Nuclear Waste Disposal

After several years of work, the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future (a highly respected group of nuclear professionals, legislators, and community experts) has released its report on the future of High Level (Spent Fuel) Waste disposal in the US.

In spite of the fact that $15 billion has already been spent on Yucca Mountain and the temporary storage of these wastes since 1998, the group concurs that "America's nuclear waste management program is an impasse." This is due mainly to enormous technical problems, inadequate geologic conditions, and many political issues. Regardless of our wants, wishes, dreams, and promises, the long-term storage of nuclear wastes has eluded scientists since the '40's, and will continue to do so far into the future. Buried on page 100 of the report is a most powerful statement: "…no currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments—including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies—have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer."

Setting aside the issues of human safety, environmental impact, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and geopolitics, I raise the more current ethical and moral question of economics, and what we are passing on to our children and to many, many future generations.

http://brc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/brc_finalreport_jan2012.pdf

Energy Glut

It’s not just the solar industry…it’s everywhere! Lie, cheat, steal, scam…it’s prevalent in human nature, and needs some kind of social system to regulate and keep it in check. It’s called laws and dutiful enforcement.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53385458-90/blue-castle-company-decision.html.csp

Natural gas glut…wholesale prices down to the lowest they’ve been in almost 20 years…no impact on what I’m paying PG&E to keep my house warm this winter…same price per therm I’ve been paying for the last 5 or so years.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=114481

Oil glut in America? Ship it out…add value to it by refining it and then exporting it. Price of gasoline here is $3.89…down about 10 cents from a year ago. Produce more American oil…just means more profits on the global market for the big companies. Pure economics…human nature.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/11/exports-driving-record-us-refinery-production.html

http://www.ogj.com/articles/2012/01/api-reports-oil-production-up-product-demand-down-in-2011.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-oil-earnings-20120126,0,3577969.story

So if you really think that “drill, baby, drill” or the Keystone pipeline is going to have any significant impact on the price of gasoline or our home heating gas in light of the global control that the multinationals have…well…..

Renewables…no exploration, no guessing how much is there, and where….

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-25/u-s-cuts-estimate-for-marcellus-shale-gas-reserves-by-66-.html

These are the thoughts going through my head this morning. I know you think I’m stupid or naïve, or whatever. It seem like common sense to me. The world is not perfect and will never be. The economy drives us…the questions I have are what, who, where, and why. As a business owner for 30 years, I am all for the free enterprise system, making money, less regulation, more opportunity for creativity; but what governs the “spiritual and moral” integrity of commerce? I guess our “values” are very different. My father was an immigrant, no education, could hardly speak decent English…he worked very hard and was an extremely honest and sincere man, and made his fortune. I think of him often, and know he would be proud of my beliefs and values.

Money and Politics

Here is a discussion on differing philosophies in the political arena.

Politics today is really a "money game.” It doesn't make any difference if we know who, or how much has been donated to EITHER side Money is given to Congresspersons...Republicans, Democrats, whoever...on everything from Keystone Pipeline, climate change, abortion, auto mileage standards, meat-packing cleanliness, everything under the sun. It is how the system works right now...always has; but it is getting worse with the Supreme Court decision on corporation personhood. So, we can each point fingers...Obama...bad, bad...Kock brothers...bad, bad...doesn't really get us anywhere...BUT we both recognize the severity of the problem, and its implications.

You and I differ in that you say "no way to stop it" Give up...put out the surrender sign...whatever. I think and believe we can change things...that is what America is all about for me...the opportunity to fight for what is right...at least what I believe to be right. Fight with our military, fight with our votes, and more importantly, fight with our freedom to gather, discuss, and collectively push for change. That is what "Occupy" is all about. Yes, the message is not clearly defined, the battleground is a filthy mess, there is no real direction or leadership...but it signifies a huge upwelling of the (let's continue to call them the 99%ers) against the big money interests (still call them the 1%ers).

You and I want the same thing...a good quality life for ourselves and our friends and family; less government and rules interfering in our lives, and subsequently, less taxes to pay. However, we live in a complex society where we need government bodies to provide us with security, coordinate infrastructure like water, energy, highways, etc, and impose regulations that protect us citizens from physical danger to our health, livelihood, and freedom.

It would be nice if we had an efficient, well run government that served the needs of the people ands the nation. Instead we have a huge, inefficient system that runs on money and lobbying (from all sides and perspectives), and wastes our precious hard earned tax dollars.

Instead of sitting back and moaning and pointing fingers, you should be expending your mind and energies in working towards solutions...not easy to do, but the ultimate human challenge. For example, Common Cause and Robert Reich (I know you think he is liberal, socialist moron) are mounting a campaign to reverse the Citizens United decision. I signed the petition...what will it do, what will happen, I don’t know. But it is a tiny step towards attempting to make the changes I support. I remember a few months ago, when I told you that Susan had closed her Bank of America accounts after 46 years, you responded "you've got them shuddering." You bet. They backed off their $2 fee. Little steps, little notches...it all eventually adds up.

So again, I ask you, in light of your disgust at Obama accepting Buffett's money...what are YOU willing to do about it? If you don't like something in your life, you try and change it. Turn off Fox News and open your eyes and ears to what is really going on in this country, and the world as a whole. Let's hear some positive ideas towards solution.

The Profit in Oil

Chevron Corp. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit will be "significantly" below third-quarter results, partly because of weaker profit margins on refining and selling fuels.

http://news.yahoo.com/chevron-warns-4q-earnings-below-3q-results-224639966.html

You can expect gasoline prices to go up to counter the reduced revenue due to less demand by drivers. Blame it on Iran or whoever. Drill, baby, drill…get that US oil into the global market…I’m sure that will get gasoline prices back down to $2/gal. Exxon and others will follow suit and report a decline in revenues…Wall Street will react…our fragile economy will shudder.

An interesting fact is that these oil giants make lots of money in the entire fuel chain. Here, Chevron is going to make most of its profit from exploration and production. These oil companies own all the stages of oil: exploration, production, transportation, refining, more transportation, and actual sales of product. In 1998, Exxon made more profit from exploration than any other sector, due to the low price of global oil. How that works is let’s say Exxon funds $1 billion for exploration somewhere. The money goes to sub-companies and contractors that are owned by Exxon, and, of course, they operate at a profit. Jobs are created, equipment is purchased, the use of ships, helicopters, computers, etc (all owned by Exxon) is very expensive, but those costs are written off by Exxon as expenses. They get back more in profits than what they actually shelled out, pay little in taxes, and above all, this is subsidized by the American people…otherwise they wouldn’t do any of it. Let’s say I own a company that makes widgets…how can I make more profit from finding the materials I use in making the widgets, than from selling the widgets themselves? Clean, pure, true capitalism!

This is the MAIN reason why we are so behind in implementing our renewable resources. There is no exploration, production (wells in the Gulf), or transportation (remember the Exxon Valdez) to refineries. The only need of renewables is capturing the resource (sun, wind) on site, and converting it into electricity, heat, hydrogen, or whatever. You lose out on the most profitable part of our energy scheme, and the huge energy industry has consistently spent huge amounts of money lobbying, bribing, and putting out lies and misinformation for their own gain.

Cheap, cost-effective, clean, safe, sustainable energy…in the eyes of the beholder.

Back At It

"The EIA’s latest report on energy sources and usage in the United States, which covers the nine months ended September, the nine-month total for both renewable production and consumption were higher than those for nuclear power. The EIA showed 6.944 quadrillion Btus, or “quads,” of energy generated from renewable sources in the first nine months of 2011, compared with 6.173 quads from nuclear power."

Here's just a couple of important considerations regarding the cost of the electricity.

We hear about the high cost of renewables...this is relatively NEW technology and NEW installations, compared to old nuclear power plants that were built 30-40 years ago. Those plants will soon reach the end of their lives and will have to be decommissioned. New nuclear power will be very much more expensive...so much so that we may only build 3-4 new reactors. So the real argument centers on what is the "current" cost of renewables vs nuclear. All that will be very different in the future.

The 6+ quads of electricity generated have a "current" cost. The renewables have finished generating their electricity...X cents per kilowatt/hour. The nuclear kw/hrs generated still have a "future" cost associated with them...decommissioning, high level and low level waste disposal and storage, and the clean up of the front fuel fabrication facilities. The cost of this is unknown...but is recognized to be very expensive down the road. It is not dealt with, because it is put off many years into the future, and WE won't have to pay for it...but SOMEONE (your kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, etc) will have to pay the price in the future.

A third consideration is that the cost of most renewables (most notably PV solar) is rapidly coming down, while the cost of new nuclear is escalating every year. ALL energy resources have been traditionally subsidized by the Federal government. The main point today is how level a playing field have we set up for these electricity generating technologies. We create subsidies and incentive policies for renewables that expire every couple of years and have to be renewed. This is not true for nuclear, and especially not true for the oil industry (we still have the oil depletion allowance policy that was enacted back in the '20's) We give the nuclear industry 40 year licenses (and for some 20 year extensions) to write down their debt; but we give the solar industry 15-20 years, even though these are intermittent generators, and plying them face to face on "traditional" economic values does not work.

The growth of the renewable industry is remarkable, even in today's economy; and the costs are coming down. It will soon come to a point where subsidies may net even be needed. Like any industry, the "market" plays of companies, the bankruptcies, the technological gains and failures are no different than the auto industry, the VHS/Beta debacle, the Olympus scandal, and Solyndra. Companies may come and go, but the technology is here today, and will only increase dramatically in the future.

Renewables have a place right now providing "peak power" electricity, and once we begin to seriously implement storage technologies (like hydrogen), they WILL become the mainstay of NEW electricity generation not only in the US, but the rest of the world.

A policy shift CAN occur fairly rapidly and at any time WE decide to create that change. As always, the potential for clean, sustainable, cost-effective, decentralized elect is huge. The problem is no one person or entity can own the sun or wind. But that one person or entity can sure buy their influence in policy making.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2012/01/09/renewable-energy-passed-nuclear-as.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_eastbay+%28East+Bay+Business+Times%29