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baseload power
Behind the Rising Energy Costs In Australia
rising energy costs
Energy price increases have been scheduled for every state of Australia. In Queensland the situation is so bad that that state no longer produces enough baseload electricity.[read more]
Nuclear is the least-cost, low-carbon, baseload power source
This is a press release to accompany a new peer-reviewed paper by Martin Nicholson, Tom Biegler and me (Barry Brook), published online this week in the journal Energy. In subsequents BNC post, I will look at how the media has reacted so far to the story (the good, the bad and the ugly), and also explore the paper’s findings in more depth...[read more]
Base-Power Alternatives to Replace Base-Loaded Coal Plants
The purpose of this study is create “ballpark” estimates of the capital costs of deploying three base-power alternatives to replace East Coast base-power coal plants and to compare these alternatives regarding capital cost and the quantity and cost of CO2 reduction. The three alternatives considered are Gas, Wind and Nuclear. ...[read more]
Do climate sceptics and anti-nukes matter? or: How I learned to stop worrying and love energy economics
This is a Discussion Thread, because I really want your feedback. But first, some context. By late 2008, I was pretty stressed about climate change. Working on the science of climate (and other anthropogenic) impacts on natural systems, as I do, I could foresee potentially insurmountable problems for biodiversity and human civilisation...[read more]
The most important investment that we aren’t making to mitigate the climate crisis
Another crisp piece from Steve Kirsch on HuffPo that I’d like to reproduce on BNC, for completeness. (For his other posts on the IFR, click here). If you want to get emissions reductions, you must make the alternatives for electric power generation cheaper than coal. It’s that simple. If you don’t do that, you lose. ————————————————-...[read more]
TCASE 7: Scaling up Andasol 1 to baseload
Andasol 1 is Europe’s first parabolic trough solar thermal power station, which went online in Nov 2008. It is located on a high desert site in Granada, Spain, which enjoys a high level of direct insolation – an average of 2,136 kWh / m2 / year. The mirror field — turbine infrastructure can yield a peak electricity generation capacity...[read more]
Nukes v. Coal at ELI Forum
Baseload demand gets a rhetorical workout Psst! Wanna see some rhetorical fireworks about nuclear energy and coal? Then reserve a free seat at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) forum Oct 29th in Washington, DC. The topic is whether expanded use of nuclear power and coal is inevitable in our climate-constrained future, and...[read more]
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Scott Edward Anderson is a consultant, blogger, and media commentator who blogs at The Green Skeptic. More »
Christine Hertzog is a consultant, author, and a professional explainer focused on Smart Grid. More »
Gary Hunt Gary is an Executive-in-Residence at Deloitte Investments with extensive experience in the energy & utility industries. More »
Jesse Jenkins is a graduate student and researcher at MIT with expertise in energy technology, policy, and innovation. More »
Jim Pierobon helps trade associations/NGOs, government agencies and companies communicate about cleaner energy solutions. More »
Geoffrey Styles is Managing Director of GSW Strategy Group, LLC and an award-winning blogger. More »
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“Nuclear power absolutely has an excellent chance for a place at the table, but it has to address the current industry environment. The last round of plants only began to look attractive when they finally were in the hands of competent operators and had been fully amortised or acquired cheaply. As Excelon and Duke have both publicly noted, large new nukes require assurance of stable gas prices in ...”
“Seeking comes before finding. Established industry leaders are not seeking. They have an inventory of the old stuff and customers who want business as usual, so what's the motivation for finding new answers? New is bad. Wall Street accounting punishes expenditures for R&D and rewards managers who cut costs. Government is staffed by industry experts and trainees ...”