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While Kazakhstan has big plans to develop its nuclear power capacity, the United States is helping Astana think small. The US government has agreed to help train Kazakh specialists in the operation of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), according to a statement issued December 22 by the US Embassy in Astana. The first phase of the cooperation deal involves the supply of an SMR simulator to Kazakhstan’s Institute of Nuclear Physics in Almaty. At the same time, a US energy company, Sargent & Lundy, will carry out a feasibility…
There are at least two places, San Francisco and the mid-Hudson Valley in New York, where political activists are currently advocating for a public takeover of the local investor-owned utility. Pacific Gas and Electric is owned by utility holding company PG&E Corporation and the service territory of the former Central Hudson Gas & Electric Company is owned by Fortis Inc, a Canadian holding company with varied utility interests. We have no views on the respective merits of either municipalization movement. What we find interesting is that…
When we talk about energy storage today, lithium-ion batteries tend to dominate the conversation. They are sleek, compact, and have become the default image of the clean energy revolution. Yet behind the headlines, a quieter cast of characters has been doing the heavy lifting. Some of the most effective ways to store energy are not based on exotic chemistry at all, but on gravity, heat, air, and even sand. They are often strange, wonderfully simple, and surprisingly effective. If the world’s energy transition were a movie, lithium-ion batteries…
U.S. natural gas futures surged the most since late October as one energy trader warned that "winter isn't over," with another wave of cold air set to spill into the eastern half of the Lower 48 early next week. The upcoming cold blast arrives even as much of the U.S. enjoys a brief warm-up following an early-month polar vortex that plunged large parts of the U.S. East into Arctic-like conditions. "Winter isn't over yet. Here are forecast anomalies for this time next week showing a large area of unseasonably chilly temperatures across the major…
Russia carried out a series of overnight air attacks on Kyiv and key energy infrastructure targets as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Ukrainians to prepare for the possibility of Christmas Day strikes. Ukrainian air defense officials said Russian troops were carrying out a combined attack using cruise missiles and strike drones on December 23, with a large-scale air raid alert declared across the country. Zelenskyy stated that Russia launched over 650 drones and more than 30 missiles in the overnight attack on Ukraine. "An attack carried out…
