Posted on 08/07/2022 10:28:24 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
As I predicted so many months ago, adjustments away from Russian nat gas are proceeding.
California’s only existing nuke power plant, PG&E’s Diablo Canyon, is close (or closest; there are other more distant fault lines “near” it) to a fault line discovered over 20 years after it went into service.
Its very difficult to find a nuke site anywhere in California thats not “close” to a fault by some definition or another. There are a lot of faults in CA. It gets worse when one has to find a site with available cooling water.
Its a very similar problem in Japan. Fukushima was wrecked by a tsunami from an earthquake originating in a rather distant offshore fault. By that standard Japan cannot have any nukes.
One is just going to have to design around that risk. And Diablo Canyon is so designed. If that armored, triple redundant design can’t pass muster, nothing will.
They are already going to forego closing the three nukes they were planning to shut down this year. They have another three they shut last year - I suspect they may bring them back, as I think they havent pulled their fuel yet.
Three are still running, and they arent going to shut them down, as they had been planning. There are three more shut last year that I think shouldnt be too hard to bring back up.
They were warned over and over by several US administrations in the course of more than thirty years.
"Ravaged"? The world is so un-ravaged by it that climate activists have to falsify data in order to support the claim. Germany could, however, be "ravaged" if significant portions of its population freeze to death in the name of "climate justice", the latest excuse for world socialism that lies as unquestioned as the rest of the premises in this narrative. Global climate taxes to support ravaged nations are a solution looking for a problem. "Climate justice", just as "racial justice" and all other social justices, is merely an excuse for theft, the proceeds of which get shoveled into the swollen pockets of the global elite, a class notable for the prevalence of activists within.
It may be cheaper to just build new nat gas plants, or use the coal site. Nat gas power plants are amazingly cheap, modular, and quick to build. Also compact.
It would seem that gasification of coal into other liquid and clean gases would be a big thing in Germany. Gasification of plastic waste is occurring in places around the world, so why has it taken off using coal? The gas being produced can power the turbines necessary to produce the electric power needed to turn the coal or waste into fuel and the “emissions” are the fuels to be sold. It would seem to be a fairly clean technology.
their energy strategy is equal to quitting a job, before having secured a new one in advance...
FTA: ...which were being phased out because of the hugely detrimental climate impact on a world already ravaged by global warming.
The writer is a paid liar.
“modern American coal plants are pretty pristine.”
Part is the type of coal that is now burned (low sulfur “compliance” coal), part is more energy efficient complete (hotter) combustion, and part is scrubbing of the exhaust before emitting it.
Science has improved coal-fired electrical generation, like it improves so much in our lives.
“They should shift back to nuclear.”
That is such a no-brainer, that it took the KGB/FSB literally decades of intense influence operations to prevent Germany from becoming as energy independent as France is, with its Nuclear energy industry (providing more than 75% of its electricity).
“Before the war in Ukraine, 50% of the coal for Germany’s power stations was imported from Russia.”
The current EU plan is to totally replace all Russian coal imports, even as their coal use is rising.
It is a very feasible option in the energy mix to replace Russian imports.
Germany also has a “stress test” special study going on now, that could provide political cover for Olaf Scholz to extend the operations of the three remaining German nuclear power plants, that were scheduled to shut down at the end of the year.
They would have to be fools to shut them down in today’s conditions, but they need political cover, because of all the pompous posturing that has gone before.
“Fukushima was wrecked by a tsunami from an earthquake originating in a rather distant offshore fault. “
That is correct - it was the tsunami, not the earthquake, that caused the disaster.
All up and down the coast of Japan, Nuclear power plants shut down safely in response to that earthquake - the largest ever recorded in Japan. Even at Fukushima.
The problem at Fukushima was that it was swamped by a tsunami, which flooded the diesel backup generators, which were needed to keep the cooling pumps working.
“The current EU plan is to totally replace all Russian coal imports, even as their coal use is rising.”
Oops, I meant to add that they will replace all Russian coal, this year.
Coal and tanker-borne oil imports (which make up 90% of Europe’s oil imports from Russia), are physically easy to replace, because the same transport infrastructure can be used (rail for coal).
Both of them are slated to be completely phased out from Russia over the coming months, leaving only a fraction of the former pipeline flows of oil (10% of former import volume) or natural gas (1/3 or less of the former volume) still flowing, come New Year.
That is a dramatic bubble coming down the revenue pipeline for the Russian Government. Oil and gas revenues have been their financial lifeline. Since the beginning of June, those revenues have entered a nosedive, with oil prices and gas volumes both down sharply. Total revenues are on track to crash hard through the rest of the year.
Stanley Steamer take over Tesla dealerships Biden confused scratches his a$$ tilts head.
The Chi Coms are smart enough to realize that, and save petroleum fuels for the military. It may be a good strategy.
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