Nuclear Transport
Ro-ro Atlantic Cartier had on board more than 20 tons of radioactive material, when vessel suffered major fire in Hamburg port on May 2 13, reported vesseltracker.com. Cargo list of the vessel was made public on May 16. There were nine tons of uranium hexafluoride which is used for the production of fuel rods, also on board were about four tons of ammunition.
Maritime Bulletin 17th May 2013 read more »
The German city of Hamburg likely avoided a major technological disaster on May 1, when a freighter ship caught fire. It had several tons of radioactive material and explosives among its cargo, it was revealed. It took 200 firefighters working for several hours to douse the fires on the Atlantic Cartier. The ship’s most visible cargo was some 70 cars, 30 of which were damaged in the incident. But now it was revealed that the vessel also had highly dangerous substances on board as well, which posed the threat of radioactive contamination to the area.
RT 18th May 2013 read more »
Nuclear Subsidy
No one should underestimate the importance of a deal being reached between the Government and EDF to build the proposed Hinkley Point nuclear power plant. Negotiations remain delicately poised so it is understandable the Government feels unable to give a clear answer to an important question: who will bear the risk of construction overruns? Yet its ambiguous response suggests that, despite repeated protestations from EDF that it is not asking the consumer to shoulder the risk, the possibility has been left open. The issue of construction risk is not as black and white as sometimes portrayed. No one wants to see EDF written a blank cheque at the expense of consumers, especially given its track record in France. Equally, there may be different ways of managing the costs that could produce a better deal for consumers – it might even be most cost-efficient for the Government to underwrite the entire investment. Both EDF and the Government have insisted any price they agree will be fair. It is incumbent on them to publish the full terms and let the public be the judge.
Telegraph 17th May 2013 read more »
Energy Policy
Prof Colin McInnes: The idea, spread virally, goes something like this: The world’s energy majors are valued by the market on the basis that coal, oil and gas reserves can be turned into real economic value, making them an attractive punt for investors. However, if tough climate-change legislation kicks in through international regulation, then the majors are in trouble and may be massively overvalued. The claim is that we now have a rapidly inflating carbon bubble of unburnable fossil fuels. If it bursts, investors will lose their shirt. We cannot afford to be swayed by internet memes and misplaced attempts by some to crash the hydrocarbon and nuclear industries, just at the time when we need them to help accelerate the historical swing away from carbon through improving energy density.
Herald 20th May 2013 read more »
Taiwan
Hundreds protest against the construction of a controversial nuclear plant in Taiwan.
Reuters 19th May 2013 read more »
Renewables
Germany’s vice-chancellor and economy minister put Berlin on a collision course with Brussels by warning that imposing anti-dumping duties on solar panels from China would be a “grave mistake”. Philipp Rosler’s statement came as Germany’s leading manufacturing industry organisation also called for urgent negotiations with China to head off the threatened import duties, which are expected to be announced formally by the European Commission in early June. The flurry of German anxiety comes a week before a visit by Li Keqiang, China’s new premier, who is due to meet Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, in Berlin next Sunday. Germany is the only EU member state he will visit on his first foreign tour.
FT 19th May 2013 read more »
Green Deal
A new Which? survey has revealed that it still pays to think carefully about whether a Green Deal loan is right for you, if you’re looking to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Our results indicate that prospective home buyers are wary of buying a property that has a Green Deal loan attached to it. However, awareness of the scheme has significantly increased.
Which 19th May 2013 read more »
Fossil Fuels
Dozens of Conservative MPs in the southeast of England could see shale gas exploitation taking place in their constituencies as the government seeks to accelerate “fracking”. No fewer than 38 out of 62 MPs in the region have land with existing oil and gas drilling licenses – and 35 of them are Conservatives – according to data from Decc, the energy department.
FT 19th May 2013 read more »
Tar sands exploitation would mean game over for climate, warns leading scientist.
Guardian 19th May 2013 read more »
Climate
Some of the most extreme predictions of global warming are unlikely to materialise, new scientific research has suggested, but the world is still likely to be in for a temperature rise of double that regarded as safe. The researchers said warming was most likely to reach about 4C above pre-industrial levels if the past decade’s readings were taken into account. That would still lead to catastrophe across large swaths of the Earth, causing droughts, storms, floods and heatwaves, and drastic effects on agricultural productivity leading to secondary effects such as mass migration.
Guardian 19th May 2013 read more »
Scientists say the recent downturn in the rate of global warming will lead to lower temperature rises in the short-term. Since 1998, there has been an unexplained “standstill” in the heating of the Earth’s atmosphere. Writing in Nature Geoscience, the researchers say this will reduce predicted warming in the coming decades. But long-term, the expected temperature rises will not alter significantly.
BBC 19th May 2013 read more »
FT 19th May 2013 read more »