Climate Incoherence
November 22, 2021
Washington Post: "In 2018, California’s leaders decided to close the state’s last nuclear power plant, at Diablo Canyon, by 2025. Several months later, they approved a bill obligating the state to be carbon-neutral by 2045. These acts of feel-good environmentalism were, in fact, contradictory. If the state is serious about achieving carbon neutrality over the next few decades — and it should be — it cannot start by shutting down a source of emissions-free energy that accounts for nearly 10 percent of its in-state electricity production."
"A new report from experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University has made that point clearly: Closing down Diablo Canyon would be the definition of climate incoherence. With only a few years left on the plant’s license, California should reverse course. Indeed, political leaders across the country should be trying to keep existing nuclear plants open for as long as possible, not closing them prematurely."
Nuclear Energy Is Safe and Cost-Effective
November 22, 2021
Union Tribune: "Regrettably, too many climate “environmentalists” are also anti-nuclear. But existing nuclear power plants are not unsafe, and new nuclear technology is both lower cost and safer."
$20M in Funding for Clean Hydrogen from Nuclear
November 22, 2021
DOE: "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $20 million in funding to demonstrate technology that will produce clean hydrogen energy from nuclear power. This innovative approach will allow clean hydrogen to serve as a source for zero-carbon electricity and represent an important economic product for nuclear plants beyond electricity. The project, based in Arizona, will make progress on DOE’s H2@Scale vision for clean hydrogen across multiple sectors and help meet the Department’s Hydrogen Shot goal of $1 per 1 kilogram in one decade."
90,000 acres Required to Replace Diablo Canyon with Intermittent Generation
November 15, 2021
CalMatters: "There is a serious risk that we will not be able meet our emission reduction targets while maintaining grid reliability without Diablo Canyon. Merely replacing the clean power we lose from the plant will require 90,000 acres of development of renewable resources, even as the siting of new renewable energy plants and associated transmission have proven slow to develop and face substantial opposition."
Why Not Painless Decarbonization?
November 05, 2021
Wall Street Journal: "We need to stop wasting trillions of dollars on strategies that punish American citizens and businesses while China and India increase their greenhouse-gas emissions. The U.S. could set an example for the world with the ultimate infrastructure project: building and deploying advanced nuclear-power plants that painlessly accelerate our decarbonization. Sacrifice isn’t always the path to progress."
China Allocates $440 Billion for 150 New Reactors
November 04, 2021
Bloomberg: "China has over the course of the year revealed the extensive scope of its plans for nuclear, an ambition with new resonance given the global energy crisis and the calls for action coming out of the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow. The world’s biggest emitter, China’s planning at least 150 new reactors in the next 15 years, more than the rest of the world has built in the past 35. The effort could cost as much as $440 billion; as early as the middle of this decade, the country will surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest generator of nuclear power."
China Leads Development of Nuclear Desalination and District Heating
November 02, 2021
Power: "Already remarkable for being the world’s second Westinghouse AP1000 reactor to be brought online, Shandong Nuclear Power Co.’s Haiyang nuclear power plant is pioneering two significant aspects of nuclear diversification in China: district heating and desalination."
Macron Expected to Announce Development of at Least Six Large Reactors
November 01, 2021
Financial Times: "Meanwhile, government officials have also signalled Macron could announce the go-ahead for at least six large reactors before the end of the year — previously the decision wasn’t expected until well after a presidential election next April."
Europe's Climate Mistake
October 29, 2021
Bloomberg: "Among the speakers was an activist from Finland, Tea Toermaenen. Her frustration was evident. 'It is infuriating to see other countries shutting down nuclear plants prematurely when we know that extending the life of existing plants is one of the most cost-effective things we can do for the climate,' she said. 'The people of Belgium deserve better leaders. You have been let down.'”
Chevron, Caterpillar Announce H2 Collaboration
October 27, 2021
Cheveron: "Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced a collaboration agreement to develop hydrogen demonstration projects in transportation and stationary power applications, including prime power.
"The goal of the collaboration is to confirm the feasibility and performance of hydrogen for use as a commercially viable alternative to traditional fuels for line-haul rail and marine vessels."