One of my many weird hobbies is writing early morning letters to authors and editors of news stories about energy topics. I figured that it might be a good use of this blog space to post some of those gems, since some of them never see the light of day. (Occasionally, however, I get them…
There is a thoughtful article in the 6 January 2006 edition of the Christian Science Monitor titled Europe warms to nuclear power. The author, Mr. Peter Ford, reports on the changing perceptions and plans regarding nuclear power in a number of different European countries including Switzerland, the UK, Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, and even Italy. He…
Several days ago, in my initial post about the Russian-Ukrainian gas dispute, I alluded to the fact that the European Union leaders must accept some of the blame for the Europe’s growing vulnerability to aggressive use of easily interrupted natural gas as a political weapon. I made a comment that deserves some follow-up. Here is…
As of 4 January 2006, Ukraine has agreed to a natural gas price that is two times the level that it paid last year. Russia has agreed to keep supplying it with fuel at the new price. Neither side is very happy about the arrangement; Russia wanted the Ukraine to pay a market price that…
On 2 January 2006, Deutsche Welle published an article on their web site titled Gas Dispute Reignites Atomic Energy Debate. In that article, the German Economics Minister, Michael Glos, is described as wanting to initiate a discussion about Germany’s planned shutdown of its nuclear power plants. He is careful to indicate that he does not…
On 2 January 2006, the Financial Times published an article by Thomas Catan titled Dispute likely to boost arguments for nuclear power. It looks like I am not the only one who thinks that the development of favorable opinions about new nuclear power projects is a logical result of the controversy over Russian natural gas…
At 2:00 am on 3 January 2006, the Financial Times web site published a commentary about the Russian-Ukrainian natural gas dispute titled The Kremlin tightens the energy screw. Fascinating analysis that even mentions the related fact of Gerhard Schroder’s new job at Gazprom. Certainly worth a read! Here is a sample quote: As a first…
According to the New York Times, as of 3:00 pm on 2 January 2006 Russia has decided to restore almost normal gas flow into Ukraine. It has accused Ukraine of stealing supplies meant for other customers, but the other customers apparently asked Russia to work on ways to solve the dispute that did not involve…
There is a fascinating game being played today that has nothing to do with American college football. The results of the contest will have far reaching, long term implications that will affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Some of the effects have already begun. The Game pits the Russians, led by Vladimir…