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Nuclear power is expensive

In mid-2007, a Keystone Center nuclear report (PDF), funded in part by the nuclear industry estimated capital costs for nuclear of $3600 to $4000/kW including interest. The report notes, "the power isn't cheap: 8.3 to 11.1 cents per kilo-watt hour." In December 2007, retail electricity prices in this country averaged 8.9 cents per kwh.

Mid-2007 has already become the good old days for affordable nuclear power. Jim Harding, who was on the Keystone Center panel and was responsible for its economic analysis, e-mailed me in May that his current "reasonable estimate for levelized cost range ... is 12 to 17 cents per kilowatt hour lifetime, and 1.7 times that number [20 to 29 cents per kilowatt-hour] in first year of commercial operation."

At the end of August, 2007 Tulsa World reported that American Electric Power Co. CEO Michael Morris was not planning to build any new nuclear power plants. He was quoted as saying, "I'm not convinced we'll see a new nuclear station before probably the 2020 timeline," citing "realistic" costs of about $4,000 per kilowatt.

So much for being a near-term, cost-effective solution to our climate problem. But if $4,000 per kilowatt was starting to price nuclear out of the marketplace, imagine what prices 50 percent to 100 percent higher will do.

Critic bashes new eco-tainment network

I imagine some folks over at Planet Green are seeing red right about now. You would be too if someone suggested your new eco-cable network “embarrasses the Earth.” It’s the first really negative review of Planet Green I’ve seen, and it was penned by Slate television critic Troy Patterson. The entire review can pretty much […]

Snippets from the news

• Endangered turtles show up in Texas. • International talks in Bonn end with, as usual, scant progress. • Bank of America donates $1 million to Conservation International. • Exxon quits the gas business. • Lions at Kenya park at risk of extinction. • Ron Paul drops out.

Hot plans rile the Chicago waterfront

Two curious things going on along the waterfront in Chicago, which Mayor Richard Daley envisions as the “greenest city in America”: a brouhaha over plans to relocate the children’s museum to Grant Park, and a billion-dollar dream of a semicircular Eco-Bridge in the same area. A mock-up of the Eco-Bridge. Photo: Chicago Tribune. The $100 […]

Wal-Mart truck fleet on track to meet fuel-efficiency goals

Wal-Mart has improved the fuel efficiency of its 7,000-truck fleet by 20 percent since Oct. 2005 and is on track to meet its goal of a 25 percent improvement by the end of 2008, a Wal-Mart executive said Friday. Having already downsized its diesel tanks and started rolling on more efficient tires, the company also […]

Council on Foreign Relations releases new report on climate change and U.S. policy

The Council on Foreign Relations released a new report this week on how the United States should approach foreign policy as it relates to climate change. “Confronting Climate Change: A Strategy for U.S. Foreign Policy,” as one might expect, indicates that the U.S. needs to come up with a mandatory emissions reduction plan if it […]

From Broadway to Bucks

Annie get your green They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway … good thing they’ll soon be replaced by LEDs. Yep, the Great White Way is going green. Wicked! photo: goatopolis via Flickr A penny for your thighs Flying these days is a weighty issue. But at least on Derrie-Air — the “world’s […]

The great Mark Bittman on how to push meat off the center of the plate

I’m no vegan. I believe that the only truly sustainable agriculture involves raising crops along with animals. I also adore the globe’s cooking traditions, most of which involve integrating meat and/or dairy products with vegetables, grains, and spices. And yet, I’m appalled by this fact, from the USDA: In 2005, total meat consumption (red meat, […]

Florida city takes another smart(ish) step

Yesterday, the Tampa city council gave preliminary approval to a plan that offers incentives for green building; they’re expected to formally approve it later this month. We mentioned in our rockin’ Smart(ish) Cities series that this was in the works — nice to see it pursued, and heartening to see such places taking green(ish) steps.

Arctic sea ice update: 2008 poised to repeat — or beat — 2007

For months, the deniers have been extolling the fact that the Arctic sea saw record refreezing last fall. And they have been claiming that this somehow fits into the absurd claim that the planet is now in a major cooling trend.

But back in the real world, the planet keeps warming, and the Arctic is taking the worst of it, which could lead to potentially catastrophic methane emissions from the tundra, as noted here. The National Snow and Ice Data Center just reported: