Posts Tagged by Areva
Is Areva Really Involved in Solar? We Can Live With the Truth Either Way.
| June 21, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Solar Thermal |
I’m at a loss to understand something, and I’m wondering if I could appeal to readers to help explain it.
Last year, Areva, the French energy giant, best known (at least in the US) as a nuclear energy company, bought Ausra, the up-and-coming US-based solar thermal company. More than a year later, we Americans hear almost nothing about Areva’s work in solar. In fact, the Wall Street Journal’s article this morning detailing the ouster of Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon didn’t mention the word “solar” once.
One might suspect the worst: they bought the company only to nullify the threat it represented.
Yet if you Google “Areva” you find dozens of mentions of their accomplishments in solar all over the world. It’s almost as if some sort of disinformation campaign was being waged. Any insights?
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The Nuclear Renaissance is Pushing Ahead? Really?
| June 16, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Nuclear |
Because there are plenty of people writing on the Fukushima disaster, I tend to comment on it quite sparingly. But I just received an email from Areva (the French nuclear giant) that begins: “With the nuclear renaissance pushing ahead, I’m sure you’re aware …”
I always marvel when I see stuff like this. When large, industrialized countries are saying no to nuclear, and its costs are skyrocketing (while renewables are becoming more affordable every month), does it appear credible to anyone that the “nuclear renaissance is pushing ahead?”
And what about the fact that the whole world is learning more about the safety issues every day? I’m not happy to have to say this, but I accept what this article suggests, i.e., that scientists believe Japan’s nuclear disaster to be far worse than governments are revealing to the public, but that it’s only a matter of time before this becomes clear to everyone. “Fukushima is the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind,” Arnold Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president, told Al Jazeera.
I’m not sure how any of this – and the decisions of Germany and Italy — squares with the “nuclear renaissance.”
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From a Guest-Blogger: Concerned about Nuclear Energy? We Have Work To Do
| February 16, 2011 | Posted by Nikoli under Nuclear |
A piece written by the president of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service:
Dear Friends,
Yesterday, President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2012 budget and I’m afraid the overriding message is: we’ve got to get to work!
Even while slashing funds for heating assistance for the poor and cleaning up the Great Lakes, the President’s budget–like last year–proposes to triple the loan “guarantee” program for new nuclear reactor construction. That would mean another $36 Billion in loan “guarantees” for nuclear utilities to buy reactors from wealthy foreign companies like Areva and Toshiba, while the poor shiver through the winter.
Tell Congress: NO WAY! Read More
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Solar Thermal Leader Ausra — Sold!
| February 11, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Solar Thermal |
I’m sure many readers are aware of the incredible development in solar thermal / CSP (concentrated solar power). French energy giant Areva, which has a large nuclear portfolio, bought Ausra, and says it will use the acquisition to become “the world leader in concentrated solar power.” Here is a discussion I just had with my colleague John Hugo:
John writes:
It’s interesting that they were able to sell with little installed base and no real history of operation. The water cooling operation uses quite a bit of water and the dry version still uses water but much less and output is reduced. They have good people but they are not professional salespeople. …. I think it’s a hedge vs. nuclear which I don’t think will cut it due to the storage issue which has not been solved.
But despite recent political support re: nuclear why do it if you can do solar at less cost?
… and I reply
John:
Yes, this is quite a development, for sure. Here’s my take for what it’s worth:
CSP is extremely capital intensive. Projects require huge piles of cash, and happen only when the underwriting company is strong enough to present a meaningful warranty. I happen to know (based on my interview with the company’s founder David Mills) that Ausra was hungry to partner with (or, apparently, sell to) a company that could make all this happen.
Everything else you write about CSP is correct, if perhaps overstated. It DOES use water for cooling, and there IS a storage issue. There’s also a transmission issue, as the power is generated in the desert. But IMO, these are challenges that can be — and are being — overcome. First and most obviously, there is a good correlation between the sun’s shining and human activity. But more importantly, advancements that are being made constantly in smart grid, high voltage DC, and molten salt energy storage, in my mind at least, make CSP the top bet for our energy future.
On the other hand, I believe that there is no future whatsoever for the nuclear industry. I know there are people who disagree (and that I’ll be hearing from them any minute). But to me, no amount of money and the lobbying, subterfuge, and disinformation it buys will get that industry past the incredible dangers, outrageous costs overruns, and decade-long delays that are intrinsic to the very nature of what they do.
With all their financial (and thus political) strength, I don’t doubt that you’ll continue to hear claptrap about supporting nuclear. There is a word for this: corruption; it’s a regrettable but deeply entrenched part of our daily lives — whether we recognize it or not. But having said this, I very much doubt that you’ll live to see another new nuke actually put into operation in the US.
