Prediction: Coal has fallen. Nuclear is next then Oil.

[mspohr]

The Japanese don't let corporations get away with murder:
Executives In Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Deserve 5-Year Prison Terms, Prosecutors Say

The former chairman and two vice presidents of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. should spend five years in prison over the 2011 flooding and meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japanese prosecutors say, accusing the executives of failing to prevent a foreseeable catastrophe.

Prosecutors say the TEPCO executives didn't do enough to protect the nuclear plant, despite being told in 2002 that the Fukushima facility was vulnerable to a tsunami. In March of 2011, it suffered meltdowns at three of its reactors, along with powerful hydrogen explosions.

"It was easy to safeguard the plant against tsunami, but they kept operating the plant heedlessly," prosecutors said on Wednesday, according to The Asahi Shimbun. "That led to the deaths of many people."

 

[mspohr]

https://japantoday.com/category/nat...nuclear-facilities-estimated-at-1.9-tril.-yen


The state-backed Japan Atomic Energy Agency says it would need to spend about 1.9 trillion yen to close 79 facilities over 70 years, in its first such estimate.

The total costs could increase further, as the agency said the estimated figure, which would be shouldered by taxpayers, excludes expenses for maintenance and replacing aging equipment.

Of the estimated costs, the expense for closing the nation's first spent-fuel reprocessing plant in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, accounts for the largest chunk of 770 billion yen. It will cost 150 billion yen to decommission the trouble-plagued Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor.

 

[nwdiver]

The state-backed Japan Atomic Energy Agency says it would need to spend about 1.9 trillion yen to close 79 facilities over 70 years, in its first such estimate.

That seems awfully low... that's only ~$17B USD. IIRC the Fukushima cleanup is estimated to cost $400B USD.

 

[mspohr]

That seems awfully low... that's only ~$17B USD. IIRC the Fukushima cleanup is estimated to cost $400B USD.

This is just a initial estimate to get the peons used to the idea of paying for wasteful projects.

 

[mspohr]

This is the worst oil disaster you’ve never heard of | Janis Searles Jones and Philippe Cousteau

Further proof that we need to stop all oil use now. A disaster that started in the Gulf in 2004 will soon exceed the Deep Water Horizon spill.

 

[rays427]

This is the worst oil disaster you’ve never heard of | Janis Searles Jones and Philippe Cousteau

Further proof that we need to stop all oil use now. A disaster that started in the Gulf in 2004 will soon exceed the Deep Water Horizon spill.

This doesn't make since. I looked it up and it states that an upper estimate of the oil spilled is 1,400,000 gallons of oil spilled over the life of the indecent. Since it happened in 2004 it has been spilling for 14 years. If you divide 1.4 million gallons by 14 years you get 274 gallons per day. Divide this by 42 barrels per gallon you get about 6.5 barrels per day. So 300 to 700 barrels per day doesn't make since based on the total estimate spilled. In addition the company has supposedly spent $425 million to address the spill so I would expect that the spill was much higher in the past. Most likely the 300 to 700 barrels per day was at the start of the spill. As far as the slick it only takes a small amount of oil to leave a giant slick. As far as this being a disaster you need to check out the natural seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. The estimate is 1 to 5 million barrels of oil per year or 42 to 210 million gallons per year.

Offshore California also has a lot of natural seeps and it's interesting to note that the amount seeping has been greatly reduced because of offshore oil production. Basically by reducing the subsurface pressure it results in much less natural seepage.

 

[rays427]

This doesn't make since. I looked it up and it states that an upper estimate of the oil spilled is 1,400,000 gallons of oil spilled over the life of the indecent. Since it happened in 2004 it has been spilling for 14 years. If you divide 1.4 million gallons by 14 years you get 274 gallons per day. Divide this by 42 barrels per gallon you get about 6.5 barrels per day. So 300 to 700 barrels per day doesn't make since based on the total estimate spilled. In addition the company has supposedly spent $425 million to address the spill so I would expect that the spill was much higher in the past. Most likely the 300 to 700 barrels per day was at the start of the spill. As far as the slick it only takes a small amount of oil to leave a giant slick. As far as this being a disaster you need to check out the natural seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. The estimate is 1 to 5 million barrels of oil per year or 42 to 210 million gallons per year.

Offshore California also has a lot of natural seeps and it's interesting to note that the amount seeping has been greatly reduced because of offshore oil production. Basically by reducing the subsurface pressure it results in much less natural seepage.

To be fair on this I found other reports that do state 250 to 700 barrels per day now. There are estimates all over the place. The government at one time estimated it 1 to 55 barrels per day. However, it appears that this all hit the fan when Taylor sued the government to get back $400 million as part of a fund to pay for the cleanup.

 

[mspohr]

The EU is banning almost all coal mining on January 1

The EU is banning subsidies to unprofitable coal mines.

Every unprofitable coal mine in the European Union must cease production by the first day of 2019, the date on which all public funds for the mines will come to an end. In Spain, that means that 26 coal mines are about to close up shop, according to Reuters.

This move away from coal is a refreshing bit of bluntness — letting the failed remnants of a fossil fuel industry fade away — compared to how the federal government in the U.S. is grasping at anything to keep coal alive. But it remains to be seen how much of an impact the coal closures will have in the ongoing effort to curb climate change.

 

[mspohr]

Renewables overtake coal as Germany's main energy source | Reuters

Getting rid of coal and nuclear.
The shift marks progress as Europe’s biggest economy aims for renewables to provide 65 percent of its energy by 2030 in a costly transition as it abandons nuclear power by 2022 and is devising plans for an orderly long-term exit from coal.

 

[mspohr]

How did we get here? SCE&G customers still set to pay for VC Summer construction costs

Customers pay, utilities profit even when they fail.
Merger conditions include keeping SCANA headquarters in Cayce, dropping the $1,000 cash refund Dominion was advertising, and customers continuing to pay for the failed project over the next 20 years.

We’ve reached out to several of the politicians who originally voted to approve the Base Load Review Act, but we haven’t heard anything back. If things push through with the current plan, the average residential household will pay about $1,700 for the expansion that never generated energy for customers.

 

[mspohr]

More coal plants shut down in Trump’s first two years than in Obama’s entire first term

Success in the war on coal.
It's hard to compete with free fuel from the sun and wind.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Renewables Beat Coal in Germany Power Mix for First Time

Wind, solar, hydro and biomass produced just over 40 percent of Germany’s electricity in 2018, overtaking coal’s 39 percent share, according to the Fraunhofer Institute. An almost 20 percent increase in solar capacity, the shuttering of older coal plants and favorable weather conditions conspired to help green sources edge ahead.

 

[mspohr]

2018 Was A "Fulcrum Year" For Renewable Energy In The US | CleanTechnica

Utilities are following the economics with a massive shift to renewables

 

[mspohr]

Nuclear energy could be competitive, but it requires pricing carbon

Clueless (or more likely, obfuscating) expert predicts nuclear could be competitive with natural gas if NG had a carbon price. He ignores the fact that wind and solar are half the price of NG.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

Nuclear energy could be competitive, but it requires pricing carbon

Clueless (or more likely, obfuscating) expert predicts nuclear could be competitive with natural gas if NG had a carbon price. He ignores the fact that wind and solar are half the price of NG.

Sorry for not RTFA (didn't want to provide the clicks), but did the expert account for the carbon intensity of building the nuclear plant in the first place?

 

[mspohr]

Sorry for not RTFA (didn't want to provide the clicks), but did the expert account for the carbon intensity of building the nuclear plant in the first place?

They only say ¨Adapted from an EPIC analysis of data from IEA/NEA, EIA, and DOE;¨
So, probably a fairly rigorous analysis of cost but the problem with nuclear pricing is that it never works out in real life... itś always more expensive and always takes longer. No clue if they considered CO2 impact of plant construction.

 

[EinSV]

This is pretty interesting. With the costs of solar/storage less than generating energy from existing coal plants, Colorado could save $2.5 billion by quickly shutting down its coal plants and replacing them with renewables. Hopefully the utilities, government and regulators get it done.

Colorado could save $2.5 billion by rapidly shutting down its coal power plants

 

[mspohr]

Another UK nuclear plant bites the dust.
Hitachi set to cancel plans for £16bn nuclear power station in Wales
Hitachi set to cancel plans for £16bn nuclear power station in Wales

Surprise, too expensive!

Nuclear critics said a collapse of the scheme was not a disaster but an opportunity for a policy shift. Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, said: “We could have locked ourselves into reliance on an obsolete, unaffordable technology, but we’ve been given the chance to think again and make a better decision.”

Sara Medi Jones, acting secretary general of CND, said: “With offshore wind now cheaper than nuclear it’s clear there is a clean and workable alternative. We just need the political will to make it happen.”

 

[mspohr]

Minister urged to drop new coal-mining plans in Northumberland
Minister urged to drop new coal-mining plans in Northumberland

Coals last stand in the UK

 

[mspohr]

Costs for scrapping Japan’s nuclear facilities estimated at ¥6.7 tril.

Costs for scrapping Japan’s nuclear facilities estimated at ¥6.7 tril.

1 trillion Yen is about $13 billion.
(Seems on the low side).
"In the law on nuclear reactors and others, which was revised in 2017, nuclear power plant operators are obliged to release their enforcement policies for scrapping nuclear power facilities by the end of 2018 — such as the estimated costs to decommission facilities and the amount of radioactive waste that would be generated following the dismantlement."

These are utility estimates.