Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Financial Times

Showing posts with label Financial Times. Show all posts

Friday, October 29, 2010

ENERGY NEWS India suggests 'energy revolution'

Pratibha Patil as the Governor of Rajasthan.

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/India_suggests_energy_revolution_999.html

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

by Staff Writers New Delhi (UPI) Oct 28, 2010 Indian President Pratibha Patil called for an "energy revolution" to help the country achieve energy security and fuel its economic growth. Addressing the growing divide between India's power demand and supply during the World Innovation Summit and Expo in Mumbai Wednesday, Patil said the country should pursue all available fuel options and forms of energy, whether conventional, non-conventional, new or emerging.
"It is time now for an energy revolution that will ensure our energy security," she said, Press Trust of India reports.
Figures from the federal Planning Commission show that India faces a 12 percent power shortfall during hours of peak consumption.
Energy should be available to sustain the country's growth and meet the aspirations of its people, Patil said, adding that the growth in demand for electricity has overtaken generation capacity.
"The capacity addition requires augmentation of manufacturing capacity of power equipment, skilled manpower and adoption of modern project management practices," she said.
Excerpts from a new report from the International Energy Agency, scheduled for release Nov. 9, show that nearly 404 million Indians don't have access to electricity, the Financial Times reports. India isn't expected to be fully electrified until 2030 and needs 245 electricity grids to do so, the IEA report states.
Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the U.N. Industrial Development Organization, told the Financial Times that even among those who do have electricity, many have just 100 kilowatts an hour per person per year, enough only for lights to function.
"They need at least 600 to 700 kilowatts an hour so that productivity can be enhanced, gross domestic product can increase and India can become more competitive," he said.

Monday, October 18, 2010

The future of coal: Old energy source under new pressures, but it’s not dust yet

Sunny days appear to be ahead for green energy in Tennessee, but the coal industry faces a future clouded by a number of issues such as declining demand because of environmental concerns and the resurgence of nuclear power.
Utilities like TVA are the primary customers for coal companies, and TVA recently announced a strategic shift away from coal and toward more sustainable energy sources for its power plants. It already plans to idle nine coal-fired units at its fossil plants.
The fossil plants themselves face an uncertain future as tougher air quality regulations make it costlier to operate some plants that would need expensive scrubbing equipment.
Some observers believe the end is approaching for coal as a viable fuel source. A Jan. 25 story in the London Financial Times, headlined "The Death of U.S. Coal," examined the possibility that tight new Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on sulphur dioxide emissions will push utilities to start abandoning fossil plants as a source of electrical power. A July 19 story in Forbes magazine reported that Edison International already has shuttered two coal-fired plants near Chicago because of the regulations. More at: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/oct/17/future-coal-old-energy-source-under-new-pressures-/

Friday, September 10, 2010

Nuclear Progress

Opinion: European interest in nuclear is long overdue
German Chancellor Angela Merkel extended the lives of her country's nuclear plants, but there is more work to be done, according an editorial in the Financial Times. Nuclear power is the best choice for the future because it economic, reliable and clean, the newspaper said. Financial Times