We need renewables, because wind is for free and uranium is expensive? Sure about this? We need renewables, because wind is clean and uranium is filthy? Again, sure about this? Advocates of sun-and-wind argue that the primary energy sources sunshine, wind and hydro are for free, while oil, methane gas and uranium are costly. There… Continue reading Free as the wind…
Hydro-electricity is not renewable nor sustainable?
One would suspect that hydro-electricity is a key example of renewable energy. Is it? And more important: is it sustainable? Belgium does not comprise mountains or fjords. Instead we use a pumping plant in Coo-Trois-Ponts. It uses electricity from the grid to pump water from a low reservoir uphill to an elevated reservoir, with the… Continue reading Hydro-electricity is not renewable nor sustainable?
The NuclearSub Deal – What’s in a Name?
On January 11, 2023, the Belgian government claimed to have a deal with Engie on the future of KCD-4 and CNT-3. Whether this deal involves EDF is yet unclear. To shed some light, here’s my definition of a deal. A deal is closed if and only if: 1. the contract is legal and signed, 2.… Continue reading The NuclearSub Deal – What’s in a Name?
And now for Something Completely Different… CRM
To most anyone in the world, CRM means Customer Relationship Management. For Belgian politicians, CRM is Something Completely Different.. CRM is a Belgian funding mechanism that uses tax money to fund the construction and maintenance of facilities to produce electricity. At first, that seems a weird idea. If you want to produce and sell shoe… Continue reading And now for Something Completely Different… CRM
On the mysterious ways of ELIA
ELIA is the Belgian TSO (Transmission System Operator), responsible for the high voltage electricity transmission in Belgium. Although not a producer, when there’s a black-out, ELIA is to blame. You would therefore think ELIA likes base load electricity production. However… Ever since the liberalisation of the European electricity market (2009), ELIA is no longer a government… Continue reading On the mysterious ways of ELIA
Rationalising the energy prices
While European governments are running around like headless chickens in an attempt to lower energy prices, in an attempt to avoid uproar when winter kicks in, let us shed some light. Gas prices are determined by international market mechanisms. The price follows the demand, and it is even so influenced byfutures, availability of distribution channels,… Continue reading Rationalising the energy prices
Electricity price mechanisms
On the European market, the price of electricity is “determined” by the marginal cost of the “last” kWh that is produced to fulfil the “immediate” demand (making abstraction of the grid latency). In practice, our national grid is supplied by large nuclear power plants producing the 6GWe base load, with an all-time, all-included production cost of… Continue reading Electricity price mechanisms
On the economy of ecology
The looks of their latest energy invoice finally got the Belgian Captains of Industry out of their energy lethargy. They now ask for Long-Term Operation (LTO) for KCD-4 and CNT-3, a.k.a. Doel-4 and Tihange-3. In human language: they ask to keep the 2 youngest nuclear power plants running beyond their designed operating life time of 40… Continue reading On the economy of ecology
Why Brigid selects thorium
Thorium: the magical solution? Hell, no! Be careful what you wish for. The only thing that really matters, is HOW we use nuclear fuel.This is what we call the “fuel cycle”. The details of the fuel cycle determine: the efficiency of the conversion of the nuclear fuel into heat. This is really important considering nuclear… Continue reading Why Brigid selects thorium
Hydrogen from Chili?
For any energy solution one proposes, the first question is: can it be scaled up to relevant dimensions? Our Government’s most recent “solution”: using wind turbines to produce hydrogen in Chili and ship it to Belgian ports. The good news: they FINALLY understood that the energy problem extends way beyond electricity production. What if every… Continue reading Hydrogen from Chili?