Thanks for the information and graph info on oil usage.
Probably take a while to absorb.
Found a book today I had misplaced called ‘The Environmental Case for Nuclear Power’ by Robert C. Morris, 2000, Paragon House, where he uses a 1982 Commonwealth Edison Cost chart of Electricity Generated by Nuclear Versus Coal which shows Nuke cost/KWh as 2.24 vs coal at 4.33 on page 98.
Interesting, considering I read an unlinked Goldman Sachs internet post tonight where the poster indicates that GS says ‘a substantial change in Canadian policies in order to incentivise the use of nuclear power in tar sands production, and facilitate immigration of much needed foreign engineers appears unlikely in the near term;...’
— so there’s possibly more nuke power usage potential in future years fossil fuel production needs, granted it’s delayed a bit? I didn’t even know that potential existed.
GS also says ‘nationalization of the Orinoco belt assets by Venezuela has led to a sharp decline in non-conventional output and no further foreign input of capital; ..’
and
‘Biofuel production has substantially driven up agriculture prices, pushing the subsidized cost of many of these fuels anywhere from $65/bbl to $150/bbl with a further scale-up likely to push agriculture prices even higher and hence raise biofuel production costs; ...’
and
‘Crude oil production during these summer months was nearly 1.0 million b/d below the level a year ago, while demand was averaging more than 1.0 million b/d higher than the level a year ago. This sharp imbalance prevented the normal seasonal build in inventories and has even set the stage for a third quarter draw on stocks, which is a rare event typically associated with significant winter spikes... ‘
and
‘If Saudi Arabia, UAW, and Kuwait ramp production up by 1.0 million b/d, the world would be left with very little spare capacity, which is politically dangerous for the GCC countries as they would have less of a negotiating position that the spare capacity provides, and would be economically dangerous for the consumer countries...’
-— so I can conclude that —
it looks like we eventually will have to expand our existing nuke plants by 100% after recertificating the old sections, both I understand can be done. The natural gas peaker plants could be eliminated and natural gas would be then be cheap enough to replace some petrol usage?
Next, we build new nuke plants to replace all the coal usage and reduce our energy cost by another 50% (vs coal costs) or even more if lawsuits are reduced or limited and regularity cost are streamlined.
No more coal trains using fuel, farmers could dry corn & soybeans with electrical rather than gas heat, I & my neighbors could switch to an AEK & electrical heating saving bulk fuel delivery costs and fuel heating/natural gas costs.
I could grow my food year-around in a hot house rather than buying tainted food both locally and from overseas locations and even saving even more in production/transportation costs.
Plus, if were develop ANR and off-shore California oil drilling and buy FLA needs from the nearby Chinese rigs, we’d be in great shape.
Life could be good and no food would have to be burnt!
But in today's environment, nuclear cost more to build and to operate.
Cost and Performance Characteristics of New Central Station Electricity Generating Technologies
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/assumption/pdf/electricity.pdf#page=3
If Saudi Arabia, UAW, and Kuwait ramp production up by 1.0 million b/d, the world would be left with very little spare capacity
There has been an immense building of production facilities and infrastructure around the world the last couple of years. Information based upon production capacities of just two years ago would already be out of date. The building in Russia going on now is huge for example.
expand our existing nuke plants by 100% ... The natural gas peaker plants could be eliminated
Nuclear plants are base load plants. The do not ramp up and down quickly like a peaking unit. They are not interchangeable applications for power.
nuke plants to replace all the coal usage
Using coal for power is one of the cheapest ways to generate electrical power. Reducing our coal usuage increases our dependence on others for energy. We already import more uranium than we produce domestically.