Tag Archives: siemens

Do We Need Nuclear Power? Part 3

Aerial photo of Indian Point, courtesy Columbia University Earth Institute

Indian Point, Aerial view, courtesy Earth Institute

Indian Point’s two reactors, operating since 1974 and 1976, generate up to 30 percent of New York City and Westchester’s power. Yet the plant remains controversial.

March 1, 2012, Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law, moderated  the Forum on the Future of Indian Point held at Columbia Law School. The forum asked whether Indian Point was “Safe, Secure and Vital or an Unacceptable Risk?”   Renee Cho covered it on the Columbia Earth Institute blog, here.

I was not there. However, have some thoughts …

Continue reading →

Do We Need Nuclear Power? Part 2

Wind Turbines at Vindeby

Turbines at Windeby

Rather than “Can we get away from Nuclear Power?” The real questions we need to ask ourselves are:

  1. How quickly can we phase out nuclear power?
  2. What will it cost?
  3. Given that a definition of insanity is doing the same behavior but expecting different results, Continue reading →

Do We Need Nuclear Power? Part 1

Did the Japanese (and the rest of the world) NEED Fukushima?

US Recommended evacuation zone

 

Happy Earth Day.  Think for the Future.

  • Do We Need Nuclear Power, Part 1, L. Furman, 4/20/12, here.
  • Do We Need Nuclear Power, Part 2, L. Furman, 4/20/12, here.
  • Do We Need Nuclear Power, Part 3, L. Furman, 4/21/12, here.

 

 

US Recommended evacuation zone of 80 km radius around Fukushima

Energy and Green Business – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com

Siemens Wind Farm

Siemens Wind Farm, Courtesy Siemens.

Lars Kroldrup reports, on the Green Inc. blog at the Times, that Siemens has announced its intention to expand in the United States market. From Siemens Touts Growth in Renewables and the Value of the American Market:

Since acquiring the Danish wind turbine company Bonus Energy in 2004, the German industrial giant Siemens AG, has become one of the larger players in the wind power game with roughly 7 percent of the market.

Still, with rivals like GE Energy and Vestas controlling roughly 18 percent and 19 percent of the market, respectively, Siemens suggested at a financial presentation in Copenhagen on Monday that it’s looking to climb the rankings — and that it sees the fledgling American wind power market as a way to do that.

“We want to be one of the leading companies on the American market,” Andreas Nauen, the chief executive of Siemens Wind Power, told Green Inc. on Monday. “We are on our way, and would like to play an important role. The U.S. market is, and will be in the future, an important market to us.”

According to Siemens, over the next 20 years, the percentage of global power generation arising from renewable sources will grow from less than 5 percent now to about 17 percent by 2030. About half of that, the company said, will come from wind power.

Just 15 years from now, the company expects the global wind energy market to be worth nearly $300 billion, compared to a little over $40 billion today.

Much of that growth, the company is betting, will be in North America, the company estimated. “We have recieved big orders in both the United States and Canada,” Mr. Nauen said.

Of course, just how much the United States will benefit economically from any wind power expansion by foreign companies entering the market — particularly as it relates to the creation of manufacturing jobs — is a matter of some debate.

Read Mr. Kroldrup’s complete piece here: Siemens Touts Growth in Renewables and the Value of the American Market.

Via Green Inc.