Bloomberg: China’s Nuclear Power Capacity Set to Overtake U.S. Within Decade
China’s rapid nuclear expansion will result in it overtaking the U.S. as the nation with the largest atomic power capacity by 2026, according to BMI Research.
The world’s second biggest economy will almost triple its nuclear capacity to nearly 100 gigawatts by 2026, making it the biggest market globally, analysts said in a note dated Jan. 27. The nation added about 8 gigawatts of nuclear power last year, boosting its installed capacity to about 34 million kilowatts, according to BMI.
China has committed to boosting nuclear power, which accounted for about 1.7 percent of its total generation in 2015, to help reduce reliance on coal, which accounts for about two-thirds of the country’s primary energy. The nation has 20 reactors currently under construction, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Another 176 are either planned or proposed, far more than any other nation, according to the World Nuclear Association.
Marketwatch: Here’s What Oil Experts Think of What Trump Has Done for the Energy Markets So Far
Donald Trump has already done a lot for the oil industry in his short time as president -- and the industry is cheering.
Just a few days after his inauguration, he signed executive orders to revive two major oil pipeline projects that were caught up in regulatory and environmental hurdles: the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines.
The “most critical move” was to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to “proceed with its largely completed pipeline construction project,” said Jay Hatfield, co-founder and president of InfraCap.
The project had received all major approvals and the pipeline, which is expected to transport crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois, was under construction when it was stopped by the Obama administration because of concerns that it will contaminate drinking water and disturb Native American burial sites.
But Perry points out that even more importantly, the “major thing” Trump has done for the energy industry has been his “roll back on regulations,” particularly when it comes to coal.
The Daily Signal: What Rick Perry Could Do to Prevent Future Solyndras
Departing Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has announced a conditional loan guarantee for a fossil fuel project -- a blatant, taxpayer-backed subsidy of up to $2 billion for Lake Charles Methanol, LLC.
Such federal government meddling in the energy sector is the exact wrong approach to America’s energy policy. By contrast, incoming Energy Secretary Rick Perry has called for the abolition of the Department of Energy. A good place to start would be the abolition of the loan guarantee program.
The Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program provides taxpayer-backed loans to politically favored clean technologies that are “typically unable to obtain conventional private financing due to high technology risks.”
Lake Charles Methanol, for example, is building the world’s first methanol plant using carbon capture technology for enhanced oil recovery.
Utility Dive: Zibelman Exit Interview: How the New York REV Is Paving the Way for Transactive Energy
For departing New York PSC Chair Audrey Zibelman, the quest to remake the utility system began with a single jolt.
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy walloped the East Coast, putting Manhattan underwater for weeks and leaving millions without power. It was then, Zibelman says, that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) decided to act.
“Cuomo said, for us, climate change is a reality and we have to go about building a more resilient network and rethinking our energy industry,” Zibelman told the audience at DistribuTech 2017, the transmission and distribution trade show in San Diego.
Forbes: GM/Honda Fuel Cell Plant Is High-Tech Boost for Michigan
Auto manufacturing plants take years to plan and build. So the frenzied moves by automakers to demonstrate their U.S.-manufacturing credentials in response to recent Trump threats are mostly disingenuous.
However, one announcement by General Motors and Honda to jointly invest $85 million in a plant to produce hydrogen fuel cell stacks does deserve praise.
Celebrating an $85 million fuel cell manufacturing joint venture plant in Michigan are GM executive vice president Mark Reuss, Michigan Lt. Governor Brian Calley and Honda CEO North American Toshiaki Mikoshiba. The investment has nothing to do with Trump, as it was planned back in 2013. The positive aspects of the GM/Honda JV include the fact it means more prestigious, high-tech manufacturing in Michigan and the creation of 100 new jobs.
It is also a boost for the fuel cell industry. Critics say fuel cells are a technology of the future and always will be, but in fact fuel cells do hold immense promise as a clean energy source.