Skip to main content

Holes at the Elbow

Pimlico Enthusiastic nuclear energy boosters are a good thing, but nobody’s more enthusiastic than when they have something to sell:

Nuclear is soaring and the sector has the wind at its back.  Energy costs are on the rise, nuclear power demand is going to grow, utility stocks are close to recent highs and the economy is no longer expected to slip back into the red.  There are several drivers, and several ETFs and major companies that are set to benefit.

ETFs are exchange-traded funds, which is your tip-off that this comes from a stock related site, in this case Investor Place.

Apparently, wild hyperbole is nothing new to stock touts, but it reminds me of when my father took me to Pimlico and a fellow outside the track was pitching a tip sheet containing “ten sure winners.” His jacket had holes at the elbows, but he had ten sure winners.

None of which is to say you shouldn’t invest in energy-related stocks, just that your own research will trump any hyped promises.

---

Presumably, any of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates can pursue nuclear energy on its own. Most attention up to now has focused on Abu Dhabi, but now Dubai has weighed in:

Dubai will meet 20 per cent of energy needs from nuclear energy and another 20 per cent from clean coal, Saeed Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of the Supreme Energy Council, said on Wednesday at the launch of Dubai Global Energy Forum 2011.

Dubai has about 2.2 million people within its borders, so I wondered if plans had progressed far enough to determine what kind of plant the country had in mind. But nothing – too soon to tell. Currently, Dubai generates most of its electricity from imported natural gas, so energy security may be playing a part here, too.

Several stories, especially from gulf news sources, made very sure of their adjectives:

Al Tayer said clean coal and peaceful nuclear technology were the main options the Dubai government was considering, in an attempt to diversify energy resources.

And:

[Dubai’s Supreme Council of Energy] is also concerned with the generation and distribution of electricity for public consumption, as well as production of electricity from renewable sources, and generation of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, notably for electricity and desalination plants.

Non-peaceful uses wouldn’t power a light bulb, so “peaceful” here seems code for “not Iran.” Iran’s poor standing could easily discourage other gulf nations from pursuing anything that might be viewed as controversial, but Dubai and fellow UAE emirate Abu Dhabi have not shied away.

These countries need the electricity and they’re in a position to grow their generation while decreasing their carbon footprints – and they aim to do that, at least partially, with nuclear energy.

At Pimlico. It was named after a British pub (Olde Ben Pimlico’s Tavern) when it opened in 1870 in Baltimore. The colt Preakness won the first race held there, hence the modern Preakness Stakes. The 2007 Preakness attracted over 120,000 spectators, the largest crowd for a sporting event in Baltimore history.

Comments

PhilBiker said…
My goodness, coal, clean or not, makes absolutely NO sense in UAE countries.

The only place Coal makes any sense at all is where it can be easily hauled in large volumes by train. Namely most of the USA and much of Europe.


I personally would love to see Coal disappear because it is environmentally catastrophic, even it its Orwellian "clean" mode. (Show me the "clean" Mountaintop removal mining operations and the "clean" slurry ponds that go with that)
SteveK9 said…
Philip has a good point. Also, if you are a (very) small country, basically looking to buy something off the shelf, why would you choose a technology that has been demonstrated nowhere, versus a technology with hundreds of working examples?

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should