February 22, 2010

The passion surrounding nuclear power is engaging Washington as two issues have reentered the public domain: increasing loan guarantees to new projects and the casting aside of a permanent storage facility for nuclear waste.

While the nuclear industry has gotten a second wind, it is still getting sideswiped by opponents. As such, it may be too soon to pronounce its official revival. But the reality is that the energy source has earned bipartisan support. The Bush administration saw it as a way to increase the nation's energy independence while Obama's team mostly views it as a potential tool to combat climate change.

February 19, 2010

Advanced drilling and completion techniques are the critical means by which natural gas developers now hope to probe vast amounts of shale gas, considered by many to be able to fuel much of the country's electric generation for decades to come. But before that aspiration can be achieved, producers must solve the environmental complexities.

At issue is how to retrieve such vast resources without harming water quality. The problem is that the shale is a sedimentary rock that holds natural gas 2,000-12,000 feet deep in the earth. To get it out, developers use a process known as hydraulic fracturing whereby millions of gallons of water and chemicals are pumped into the ground, allowing the natural gas to flow to the wellbore.

Below are a few letters received at EnergyBiz Insider on topics that appeared in the past few weeks. They capture the essence of how many readers say they feel.
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January 29, 2010

The ultimate fate of carbon policies may be up in the air. But utilities and industrial enterprises are still under pressure to report their climate-related activities to investors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has voted 3-2 along party lines to force companies to consider their potential exposure to climate change when it comes to filing their financial statements. While the position is one that the Obama administration has advocated, its genesis formed a few years earlier as investor and environmental groups joined hands to petition the body for uniform rules.

February 17, 2010 
 
Defense contractors aren't exactly shooting for the stars. But they are aiming for a greater share of the ever-changing energy business. Their scientific and technical expertise coupled with their well capitalized businesses is giving them an inside track into the world of intelligent utilities, green energy and emissions reductions.

Most of those spacecraft and weapons makers have long had their fingers into energy-related businesses, although they reason that that market is now ready to expand. And while those contractors certainly have the money and brains to make a go of it, they are mindful that a lack of commitment has caused some past forays to remain dormant.