Publication or article

Despite industry advertising to the contrary, an analysis by the Center of American Progress determined that ACCCEs companies spend relatively few dollars conducting research on carbon capture and storage, among the most promising clean coal technology to reduce global warming pollution from coal-fired power plants. This technology would allow power plants to capture 85 percent or more of their carbon dioxide emissions and permanently store them underground in geological formations.

Critical review of wind energy in Denmark arguing that the resource is less reliable than claimed, and that a sizeable portion of the subsidy to wind energy is lost through power exports to surrounding countries.  The analysis also quantifies the magnitude of wind subsidies within the country.

This Bulletin article is an extract from the longer and more detailed analysis prepared for the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety.  The extract focuses primarily on the industry trends and does not address the subsidy components of the original report.  Readers primarily interested in nuclear subsidies should refer to the full report.

Short documentary providing useful background on global fishery subsidies and efforts at reform. It looks at the problem of over-fishing and approaches to making fisheries more sustainable, in particular through the reform of fishery subsidies.  In this regard, the ongoing WTO negotiations aimed at improving and clarifying rules on fisheries subsidies are identified as a major opportunity.

The general message is clear: in France nuclear power works, in 2007 providing 77% of the electricity in the country and 47% of all nuclear electricity in the EU. “The requests by countries that wish to profit from that clean and cheap source of energy are legitimate”, claims French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. But does it really work that well and is it all that clean and cheap in France?

The paper reviews the history and the economics of the French PWR program, which is arguably the most successful nuclear-scale up experience in an industrialized country. Key to this success was a unique institutional framework that allowed for centralized decision making, a high degree of standardization, and regulatory stability, all epitomized by comparatively short reactor construction times.

As the projected costs of nuclear reactor construction have escalated, demand forelectricity has declined as result of the recession, and the cost of alternatives has plummeted, the nuclear industry has recognized that new nuclear reactors are simply uneconomic and impossible to fund in the capital markets. Seeking to override the verdict of the marketplace, the industry’s lobbying arm has demanded massive increases in subsidies from taxpayers and ratepayers to underwrite the industry. It demands:

Of note:  analysis contains a detailed summary of credit downgrades associated with the last waves of nuclear reactor construction.

While nuclear power remains a thorny political and policy issue today, the concept of building new facilities has gradually reawakened in recent years, offering a buffer against foreign energy dependence, unpredictable commodity prices, and heavily polluting fuel sources. As a result, several of the largest U.S. power companies in recent years have announced plans to pursue new nuclear generation.

A number of energy and transportation projects have been proposed to promote the physical integration of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia's Amazon territories. The Madeira River Hydroelectric and Navigation Mega-project includes the construction of two hydroelectric power stations (HPS), Jirau and Santo Antônio, in Brazil, a third HPS between Abunã in Brazil and Guayaramerín in Bolivia, and probably a fourth at the Esperanza Falls on the Beni River in Bolivia.