Category Archives: Nuclear

All new U.S. energy was solar in October 2013

While

ten nukes were shut down or cancelled in 2013,
solar power continues its compound-interest-curve ever-faster deployment.
Zero (0) new nukes were built in 2013 and in October all
new U.S. utility-scale power was solar.
Unfortunately, the biggest of those was Southern Company’s Campo Verde,
which powers California, not Georgia or the southeast, but that is changing now.

Todd Woody wrote for The Atlantic 26 November 2013,

Solar Energy Was America’s Sole New Power Source in October:
Get ready for a photovoltaic building boom.



In October, power plants generating 530 megawatts of electricity came online in the United States. And

every single electron put on the grid came from the sun,
according to a report released today.

That’s apparently not even counting rooftop solar.

The report is

Solar the sole capacity completed in October, at 530 MW,
by Althena Enguerra for SNL 25 November 2013. Continue reading →

EU could cut 40% emissions with little cost: and we can, too



If Europe can do it, the U.S. can do it.
And we know

Georgia can get a third of its power from wind,
and even Spain is north of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida,
which have a lot more sun for solar power than anywhere in Europe.
Solar power

is already winning, even in Georgia.
Let’s help it win even faster, plus wind.

PR from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) 16 January 2014,

EU could cut emissions by 40 percent at moderate cost,



The costs of achieving a more ambitious EU climate target are
estimated to be moderate. Upscaling greenhouse-gas emissions
reduction from the current 20 percent by 2020 to 40 percent by 2030
would be likely to cost less than an additional 0.7 percent of
economic activity.

And that apparently doesn’t count the additional economic activity
that would be produced by all those wind and solar deployments,
not to mention related activities like electric cars.
This is actually a pessimistic study, because it doesn’t account
for such likely positive corollaries.


Many options to choose from—wind power could expand sevenfold

Continue reading →

Wind for 1/3 of Georgia electricity, plus solar

“Georgia has about 14.5 gigawatts of feasibly developed offshore wind energy potential–enough power to provide one-third of Georgia’s current electrical needs.”

And the wind blows at night when the sun doesn’t shine.
Add solar for the peak power day,
and there’s no excuse for coal, nuclear, or natural gas.





Georgia’s Offshore Wind Energy Potential Showcased at CoastFest,
by Allie Brown
for SACE 15 October 2013.

Georgia Power and Southern Company know this.
When will they act on it?

PS: Owed to Danielle Jordan

-jsq

Actually, green solar power is winning

An article that dismisses without investigation the fastest
growing industry in the world, solar power, after solar has become

cheaper than any other energy source, is not a serious article.



Richard Smith wrote for Truthout 9 January 2014,

Green Capitalism: The God That Failed.
Sure,
there are lots of good points in there (such as we need a carbon tax,
but it’s not enough), but given that

only 90 companies account for 2/3 of GHG emissions
saying we can’t change that without crashing the world’s economy is
like saying we can’t deal with horse manure in cities in 1900 without
crashing the world’s economy, and

people did say things like that back then.

Most of the world’s oil and gas is used to produce power,
so once we

convert to solar and wind,
we’ll have plenty of remaining petroleum for other uses
such as lubrication.



Saying in 2014 that solar and wind can’t power the world is like
saying in 1994 that Continue reading →

Solar benefits outweigh costs in NC

And the same is true in Georgia, despite Georgia Power and Southern Company.

John Downey wrote for
Charlotte Business Journal 23 October 2013,

Study: Solar benefits outweigh costs in NC



An independent study published by a nationally known energy
consultant asserts that adding 500 megawatts of solar generation in
North Carolina would save utility ratepayers about $26 million
annually.

It notes the gains from solar projects — such as lower
transmission and distribution costs, avoided emissions, lower losses
of electricity in transmission.

The study calculates that such benefits
outweigh the costs by 30 percent to 40 percent.

Update 2017-04-25:
Energy NC seems to have removed or moved its copy of that report,
but fortunately SEIA lists it
on
a backup website, and I’ve linked it into the quotation above, plus a copy on the LAKE website.
SEIA also lists many other studies for other states, such as
one for Virginia which is on the
MDV-SEIA website, and now also has
a copy on the LAKE website.
For Georgia SEIA lists the testimony of GSEIA before the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2013.
For Florida SEIA lists only a very old (2003) study with a broken link,
which can be found as a google book, but now would mostly be worthwhile as a museum piece.
Duke’s own actions in Florida in 2016 and 2017 indicate
Duke Energy knows the sun is rising even on the Sunshine State.

The study considered two intertwined solar methods: Continue reading →

Utilities can’t take the solar heat



Utilities are trying increasingly desperate tactics in their
losing battle against distributed rooftop solar power.
It’s time for them to get out in front and lead instead.

Clare Foran wrote for NationalJournal

Are Utilities Wilting From Heat of Solar Competition?

Regulatory battles over solar power payment models played out in
several states this year. And as the dust settles, solar providers
are claiming victory. Utilities, on the other hand, are trying to
reframe the conversation entirely by insisting they aren’t an enemy
of solar.

After discussing utlities’ attempts to bash net metering, she notes
the

Sierra Club

hard-won
victory over the

ALEC solar tax:

In November, Georgia Power

backed down Continue reading →

The nuclear renaissance is dead: somebody tell the Georgia legislature the wind is blowing towards the sun



Sombody should tell Georgia Power and Southern Company
they’re still pushing a dead power source.
It’s time to go from far-too-expensive nuclear directly
to solar onshore and wind offshore.

Remember in the last year or so

five U.S. nukes have been shut down and five more have been cancelled
while in Canada two more have been cancelled, plus maybe two more,

and maybe as many as six are to be shut down.
Dr Jim Green wrote for Ecologist yesterday,

The nuclear renaissance is stone cold dead,

Perhaps the most shocking developments have been in the United
States, where the industry is finding it increasingly difficult to
profitably operate existing reactors—especially ageing
reactors requiring refurbishments—let alone build new ones.

Almost half of the world’s reactors Continue reading →

Warren Buffett moves from nuclear to wind



How to get Georgia Power and Southern Company off of

nuclear
and onto offshore wind and onshore solar power: stop approving

Construction Work in Progress (CWIP)
rate hikes for nukes that are already a billion dollars
over budget and more than a year late.
So far Mississippi is doing better about this than Georgia,
by

capping ratepayer and taxpayer costs for Kemper Coal.
Iowa did, and look what happened.

SimplyInfo wrote 23 December 2013,

What Power Companies Do When Nuclear Is No Longer An Easy Option, Continue reading →

Last day to oppose NRC bad nuclear waste plan



Today you can object to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC)
inadequate plan for radioactive waste storage.

Comment through regulations.gov

on Docket #NRC-2012-0246-0456;
here’s

a link to the comment form.

NRC’s web page on

Waste Confidence:

The public comment period on the Waste Confidence Draft Generic
Environmental Impact Statement and proposed rule ends on Friday,
December 20, 2013.

Background from

Beyond Nuclear:

No safe, permanent solution has yet been found anywhere in the
world—and may never be found—for the nuclear waste
problem. In the U.S., the only identified and flawed high-level
radioactive waste deep repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada has
been canceled. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an end to the production
of nuclear waste and for securing the existing reactor waste in
hardened on-site storage.

Facebook event with more information.

Here’s
a petition:

The NRC, by court order, has been required to gather public input
regarding a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) regarding
the storage of nuclear waste that is grossly inadequate and leaves
over 150 million Americans who live within 50 miles of a nuclear
power plant at risk.

The NRC has declared that it would only be a SMALL risk to the
environment and communities near nuclear power plants to store
nuclear waste on-site for 60 years, 160 years or even INDEFINITELY
if no permanent repository is established….



And NRC’s oversight committee is the

Subcommittee on Energy and Power
of the

Energy and Commerce Committee,
which just held a hearing 12 December 2013 on

Oversight of NRC Management and the Need for Legislative Reform.

-jsq

Duke spokesman for closed nuke rate hikes touts new plant for Sabal Trail gas

Would you trust a salesman of failed nukes to sell you a gas plant?
Is eminent domain on your property and your community “reasonable and prudent”
so Duke can make

another bad bet, this time on methane,
after Citi GPS and Edison Electric Institute and former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff all warned them that solar is going to overtake every other power source within only a few years?



That’s the same Sterling Ivey who announced 2 August 2013 that
Duke’s Levy County nuclear plants were cancelled
(
Duke Energy Cancels $24.7B Florida Nuke Plant Project,
ENRSoutheast,
08/02/2013,
by Scott Judy).
A few days later,
Florida PSC approved a rate hike to pay for Duke’s

forever-closed Crystal River nuclear plant.
Dave Heller wrote for WTSP
5 August 2013,

Florida regulators OK Duke Energy nuclear rate hike,

“These are reasonable and prudent costs as Continue reading →