Efficiency
Letter: The requirement for electricity companies to generate electricity at the maximum attainable thermal efficiency has always ignored the unavoidable thermodynamic fact that the efficiency can never exceed about 40%. The electricity generated by a thermal power station is not a product but a by-product, the main product being heat. If we acknowledged this and redefined generating stations as heat producers, we could probably save quantities of energy far exceeding those obtainable by all other means of conservation. This would require extensive development of the means of systematically extracting the heat and using it in a cascade of applications.
Herald 2nd May 2009 more >>
Planning
Unblocking the bottleneck in wind farm applications – blamed for stalling the UK’s renewable energy industry – is the biggest challenge facing Sir Michael Pitt after he began work as the government’s chief planning official yesterday.
FT 2nd May 2009 more >>
US
Progress Energy’s Florida utility will delay the construction timeline for its $14 billion nuclear plant in Levy County and scale back early charges to pay for the plant, the company said on Friday. Florida’s second-largest utility said a 20-month delay in the construction schedule for two 1,105-megawatt, AP1000 reactors will push commercial operation of the first unit to 2018, rather than 2016 as currently envisioned. A second reactor at the site could begin operation about 2020.
Yahoo 1st May 2009 more >>
South Africa
Nuclear power seems to have become a favoured option for some countries trying to address the shortfall in power. South Africa is the only country on the continent that produces nuclear energy on a commercial basis, supplying about 2% of its needs. However, the country wants to build more plants and so the debate about nuclear power is very much alive.
BBC World Service 1st May 2009 more >>
Coal
Millions of tonnes of harmful greenhouse gases could be stored in rocks under the North Sea, freeing up power stations to burn cheap and plentiful coal. Carbon dioxide emissions from power stations in Scotland and the north-east of England could be accommodated under the seabed for the next 200 years, according to a study entitled Opportunities for CO2 Storage Around Scotland.
Herald 2nd May 2009 more >>
Press & Journal 2nd May 2009 more >>
Scotsman 2nd May 2009 more >>
Next week the Scottish Government’s ambitious Climate Change Bill comes before parliament. At present the country’s three biggest power stations account for more than 40% of carbon emissions. The two nuclear stations are due to close in 2011 and 2023 respectively. Wave and tidal power will take years to come to market and wind will always require considerable backup from other generators. If Scotland is to meet its CO2 targets and keep the lights on without replacing the nuclear stations or importing electricity, conventional stations must be transformed into generators of clean green power. A possible solution lies in carbon capture and storage (CCS) – the idea of capturing CO2, liquefying it and storing it in former oil and gas fields and porous rock beneath the sea bed.
Herald 2nd May 2009 more >>
