ODAC Newsletter Oct 5

October 5, 2012

Welcome to the ODAC Newsletter, a weekly roundup from the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre at nef dedicated to raising awareness of peak oil.

News of Turkish military retaliation to a mortar round fired from inside Syria spooked oil markets this week. Former Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan has warned that there is a danger that the Syrian conflict could spread and destabilise the region, although the Turkish Prime Minister said on Thursday that his country had no intention of starting a war. Meanwhile, Syria’s ally in the region, Iran, saw internal unrest in response to a plummet in the value of the Iranian rial. The currency crisis has at least partially been brought on by tightening western sanctions in opposition to Iran’s nuclear programme.

The UK’s nuclear plans took another hit this week as yet another potential bidder to build new capacity pulled out of the race. A consortium of Areva and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation decided not to bid for the Horizon project, which is up for sale following the exit from Britain’s nuclear scene of RWE and E.ON. The government put a brave face on it, but concern is rising over the strike price that will be needed to attract any investors. Add to this a report by the European Commission, saying that a safety review of Europe’s reactors turned up hundreds of issues which could push costs up further; the odds on a nuclear solution to the energy crisis are looking thin.

On the renewables front this week, the government reversed a decision to exclude small-scale renewable generators, 50kW to 5MW, from the RO Renewable Obligations scheme from April 2013. Meanwhile there was considerable press interest in the potential for liquid air technology as a way of filling the intermittency gap for renewables, following the launch of a working group at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Not a silver bullet even if it can be scaled, but energy storage is one important element for the eventual elimination of fossil fuels.

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Disclaimers

Oil

Oil Falls After Biggest Gain in Two Months; Set for Weekly Drop

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Alarm bells on the longevity of oil wells in Saudi Arabia

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Iraq oil output likely to hit 3.4m bpd in 2012

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Gas

Cabot’s Methodology Links Tainted Water Wells to Gas Fracking

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Poland aiming to enact new shale gas law in 2013

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EU preparing to ban gas imports from Iran

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Nuclear

EU nuclear reactors need 10-25 billion euros safety spend

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EU energy chief ‘satisfied’ with nuclear safety despite critical report

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Favourite for UK nuclear reactor contract ends bid

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UK is haring off down the wrong path on new nuclear power plants

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Cumbria councils defer nuclear waste storage search

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Renewables

Microgenerators to remain eligible for RO subsidy

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Liquid air ‘offers energy storage hope’

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California Governor Jerry Brown green lights renewable energy push

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The world-leading UK windfarm built with little British involvement

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UK

Twenty gas-fired power stations planned for the UK

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Cheshire energy-from-waste plant gets green light

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The green deal still has big gaps to plug

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Tags: Electricity, Energy Infrastructure, Energy Policy, Fossil Fuels, Geopolitics & Military, Industry, Nuclear, Oil, Renewable Energy, Technology