Brown Ecologist: German far-right extremists tap into green movement for support

This took a while - the opportunity for the far right was there to be seen. 

My original content blog had a post noting characteristics shared between Fascism and some of Ontario's political organizations, and another linking some trends in historical German philosophy to current German policies.  

German far-right extremists tap into green movement for support | World news | The Observer:

"German consumers are being warned that when they buy organic produce they may be supporting the far-right movement, following the revelation that rightwing extremists in Germany have embraced the ecological movement and are using it to tap into a new generation of supporters.
Debunking the popular view that equates eco-friendliness with cuddly, left-leaning greens, rightwing extremists have even begun to publish their own conservation magazine, which is believed to have the backing of the far-right National Democratic party (NPD). Alongside gardening tips and reports on the dangers of genetically modified milk are articles riddled with rightwing ideology and racial slurs. Bavaria's domestic intelligence agency has described the magazine, Umwelt und Aktiv (Environment and Active), as a "camouflage publication" for the NPD.
"We have to get used to the fact that the term 'bio' [organic] does not automatically mean equality and human dignity," said Gudrun Heinrich of the University of Rostock, who has just published a study on the topic called Brown Ecologists, a reference to the Nazi Brownshirts and their modern-day admirers."

The full article can be read at the Guardian site

US Committee on Energy And Commerce Questions: Is Hypocrisy a Leadership Trait?

The US Committee on Energy And Commerce has sent a letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko

The letter details the expectations the NRC puts on it's licensees, cites instances where the Chairman's actions would be considered detrimental to the work environment if it were occurring at an organization overseen by the NRC, and requests responses from the Chairman on the reasons for the discrepancies.

My favourite:

3. Should the fact that a licensee is particularly "passionate" about his particular view on nuclear safety be a mitigating factor in licensee cases where agency staff has evidence that a chilled work environment may exist?

OEB MSP: Report notes Transfer of Ontario's electricity sector cost to smaller consumers

The Ontario Energy Board's Market Surveillance Panel released it's bi-annual Monitoring Report on the IESO-Administered Electricity Markets, for the period from May 2011 - October 2011.  Of interest to many will be the success in dropping prices for Ontario's largest industrial customers.  Notably, the full cost are still borne by consumers - they are just transferred to other consumers.

This is the first Summer Report where all months of the reporting period were subject to the new Class A and Class B Global Adjustment (GA) allocation. From May to October 2011, the effective GA cost averaged $24.93/MWh for Class A customers and $39.62/MWh for Class B customers. Accordingly the effective total wholesale price (HOEP, plus GA, plus uplift charges) for electricity in the summer of 2011 was $57.34/MWh for Class A customers and $72.07/MWh for Class B customers, compared to $65.61/MWh in the summer of 2010 for all customers.
Over the reporting period Class A customers consumed about 16 percent of total electricity in Ontario and paid 11 percent of the total GA charges. Class B customers consumed about 84 percent of the power and paid 89 percent of the total GA charges.

Unit 2 creating steam for first time in 17 years | Bruce Power

Unit 2 creating steam for first time in 17 years | Bruce Power:

"Unit 2 created steam for the first time in 17 years this week, a momentous milestone in the return to service of the unit.
The production of steam, which is created to drive the turbine and produce safe, clean and reliable electricity for Ontarians, brings Bruce Power ever-closer to synchronizing Unit 2 to the province’s electrical grid.
As we get closer to returning Unit 2 to service, Bruce Power is also required to test 16 boiler steam relief valves. Each test generally lasts about a minute and we plan to test two valves every six hours for the duration of the resetting work over the next few days.
Neighbours of the Bruce site may notice some steam coming from Bruce A, and a low rumbling sound resembling distant rolling thunder may be audible. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience to our neighbours."

'via Blog this'

BMU Creates Renewable Energy Platform « German Energy Blog

I thought YOU had the plan!

BMU Creates Renewable Energy Platform « German Energy Blog:

"With Germany slowly realising that implementing last year’s energy policy shift away from nuclear power towards a renewable energy supply is a huge task, Federal Minister for the Environment announced the creation of a new national working group for renewable energy, the “Renewable Energy Platform”. The announcement came just days after the new steering committee “Energy Policy Shift”"

David Cameron says wind energy must get cheaper - Telegraph

Another leader with an opinion.  

That'll boost rates.

David Cameron says wind energy must get cheaper - Telegraph:

"Households are currently paying record high fuel bills due to fossil fuel prices and ‘green taxes’.
Every energy company is obliged to generate a certain amount of electricity from ‘green’ sources like wind and the extra cost of this is passed onto consumers.
The so-called ‘Renewable obligation’ already adds around £20 to the average energy bill every year and this is expected to go up to more than £50 by 2020.
Mr Cameron said the ‘green taxes’ should come down.
“As costs fall so it is right that consumers should pay less in subsidies for new projects,” he said."
“We don’t just need greener energy – we need cheaper energy too.”

Full article is at the Telegraph   

 

Renewable Surcharge Inflation on Germany's Horizon

Decades after introducing feed-in tariff programs, Germany remains unable to contain inflation in residential electricity pricing through the renewables surcharge - that component of German's bills is again set to increase 33-50% next year.

Handelsblatt: Another Considerable Rise of EEG Surcharge on the Horizon « German Energy Blog:

"The surcharge or reallocation charge for renewable energy sources pursuant to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) may rise from  3.592 ct/kWh in 2012 to between 4.8 to 5.2 ct/kWh in 2013, the newspaper Handelsblatt reported.
With the EEG surcharge, consumers pay for the difference between the guaranteed feed-in tariffs paid pursuant to the EEG for renewable energy fed into the grids and the sale of the renewable energy at the EEX energy exchange by the TSOs. The complex system of the sale of the renewable energy by TSOs and their compensation is laid down in AusglMechV and the corresponding AusglMechAV.
A 33% rise of the EEG reallocation charge to 4.8 ct/kWh would be another considerable increase of the total costs of roughly EUR 13 billion, Handelsblatt says (for the exact costs in 2011 please see here). While the EEG surcharge only rose slightly from 3.53 ct/kWh in 2011 to 3.592 ct/kWh in 2012, it already increased by 72% in 2011 (2010: 2.047 Cent/kWh)."

Read the full article at the German Energy Blog.

AP 1000 On Short List in CANDU country

This story, from Ontario, is only surprising in that it makes sense.  

The AP 1000 are approved in the adjacent jurisdiction (the USA), and that's probably useful.

CANDU's are on some short lists too - in Turkey and Jordan.  In another year, should they win some contracts, Ontario may have the option of choosing CANDU's or seeing AECL move jobs out of province.

Ontario zeroes in on two nuclear reactor designs - thestar.com:

"Ontario is in talks with two nuclear suppliers about submitting detailed plans for proposed new reactors at the Darlington nuclear station.
But provincial sources say it will be more than a year before a decision is made on which design to choose – if any.
The two designs in the running are:
 • The Enhanced Candu 6 reactor made by Candu Energy Inc., a unit of SNC-Lavalin, which bought the assets of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. last year.
 • The AP 1000 reactor made by Westinghouse.

The entire article can be read at the Toronto Star site 

2nd BMWi Power Plant Forum Debates New EWI Study on Design of Electricity Markets to Ensure Sufficient Power Plant Capacity

A couple of interesting articles have been posted at the German Energy Blog - well, interesting if you are following market design challenges for markets where intermittent, unpredictable generators are given priority access to the grid.

2nd BMWi Power Plant Forum Debates New EWI Study on Design of Electricity Markets to Ensure Sufficient Power Plant Capacity « German Energy Blog:

"The study shows the dilemma of the German electricity market design. The priority for renewable energy with regard to the guaranteed purchase, transmission and remuneration (fixed feed-in tariffs) pursuant to the more and more complex Renewable Energy Energy Sources Act (EEG; see latest plans for a solar feed-in tariff reduction despite the amendment of EEG at the beginning of 2012) leads to less and less load hours for power plants that are (still) needed to provide security of supply, i.e. mostly conventional power plants. In return some kind of new market design for a secure supply of energy seems almost inevitable, but can itself potentially distort the market or at least render the whole market design even more complex and less transparent. This may lead to new market entry barriers."

Read the entire article at The German Energy Blog
The article is directly related to the planned build-out of traditional (coal/gas) build-out in Germany, which is described in a second German Energy Blog post; BDEW Data on Power Plant New Build and Electricity Consumption.

Repsol down - European mid-caps out

European Energy Review has an interesting article on Argentina's nationalization of YPF - opining that countries will require the development of their energy assets, and the large investments needed may disqualify company's lacking the requisite financial resources from participating.

Use it or lose it.

Repsol down - European mid-caps out:

"The nationalisation of Spanish oil producer Repsol's Argentinian assets cannot be seen in isolation. It points to a much wider problem for mid-sized European energy producers: they are being squeezed out of the market on one side by independent wild-catters and on the other by increasingly powerful emerging market governments that prefer to deal with Big Oil companies. To get out of this bind, the Repsols of this world may have to band together - or seek Asian assistance. What they cannot afford to do is stand still, argues energy analyst Matthew Hulbert."

Read the entire article at the European Energy Review site