Frank Rambo joins me to discuss the multi-billion-dollar utility practice of running expensive coal plants and the Trump administration's efforts to prop them up.
The pass-through pricing explanation related to coal was really eye-opening. One of those things that makes sense but needs to be explained to hit you over the head (figuratively.)
I’m in the 10%-40% that knows coal is damn expensive but foolish me, I legitimately thought coal had declined to only true peaking. Feeling especially naïve’ right now.
This is such a great piece! Obviously, as stated in the beginning, we need to talk about coal more and not assume it's a fait accompli. But more than that, I feel like I finally have an economic understanding of the capex side of the equation that is incentivizing this behavior. Incredibly useful!
Updating nuclear power to be hot output, dry fueled, and manufactured will make it at least 10 times cheaper than today's coal energy. Utilities don't want to hear that because they don't want to write off their stranded assets. And they're worried that the revenue might be 10 times less. Economics teaches us when a useful product becomes cheaper, you sell more. I'm pretty sure that people would buy 20 times as much electricity if the price were 1/10. We would start purifying our air and water and waste streams and we would make the circular economy happen. We would grow a lot more food indoors and stop using pesticides. We would provide all the fresh water anybody wants with dieselization. It would be a better world. All the the sticky and tractable problems turn out to be bonehead simple if energy is 10x less expensive.
Terrapraxis has the right answer. Convert coal plants to run on uranium. We just need to upgrade to president JFK's Apollo era technology. The molten salt reactor is one of many designs that can safely upgrade these power plants.
We should convert all 200 of our coal plants to run on uranium and keep them in business for the next 100 years. China has already started on one coal plant conversion. If they like the taste of that they will decarbonize 1152 more coal plants after that. China will dominate industry by having the cheapest and cleanest energy for industrial production in the world.
And they have thanked oak ridge for their tremendous help making the sort of reactor that works inside coal plants or on small warships. I think America should be using this technology too!
I'm tired of people saying that Americans aren't capable of building nuclear the way they build it in South Korea or China. Yes we can!
We have had corruption issues that's caused a number of our projects to become boondoggles. But you do not solve corruption by turning away from a technology.
The pass-through pricing explanation related to coal was really eye-opening. One of those things that makes sense but needs to be explained to hit you over the head (figuratively.)
I’m in the 10%-40% that knows coal is damn expensive but foolish me, I legitimately thought coal had declined to only true peaking. Feeling especially naïve’ right now.
This is such a great piece! Obviously, as stated in the beginning, we need to talk about coal more and not assume it's a fait accompli. But more than that, I feel like I finally have an economic understanding of the capex side of the equation that is incentivizing this behavior. Incredibly useful!
Grumpy: let's build that nuke plant in your community. You cool with that dear comrade
Great episode.... However...
Yet another story about coal which excludes Santa Claus? Surely his demand for coal will be off the charts later this year, right? (ijs)
👍
Updating nuclear power to be hot output, dry fueled, and manufactured will make it at least 10 times cheaper than today's coal energy. Utilities don't want to hear that because they don't want to write off their stranded assets. And they're worried that the revenue might be 10 times less. Economics teaches us when a useful product becomes cheaper, you sell more. I'm pretty sure that people would buy 20 times as much electricity if the price were 1/10. We would start purifying our air and water and waste streams and we would make the circular economy happen. We would grow a lot more food indoors and stop using pesticides. We would provide all the fresh water anybody wants with dieselization. It would be a better world. All the the sticky and tractable problems turn out to be bonehead simple if energy is 10x less expensive.
Terrapraxis has the right answer. Convert coal plants to run on uranium. We just need to upgrade to president JFK's Apollo era technology. The molten salt reactor is one of many designs that can safely upgrade these power plants.
We should convert all 200 of our coal plants to run on uranium and keep them in business for the next 100 years. China has already started on one coal plant conversion. If they like the taste of that they will decarbonize 1152 more coal plants after that. China will dominate industry by having the cheapest and cleanest energy for industrial production in the world.
And they have thanked oak ridge for their tremendous help making the sort of reactor that works inside coal plants or on small warships. I think America should be using this technology too!
I'm tired of people saying that Americans aren't capable of building nuclear the way they build it in South Korea or China. Yes we can!
We have had corruption issues that's caused a number of our projects to become boondoggles. But you do not solve corruption by turning away from a technology.
You're nuts.
You can't convert a coal plant to a nuclear plant.
What gummies are you chewing on.