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Nuclear on a roll: By and large renewables such as wind cannot deliver continuous reliable supply of electricity, let alone on any scale. Internationally, the nuclear renaissance is gathering steam. At present, 30 nations representing two-thirds of humanity use some 440 nuclear reactors to produce 16 per cent of global electricity, from 368 GWe (gigawatt electric) of capacity – more than seven times Austialia’s total.

Emissions can be cut: Twenty-seven more units are being built in 10 countries because they make economic sense, 38 more are firmly planned, and more than 100 are further back in the pipeline. Doubling the world’s nuclear contribution would eliminate one-quarter to one-third of the CO2 emissions from power generation.

Aust "could do more": Radioactive emissions from nuclear plants are negligible – giving far less exposure than the natural background radiation we all happily live with. Meanwhile, Australia provides a quarter of the mined uranium for a world increasingly concerned with the clean and reliable production of large amounts of electricity. We could do even more.

The Age, 28/4/2006, p. 13

Source: Erisk Net  

Market carve-up underway? It would be only natural if Gazprom sought to agree with its rivals in North Africa and the Middle East to a set of commercial terms that facilitate the carving up of markets, ensuring everyone gets a share of the pie, the article added.

Crude price starting to damage majors: Among the West’s big oil companies, the price of crude has gone beyond a mere embarrassment of riches to the point where it is damaging business plans. So hot is the market that companies struggle to staff projects and acquire materials and equipment.

Their costs are soaring: BP recently suffered a tripling in the day rate of its drillship in the Gulf of Mexico. In Qatar, they are no longer worrying about tender prices but about a lack of bids. There are simply not enough equipment procurement contractors to service the profusion of projects.

Their market dominance is eroding: The surging price is doing damage in other areas for the major oil companies, causing political problems at home and abroad. Oil producing nations no longer need the oil majors to provide either cash or technology. The latter they can buy from oil service companies, which have picked up the staff and skills abandoned by the majors during the price collapse of the 1990s. Flush with funds from high prices, the oil producing nations also no longer need the oil majors’ capital.

The Australian, 27/4/2006, p. 25

Source: Erisk Net  

According to president of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, Helen Caldicott, each typical 1000-megawatt reactor makes 200 kilograms of plutonium a year, reported The Age (17 April 2006, p.11).

A little goes a long way – the wrong way: Less than one-millionth of a gram is carcinogenic. Handled like iron by the body, it causes liver, lung and bone cancer and leukaemia.

Congential deformities in testicles: It has a predilection for the testicle, where inevitably it will cause genetic abnormalities.

Radiological life of 240,000 years: With a radiological life of 240,000 years, released in the ecosphere, it will affect biological systems forever. Because only five kilograms of plutonium is critical mass, countries importing our uranium to fuel their nuclear reactors could, theoretically, manufacture plutonium for many nuclear bombs each year.

And, makes nuclear weapons: The under-resourced International Atomic Energy Agency admits that it is physically impossible to prevent a determined country, whether signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or not, from using imported uranium or its byproduct, plutonium, to make nuclear weapons.

The Age, 17/4/2006, p. 11

Source: Erisk Net  

Listed producers Australian Ethanol and Australian Renewable Fuels have seen their share prices jump 160 per cent and 18 per cent respectively since last March, read more …

Investec diving into renewables: One significant biofuels investor is the Australian office of Investec Bank, which is building a renewable energy investment business to add to its private equity, real estate and corporate advisory operations.

US ethanol deal: This month Investec added ethanol to its portfolio with a $US100 million ($A134 million) deal to gain access to 160 million gallons of ethanol production in the US, using special-purpose company Global Ethanol Holdings. GEH has taken a 60 per cent stake in lowa-based co-operative Midwest Grain Producers, which has an operational plant producing 100 million gallons (378 million litres) of ethanol with a 60-million-gallon plant under production in nearby Michigan.

Two more in the pipeline: Investec’s executive chairman in Australia, Geoff Levy, says the group has two other ethanol deals close to completion, one of which is in the US.

The Age, 24/4/2006, p. 2

Greenpeace claims a victory over seafood suppliers Gorton’s, Sealord and parent company Nissui, who have withdrawn their active support for Japanese whaling. Read more …