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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday April 04 2018, @04:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the dirty,-expensive,-obsolete-technology dept.

Common Dreams reports

FirstEnergy Solutions (FES)--together with its subsidiaries FirstEnergy Generation and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company--announced its bankruptcy [April 1] after years of short-sighted business decisions and executive mismanagement that resisted investing in clean, renewable energy, and its workers. The company now has a serious obligation to protect its workers and their benefits from the bankruptcy process, as well as meet its environmental responsibilities--particularly if its coal and nuclear power plants are retired or sold.

FES has power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

In response, Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, released the following statement:

"FirstEnergy Solutions' bankruptcy is a cautionary tale for utilities, investors, and public officials who think the coal and nuclear industries will somehow rebound in the coming years. They will not. America's 21st century energy market demands cheap, flexible energy resources that can rapidly shift with electricity demands and don't pollute local air and water. Coal and nuclear plants are too expensive and too dirty to compete in the modern market.

"FirstEnergy Solutions is in bankruptcy because it continually ignored America's shift to clean energy by investing in uneconomic coal and nuclear plants which have been losing money for years. Now it's time for the company to accept its mistakes and concentrate on protecting its workers and their benefits during the bankruptcy process, while also meeting its environmental obligations--particularly if its plants are decommissioned or sold. FES must do everything it can to help those being harmed by its negligent business practices and focus on transitioning them to new economic opportunities."


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 04 2018, @06:28AM (23 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 04 2018, @06:28AM (#662377)

    Do you think that coal has a future other than bankruptcy?

    Coal has no future. But nuclear is still badly needed if you want to decarbonize the entire power grid. If you are happy burning methane releasing trillions of tons of CO2 per year, then sure, nuclear has no future. But if you want to close those down, nuclear is badly needed since blackouts are unacceptable in today's world.

    As a grain of salt, fossil fuel usage in China expanded last year even when they installed more renewables most of the rest of the world combined. So thinking that renewables are "magic" like Mary Anne Hitt and "things will work out" is shortsighted at best. Decarbonizing the economy is a BIG problems and we don't need idiots blocking it by protesting clean solutions like nuclear power.

    Since Kyoto was signed, fossil fuel usage (and hence carbon emissions) went up by 50%. That's +50%, despite all the progress on renewable front, it's not even satisfying energy growth, never mind replacing fossil fuels. Coal and nuclear are hurt by FRAKING gas sources, not by renewables. But that doesn't really help with the global warming problem, does it?

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday April 04 2018, @06:50AM (2 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 04 2018, @06:50AM (#662384) Journal

    But nuclear is still badly needed if you want to decarbonize the entire power grid.

    Not a kind nuclear power that lets radioactive gunk for long times.
    "Burn" the shit out of the nuke fuel the best you can before declaring it as "waste".

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 04 2018, @07:26AM (19 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 04 2018, @07:26AM (#662390)

    Still the most expensive way ever devised to produce electricity.

    ...and as c0lo notes, when they start building plants that CONSUME the crap that has been produced since 1943, and which has been lying around for decades within a quarter mile of where it was produced, that will be a start.

    ...and the irresponsibility of that industry has demonstrated that those for-profit operations that want to build/operate those plants (haven't seen any for decades here) pony up the insurance premiums for those as well.
    (Good luck getting an underwriter without a gov't waiver.)

    Meanwhile, 15 petawatts of solar energy is bathing the Earth continuously.
    Collecting solar energy so that it can be used to run stuff produces zero waste products.

    How many more Fukushimas do we need before we figure out what a lousy notion nukes are?

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday April 04 2018, @01:03PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 04 2018, @01:03PM (#662452) Journal

      How many more Fukushimas do we need before we figure out what a lousy notion nukes are?

      Probably a lot more than one every two decades.

    • (Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday April 04 2018, @01:23PM (17 children)

      by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @01:23PM (#662463)

      Meanwhile, 15 petawatts of solar energy is bathing the Earth continuously.

      That may be true, but as the earth rotates once every ~24 hours (and ignoring axial tilt), it means that on average, people experience roughly half the time in darkness, when solar cells don't produce a great deal of output. Grid-scale storage of electrical power is not available yet. Land is not distributed smoothly around the globe, either, so good luck with harnessing that 15 petawatts when the Pacific Ocean is facing the sun. Floating solar arrays have a few issues.

      The thing about nuclear power is that it is the only way of getting continuous base-load power without carbon-dioxide emissions. Biofuels (which do produce no net emissions) don't meet the demand.

      As for nuclear 'waste', people would be far better off dealing with non-proliferation issues and finding a way to run fast breeder reactors. Instead of the needlessly wasteful once-through uranium cycle used now, the unused uranium isotopes could be used to generate more fuel, and the high fast-neutron flux reactors used to 'burn up' the high-level waste. I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese eventually do it anyway, NPT or no NPT.

      • (Score: 2) by Pav on Wednesday April 04 2018, @02:12PM (16 children)

        by Pav (114) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @02:12PM (#662483)

        Every house already contains a heat battery (ie. a hot water system) that is already used to help match demand with production. Elon Musk has already built a large scale solar battery here in Australia so it's already a solved problem, but hydroelectric is the cheapest storage there is... even in a place as flat and dry as Australia we've got almost 4 gigawatts of capacity in the Snowwy Mountains Scheme [wikipedia.org], 2GW in Tasmania (soon to double), and capacity being designed into most municipal water supplies. We've even got a dinky little 570 megawatt pumped storage project here in Brisbane.

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday April 04 2018, @02:48PM (11 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 04 2018, @02:48PM (#662501) Journal

          Elon Musk has already built a large scale solar battery here in Australia so it's already a solved problem

          To be replaced with a new problem - the cost of the solution. There's also a limited amount of hydro power out there. And Australia has a relatively high level of hydroelectric per capita. That's not going to work as well with most of Asia which has a much higher population density (and power generation that increased by almost a factor of five [enerdata.net] between 1990 and 2016.

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Pav on Wednesday April 04 2018, @03:56PM (10 children)

            by Pav (114) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @03:56PM (#662527)

            China can't deal with the polution it already has. It's a problem which must be solved, so it will be. Political will is a magnificent thing. Cost certainly isn't a problem, especially if they want to transition to an economy driven more by local demand - infrastructure is good for that. Coal exporting countries will be able to afford fewer Chinese good though of course.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday April 04 2018, @07:01PM (9 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday April 04 2018, @07:01PM (#662586) Journal

              China can't deal with the polution it already has.

              But it could deal with it if it had scrubbers on its coal plants and a variety of other environmental measures.

              Cost certainly isn't a problem, especially if they want to transition to an economy driven more by local demand - infrastructure is good for that.

              Global trade didn't happen because local was better.

              • (Score: 2) by Pav on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:39PM (8 children)

                by Pav (114) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:39PM (#662686)

                It wasn't for China, but then it was. It was for the US, but then it wasn't.

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 05 2018, @03:34AM (7 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 05 2018, @03:34AM (#662767) Journal
                  What is "it"? Certainly isn't global trade.
                  • (Score: 2) by Pav on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:15AM (6 children)

                    by Pav (114) on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:15AM (#662810)

                    Sorry to break it to you [tradingeconomics.com]...

                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 05 2018, @11:50AM (5 children)

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 05 2018, @11:50AM (#662878) Journal
                      Break what to me? You aren't showing what you think you are showing.
                      • (Score: 2) by Pav on Thursday April 05 2018, @12:25PM (4 children)

                        by Pav (114) on Thursday April 05 2018, @12:25PM (#662887)

                        Bretton Woods failed in the 1970's, and the US has been running a trade deficit ever since, made up for by financialisation/Wallstreet. Unfortunately China isn't an economic client of the US, so the trade balance isn't being made up for any longer because China Inc. isn't run from Wallstreet - 2008 was a side effect of that in large part. The US MUST fight a war with China/Russia, or permanently become #2 or #3 (after China and the EU). Unfortuately for the US it's most probably already too late for that, and unfortunately for the US populace the leadership class doesn't want to accept that fact.

                        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 05 2018, @01:39PM (3 children)

                          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 05 2018, @01:39PM (#662906) Journal

                          Bretton Woods failed in the 1970's, and the US has been running a trade deficit ever since, made up for by financialisation/Wallstreet.

                          And that's bad for the US how? You state here that the US is buying a lot of foreign goods with financial assets rather than physical assets. And keep in mind that due to intentional inflation on the part of the Chinese, the part that goes to China gets devalued more over time than if it had stayed in the US.

                          The US MUST fight a war with China/Russia, or permanently become #2 or #3 (after China and the EU).

                          Why again MUST the US fight anyone? And even if we take your statement at face value, we still have the problem that the US MUST win said war. As Sun Tzu wrote:

                          Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

                          Moving on:

                          Unfortuately for the US it's most probably already too late for that, and unfortunately for the US populace the leadership class doesn't want to accept that fact.

                          Not at all. Just have better legal infrastructure, freedom, and a cheaper business-creation and expansion environment. The US still has a significant fraction of the population of China and that proportion will grow in the US's advantage over the next century.

                          • (Score: 2) by Pav on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:17PM (2 children)

                            by Pav (114) on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:17PM (#663062)

                            Making up for a trade deficit with financialisation/Wallstreet would be great if it still worked, but that system finally failed in 2008. Obama bailed the banks out not only on the backs of taxpayers, but also wheeled out the currency printing presses - that way a continuing failure can look like a success because the billionaires can look at those figures popping and feel they aren't losing wealth, and the real economy still maintains enough liquidity to function. In a functioning economy printing money would lead to inflation.

                            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:48PM (1 child)

                              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 05 2018, @07:48PM (#663076) Journal

                              Making up for a trade deficit with financialisation/Wallstreet would be great if it still worked, but that system finally failed in 2008.

                              What's not working about it presently? We still have financial asset creation (for recent examples, high tech companies and Bitcoin) and we still have elevated inflation in China.

                              In a functioning economy printing money would lead to inflation.

                              There are two effects that are happening here which are anti-inflationary. First, the assets (like untradable junk bonds) for which money was printed are extremely low velocity - inflation is also proportional to velocity of money. Second, the closely related primary purpose of such purchases has been to stabilize banks. So we're speaking of purchasing overleveraged loans which don't have sufficient backing reserves. Printing money in such circumstances results in greatly reduced money in actual circulation while reducing short term costs of bank failures.

                              • (Score: 2) by Pav on Thursday April 05 2018, @09:07PM

                                by Pav (114) on Thursday April 05 2018, @09:07PM (#663108)

                                What's not working? The banks are larger and more highly leveraged for one, and also China isn't working as hard to stabilise the US anymore, so Chinese Wallstreet and property investment is dropping as it successfully grows its domestic economy. That's not to say another US crash wouldn't be a disaster for China, but they're increasingly untied because anyone with eyes can see the US is high risk (to put it kindly).

                                And regarding printing money and inflation... that's exactly what I'm talking about. The US economy is losing its heartbeat, so the doctors are putting in transfusions of cash to keep the patient alive which unfortunately doesn't modify the long term prognosis.

        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 04 2018, @08:34PM (3 children)

          by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @08:34PM (#662629)

          > Every house already contains a heat battery (ie. a hot water system) that is already used to help match demand with production.

          Nope. Just-in-time is a lot more efficient.
          /nitpick

          • (Score: 2) by Pav on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:04PM (2 children)

            by Pav (114) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:04PM (#662676)

            ...but the reason every house (at least in Australia) has a hot water system is because you can't just turn coal plants on and off, so there's an offpeak tariff structure to encourage hot water system use in an attempt to modify demand somewhat. Perhaps if a significant portion of your generating infrastructure was using fracked gas which I understand can be stepped up and down much more easily, but haven't they decided that's even worse than coal now? In the case of solar it would of course be most efficient to put the heat battery on the roof and charging directly from the sun (ie. solar hot water).

            • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:26PM (1 child)

              by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:26PM (#662681)

              Given the average hair length in my house, heating the water just as you need it is not only massively more efficient (I know, from getting rid of a tank that was double-wrapped in insulation, yet still cutting the gas bill in half), but a guarantee that I will still be able to take a warm shower.

              • (Score: 2) by Pav on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:47PM

                by Pav (114) on Wednesday April 04 2018, @11:47PM (#662688)

                There are offpeak tariffs on gas? I know electrical power in Australia used to cost next to nothing if it was drawn from the offpeak circuit, though its not as cheap these days due to solar taking over peak demand and reducing surplus generation.