Energy
Réduire à 50 % la part du nucléaire en France, crédible ou non?
A-t-elle été poussée par son tropisme pro-nucléaire ? A-t-elle dit tout haut ce que certains – y compris au sein de la majorité – pensent tout bas ? Toujours est-il qu’Anne Lauvergeon, ex-présidente du groupe nucléaire français Areva, a jeté un pavé dans la mare en déclarant, mardi 3 décembre au micro de France-Inter, que l’objectif du gouvernement de réduire à 50 % la part de l’atome dans la production électrique française, d’ici à 2025, «n’est pas réaliste ». Et d’ajouter : « Je crois que la date a été plus ou moins renvoyée à plus tard ». Une sortie qui a aussitôt entraîné une ferme mise au point de l’entourage deFrançois Hollande et du ministre de l’écologie, Philippe Martin, prompts à réaffirmer que les engagements présidentiels « seront bien évidemment respectés ». (altro…)
Offshore wind gains in UK shake-up of renewables subsidies
Subsidies for onshore wind and solar power in the UK are to be cut in preference for larger subsidies for offshore power generation in a shake-up of the subsidy system for renewable energy. Details contained in the National Infrastructure Plan confirm the guaranteed price for onshore wind – which has been hugely controversial in rural England – is to be lower than the draft prices set out in a consultation in the summer. (altro…)
Energy bills: Ed Miliband promises simplification on top of price freeze
Ed Miliband will pledge on Friday to “reset the broken energy market”, promising that all energy bills will be simplified and use the same method to explain the cost of energy per unit and the precise standing charges. The idea is one of many laid out in a green paper on energy, including the implementation of its plan for a 20-month price freeze. Labour hopes its proposals will keep the pressure on the government over rising energy prices. (altro…)
Il futuro del fotovoltaico e la crisi delle utility
Per la prima volta, nel 2013 la nuova potenza solare installata nel mondo supererà quella dell’eolico. Malgrado le difficoltà e gli interventi governativi retroattivi, quest’anno il fotovoltaico dovrebbe infatti incrementarsi di un 20% rispetto al 2012 portandosi a 37 GW, mentre l’utilizzo del vento ha visto qualche rallentamento negli Usa e in Cina. Dieci anni fa il rapporto tra le nuove installazioni eoliche e solari era di 12 a 1 a favore del vento e tutto fa pensare che il solare continuerà a crescere più rapidamente per la possibilità di diffondersi in diversi paesi anche senza l’impiego di incentivi. (altro…)
Gaza Strip gas project poised for approval
A long-mooted $1bn project to develop natural gasfields off the Gaza Strip has won Israeli support in principle and is on track to be given the green light, Palestinian and Israeli government officials said.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is “very supportive” of the project, which would see the fields exploited on behalf of the Palestinian Authority by investors led by BG Group, an Israeli government official involved in the deal told the Financial Times. (altro…)
In a Hot, Thirsty Energy Business, Water Is Prized
WITH so much focus on carbon emitted from the nation’s power plants, another environmental challenge related to electricity generation is sometimes overlooked: the enormous amount of water needed to cool the power-producing equipment.
In the United States almost all electric power plants, 90 percent, are thermoelectric plants, which essentially create steam to generate electricity. To cool the plants, power suppliers take 40 percent of the fresh water withdrawn nationally, 136 billion gallons daily, the United States Geological Survey estimates. This matches the amount withdrawn by the agricultural sector and is nearly four times the amount for households. (altro…)
Fukushima, nuova fuoriuscita di acqua radioattiva
Nuova perdita di acqua radioattiva all’impianto nucleare Daiichi di Fukushima, teatro del gravissimo incidente innescato dal terremoto e lo tsunami del marzo 2011. Secondo quanto ha riferito nella notte la Tepco, la società che gestisce la centrale, l’acqua fuoriuscita da un serbatoio potrebbe essersi riversata nell’oceano Pacifico. (altro…)
Coal to Surpass Gas in Southeast Asia Power Boom, IEA Says
Coal will replace natural gas as the dominant fuel for producing electricity in Southeast Asia as the region almost doubles its energy consumption in the next two decades, according to the International Energy Agency.
The 10 members of ASEAN, with energy demand growing at more than twice the global average, will get 49 percent of their power from coal by 2035, up from 31 percent in 2011, the IEA said today in its Southeast Asia Energy Outlook. The share from gas will drop to 28 percent from 44 percent. (altro…)
Europe weighing 40 percent 2030 carbon-cutting goal: EU sources
European Union regulators are considering doubling the bloc’s target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and setting a tougher binding goal for renewable energy use, EU sources said. The European Commission, the EU’s executive, outlined new targets earlier this year but has yet to follow up with a firm legislative proposal. That is expected around the end of the year. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one source said the Commission was considering two legal targets to follow the three green energy goals that expire at the end of this decade. (altro…)
Germany’s Clean Energy Revolution Hits Speed Bumps
The effort underway in Germany to transition the entire country—the industrial powerhouse of Europe—away from nuclear and fossil fuel-based energy sources in favor of renewables like wind and solar may be the most ambitious national energy strategy in the world. It is also one of the most fraught with challenges, The New York Times reports. (altro…)