russia

oil boom

With the uneasiness to finalize a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, many may be surprised to hear that the United States is producing oil at its highest level in 20 years.[read more]

biogas plant/shutterstock

Europe is increasingly looking to renewable energy in order to increase energy security and foster local renewable businesses and innovation.[read more]

Coal Power Plant via Shutterstock

A funny thing is happening on the way to the clean energy future.  While the US government wages a regulatory war on coal fired generation, in Europe, the land of the oh so politically correct the drive for greenhouse gas emissions reduction is meeting a new competitor—-reality!The EU emissions trading scheme had fallen on hard...[read more]

Russia's Flag via Shutterstock

I came across an article on RosBusinessConsulting titled Russia floods global markets with O&G that supports my theory that at least some of more crafty segments of the world’s oil and gas providers recognize the return on investment (ROI) available to them from steady efforts to stoke irrational fears about the use of nuclear energy...[read more]

A worrying trend is occurring as wholesale energy prices are on the rise again. In fact this time the wholesale prices for gas and electricity have reached a 6 year high. The London stock market has shown an increase of 28% taking it up to $520 per 1000 cubic metres. The sharp increase in gas prices has been caused by the rapid onset of...[read more]

For those who read this blog, this following story from The Independent is nothing new. Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region. The scale and volume of...[read more]

I see that Russia's national gas company, Gazprom, is warning Europeans about the environmental risks of shale gas development. Aside from the hypocrisy stemming from a Russian legacy of environmental disregard that rivals the worst excesses committed anywhere, along with the likelihood of Gazprom profiting if it can deter competition...[read more]

I’ve long been a proponent of the carbon budget way of viewing our climate change predicament. By focusing on the total amount of CO2 (or CO2 equivalent other greenhouse gases) we can emit from this point forward, I think it greatly simplifies the “feeds and speeds” without introducing any inaccuracies or openings for misunderstanding...[read more]

This blog had noted again concern that a few freaky climatologists have about underestimating the impact of a critical tipping point.. Lester Brown relates the concern from an agricultural perspective: Rising temperatures are already melting the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Recent studies indicate that a combination of...[read more]

Not so fast – Fukushima's limited impact on the global nuclear industryExcept for a political panic attack in Germany, most other nations have the "full steam ahead" sign out for their new reactor projectsThere's been a lot of overblown rhetoric about the so-called "death" of the global nuclear renaissance. Anti-nuclear groups have...[read more]

It opens the U.S. market to more Russian uranium This is my coverage published in Fuel Cycle Week V10:N418; 03/31/11, published by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. Posting it here was delayed by the press of business related to the reactor crisis in Fukushima, Japan. As the 20-year, $8-billion Megatons-to-Megawatts...[read more]

The U.S. is being left behind in the race for market share To see where India’s drive is headed to build 20 GWe of new nuclear powered electric generation capacity in the next 10 years, look at its aluminum and steel industries. As India relaxes its government rules that limit private sector participation in new reactors, two huge heavy...[read more]

In an attempt to advance the “new Sputnik” narrative, the Obama administration filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation against China over its clean energy subsidies in the last weeks of 2010. The administration’s move comes just months after the United Steelworkers (USW) union filed a trade case with the office of United...[read more]

Retrospectives and Prospects for the FutureMost of the blog posts for this Carnival put the Big Issues of the previous year in useful perspective.The SMRs, the Hatchets, the Laurels, the HardLy-sDan Yurman of Idaho Samizdat looked at the blog posts that drew the most readers to his blog this year in Top Blog Posts for 2010. He notes that...[read more]

South Korea worries about risks related to Turkey’s long term stability A month ago the buzz was that Turkey would ink a deal for its second nuclear power station. News media reports from South Korea and Turkey suggested another victory for the same consortium that won a $20 billion contract with the United Arab Emirates just a year ago...[read more]