Dash For Gas — And Move On From Nuclear Power Folly

via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)http://www.thegwpf.com

If an industry cannot finance itself after decades, it’s time to try another industry

Remember “Nuclear power? No thanks”? That sunny, smiling sticker which was almost standard on the back of every Citroen Deux-Chevaux? How we smiled at such naivety. Nuclear power was the future! The fume-belching little 2CV may have gone the way of the Trabant but, after another grim week for the nuclear industry, it seems those stickers may have been right after all.

A financially viable nuclear power station looks increasingly like a mirage. Even the eye-watering guarantee from the UK taxpayer for Hinkley Point C is not enough to cover the risk that building it will bankrupt EDF. Toshiba’s woes have claimed the scalp of its chairman. Hitachi is signalling that its project in Anglesey needs government backing to proceed.

It’s telling that after 60 years of mostly successful operation, commercial viability still eludes the nuclear power industry. …

The cheapest and quickest fix is to build gas-fired power stations, to tap into worldwide abundance and increasingly diverse supply, even before domestic fracking gets going in the UK. Unfortunately, the artificial barriers imposed by today’s energy policy are preventing this subsidy-free solution….

Abandoning nuclear means facing reality on the likely path of future carbon dioxide emissions. It means repealing the Climate Change Act with its arbitrary targets for dramatic cuts, passed near-unanimously by parliament in 2007 in an orgy of self-indulgence. Legislate in haste, repent at leisure.

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via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) http://www.thegwpf.com

February 17, 2017 at 02:15AM

Worst Gasoline Glut in 27 Years Could Be Oil Rally’s Nemesis

via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)http://www.thegwpf.com

Storage levels swelled last week to 259 million barrels, the highest in EIA records dating to 1990

A gasoline glut brought on by drivers buying less at filling stations is emerging as one of the biggest threats to the yearlong oil-price rally.

U.S. gasoline consumption plummeted last month, nearly matching a 15-year low, government estimates show. It fell to as low as 8.2 million barrels a day, averaged over the four-week period ended Jan. 27.

January sales at the pump fell 4.4% from a year ago, according to data from the Oil Price Information Service. That has led to a record amount of surplus gasoline, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Storage levels swelled last week to 259 million barrels, the highest in EIA records dating to 1990.

“It was a poor January by any stretch of the imagination for gasoline,” said Tom Kloza, the Oil Price Information Service’s global head of energy analysis.

This drop-off in demand would be unlike any other outside of a recession, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. It is leaving many analysts befuddled. Some question the data. Others attribute the decline to storms and poor weather. Drivers may be put off by pump prices 31% higher than a year ago, according to the EIA. Many analysts expect demand to rebound in coming weeks.

The country’s cost of living did increase in January by the most in four years in big part from rising gasoline prices, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Its data showed pump prices up 7.8% from December to January.

Those prices may have to fall to boost consumption. Otherwise oil markets may be faced with budget-conscious consumers leaving a glut lingering for months, maybe until the late spring or summer when driving peaks.

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via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF) http://www.thegwpf.com

February 17, 2017 at 01:14AM

Scott Pruitt’s Game-Changing Call for Debate on Climate Science

via Climate Change Dispatchhttp://climatechangedispatch.com

In light of charges by a former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist that agency researchers are manipulating data to support climate alarmism, Scott Pruitt — President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency — is right to call for open debate on the science. At stake are trillions of dollars, countless jobs, […]

via Climate Change Dispatch http://ift.tt/2jXMFWN

February 17, 2017 at 12:18AM

Fake News: Fukushima Edition

via Watts Up With That?http://ift.tt/1Viafi3

Guest post by David Middleton Radiation levels recorded inside Fukushima’s crippled nuclear power station are at the highest levels since its catastrophic meltdown in 2011. Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc (Tepco) said the radiation level in the containment vessel of Reactor 2 in the Fukushima No 1 power plant had reached a maximum of […]

via Watts Up With That? http://ift.tt/1Viafi3

February 17, 2017 at 12:14AM