September 23, 2010

Nuclear energy may be jumping through a lot of hoops but finding the uranium to fuel those reactors is not one of them. That's a key finding coming from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which says that today's generation technologies will have a critical role in displacing carbon-intensive generation.

One of the concerns associated with increased nuclear development is that it would drive up the global demand for uranium and thus increase its price. But the MIT Energy Initiative that authored the report goes on to say that supplies are adequate, adding uranium is a relatively small component of the actual electricity generation. Therefore, if prices did rise exponentially, the added costs could be easily absorbed.

Septenber 16, 2010

The tsunami created by the 2008 financial meltdown is still reverberating. It's felt by the broader economy -- and even the electric sector.

But those in the energy field are fighting the notion that power companies and big banks follow the same mindset. Despite the restructuring process that has taken place since the middle 1990s, utilities are still closely monitored and their ability to control or manipulate markets is almost impossible.

September 28, 2010

The country's energy infrastructure is becoming a bit archaic. Bringing it up to speed, however, is problematic as the nation is struggling to overcome partisan politics and a fledgling economy.

The cyclical nature of economies means that at some point a sustained recovery will occur. And when it does, policymakers must bargain in good faith and create a durable energy policy in which utility planners can bank. The capital markets will then loosen, allowing bankers, bondholders and investors to finance projects and bring the generation and transmission systems up-to-date.

Seotember 23, 2010 - RECESSIONS ARE TOUGH ON BUSINESS AND THEY ARE ALSO TOUGH ON stocks. But the utility sector has weathered the storm. It's not just because utility stocks are known as a good hedge during hard times. It's also because the fundamentals in many cases favor them.

Utilities have long been known for generating stable revenues and paying predictable dividends. It's a heritage that has paid off in the current economic environment. It's because electricity is an essential commodity that must always be purchased. Regulated utilities, meantime, are able to pass through their reasonable expenses that include fuel adjustments while unregulated utilities are positioned to take advantage of volatile fuel costs and the expected increase in future demand.

September 21, 2010

France is leading the nuclear revolution right now. But it may also headline the nuclear fusion movement.

Fusion is responsible for powering the sun and stars. So, the goal is to imitate that process on earth, although it is extremely difficult and expected to take as much as 50 years to do.

Today's nuclear reactors use fission that produces energy when atoms are split apart. In contrast, fusion releases energy as atoms are combined -- a process that thus far consumes more energy than it generates. The aim is to heat hydrogen gas to more than 100 million degrees Celsius so that the atoms will fuse together instead of bouncing off one another. The end result of that fusion process is the production of 10 million times more power than a typical chemical reaction, such as the burning of fossil fuel.