Energy Wars

Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft agreement with the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan about the joint participation in the International uranium enrichment center in Angarsk, Irkutsk region, Russia.

There has never been a more important time to invest in green technologies, yet many of us believe these efforts are doomed to failure. What nonsense, writes Chris Goodall

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the issuance of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York, naming Phased Decisionmaking as the Preferred Alternative. Issuance of this Draft EIS is a significant step forward in cleaning up the site. The document, entitled "Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West Valley Demonstration Project and Western New York Nuclear Service Center (DOE/EIS-0226-D (Revised)), is a revision of the 1996 Cleanup and Closure Draft EIS.

Four Federal agencies today released a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Final PEIS) proposing to designate more than 6,000 miles of energy transport corridors on Federal lands in 11 Western States. The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Defense (the Agencies) prepared the Final PEIS as part of their work to implement Section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The proposed energy corridors would facilitate future siting of oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines, as well as electricity transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands in the West to meet the region's increasing energy demands while mitigating potential harmful effects to the environment.

The American Physical Society has just released a report on improving energy efficiency in the transportation and buildings sector: Energy = Future Think Efficiency There are links from the above to an Executive Summary and the full report (100 page PDF). This is not just a "change your light bulbs" document, but rather a comprehensive, information-filled challenge to the status quo with regards to government inaction with regards to energy conservation. It is also not a document on energy production and future difficulties in being able to do enough of this to keep the lights on -- even with better efficiency. But it is well worth a read, with lots of data on energy use and great graphics.

Barack Obama has created a top-notch team to guide his transition into the White House (see "Obama fills key posts on environment, energy teams"). Next, he should create a team to guide America's transition to a new energy economy. I'm not talking about the prestigious group of economic advisors Obama already has assembled to help him identify solutions to the economic meltdown. I'm talking about a team that includes experts in sustainable energy technologies, climate mitigation and adaptation, capital investment, state and local government, business, industry and labor.

Technology to deliver "dramatic" cuts in emissions already exists, but knowledge gaps and old habits mean progress in being made "at a snail's pace," argues the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in a new report. Energy savings in buildings could deliver larger CO2 cuts than the entire emissions of the transport sector based on 2050 projections, says the global business association in the latest progress report for its 'Energy Efficiency in Buildings' project.

Technology Review has a post on the benefits and challenges facing a new clean energy economy - The Clean Energy Economy: A New Industrial Revolution Rising From Challenging Times. In the last five years, many venture capitalists (myself included) have committed to backing entrepreneurs who aspire to build the next generation of clean energy companies that will endure. Thousands of companies have formed to harness alternative forms of energy like wind, solar and biofuels; and to reduce man's carbon footprint. Billions of dollars have been poured into this fledgling entrepreneurial ecosystem with the vision of creating significant wealth, millions of jobs, and energy security for our nation. When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed, entrepreneurs focused on the communications sector, and within a decade companies like Google, Yahoo and EBay became household names and changes heretofore unseen since the Industrial Revolution occurred. It's time for another Industrial Revolution, fueled by clean energy.

US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends. The National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US influence. It also says the dollar may no longer be the world's major currency, and food and water shortages will fuel conflict.

To take the heat out of global warming we must take radical action, learning to live on half the energy we currently consume. John-Paul Flintoff tries the low-watt diet.

The Environmental Protection Agency seems on the brink of issuing a new regulation that would make it easier for power plants to operate longer hours - and emit more pollution. Under the proposed rule, power plants would be able to measure their rate of emissions on an hourly basis instead of their annual total output. As long as the hourly emissions stay at or below the plant's established maximum, the plant would be treated as if it were operating cleanly - even if its total annual emissions increased as plant managers stepped up output. Under the current policy, power plants that seek to operate longer must install pollution-control equipment. The proposed rule, expected to be finalized in the next two weeks, would increase the life span of older power plants without owners having to install costly new pollution-control equipment.

Part of the change Americans just voted for in overwhelming numbers was to move away from the failed energy philosophy of "drill, baby, drill" to a more farsighted strategy, emphasized by Barack Obama, based on clean, renewable energy and efficiency. Yet on the very day that we raised our voices for change, the Bush administration dragged us in the opposite direction. The Bureau of Land Management cynically chose November 4 to announce a last-minute plan to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in eastern Utah for oil and gas extraction one month before President-elect Obama takes office.

The fate of scores of new coal-burning power plants is now in limbo over whether to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The uncertainty resulted when an Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel on Thursday rejected a federal permit for a Utah plant, leaving the issue for the Obama administration to resolve.

Engineers and entrepreneurs are rushing to explore alternative sources of efficient and renewable energy in New Jersey and elsewhere in the country. A Rutgers School of Business-Camden professor has strong words of caution as projects involving wind farms and photovoltaic cells proliferate.

Constellation Energy: Nuclear Operators Although it is too dangerous, too expensive and too centralized to make sense as an energy source, nuclear power won't go away, thanks to equipment makers and utilities that find ways to make the public pay and pay. Case in point: Constellation Energy Group, the operator of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland. When Maryland deregulated its electricity market in 1999, Constellation - like other energy generators in other states - was able to cut a deal to recover its "stranded costs" and nuclear decommissioning fees. The idea was that competition would bring multiple suppliers into the market, and these new competitors would have an unfair advantage over old-time monopoly suppliers. Those former monopolists, the argument went, had built expensive nuclear reactors with the approval of state regulators, and it would be unfair if they could not charge consumers to recover their costs. It would also be unfair, according to this line of reasoning, if the former monopolists were unable to recover the costs of decommissioning nuclear facilities. In Maryland, the "stranded cost" deal gave Constellation (through its affiliate Baltimore Gas & Electric, BGE) the right to charge ratepayers $975 million in 1993 dollars (almost $1.5 billion in present dollars). Deregulation meant that Constellation's energy generating assets - including its nuclear facility at Calvert Cliffs - were free from price regulation. As a result, instead of costing Constellation, Calvert Cliffs' market value increased.

Driving home from a visit to a community gardening project this controversial statement was made by the local permaculture guru. A bit over-simplified I thought to myself. Well, I've been keeping an eye open... Since July 2007 I have been posting to Ecowar, a blog at Blogspot, whenever I encountered news and information supporting (or countering) the statement linking human conflict to spoils of the Earth. And I have actively sought out this type of information. Still am too.

As the Big Three US automakers ramp up their pressure on Congress to cough up $25 billion in bailout money, the absence of a long term vision for economic recovery has never been more clear. The outgoing Bush administration and Congress are careening from bailout proposal to bailout proposal, putting hundreds of billions into the hands of the same people that created this toxic economic brew. Naomi Klein has recently detailed the horrifying parallels between the "free-fraud" zone created by the Bush administration in Iraq and the Treasury Department's handling of the bank bailout (http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2008/10/bailout-profiteers). As tempting as it is to offer bailout money to the US automakers in return for fleet-wide mileage reductions, changes in the mix of their fleets to include more hybrids and electric vehicles, and to support labor, it would be the wrong thing to do under current conditions. Imports from foreign automakers have backed up in American ports over the last few months and now represent roughly double the normal inventory, so the difficulties faced by automakers are not limited to US firms. US automakers, however, have additional problems because their fleets are dominated by too-large, fuel-inefficient models. That fleet makeup cannot be quickly changed.

Fellow Americans we must stop investing in roads, highways and parking lots. The automobile must go the way of the horse as an antiquated way of getting around. Find a better way now, before desperation forces us to do so. Let's lead the world to a better future, not follow the status quo into pollution and sprawl. I worked in the oil and gas exploration and production industry for 25 years. Few citizens fully understand the scope of the current oil and gas production infrastructure in this country. There are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells across this country all pumping oil and gas continuously around the clock. Pipelines criss-cross the sea bottom and the landscape carrying millions of gallons of fuel, yet the domestic production meets only a fraction of the current demand for the products. No amount of domestic drilling can meet the country's demand. This world must change its energy infrastructure and transportation systems, and America should lead the way.

Fellow Americans we must stop investing in roads, highways and parking lots. The automobile must go the way of the horse as an antiquated way of getting around. Find a better way now, before desperation forces us to do so. Let's lead the world to a better future, not follow the status quo into pollution and sprawl. I worked in the oil and gas exploration and production industry for 25 years. Few citizens fully understand the scope of the current oil and gas production infrastructure in this country. There are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells across this country all pumping oil and gas continuously around the clock. Pipelines criss-cross the sea bottom and the landscape carrying millions of gallons of fuel, yet the domestic production meets only a fraction of the current demand for the products. No amount of domestic drilling can meet the country's demand. This world must change its energy infrastructure and transportation systems, and America should lead the way.

The last couple of days have given us major announcements of electric car infrastructure projects. As the keynote speaker at the L.A. Auto Show, Nissan (NSANY) CEO Carlos Ghosn announced a partnership with the Oregon Transportation Department and Portland General Electric to install charging stations around the state. Nissan will provide a fleet of electric vehicles to the state, and Oregon will offer a tax credit to buyers of electric vehicles. The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose met with Shai Agassi, CEO of Better Place, an electric car infrastructure company. The mayors announced at the meeting that they will roll out policies in December to promote the purchase and use of electric cars in the Bay Area, such as the expediting of permits for the installation of charging stations. They are also hinting at tax incentives, although no details have been released. Better Place hopes to have the first round of charging infrastructure in place in 2010. Better Place's first two clients are Israel and Denmark, and a deal is pending with the state of Hawaii.