One of three reactors at Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido is going off line for maintenance checks this weekend. Once that reactor is switched off, the country will be free of atomic power for the first time since 1966. This marks a remarkable change in electricity production for Japan. Before last year’s earthquake and tsunami, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Nuclear’
Double Set of Five Friday Facts: Natural Gas Leads the Pack
April 13th, 2012 
Eric Wilson When looking at which energy source provides the most energy to the American economy, natural gas topped the charts for 2010 (the most recent year for which data was fully available). Today’s set of facts looks at the breakdown of the various sources and follows up last week’s Five Friday Facts which looked at the [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Five Friday Facts, Renewable Energy 
Tags: Biomass, Coal, Energy, Geothermal, Hydroelectricity, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Oil Consumption, Solar Energy, Wind Power 
No Comments »LightSail Energy, Storing the Wind and Sun
April 3rd, 2012 Eric Wilson The days of a single dominant energy source are just about over. In the U.S., no one source provides a majority of the energy that is converted into electricity. Recent numbers put coal at the top of several sources. It is responsible for 45% of the electricity generated as of 2010. Moving forward, there will be a [...]
Why Dig for Energy When We’re Bombarded Every Day?
March 25th, 2012 Eric Wilson Ever wonder why oil is underground? I don’t mean how it got there (decomposing organisms trapped below layers of sediment that were compressed). I mean why we go through the trouble of digging it out of the ground. I realize it’s energy dense, but hear me out. I find it kind of curious to think [...]
MIT Study Details Future of Grid and Renewable Energy
March 12th, 2012 Eric Wilson A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) looked at what it deemed as “One of the most important emerging challenges facing the grid . . . the need to incorporate more renewable generation in response to policy initiatives at both state and federal levels.” At issue is the intermittent nature of many [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, News, Renewable Energy, Smart Grid Tags: Battery, Biomass, Coal, Electric Vehicles, Electricity Generation, Grid, Hydroelectricity, Nuclear, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »New Energy Innovation Hub for Batteries and Energy Storage
February 29th, 2012 Eric Wilson Earlier this month Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced “plans to launch a new Energy Innovation Hub for advanced research on batteries and energy storage with an investment of up to $120 million over five years.” The purpose of this newest hub “will be to deliver research leading to revolutionary new technologies.” Applications are due [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Renewable Energy Tags: Battery, Coal, Department of Energy, Electricity Generation, Natural Gas, Nuclear, Solar Energy, Stephen Chu, Wind Power No Comments »Inside the 2013 Department of Energy Budget
February 21st, 2012 Eric Wilson As part of the massive $3.8 trillion dollar federal budget proposed recently by President Barack Obama, $27.2 billion was geared toward the Department of Energy (DOE). For those interested, here is a PDF of the DOE budget. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu provided details of the budget proposal as it pertains to his office. In [...]
Is Germany the Model for a Second Green Revolution?
January 20th, 2012 Chris DeArmond In May 2011, shortly after the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Germany’s government decided to put the country on track to phase out its nuclear power plants by 2022. In its place will be energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and bioenergy, as mandated by Germany’s 2012 Renewable Energy Act. As one of [...]
Posted in Policy, Renewable Energy Tags: Chris DeArmond, Geothermal, Nuclear, Solar Energy, Wind Power No Comments »Large Investment in “Small Nuclear” Power Industry
November 29th, 2011 Justin Manger Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) are getting a second life through a large investment by little know U.S. based Fluor, a big engineering and construction company. NuScale Power in Corvalis, Oregon was the beneficiary of the $30 million investment. NuScale Power designs SMRs and is aiming to have its first reactor up and running by 2020. The money [...]
Governor Ritter Question and Answer Session
November 26th, 2011 Eric Wilson A few days ago I wrote up the presentation given by former Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter. Ritter currently holds the position of Director and Senior Scholar at Colorado State University’s Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE). After his 30 minute speech, he took questions from the audience. What follows are notes from the question [...]
