The new report found that North Carolina has a lot of solar energy potential due to its “vast” solar energy intensity (which is nearly as much as Florida’s) combined with other economic, policy and technological factors.

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With heavy subsidies in place for nuclear power, France already generates 80% of its electricity from non-fossil-fueled sources. The French are also participants in the European cap-and-trade regime. That combination of support for clean technologies and downward pressure on carbon is the same that the Obama White House sees as the critical path to green energy adoption in the US. Progress has been elusive in that regard and things do not look rosy in the Senate this fall.

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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported good news for renewable energy enthusiasts this week. Energy from renewable resources has increased significantly over the last year. It is now higher than energy produced from nuclear power.

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“Emission-free nuclear power remains a crucial aspect of Ontario’s supply mix,” Smitherman said Monday. “Unfortunately, the competitive bidding process has not provided Ontario with a suitable option at this time.”

The proposed 10 year, multi-billion dollar project may eventually be restarted, but government spokespeople confirmed that all bidders have been asked to extend their proposals indefinitely.

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With the historic passage of climate legislation through the House of Representatives, many concerns have trickled forth. Does the climate legislation do enough? Will it even work? Does it have the right aim? With the issuance of similar concerns have come proposed solutions and substitutions. The republicans have proposed that 100 nuclear power plants be built by 2030 in place of the proposed cap-and-trade climate bill. I’ve recently written two articles on the Republican “solution” to both the climate and economic crises. And today I’m writing more.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced his own personal blueprint for the nation’s recovery. He began by re-stating the Senate Republicans’ plan that would replace the cap-and-trade legislation passed by the House, which includes building 100 nuclear power plants within 20 years, the encouragement of electric cars for conservation, offshore exploration for natural gas and oil and doubling energy research and development to make renewable energy cost-competitive.

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Italy definitively approved the return of nuclear energy after 22 years as part of a new development strategy. Italy abandoned nuclear energy after a 1987 referendum, whose result was strongly influenced by the Chernobyl disaster in Russia the previous year.

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A few weeks ago Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) called for a new energy solution. A solution that came in the form of 100 new nuclear power plants. That vision has not left the republicans’ eyes. And on Tuesday, Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) added his two cents.

During a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Crapo stated that “any successful plan to reduce carbon emissions must also involve nuclear power…Nuclear power is the best and quickest way to increase our clean energy options.” And mentioned that it should be included in any legislation, including the democrat-backed cap and trade legislation currently on the table.

Crapo said the Idahoans are skeptical of the cap and trade deal due to the possibility of increased energy costs. “A better option may be to ramp up the use of clean, nuclear technology, and existing energy sources so that we may transition to new sources without the damage to our economy we would see under a cap and trade scheme,” he added.

He urged the exploration and advancement on the United States’ nuclear energy infrastructure, calling nuclear power “the best solution on climate change.”

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Photo Credit: huntz via flickr under Creative Commons License

And now the blueprint:

“Nuclear power is the obvious first step to a policy of clean and low-cost energy. One hundred new plants in 20 years would double U.S. nuclear production, making it about forty percent of all electricity production. Add 10% for sun and wind and other renewables, another 10% for hydroelectric, maybe 5% for natural gas—and we begin to have a cheap as well as clean energy policy.”

The second step is to transition into an electric vehicle nation, where half of the cars are electric. According to Brookings Institution scholars, this could be done without building more power plants because of the vast amounts of energy that goes unused at nights. That power, which is already produced, would be used as vehicles charged overnight.

The third step? “Explore offshore for natural gas (it’s low carbon) and oil (using less, but using our own).”

And finally, put more money toward research - doubling funding. We need to work to create answers to meet energy challenges, which include: improving batteries for plug-in vehicles, making solar power cost competitive with fossil fuels, making carbon capture a reality for coal-burning plants, safely recycling used nuclear fuel, making advanced biofuels (crops we don’t eat) cost-competitive with gasoline, making more buildings green buildings and providing energy from fusion.

Here lies his blueprint. He exposed it to proponents and opponents alike. And he closed by stating that “our policy of cheap and clean energy based upon nuclear power, electric cars, off-shore exploration and doubling energy R&D will help family budgets and create jobs. It will also prove to be the fastest way to increase American energy independence, clean the air and reduce global warming.”

He welcomes comments at www.alexander.senate.gov.

For a full text of his speech, click here.

Photo Credit: www.alexander.senate.gov

“We all remember this time last year,” said Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., at a hearing on Capitol Hill on Monday. “We were in the midst of an energy crisis, paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline, and Americans were seeing their utility bills skyrocketing.” Since then, he went on to say, the energy problems haven’t disappeared and no changes in policy have been made. He warned that, though the prices have gone down, if we do not make any changes, we will fall into the same hole in which we found ourselves last summer.

His solution? Nuclear. Stating that “the cornerstone of any real solution to the American energy problem needs to involve offshore resources and nuclear power…which generates electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions and has a minimal impact on the environment.”  The first step to escaping America’s current energy crisis according to Wicker is to build more nuclear power plants.

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In southeast Utah rests a peaceful town located on the banks of a peaceful river. Here the Green River flows between two canyons, Gray and Labyrinth, allowing for farming and ranching in an arid desert. Driving through Green River, Utah doesn’t take but a few moments, including a stop to purchase some mouth-watering melons, for which Green River is famous. But Green River now has a new claim to fame.

Transition Power Development LLC (TPD) has proposed construction of a 2 unit nuclear power plant known as the Blue Castle Project situated just outside of the peaceful town. In order to maintain the 2 unit nuclear power plant, massive amounts of water would be required. The Kane County Water Conservancy District (KCWCD) has filed a water-rights application in order to facilitate the project. The application requests 29,600 acre-feet of water, which would be diverted from the Green River, a part of the Colorado River drainage.

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Spain is already the world’s #3 wind power producer (it trails the U.S. and Germany) and is also the world’s #2 producer of solar power (only behind Germany). Until now, Spain has not used its extensive coastline to develop wind power in a significant way.

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Perhaps the uranium industry’s fear of peak uranium is unfounded. Intellectual Ventures is preparing to spin off a company called TerraPower to develop nuclear reactors that run primarily on depleted uranium. While most nuclear reactors use enriched uranium, the depleted variety has many advantages— most importantly, a smaller amount of uranium is required to create the same amount of power.

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Nuclear power is one of the most controversial alternative energies, partially due to the toxic waste it creates. Now physicists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a system that uses fusion to eliminate the transuranic wastes created by nuclear plants.

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“It is leading the United States, and quite frankly, even though the bulk of the United States is behind the developed world, I think California in many respects is partially leading the world,” newly-confirmed U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said in an interview for the special. “It’s wonderful to be director of a major research lab that wants to work on this energy problem in a state that is so receptive to this work.”

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Iran is on its way to having nuclear energy, but the United Arab Emirates may get there first. Yesterday, the UAE embassy in Washington announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to sign a nuclear cooperation pact with the country.  The UAE agreed to numerous conditions for Rice’s approval, including inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency and a ban on building uranium enrichment plants.

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The Hansens open the letter with appealing to the Obama’s as parents and concerned citizens:

“We write to you as fellow parents concerned about the Earth that will be inherited by our children, grandchildren, and those yet to be born … Jim has advised governments previously through regular channels. But urgency now dictates a personal appeal.”

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The safety of nuclear plants is often debated, but we rarely hear about another potential issue for nuclear energy: peak uranium. That’s the point in time when when the maximum global uranium production is reached and begins to enter a permanent decline. And while we’ve known for some time that high-quality uranium supplies have been declining for the past 50 years, nuclear operators are finally getting nervous.

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The National Wildlife Federation has credited the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in Florida for helping save endangered crocodiles by creating a makeshift sanctuary for the reptiles within their 6,800-acre network of canals for the past 30 years.

In 1985, only 19 crocodiles lived around Turkey Point, but now around 400 live among the canals, which are used to cool to nearby nuclear power plant. The species was changed from endangered to threatened in 2007 by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

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Iran will have oil for over 100 years but once its energy resources is depleted, nuclear energy will be the only logical substitute

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