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Shrinking Reactors: Robert Bryce Talks to Chris Mowry of Babcock & Wilcox Modular Nuclear Energy About Modular Reactors

August 24, 2009
Energy Tribune
In June, Babcock & Wilcox, a division of Houston-based McDermott International, announced plans to seek federal licensing for a 125-megawatt nuclear reactor that the company calls mPower. The company’s move provides yet more intrigue to the modular reactor business. Two other US companies, Hyperion Power Generation and NuScale Power Inc., also intend to produce modular reactors. (Another firm, Galvin Energy, is seeking funding).

Essay: The Oil Shocks and the Costly Delusion of "Energy Independence"

August 18, 2009
Middle East Institute Viewpoints Special Edition
The Washington-based Middle East Institute has included an essay of mine in a special edition of its Viewpoints series. The piece looks at how the 1979 oil price shock has affected US energy policy. The book of essays is entitled, "The 1979 'Oil Shock:' Legacy, Lessons, and Lasting Reverberations." My essay, on the costly delusion of energy independence, begins on page 85. The entire document is available here.

Unplugged: Electric Cars Get Federal Cash and Hype, But The Challenge Remains the Same: The Low Energy Density of Batteries

August 7, 2009
Energy Tribune
On Wednesday, President Obama traveled to Indiana to announce the recipients of $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money designed to help energize the US battery manufacturing and research business. Obama said the grants are “planting the seeds of progress for our country, and good-paying, private-sector jobs for the American people.” He went on, saying that they would help in the “deployment of the next generation of clean-energy vehicles.” Obama may be right. The next generation of vehicles may be the Next Big Thing.

Texas Wind Power: The Numbers Versus the Hype

August 5, 2009
Energy Tribune
Texas has repeatedly been lauded as a leader in wind power development. Some of that attention is deserved. In 2008, the state installed nearly 2,700 megawatts of new wind capacity. If Texas were an independent country, it would rank 6th in the world in terms of total wind power production capacity.

Bryce Interviews Kirk R. Smith On Indoor Air Pollution and Why the Rural Poor Need Propane and Butane

July 23, 2009
Energy Tribune
Kirk R. Smith is among the world’s leading authorities on the problem of indoor air pollution. In 2007, the World Health Organization found that indoor air pollution was killing about 500,000 people in India every year, most of them women and children. The agency found that pollution levels in some kitchens in rural India were some 30 times higher than recommended and that the air pollution was six times as bad as that found in New Delhi.

So Much For "Energy Independence"

July 7, 2009
Wall Street Journal
Whenever you read about ethanol, remember these numbers: 98 and 190.

They offer an essential insight into U.S. energy politics and the debate over cap-and-trade legislation that recently passed the House. Here is what the numbers mean: The U.S. gets about 98 times as much energy from natural gas and oil as it does from ethanol and biofuels. And measured on a per-unit-of-energy basis, Congress lavishes ethanol and biofuels with subsidies that are 190 times as large as those given to oil and gas.

Hey Paul Krugman, Here are 2.4 Billion More Climate Traitors

July 3, 2009
Counterpunch
Some questions defy answers. Among the most famous of those: “What’s the sound of one hand clapping?” Over the past week, another question has been added to the answer-defying list: “how do you charge 2.4 billion people with treason?”

How Wall Street Will Ruin the Environment

June 26, 2009
The Daily Beast
If only we could turn bullshit into energy. Armed with that technology, the House could skip today’s much-anticipated vote on the cap-and-trade bill, a 1,201-page grab bag of ideas that has been dubbed the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.”

Bryce Essay on Ethanol Published in Food Inc. (the book)

June 24, 2009
The documentary, Food Inc. has been out for a few weeks. But readers should know that there's a companion book to the movie. Published last month by New York's best publishing house, PublicAffairs, the book includes my essay "The Ethanol Scam: Burning Food to Make Motor Fuel."

If Reid, Obama Kill Yucca Mountain, Where Will Nuclear Waste Go? Think Fusion

June 24, 2009
US News & World Report
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared that Yucca Mountain, the site in Nevada where the federal government has been planning to store high-level radioactive waste, is “never going to open.” Reid may be right. President Obama’s 2010 budget nearly zeroes out federal funding for the waste site. And in March, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told Congress that Yucca Mountain was no longer being viewed as a viable option for storing waste and that the federal government would develop a new disposal plan.

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