Lew Hay is the CEO of NextEra Energy, Inc., the new name for the energy holding company once known as FPL Group. His company is one of the largest developers of renewable energy systems in North America. It owns 7,450 MWe (peak capacity) of wind turbines in 17 states and Canada, operates the world’s largest…
Just in case you have not seen the commercial, I thought it would inspire your day to see what the American Natural Gas Alliance has to say about wind and solar power. Doesn’t that make you want to go out and build a few natural gas fired power plants?
Many people who read Atomic Insights have told me that they appreciate the effort that I invest in the publication. Some ask me how I find the time, others ask me how I plan to make a return on the time invested. The answers to those questions are best discussed over coffee or something stronger….
Scale of 1.5 MWe Turbines at Cefn Croes During the first six months of 2010, the installation rate for wind turbines in the US has dropped by 71% compared to the same period in 2009. Though there are 5,000 MW (peak capacity) still under construction, there are few projects in the planning phases with expected…
A few days ago, a retired economics professor named John Blackburn and a student named Sam Cunningham who is seeking a Masters of Environmental Management published a paper commissioned by NC Warn, an organization that, in its own words, is “tackling the accelerating crisis posed by climate change — along with the various risks of…
CNG Bus at Pentagon The natural gas industry has been lobbying hard to get incentives for additional markets put into whatever energy legislation comes out of Congress this year. Even in the Senate’s vastly reduced bill, Senator Harry Reid is pushing for a provision that establishes tax incentives for natural gas vehicle production and for…
Margaret Harding, Lisa Stiles, Dan Yurman and Rod Adams talk about the political maneuverings related to nuclear plant loan guarantees, the politics related to nuclear fuel recycling, and the prospects for significant deployment of smaller nuclear power plants in the United States. Rod discusses the evidence that he documented on Atomic Insights with regard to…
I recently read a blog post titled The world’s first molten salt concentrating plant that introduced me to Archimede Solar, a subsidiary of the Angelantoni Industrial Group S.p.A., with Siemens as a participating partner. The first of a kind plant has a peak rating of 5 MWe and cost $60 million. That is a pretty…
I once earned the nickname of “Fuels” while participating in a series of Naval War College seminar courses titled National Security Decision Making, Strategy and War, and Joint Maritime Operations. Each course in the series was taught in three-four hour blocks one night per week and lasted for two full academic semesters. Anyone who has…
Dr. Jeffery Patterson, the President of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (originally founded by Dr. Helen Caldicott) has published an op-ed titled Lessons from the Gulf for nuclear reactors that is another attempt to use concerns about the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico to increase the level of resistance to the development of…
There is a post on the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) blog with the following incredibly misleading headline Global wind power and other renewables about to surpass fossil fuels. The details, of course, are considerably different. What actually happened was that the PEAK capacity total for all sources of energy that are officially classified as…
As long time Atomic Insights readers know, I have been following the developments of the South African Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) project for many years – since before the company was formed, in fact. As a result of many factors, the government of South Africa has decided to stop funding the project. Though the…