Odd solar power?

[GRG55]

Re: Odd solar power?

Nuclear has the lowest electricity production cost among three major types in the U.S., coal, gas, and nuclear...

...We ignore petroleum in this analysis because oil burning plants disappeared in the mid 1970s after the dollar and thus oil was no longer fixed to gold. Burning oil to produce electricity suddenly became wildly expensive. For countries like France that relied on oil fired electricity generation plants, the price spike proved disastrous. The 1970s oil price shock induced France to undertake a crash nuclear program that made France the largest nuclear power generator to this day...

..Nuclear is cheaper than all other forms of fuel-fired plants despite far higher operations and maintenance costs...

...If nuclear O&M costs can be lowered, then we'd have cheap and abundant electricity that can be used, for example, in the production of oil that is currently uneconomical because the energy input costs from oil, coal, and gas are too high...

...No surprise that many of Hyperian's initial 100 orders are from the oil industry.

Next generation nuclear, as a low cost form of fixed energy production, will be used to maintain the supply of liquid transportation fuels such as diesel from crude refined from shale, as dwindling oil supplies become more energy-intensive to extract.

Not surprisingly, French petroleum giant Total S.A., which has a small ownership in nuclear company Areva and significant ownership in several Canadian oil sands projects, has been talking about installing nuclear power for steam generation for their SAGD projects.

"Technology is one of the most important levers we can rely on to address the economic, social and environmental challenges we face in oil sands development."

Jean-Michel Gires, President & CEO of Total E&P Canada

"Total is investing in the development of renewable energies and alternative fuels to help us move toward a more innovative, diversified, and sustainable energy supply. Our focus is in four areas: solar energy, biomass, nuclear power, and liquid hydrocarbons."

The Canadian government owned nuclear company made some presentations back in 2007 about the possibility of using the heavy-water CANDU reactor for the same purpose. The ever predictable Pembina Institute fired back immediately :-)

Despite that I am convinced that in due course the R&D going into nuclear and the R&D going into oil sands extraction techniques are going to converge and we will see nukes around Fort Mac. Here's a more up to date summary article from August 2012 of the current situation.

Seems to me that Big Oil, already the most hated industry on the planet, is perfectly positioned (nothing to lose ) to lead the debate and deal with the public opposition to build new nuclear facilities...

[EJ]

Re: Odd solar power?

This is a great idea except it doesn't take politicians into account. All too often taxes are levied but then diverted to other uses than the ones for which they were intended. And after the need for the tax has passed, the taxes are seldom lowered or removed. It's against a politician's nature to eliminate a tax. Just look at the 80 year-old Universal Service Fund "fee" on phone bills that was instituted to put phone service in rural areas.

I'm talking about shifting government subsidies from FIRE to Production. I agree they are difficult to eliminate. As long as they are inevitable why not use the funds for a purpose that makes the U.S. more energy efficient and competitive?

The Treasury estimates that the proposed cap on the mortgage interest deduction will net an increase of $48 billion in tax revenue on average per year over 10 years. New auto sales in the U.S. are running at a 14 million per year rate as of October 2012. If the subsidy to the housing industry were instead applied to accelerating CNG vehicle adoption the $48 billion would pay for a $5000 rebate for 10% or 1.4 million CNG cars per year with the balance used finance the outfitting of 200,000 service stations for CNG per year. I'd argue that is a far more constructive way to spend tax dollars than inflating home prices and increasing housing costs.

[photoncounter]

Re: Odd solar power?

What we are dealing with here are changes in behaviour. And everyone has different speeds at which they are comfortable with change. The best incentive to accelerate the process is the price mechanism. Forget about "energy policies", forget about "self sufficiency", forget about subsidies to the favored companies in "renewable" energy (which concept itself is false since energy cannot be created or destroyed). Just like cigarettes and alcohol, just tax the activities that society feels should be discouraged...and without question the change in behavior will follow.

Well said.

Well 25 years ago I had a desire to drop out and move to the former Portuguese colony of Goa, on the west coast of India. Beautiful beaches, fabulous fresh food, cheap rent, live like a King for a few dollars a day. No mass transit though.

You can always rent a scooty for ~$1 a day or just buy one

[jk]

Re: Odd solar power?

for those interested in plutonomy, here's a thread from 2006.

[Polish_Silver]

EJ goes doomer!

When I was doing research for my book and writing it in 2008 and 2009 I interviewed current and former politicians, such as the one who endorsed my book.



But none of this is going to happen. The CEO of one oil company put it to me this way: "You have get your readers to understand that the root of the problem is the ascendence of rent-seeking interests to positions of near absolute power over legislation over the past 30 years. Good luck."

So the book is about what should happen, not what will happen?
Just wanted to get that straight.
What will happen: ever greater social inequity and lower productivity, driven by PCO and aging population, worsened by exhorbitant health care costs.

[Polish_Silver]

German housing bubble Circa 1979?

where are the asset bubbles in Germany

--EJ

Germany had a big run up in house prices during the 1970's. Whether it was a "bubble"
I can't say.

[vinoveri]

Re: Odd solar power?

Is it possible for Americans to pull together again as a society the way we did during WWII with victory gardens and scrap drives? The way we did with the Lunar Space Program? Or have we become too balkanized and cynical?

I think it is indeed possible for americans to pull together with right leadership that inlcudes honesty.

When Kennedy proposed the lunar program, the US population by and large trusted its government, corporate and religious leaders, the US was the largest manufacturer in the world and exported capital, and was the global defender of freedom from the soviet menace.
We now export inflation (and diabetes per SNL), we are the sole empire, the middle aged are deeply cynical and have lost faith in our political system which is merely a tool of the plutocrats.

Nonetheless, the energy and idealism of our youth can transform the system. Problem is we dumb-down our young and teach false values, so will reap what we sow.

Consider that our revolution was to get out from under the yolk of King George III (we don't need a king sentiment), but that is essentially what we are reapidly headed to with the increasing centralization of power in the executive branch and promulgation of regulatory control through the adminstrative agencies. Only now does the potential attractivenss of a monarchy make itself known. A true king puts his subjects interests before his own whereas it is the reverse for a tyrant (George III). Can anyone identify a politician that puts the interest of his constituents above his own? That is irrational you may say; everyone will serve their own self-interests first, but it was not always this way, the old ideals of chivalray and romance and honor (personal honor not public honor) was held in highest esteem. When one's self worth and happiness is tied to conformance with these ideals, we get great leaders.

[DSpencer]

Re: Odd solar power?

A true king puts his subjects interests before his own whereas it is the reverse for a tyrant (George III). Can anyone identify a politician that puts the interest of his constituents above his own? That is irrational you may say; everyone will serve their own self-interests first, but it was not always this way, the old ideals of chivalray and romance and honor (personal honor not public honor) was held in highest esteem. When one's self worth and happiness is tied to conformance with these ideals, we get great leaders.

I would say that a true king still puts his interests first. The difference is that he values honor more than money and the respect of his subjects more than his power over them.

[jk]

Re: Odd solar power?

nyc mayor bloomberg has done a pretty good job overall. of course, he started with billions of his own....

[GRG55]

Re: Odd solar power?

nyc mayor bloomberg has done a pretty good job overall. of course, he started with billions of his own....

The "best" politicians tend to be the ones that don't feel they need to be re-elected. And that quality is rare these days...

[DSpencer]

Re: Odd solar power?

* Gulf Oil CEO Joe Petrowski told me can't ask shareholders to invest $200,000 per service station to add CNG service when there are virtually no vehicles that run on CNG, and vehicle manufactures cannot ask shareholders to invest $1 billion plus in CNG vehicle development when there are no CNG service stations to fuel them. Government can efficiently end this market stalemate by raising taxes on gasoline and using the revenue to subsidize CNG outfitting of stations. A CNG vehicle gets twice the mileage per dollar than a vehicle that runs on highly taxed gasoline. This will drive consumer demand for CNG vehicles, which demand can be economically met by manufacturers. Later as PCO pushes up gasoline prices taxes can be lowered to buffer the impact. As the CNG infrastructure is now in place, government does not need to subsidize it on an ongoing basis and consumers will foot the bill by financing the profits of CNG suppliers.

The big oil companies have billions each in profit. Can't they work out a cooperative deal that would give them a first to market edge? My concern is just that the real reason they aren't doing this is because they don't think they can make money.

Wouldn't the oil companies just lobby to have natural gas taxed at the same rate, at least if it was sold as auto fuel?

[GRG55]

Re: Odd solar power?

The big oil companies have billions each in profit. Can't they work out a cooperative deal that would give them a first to market edge? My concern is just that the real reason they aren't doing this is because they don't think they can make money.

Wouldn't the oil companies just lobby to have natural gas taxed at the same rate, at least if it was sold as auto fuel?

Why would the oil companies (actually refiners and fuel retailers) care what a fuel is taxed at? They just collect the fuel taxes and remit them to government.

[Ghent12]

Re: Odd solar power?

Why would the oil companies (actually refiners and fuel retailers) care what a fuel is taxed at? They just collect the fuel taxes and remit them to government.

Is that a serious question or is there a deficiency in economic knowledge on your part?

[GRG55]

Re: Odd solar power?

Is that a serious question or is there a deficiency in economic knowledge on your part?

It's a serious question. From someone, who by the way, is very well versed in petroleum industry economics. But I am certainly open to having my apparently obvious deficiency corrected.

Fire away...

[bpwoods]

Re: Odd solar power?

" My concern is just that the real reason they aren't doing this is because they don't think they can make money."

Affirmative! Well, their financial advisors know where the best 'returns' will be obtained - invest in financial instruments. Rent-seeking is a lot less risky than prospect-seeking. Its known as Realism. At bottom, the directors and senior officers also 'know' that the Government will step in to 'save' them. Being too strategic to fail - and all that!