fast Reactor? - ScienceInsider

The search for a viable IFR includes reviewing Japan's Monju program

A Renewed U.S. Interest in Japan's Fast Reactor? - ScienceInsider:

Nuclear power experts from Japan and the United States met in Tokyo today, and one surprising topic of conversation was the host country's Monju experimental fast reactor. "The possibility of cooperative work with Japan in the area of fast reactors is something that is attractive to us precisely because they have Monju," Daniel Poneman, the U.S. deputy secretary of energy, said at a press conference today...
Monju has a troubled history. A succession of mishaps and a scandal over an attempt to cover up an accident have kept the facility shut down for all but a few months since it first achieved criticality, or a sustained nuclear reaction, in 1994. The program is currently on hold, with just enough funding for maintenance

Continue reading at ScienceInsider: 

Report: Fukushima a "Speed Bump" on the Road to Massive Nuclear Power Expansion

The UN's Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency report that nuclear power will expand between 44 and 99 percent by 2035, with known supply ample for a century.

Report: Fukushima a "Speed Bump" on the Road to Massive Nuclear Power Expansion - IEEE Spectrum:

"The report, known informally as the Red Book, predicts nuclear will expand between 125 and 185 percent in East Asia, with heavy construction in China, South Korea, India, and Russia. (Notably though, the low end of that prediction does not include the possibility that Japan will fully disavow the use of nuclear in Fukushima's wake.)
It seems striking that a disaster that captured the world's full attention might have so little lingering effect. Gary Dyck, the head of nuclear fuel cycle and materials at IAEA, told Reuters that "we see [Fukushima] as a speed bump. "

Continue reading at IEEE Spectrum:

Ontario's Innumerate Environmental Commissioner's Latest Misguided Post

From the innumerate Mr. Miller's latest musings on the wonders of things that spin and shine:

Raising the Bar on Renewable Energy in Ontario - ECO Blog:

" If the government chooses the latter path, it won’t be embarking alone. Germany, which decided last year to entirely phase out it’s nuclear generating capacity, is forecasting a greater than 60 per cent share for non-hydro renewables by 2030 and Denmark intends to supply 100 per cent of its entire energy supply (electricity, heating, industry and transport) by renewable sources by 2050. While Ontario has yet to set such lofty goals, there may be a window of opportunity open next year when the government reviews whether a higher target for renewable electricity supply is warranted."

From the National Inventory Report filed in 2009 for Germany "...in the public electricity and heat production sector CO2 emissions have been growing again slightly since 1999."  Their emissions fell with the 2009 recession but returned to trend - increasing - after that.
Readers of this blog will know there are multiple indications Germany will abandon it's coals as it fails to control costs.

FirstEnergy looking into buying small nuclear reactor from Babcock & Wilcox

Utilities are looking at small modular reactors.  Several designs, intended to allow centralized manufacturing,  appear to be approaching submission to regulators for approval

FirstEnergy looking into buying small nuclear reactor from Babcock & Wilcox | cleveland.com:

"B&W is now working on the final designs of the reactor. It plans to submit a completed design for the reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of 2013. Licensing could take several years, but the NRC has already begun gearing up to handle what it thinks will be an influx of competing designs for small reactors.
B&W's Barberton facility is involved in the design of the small reactor, and the reactor could even be built there, said Chris Mowry, president of the B&W division that would produce the small reactor."

Read the entire article at cleveland.com:

Economics Minister Rösler Backs Environment Minister Regarding Energy Prices

The German Energy Blog is not prone to hyperbole - so "reign in skyrocketing cost" caught my attention.

Economics Minister Rösler Backs Environment Minister Regarding Energy Prices « German Energy Blog:

"In view of the short comments of both ministers and the upcoming political summer break it seems too early to draw precise conclusions from the ministerial interviews, yet they seem to indicate that the government is trying to prepare the public for a slower implementation of the energy policy shift. How the government wants to reign in the skyrocketing cost remains, however, unclear."

Read the entire post at the German Energy Blog: 

Pascal Bruckner: Scorning the propaganda of fear

An article on a financial site covering a philosopher tackling current attitudes, and consequent politics, surrounding the environment and climate change.

Très Bon

Scorning the propaganda of fear:

"Intelligent responses to environmental degradation are therefore required rather than radical “belt-tightening” and “privation” in the form of a retreat from nuclear power and even domestic heating.
“There is this famous notion defended by the ecologists of ‘negawatts’: the best energy is that which we don’t expend,” the philosopher almost sneers.
“Yes, we need to make some savings. But wealth reproduces itself and life cannot simply be a subtraction. It is like saying ‘the best life is the life we don’t lead’. This is a kind of neo-Malthusianism.”"

Read the entire article at the Financial Review website: 

Second Candu gets restart nod

Second Candu gets restart nod:

"Canadian regulators have authorised the restart of the Point Lepreau nuclear power station at low power. The announcement comes days after Bruce A1, also undergoing major refurbishment, received permission to restart."

... 

CNSC executive vice-president and chief regulatory operations officer Ramzi Jammal said that the regulator was satisfied that the operator had completed all the necessary safety tests required before removing measures that guaranteed the reactor’s safe shutdown state. "As the power gradually increases and before electricity is produced, additional safety checks and approvals will be necessary," he noted.

Continue Reading at World Nuclear News:

The UK's far-reaching energy plan: not perfect, but the only realistic road to decarbonisation

Capacity markets, long-term power purchase agreements, carbon pricing, and standards ... the European Energy Review site has an article by Jonathan Lane how detailing the issues surrounding the UK's approach to each of these current issues in it's energy bill.

The UK's far-reaching energy plan: not perfect, but the only realistic road to decarbonisation:

"The most controversial part of the UK government's latest draft energy bill, released in May 2012 and expected to be passed into law in the second half of 2012, are undoubtedly the measures known as the Electricity Market Reform (EMR). There are four major parts to the EMR:
1. A contracts-for-difference (CfD) scheme aimed at supporting investment in low carbon generation;
2. A capacity market where generators will be paid for having capacity available as well as generating electricity;
3. A carbon price floor ; and
4. An emissions performance standard (EPS) which will cap the carbon emissions of any new electric generation plant to be built in the UK"

Continue Reading at the European Energy Review site: