SUBSIDIES FOR FOSSIL FUELS AND NUCLEAR POWER

This is copied from an email from the excellent Dr Gerry Wolff


It is more than a little misleading to say “electricity from wind turbines costs twice as much to produce as that from coal or gas stations” or that “new nuclear represents the cheapest form of low carbon energy generation”

A report last year by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows that, worldwide, fossil fuels are receiving 12 times the subsidies that are provided for renewables. In addition, charges for emissions of CO2 are still far too low. Without the subsidies, and with proper charges for CO2 emissions, electricity from coal or gas-fired power stations would be much more expensive.

A report by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that government subsidies to the nuclear power industry over the past fifty years have been so large in proportion to the value of the energy produced that in some cases it would have cost taxpayers less to simply buy kilowatts on the open market and give them away.

A recent report by Versicherungsforen Leipzig GmbH, a company that specialises in actuarial calculations, shows that if the nuclear industry were to insure fully against the costs of a nuclear disaster, the price of nuclear electricity would rise to 2.36 Euros per kWh, far beyond the cost of any other source of electricity.

Connie Hedegaard, the EU commissioner for climate action, has stated publicly that offshore wind power is cheaper than nuclear power.

Sincerely,

Dr Gerry Wolff PhD CEng

Energy Fair

Eight questions to Tepco about reducing Fukushima emissions

I have again posted a number of questions about Fukushima Daichi onto Tepco's contact page. (select the General Inquiries link.
Tepco is the company responsible.
It would help in getting answers if others would copy, adding any other questions or remarks that occur.

1 What is the composition of the steam coming out of Reactor2?
2 If it contains radiation, why has that steam not been captured and treated already?
3 Are there plans to capture this steam?
4 When R1,3 and 4 are covered as per Tepco's plans, will the contained air be extracted and filtered?
5 Why will it take so long to pump out the basement of R2? What is the block to putting more pumps in place?
6 What plans are in place to minimise air and groundwater pollution in the event of the corium escaping containment and coming into contact with groundwater?
7 Is it possible to remove the spent fuel pools from the reactor buildings in order to facilitate control?
8 What would be the consequences of abandoning attempts to achieve cold shutdown and simply burying the reactors?