In Between Times 9-15-2023
New nuke hopes and fears, Florida leading on solar?, Wind #1 in UK, Bipartisan carbon tariffs
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Uranium prices hit 12-year high as governments warm to nuclear power
As we’ve been saying in this space, if one wants to really address the issue of carbon in the atmosphere nuclear power appears to be part of the answer. As we recently reported, Sweden has re-engaged on the nuclear power front, and other countries are too.
Of course there is serious baggage that comes with nuclear - Chernobyl, Fukushima, plus highly hazardous waste that must be disposed of (but no one wants in their back yard).
But it should be noted that almost every bit of electricity that your editor has used in his adult life has come from 2 nuclear power plants, and all of that energy has been carbon free. That is the case for many people on the US East Coast and in places like France.
Nuclear looks like it will be part of the new energy mix.
(From The Financial Times)
Uranium demand has been lifted by governments from Washington to Seoul and Paris seeking energy independence by extending the lifetime of the existing fleet of nuclear reactors as they contemplate building new plants after gas prices skyrocketed due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The milestone for uranium prices marks a big step towards nuclear power’s re-emergence as a critical carbon-free source of baseload power in global efforts to tackle climate change, a role that had been undermined by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
Click here for the article.
Shuttered Michigan nuclear plant moves closer to reopening under power purchase agreement
Nuclear gets a boost from Europe's new green energy targets
Meanwhile in energy strapped California…
Environmental groups urge regulators to shut down California reactor over safety, testing concerns
This is an excellent report on the politics of nuclear energy.
Which state is adding more solar power than any other?
Not California. It was Texas. But now it’s Florida. Consider that two “red” states are now leading the way on renewable installation. This is a story that is not getting a lot of attention.
Of course it just makes sense for Florida to ramp up solar power. It is The Sunshine State after all and we can attest after having visited the state in February that there is ample supply even in the cooler months. Nothing like a February sunburn.
(This stands in direct contrast to Sweden’s issues with solar.)
(From Canary Media)
Florida has long ranked a distant third place behind California and Texas in installed solar, but it’s now installing more solar panels than any other state — despite a policy landscape that’s considerably more challenging than in other states.
The Sunshine State connected 2,499 megawatts of solar-generation capacity to the grid during the first half of 2023, blowing away the 1,648 megawatts added by California and the 1,292 megawatts added by Texas, according to the most recent U.S. Solar Market Insight report from the Solar Energy Industries Association and energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
Click here for the article.
Solar energy shines in global survey with 68% support
Britain’s wind power capacity overtakes gas for the first time
“To my land full of rainy skies and gales” - Roger Whittaker, The Last Farewell
I lived in England for almost 3 years as a child and I remember lots of rainy skies and gales. Britain lay at the confluence of the great (and cold) northern latitudes and the warming waters of the Atlantic Gulf Stream. There’s a lot of wind. There’s a lot of wind over water. This means lots of tappable power.
(From OilPrice.com)
From the Victorian era up to 2011, coal was the largest source of power capacity in Britain, the authors of the study point out. Natural gas had been Britain’s largest source of power capacity for the last 10 years, before being overtaken now by wind capacity…
…Wind capacity is set to further increase in the near to medium term, as 6.7 GW of wind farms are currently under construction, according to the analysis.
“Beyond this, the UK has a staggering 98 GW of offshore wind in planning, a pipeline that is the second largest in the world (behind only China), ahead of the United States and all European countries,” the authors of the report wrote.
Click here for the article.
As US East Coast ramps up offshore wind power projects, much remains unknown
A bipartisan push for carbon tariffs?
This has been in the works for a while. It takes quite a lot to get Republicans on board with yet more taxation (tariffs are taxes) but in this case fair play and decarbonization may have come together to move to folks in Washington.
The concern for many Republicans (and Democrats) is that our products, which must adhere to a high decarbonization standard will be undercut by products in other countries that are not manufactured to our standards. There are the same arguments about tariffs in the end hurting consumers of course, but it looks like that issue for the time being has taken a back seat.
(From Time)
Over the past year, a mix of Republicans and Democrats has coalesced around a push to measure greenhouse gas emissions from certain products produced in the U.S. If all goes to plan, that data could underpin the creation of a tariff on imports of carbon-intensive goods from other countries.
Supporters of the legislation have painted it as a win-win. It would incentivize manufacturers around the globe to decarbonize while also penalizing high-emitting geopolitical rivals like China and Russia. “The only way that you're going to be able to drive global decarbonization at the scale that science suggests is through a type of trade policy,” says George David Banks, an energy and climate expert who served in the Trump Administration and on Capitol Hill and has been leading the push for a border carbon policy.
Click here for the article.
In Between Times Podcasts
Event
September 21 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
State of the 2024 Elections: Context and Predictions from Academe
Network for Responsible Public Policy
Location: Online
This discussion will focus on the 2024 elections and the presidential campaign in process, highlighting the most important aspects of the race and putting the contest in a scholarly perspective. Manza and Herbst will bring their broad knowledge of American political and public opinion to the analysis of the campaign, going beyond the polls and media reports. Where are we with regard to political discourse, culture, and the future of the presidency, and how can we, as citizens, assess our role in these fraught times?