Despite the endless rhetoric about a 'nuclear renaissance', there are fewer power reactors today than there were a decade ago, writes Jim Green. The one country with a really big nuclear build program is China, but no one expects it to meet its targets. And with over 200 reactor shut-downs due by 2040, the industry will have to run very hard indeed just to stay put.
Nuclear renaissance? Failing industry is running flat out to stand still Dr Jim Green | 30th January 2016 News Nuclear Technology Energy China UK France USA tihange-cut.jpg Despite the endless …
Under my leadership Britain will act to protect the future of our planet, with social justice at the heart of our environment policies, writes Jeremy Corbyn. Meeting our Paris climate targets will be the starting point for a green industrial revolution that will deliver clean, affordable energy to all, create millions of new jobs, and establish the export industries of the future.
… Jeremy Corbyn: my plan for Britain's green industrial revolution Jeremy Corbyn | 8th … will be the starting point for a green industrial revolution that will deliver clean, … temperature rises to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. And just in time: we are …
Precious World Heritage Sites that protect vital biodiversity and human cultures are at risk from oil decelopment and other industries. Under threat are not just nature, wildlife, land and water but the 11 million people who depend on the 114 sites' environmental quality for their livelihoods.
… Industrial expansion threatens half of natural … Heritage sites are threatened by harmful industrial activities, according to a new WWF … under threat from at least one other harmful industrial activity. The report also shows …
Almost 60 years since the world's first commercial nuclear power station began to deliver power to the UK's grid, the industry remains as far from being able to cover its costs as ever, writes Pete Dolack. But while unfunded liabilities increase year by year, governments are still willing to commit their taxpayers' billions to new nuclear plants with no hope of ever being viable.
After 60 years of nuclear power, the industry survives only on stupendous subsidies Pete Dolack | 4th January 2016 News Nuclear Economics Energy USA UK uentrop-nuclear-cut.jpg Almost 60 years since …
Contrary to arguments advanced in a recent Ecologist article, the biomass industry supplying the Drax power station in North Yorkshire is a model of sustainability, writes Nina Skorupska, and delivers genuine, substantial emissions reductions compared to coal.
UK biomass power industry is a vital part of the renewable energy mix Nina Skorupska Renewable Energy Association | 27th October 2016 Comment Biofuels Energy Forests UK USA Biodiversity …
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has found India's huge solar initiative 'guilty' of breaking trade rules, write Dipti Bhatnagar & Sam Cossar-Gilbert, because it gives domestic manufacturers a small 10% quota for the supply of panels, leaving up to 90% for foreign competitors. It's a warning for perils of the entire WTO system, and of even harsher trade rules like those in TPP, TTIP and CETA.
World Trade Organisation smashes India's solar panels industry Dipti Bhatnagar Sam Cossar-Gilbert | 28th February 2016 News Energy Solar India Economics WTO Trade Agreement solar panels india.jpg The …
Sajid Javid's decision to allow shale gas wells to go ahead in Lancashire marks a new phase in the industry's development, writes Michael Bradshaw. But it will also trigger a new phase of organisation, protest and resistance among impacted communities. Cuadrilla, IGas and other companies may just find the 'social licence' they thought they didn't need is essential, after all.
… the rural landscape and is tantamount to the industrialisation of the countryside. It is …
The Lifetime Study of Japanese A-bomb survivors is a monumental fraud which deliberately excludes controls for being 'too healthy', writes Chris Busby. Put them back in, and you find that low levels of radiation cause over 100 times more cancer than they are 'meant' to, creating a silent global massacre of the innocent. Under the Euratom treaty, the entire nuclear industry must now be 'rejustified'.
The 'Genetics' letter, the Euratom suicide clause, and the death of the nuclear industry Chris Busby | 15th December 2016 Activism Nuclear Health Regulation Science Energy WMD UK EU …
China's 2015 carbon emissions fell for the second year running, by an amount equal to all of Poland's, while total power consumption increased, writes Lauri Myllyvirta. Credit goes to the massive expansion in renewable energy, with a record-breaking 47GW of wind and solar capacity added.
… wind and solar capacity added. Economic and industrial data released today by the Chinese … debate over whether China's high polluting industrial sectors would return to growth was …
With five reactors closed in the last three years, the US nuclear industry is in shutdown mode, writes Linda Pentz Gunter - and that means big spending on decommissioning. But now the nuclear regulator is set to exempt owners from safety and emergency costs at their closed plants - allowing them to walk away from the costs and liabilities, and palm them onto taxpayers.
US nuclear industry's plan thanks to NRC: let taxpayers carry the can for closed power plants Linda Pentz Gunter | 13th May 2016 News Nuclear Energy Waste Regulation USA Finance …
For all Japan's talk of 43 'operable' nuclear reactors, only two are actually running, writes Jim Green, as renewables and a 12% fall in demand eat into the power market. And while Japan's 'nuclear village' defends safety standards, the IAEA, tasked with promoting nuclear power worldwide, has expressed deep concerns over the country's weak and 'fragmented' safety regulation.
… safety in Japan. Tomas Kåberger, Professor of Industrial Energy Policy at Chalmers …
Lithium is a key global resource for the global energy transition thanks to its role in the lightweight, efficient batteries that will power cars and balance power grids, writes Rafael Sagárnaga López. But the booming demand threatens to contaminate one of the world's great wonders, the Salar de Uyuni, 12,000 feet high in the Bolivia's Andes, which holds 70% of the world's lithium reserves.
… , signed a contract to build a potassium salt industrial plant . Chinese and German interest … are yet to advise on the changes that industrial exploitation will bring but heavy … certainty" about the consequences of industrial-scale production with sulfate …
Fracking has no social licence in the UK, will contribute little to the economy, will have a huge adverse impact on other sectors, will be a disaster to climate and the environment, and won't even improve energy security, write Peter Strachan and Alex Russell. Do we really want to see 16,000 or more shale gas wells drilled in the British countryside? Let's FraXit now!
… even its Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Public Opinion …
New York has approved a massive $7.6 billion subsidy to keep four ageing upstate plants open on the false promise that they provide 'clean and renewable energy', writes Karl Grossman. Campaigners for genuine clean energy fear that other pro-nuclear states may follow NY Governor Cuomo's dubious lead.
… actually a chain of highly energy-intensive industrial processes which combined consume … on electric bills paid by residential and industrial customers in New York State. Cuomo …
French energy giant EDF will today give the formal go-ahead for the Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset, writes Chris Goodall. But that's no reason for the UK to sign up to a disastrous deal that will cost us over £1 billion per year for 35 years - money that should be used to support the green technologies of the future.
… Hinkley is a central part of the national industrial strategy of France. The nuclear … for the privilege of supporting the French industrial strategy. Nuclear gets ever more … new minister in charge of both energy and 'industrial strategy'. How does the UK avoid …
Article 6 of the Euratom Treaty provides for nuclear industry practices to be rejustified in the light of new scientific evidence of harm to health, writes Chris Busby. We now have that evidence, in particular that radiation exposure even at very low levels causes severe and heritable genetic damage to people and entire families. Now, we must use the law to protect our health from radiation!
… Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 1 Victoria Street London …
The UK's nuclear power programme is driven by military demands, write Andy Stirling & Phil Johnstone - but not in the way you might think. The most essential need is not for plutonium or tritium, but for a nuclear industrial sector to design, build and maintain the reactors that power nuclear submarines. Without them, the Trident missile system would have no military credibility.
… for plutonium or tritium, but for a nuclear industrial sector to design, build and … play out at the level of innovation and industrial systems. And above all, it's the … impossible. The scale of the associated industrial infrastructure makes this arguably …
The Philippines is taking a huge leap forward in the climate wars, writes Ellen Baker, with the world's 'top 50' energy giants standing accused of violating international human rights law as a result of their fossil fuel production. This is the first such investigation ever to take place anywhere in the world - and it just opened up a whole new front of corporate vulnerability.
… were responsible for over a fifth of global industrial emissions in 2010 . Industrial emissions are accelerating climate …
The Japanese were kept in the dark from the start of the Fukushima disaster about high radiation levels and their dangers to health, writes Linda Pentz Gunter. In order to proclaim the Fukushima area 'safe', the Government increased exposure limits to twenty times the international norm. Soon, many Fukushima refugees will be forced to return home to endure damaging levels of radiation.
… will be an energy revolution, a green industrial revolution, and a decentralized … the priority - as we've seen in so many other industrial disasters in so many other …
The cost of offshore wind power in the North Sea is 30% lower than that of new nuclear, writes Kieran Cooke - helped along by low oil and steel prices, reduced maintenance and mass production. By 2030 the sector is expected to supply 7% of Europe's electricity.
Offshore wind powers ahead as prices drop 30% below nuclear Kieran Cooke | 19th July 2016 News Energy Renewables Wind Oceans UK Denmark Germany Nuclear Oil Fossil Fuels burbo-bank-cut.jpg The cost of …
With its choice of Hinkley Point C - a £100 billion nuclear boondoggle - its enthusiastic support for expensive and environmentally harmful fracking, and its relentless attack on renewable energy, the UK government's energy policy is both morally and economically bankrupt, write Peter Strachan & Alex Russell. It must urgently reconsider this folly and embrace the renewable energy transition.
… Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) at Westminster, … due to contamination from agricultural, industrial and other human activity. In terms …
The Paris Agreement provides a clear mandate to limit global warming, writes Jeremy Brecher. And with governments doing nowhere near enough, it's up to ordinary citizens - through civil disobedience if needs be - to make sure the world breaks free from fossil fuels. Let's make 2016 the year of 'Climate Insurgency'!
… Celsius (6.3 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. [3] For comparison, a … Celsius (6.3 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. To reduce warming to 1.8 … temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to …
The key study that justifies the Government's claim that fracking is a climate change 'solution' is based on serious scientific errors, writes Nick Cowern. Not only has the Government failed to correct them, but it is now delaying the publication of a new official report that would reveal the truth - that fracking is considerably worse for the world's climate than coal.
… they said nothing about the impact of industrial-scale shale gas extraction on …
State action on solar power can make a big difference, writes Aaron Viles. Driven by ambitious renewable energy targets and the need to generate local growth industries of the future, five states stand out for their trend-setting policies that are accelerating the US's clean energy transition.
Five US states are leading the way in solar power initiatives Aaron Viles DeSmogBlog | 3rd March 2016 Comment Energy Solar Renewables Finance USA solar-nyc-cut.jpg State action on solar power can …