Power stations | Claverton Group

Relative / comparative costs of wind energy, nuclear energy, hydro power, coal power, natural gas, geothermal energy, and biomass

In general it can be seen that there is not a lot to choose between the cost of wind energy, and coal, gas or nuclear. PV and CSP are considerablymore expensive however.

"Carbon Trading is Insane" – Hugh Sharman

http://www.pennwellblogs.com/power/2009/06/11/carbon-trading-is-insane/ June 11th, 2009 This post is filed under the following categories: Yesterday I attended the UK’s Nuclear Industry Forum, an annual gathering of utilities, politicians, EPCs, NGOs, OEMs and auxiliary service providers, to discuss the prospects of a nuclear renaissance. Vincent De Rivaz, CEO of EDF Energy (the British arm of the French state-owned […]

Claverton Energy Group view on European Supergrid HVDC interconnector

A significant number of Claverton Energy Group members acknowledge Britain could have energy security and a fully sustainable clean supply of affordable electricity within 30 years (15 years with a crash program) by embracing the European Supergrid (akin to the UK national grid but on a larger scale, linking up Europe, Scandinavia, Iceland, Central Europe, the Ukraine, and north Africa). However, the group is worried that UK energy companies acting without government instruction will be unable and even reluctant to implement it. The 250 strong independent group of energy experts, including a number who wish to remain anonymous because of their positions within the big 6 energy companies, is calling on the government to intervene now to avoid an unregulated energy industry making the kinds of mistakes that were made by an unregulated banking industry.

Are nuclear energy and wind energy fundamentally incompatible in large penetrations due to the intermittency of one and the inflexibility of the other?

Dear P I made a mistake,….. it was EDF and E.ON who made the submission. Not E.ON and National Power (who are now owned by RWE). Effectively they are saying exactly what was pointed out in the “Briefing Note” that was published in the Inst of Civils Energy Journal two years ago. I attach a […]

ADRECS – How To Rapidly Convert The Central Deserts Of China To Agricultural Regions Producing Huge Amounts Of Renewable Energy For Europe

This article describes a novel concept using existing technology to very quickly a) control the desertification and sand drifts b) enable the establishment of plant species c) the construction of wind farms or CSP connected to Europe by either a lengthy HVDC transmission system, or the local production of ammonia which can readily be transported to eg Europe / USA and easily used as a vehicle fuel d) the construction of a vast area of seawater greenhouses using sea water pumped thousands of miles to be desalinated by solar energy to allow the production of food and or energy crops. (Contrary to what some ill-informed people claim this does not use a huge amount of energy compared to other national uses) e) unlocks the massive potential for carbon sequestration via organic matter in soil

What is the correct number to represent amount of nuclear energy produced worldwide? Discussion on wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Nuclear_power My numbers are not wrong, the IEA (and EIA) numbers are wrong, because they multiply them by 3. and they say so. Any property of apples and oranges can be compared, such as color, mass, size, shape, and oh yes calorie content, or energy. As much as 90% of the total energy we […]

There is a possible impediment to production of nuclear power plants, due to a backlog at Japan Steel

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power There is a possible impediment to production of nuclear power plants, due to a backlog at Japan Steel Works, the only factory in the world able to manufacture the central part of a nuclear reactor’s containment vessel in a single piece[32], which reduces the risk of a radiation leak. The company can […]

"Nuclear power stations can't load follow that much" – Official

A note from Professor Elliot of the Open University: Nuclear can’t load follow that much Quotes from EDF’s submission to the UK governments renewable energy staretry consultation: Â Â ‘As the intermittent renewable capacity approaches the Government’s 32% proposed target, if wind is not to be constrained (in order to meet the renewable target), it […]

Solicitor seeking expert witness to aid defence of Drax 29

Dear Claverton Energy Group, Please forgive this e-mail out of the blue. I am a solicitor representing 29 environmentalists who face criminal proceedings arising from an incident last year when they blocked a train carrying coal to DRAX coal fired power station. They took the action in order to reduce CO2 emissions contributing to […]

A very significant admission by the US FERC chairman that the issue of integrating variable sources of power is not such a big issue

Wind Power and Reliability: The Roles of Baseload and Variable Resources Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff has stated that “baseload capacity is going to become an anachronism” and that no new nuclear or coal plants may ever be needed in the United States. Quote from Press Release: “1. This fact sheet explains […]