TPT May 2015

Global Marketplace

emissions from plants by 30 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030. But Jeremiah Johnson, assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources & Environment, told the Free Press that utilities likely will not need to resort to nuclear to meet that goal. P rogress post -F ukushima An irony of the uncertain prospects for nuclear power in the US is that safety concerns, although not allayed altogether, would seem to have been addressed. In a section entitled “Fermi Facts”, Mr Reindl noted that: • Fermi 2, currently in operation near Detroit, is of similar design to the Fukushima reactor implicated in the meltdowns in Japan in 2011. But it has better safety features, including backup diesel generators within a concrete bunker situated well above the floodplain. • Fermi 3 would be an Economic Simplified Boiling- Water Reactor. Considered a third-generation reactor, it is designed to be able to cool itself for a week in an instance of complete power loss. The builder is GE-Hitachi (Wilmington, North Carolina), a global nuclear alliance known in Japan as Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd. Automotive A hypothesis for a lagging industry: electric cars are losing out to a new/old fuel-saving technology – the turbocharger “It’s really a mini jet engine in your car.” Michael Stoller, a spokesman for Honeywell Transportation Systems, was referring to the turbocharger – which Honeywell supplies in quantity to automakers around the globe. The forced-induction device, which reuses hot exhaust gases to increase engine power in a smaller space, was once the almost exclusive equipage of expensive sports and luxury cars. But now it is turning up in vehicles from budget subcompacts to pickup trucks and plug-in hybrids. As explained by Lawrence Ulrich, the chief auto critic of the New York Times , in turbocharger technology the hot exhaust spins a turbine wheel at up to 250,000rpm, which compresses air and stuffs it into engine cylinders, allowing more fuel to be burned in a same-size engine. An automaker is thus able to use six cylinders instead of eight, or four instead of six, and still achieve the power of a larger engine. The downsized engines also best their traditional counterparts in low-end torque, for easier acceleration. The result, Mr Ulrich says, is 10 to 30 per cent better fuel economy, often in conjunction with direct fuel injection, which enhances

Energy The ‘shale gas revolution’ is dimming revival prospects for the nuclear power industry in the United States Not much notice has been taken of the dampening effect that the cheaper natural gas made possible by the fracking method is having on American nuclear power companies. But industry experts consulted by the Detroit Free Press say that today’s low natural gas prices, together with slower growth in demand for electricity and recent expansions in renewable energy generation, make it less appealing to build new nuclear plants – or even to keep older plants running if they need expensive repairs. Free Press business desk reporter JC Reindl recently presented a case in point: Fermi 3, Michigan’s first new nuclear power reactor in more than a quarter of a century, now close to gaining a combined construction and operating licence from federal regulators. But according to Mr Reindl it is an open question whether the plant will ever be built. (“ Cheaper Natural Gas Prices Could Shelve Plans for Fermi 3 ,” 23 February) Fermi 3 would neighbour DTE Energy’s currently operating Fermi 2 nuclear plant on Lake Erie about 30 miles south of Detroit. It also adjoins the former site of Fermi 1, an old experimental reactor which experienced an emergency shutdown in 1966. DTE has been seeking permission for Fermi 3 since September 2008. Local anti-nuclear groups fervently opposed to Fermi 3 would like to see the $10 billion estimated cost of the project go instead toward wind turbines, solar panels and other low- carbon energy systems. But it is the fading financial allure of nuclear power that will deliver even short-term victory to the opposition. As noted by Mr Reindl, financial reasons were cited in the shutdown ahead of schedule of four nuclear power plants – in California, Florida, Vermont and Wisconsin – over the past two years. He wrote, “Back when DTE proposed its new Fermi reactor, the energy market had not yet been reshaped by the shale gas revolution.” › Michiganders, like Americans in general, are using less electricity, which means less demand for the power sold by utilities. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows that total power use in the US declined nearly 1 per cent between 2008 and 2013. In Michigan, over the same period, electricity sales fell 2.5 per cent as wind turbines, solar panels and biomass generation sites proliferated across the state. Michigan has mandated that utilities generate 10 per cent of their electric sales by 2015 from renewable energy sources. DTE Energy, the owner of Fermi 3, says it will reach that mark. Also, later this year the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could finalise rules to cut carbon dioxide

68

www.read-tpt.com

M ay 2015