Energy
Gas, storico accordo tra Russia e Cina
A vendere gas alla Cina ci hanno provato da almeno dieci anni. Ma questa volta ce l’hanno fatta. Il colosso russo Gazprom e la compagnia petrolifera pubblica cinese Cnpc hanno firmato a Shanghai uno storico accordo destinato a cambiare gli assetti geopolitici dell’energia mondiale. Il contratto, sottoscritto al termine di due giorni di incontri ad alto livello, alla presenza del presidente russo Valdimir Putin e del numero uno cinese Xi Jinping, prevede un contratto di fornitura trentennale di metano, pari a 38 miliardi di metri cubi all’anno (la metà dei consumi italiani), garantito da un gasdotto lungo 2.200 chilometri dalla Siberia alla Cina orientale ancora da costruire. (altro…)
Energia, 750 milioni dalla Ue per le grandi reti energetiche
La lista delle infrastrutture energetiche di interesse europeo individuate dalla Commissione Ue era stata resa pubblica a ottobre insieme all’ammontare dei fondi a disposizione per il periodo 2014-2020: 5,85 miliardi. Ieri è stato ufficialmente lanciato il bando per accedere alla prima tranche da 750 milioni di euro di finanziamenti che rientrano nella Connecting Europe Faciliy (Cef) per lo sviluppo e il completamento delle grandi reti infrastrutturali energetiche. Il focus sarà su gas ed elettricità per aumentare la sicurezza delle forniture e mettere fine all’isolamento energetico di alcuni Paesi Ue. (altro…)
Mexico’s energy reforms to be delayed
Political infighting, poorly-drafted laws and an intense workload have delayed Mexico’s groundbreaking energy overhaul, potentially denting investor hopes about the country’s ambitious reform programme that so far has promised more than it has delivered. President Enrique Peña Nieto last year pushed through constitutional changes required to break-up Mexico’s 76-year old energy monopoly, Pemex. But so-called secondary legislation, needed for the reform to take effect, is yet to pass through Congress. The same is true of other initiatives covering telecommunications and electoral reform.
L’energy storage è un mondo al bivio: “Gli incentivi? Utili ma non in tutti i casi”
Milano T utto si può dire, ma non che gli operatori del neonato comparto dei sistemi di accumulo di energia siano scontati. Alla domanda: secondo voi, sono assolutamente necessari gli incentivi per far crescere l’industria di settore? La stragrande maggioranza di loro ha risposto: dipende, spiazzando tre settimane fa la platea dell’Energy Storage World Forum (Eswf) di Londra. Solo il 25% ha infatti espresso pieno sostegno nei confronti delle sovvenzioni, considerandole una priorità. A prima vista, una presa di posizione paradossale. Considerato che molte delle tecnologie storage presentate proprio al Forum continuano ad avere costi molto superiori rispetto ai rispettivi benefici. (altro…)
EPA Mercury Rule for Power Plants Upheld by U.S. Court
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), Southern Co. (SO) and other energy companies must abide by federal limits on mercury and additional power-plant pollutants, a U.S. court said, upholding a rule regulators say will save lives and the industry claims was illegally drafted. Although the Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2007 that the rule would cost the power-production industry $9.6 billion, its impact is likely to be less because companies are shifting away from coal-fired plants and have budgeted for compliance expenses, according to Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for PJM Interconnection LLC, which coordinates wholesale power markets in 13 states from Maryland to Illinois. (altro…)
Renewable energy agency warns companies of potential cuts in budget
Companies planning to apply for grants from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency have been warned there is a substantial risk the organisation could suffer even bigger funding cuts in the May budget. ARENA took the unusual step Wednesday of writing to “stakeholders” to advise that “given the fiscal outlook and media speculation concerning the forthcoming budget on 13 May 2014, the future of ARENA’s funding is unclear.”ARENA’s chief executive Ivor Frischknecht told Guardian Australia there was a “substantial risk” his organisation would face more cuts. He said companies needed to be aware of this as they considered spending money on land, permits and feasibility studies ahead of making an application to ARENA for funding. (altro…)
Energy storage, anche il Giappone mette in campo gli incentivi
Dal Governo giapponese un piano incentivante che coprirà per i due terzi il costo di installazione di sistemi di accumulo con batterie agli ioni di litio. Il Giappone si unisce alla Germania e alla California nella schiera dei pionieri che hanno iniziato ad incentivare l’energy storage. In arrivo anche tagli alle tariffe incentivanti per il fotovoltaico. L’installazione di sistemi di energy storage con batterie agliioni di litio da 1 kWh in su verrà supportata in Giappone da un nuovo sistema incentivante, lo ha annunciato il Ministero giapponese dell’economia, il commercio e l’industria (METI). (altro…)
China working on uranium-free nuclear plants in attempt to combat smog
China is developing a new design of nuclear power plant in an attempt to reduce its reliance on coal and to cut air pollution. In an effort to reduce the number of coal-fired plants, the Chinese government has brought forward by 15 years the deadline to develop a nuclear power plant using the radioactive element thorium instead of uranium. A team of researchers in Shanghai has now been told it has 10 instead of 25 years to develop the world’s first such plant.
“In the past, the government was interested in nuclear power because of the energy shortage. Now, they are more interested because of smog,” Professor Li Zhong, a scientist working on the project, told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
An advanced research centre was set up in January by the Chinese Academy of Sciences with the aim of developing an industrial reactor using thorium molten salt technology, the newspaper reported.
According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), China has 20 nuclear plants in operation and another 28 under construction, all uranium-fuelled reactors. China has been importing large quantities of uranium as it attempts to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. However, according to the WNA, thorium is much more abundant.
The researchers on the project said they had come under considerable pressure from the government for it to be successful. Li said nuclear power was the “only solution” to replace coal, and thorium “carries much hope”.
“The problem of coal has become clear,” he said: “if the average energy consumption per person doubles, this country will be choked to death by polluted air.”
“China has an ambitious nuclear-generation programme. It plans to have almost 60 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2020 and up to 150gw by 2030, so the Chinese have plans to get a significant amount of nuclear into the energy mix,” said Jonathan Cobb of the WNA.
There is a lot that is still unknown about thorium but a lot of research is being carried out worldwide. Cobb said: “Other countries around the world are looking at thorium. There is a fair bit of research going on at the moment into the use of thorium. And technology-wise, using thorium would not be too much of a leap. It is certainly something that is well under way in terms of research,” said Cobb.
The researchers on the project told the South China Morning Post their work would be likely to face some opposition from Chinese citizens after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, in Japan.
However, the national nuclear safety administration said the safety of China’s nuclear power plants could be assured, and checks had been stepped up since Fukushima to avoid a similar accident.
Fonte: theguardian.com
Energy Execs Change Their Tune on the Environment
It’s not just a radical fringe of Americans who worry about the environment – and energy executives finally seem to have noticed. A couple years ago at the massive energy confab held in Houston every year, the people who pull oil and gas out of the ground were largely dismissive of the public’s concerns about hydraulic fracturing (fracking), said Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. But this year, industry officials are more willing to talk about problems with the technique for getting petroleum from shale formations, and to discuss how they intend to fix them. (altro…)
Centrica chief Sam Laidlaw says household fuel bills to drop
Centrica has said household fuel bills for the past months could be as much as 10 per cent lower than normal because of mild winter weather – a development that may help to alleviate public anger over rising prices from the Big Six energy suppliers. Sam Laidlaw, chief executive, said his expectation was that average winter bills for the group’s British Gas customers would be down 8-10 per cent year on year, thanks to a combination of the weather, greater energy efficiency and a reduction in planned environmental levies. However, he added that it was “too early” to say whether bills for the whole year would be lower. (altro…)