Showing posts with label energy supply. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy supply. Show all posts

Thursday, April 16, 2026

UK invests £2.5bn in nuclear fusion energy development plan

Good news! When will nuclear fusion take over nuclear fission to generate power?

"The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) has released its five-year plan to accelerate the growth of the UK nuclear fusion industry and ‘maintain the UK’s position as a global thought-leader in the field’.

In March, the UK government announced £2.5 billion for the fusion sector between 2026 and 2030 as part of its industrial strategy.

UKAEA’s plan – released earlier this month – assigns
£1.3 billion for the next phase of the UK’s prototype fusion power plant in West Burton, Nottinghamshire, as well as 
£920 million for building and operating fusion research facilities across the UK. The rest of the budget is set for projects that foster international collaboration and develop the next generation of fusion scientists. ..."

UK invests £2.5bn in nuclear fusion energy development plan | Chemistry World


Hosting the Joint European Torus experimental fusion reactor has helped to make the UK a leader in this technology


Tuesday, April 14, 2026

US Department of Energy plans to spend $124 million on nuclear fusion matching its total spending from previous 12 years via ARPA-E

What ARPA-E has spent so little money on nuclear fusion over the past 12 years! Incredible! No wonder nuclear fusion is still not harnessed as a source of energy generation!

How much did the US DoE spend on solar and wind power (so called renewables) over the same time period? I bet much more! What a joke!

"In keeping with President Donald Trump’s priority of developing fusion energy, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) tech development wing will significantly boost its investment in fusion research. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will provide $135 million in funding for cutting-edge fusion research over the next 18 months, the agency announced on 8 April. That equals the amount ARPA-E spent on fusion over the past 12 years.

Those earlier investments helped launch several startup companies that are developing novel fusion reactor concepts, notes Conner Prochaska, director of ARPA-E. And they have triggered $1.5 billion in private investment, he says. “We want to double down on that,” Prochaska says. ..."

Department of Energy’s tech incubator doubles down on fusion power | Science | AAAS "ARPA-E’s $135 million in new funds will match its total spending from previous 12 years"

Friday, April 10, 2026

Coal Still Powers the World Economy

Only mostly Western countries are stupid enough not to rely on coal for power generation! In particular, Germany became a banana republic by e.g. demolishing working coal and nuclear fueled power plants!

While e.g. China built hundreds of new coal fired power plants in recent years!

High time to end the global warming hoax and climate change nonsense!

"But yet, here we are… global coal consumption has definitely not declined, quite the contrary, it has only grown from roughly 6 billion tons in 2008 ... to around 9 billion tons today. Not to mention the seaborne trade which almost doubled! So the question is not whether coal is disappearing as we were told, it’s whether we misunderstood this useful black rock in the first place. ..."

Coal Still Powers the World Economy "If you think coal is a thing of the past…then you are missing the big picture, which is far more complex and far more relevant than most headlines suggest ..."






Warum Europas KI-Pläne am Strom scheitern

Kein Wunder! Mit Windmühlen und Solarzellen ist der Bedarf nicht zu decken!

Europa und insbesondere die Bananenrepublik D ernten was sie säten mit dem Klimawahn (auch euphemistisch und fälschlich genannt Klimaneutralität)!

Wenn der Strombedarf von data centers/Rechenzentren nicht deutlich reduziert werden kann sieht die EU alt aus!

"... Es klafft eine Stromlücke von 80 TWh (finnischer Jahresstrombedarf 2025: 85 TWh), so Matilde Ciani vom Kiel Institut für Weltwirtschaft im neuen Kiel Policy Brief, sollte die EU wirklich ihre Ausbauziele für neue KI-Rechenzentren bis 2030 umsetzen können. ..."

"• Das globale Rennen um die KI-Führerschaft hat begonnen, und Europa versucht, vorne mitzuspielen. Es besteht jedoch eine deutliche Diskrepanz zwischen der Planung von Rechenzentrumskapazitäten und der Stromversorgungsplanung in der EU.

• Trotz ambitionierter Pläne droht die EU im globalen KI-Rennen weiter zurückzufallen: China will seine Rechenzentrumskapazität bis 2030 verdreifachen, die Vereinigten Staaten sind dabei, sie zu verdoppeln, wodurch Europa mit deutlich geringeren Anteilen an der globalen Kapazität zurückbleibt.

• Der Strombedarf der EU-Rechenzentren wird sich in den nächsten fünf Jahren voraussichtlich verdoppeln, von etwa 80 auf 168 TWh. Die obere Grenze dieses Bereichs entspricht dem gesamten Elektrizitätsbedarf einer europäischen Industrienation, beispielsweise dem Bedarf von Polen im Jahr 2024. Der Anteil des gesamten EU-Strombedarfs, der auf Rechenzentren entfällt, wird daher rasch von rund 2% im Jahr 2023 auf rund 5% im Jahr 2030 ansteigen.

• Die Deckung des zusätzlichen Strombedarfs, der durch Rechenzentren entstehen wird, ist nur möglich, wenn der Verbrauch der übrigen Wirtschaftsbereiche weit gehend konstant bleibt. Dies ist jedoch unwahrscheinlich, da der Bedarf auch in anderen Sektoren steigen wird, insbesondere im Wohnungsmarkt (Wärmepumpen) und im Verkehrssektor (Elektrofahrzeuge).

• Bis 2030 entsteht dadurch eine erhebliche Lücke zwischen Strombedarf und verfügbarer Elektrizität, die dem Netto-Stromverbrauch von Ländern wie Belgien oder Finnland im Jahr 2024 entspricht. Ohne vorausschauende Planung droht der Europäischen Union ein gefährliches Trilemma: Sie müsste zwischen Wachstum, Klimaneutralität [???] und einer führenden Rolle im KI-Rennen abwägen.
..."

Warum Europas KI-Pläne am Strom scheitern "Der KI-Boom frisst so viel Strom wie ganz Finnland – und die EU hat keinen Plan, woher die Energie kommen soll. Eine neue Studie des Kiel Instituts zeigt eine Lücke von 80 TWh bis 2030."

Tuesday, April 07, 2026

Die Energiekrise ist politisch gemacht: Deutschland hat genug Gas für 25 Jahre

Die Bananenrepublik D braucht ein bisschen drill baby drill! 😊

"... Doch das muss so nicht sein, erklärt Vahrenholt. Deutschland verfügt über große Reserven an Öl und Gas. Die Förderung könnte innerhalb eines Jahres beginnen – und so die wirtschaftlichen Probleme Deutschlands lösen.

Doch das geschieht nicht: Es ist verboten, diese Ressourcen zu erschließen. Und keine Partei, nicht einmal die AfD, macht Anstalten, dies zu ändern. ..."

Die Energiekrise ist politisch gemacht: Deutschland hat genug Gas für 25 Jahre "Die Spritpreise explodieren, Arbeitsplätze gehen verloren, die Inflation zieht an: Die Sperrung der Straße von Hormus treibt Deutschland tiefer in die Krise. Doch: Deutschland muss nicht in der Krise sein; eine Förderung von Öl und Gas wäre in Niedersachsen möglich. Wenn die Politik es nur erlauben würde."

Saturday, March 28, 2026

Ukraine’s Drone Campaign Knocks Out Up to 40% of Russia’s Oil Exports

Good news! Why not 80% or more?

When will the lethargic and apathetic Russian people finally get rid of warmonger and war criminal Putin the Terrible!

"Up to 40 percent of the oil export capacity of Russia has been taken offline following Ukrainian drone strikes, a disputed attack on a major pipeline, and seizures of tankers, according to Reuters calculations based on market data.

The disruption – estimated at around 2 million barrels per day – marks what analysts describe as the most severe hit to Russia’s oil supply chain in modern history. ..."

Ukraine’s Drone Campaign Knocks Out Up to 40% of Russia’s Oil Exports "Oil exports are one of the main sources of revenue for Russia’s state budget and a key part of funding its war in Ukraine."

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Arbor Energy just landed a billion-dollar order to bring rocket turbine tech to the power grid

This could be an interesting approach! But is it competitive? Similar proposals were made before in the past.

"... Arbor’s Halcyon turbines are based on rocket turbomachinery, high-performance engine technology originally developed for spaceflight, and its first commercial turbines will be 3D printed and capable of generating 25 megawatts each. GridMarket’s order, if fully fulfilled, represents 200 units. ...

The startup plans to connect its first turbine to the grid in 2028 and ramp production through 2030, at which point it hopes to deliver more than 100 turbines annually. The goal, Hartwig said, is to eventually produce enough for 10 gigawatts of new capacity every year.

Arbor’s initial designs ... the power plant would ingest organic material like crop waste and wood scraps from farms and timber operations, which would be turned into syngas — a combustible gas mixture — and burned in the presence of pure oxygen. The result would be pure CO2 ...

Since then, Arbor has modified Halcyon to accept natural gas in addition to biomass ..."

Arbor Energy just landed a billion-dollar order to bring rocket turbine tech to the power grid | TechCrunch




Friday, March 13, 2026

AI Data Centers Go Off the Grid

Good news! When will machine learning & AI make superconductivity and nuclear fusion a reality?

"... Behind the news: All the major tech companies have been scrambling to lock down access to electricity sufficient to support a data-center buildout that is projected to cost $5.2 trillion and consume 156 gigawatts by 2030.

  • xAI bypassed the grid to power data centers in 2024, when the company built data centers in Memphis to house its Colossus and Colossus 2 supercomputers. The facilities are powered by a private collection of dozens of temporary, mobile gas turbines despite a ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency that they were being used illegally.
  • Meta, in addition to building private power stations in the short term, is pursuing a long-term strategy to build nuclear power plants, which are scheduled to come online in the early 2030s. The company committed to help build new reactors and to purchase electricity from older reactors. These deals are expected to supply more than 6 gigawatts.
  • Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft have entered into smaller agreements to obtain nuclear energy. Alphabet is working to reopen a disused nuclear plant in Iowa, Amazon invested in the reactor developer X-Energy, and Microsoft agreed to buy 10.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity between 2026 and 2030 for an estimated $17 billion.
..."

GPT-5.4 Makes A Splash, AI's Growth on Mobile, Data Centers Go Off-Grid, Apple's Diffusion Research

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

International Energy Agency announces release of crude oil from global strategic reserves

Wow!

"The act will be the largest release of crude from global strategic reserves in history."

''International Energy Agency’s announcement that its member countries would release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves." (WSJ)

Breaking News!

Disclaimer:
I am currently blogging from behind the Great Firewall of China.
My Internet service in China is very spotty. Thus, I am not able to blog as usual.

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

'THE SOLUTION': Inside the US plan to 'QUADRUPLE' nuclear energy with Maria Bartiromo

Recommendable! An interview with Nano Nuclear Energy founder and Executive Chairman Jay Yu. He also mentioned a new, more efficient laser enrichment for uranium.

Monday, January 12, 2026

Nuclear startups are back in vogue with small reactors, and big challenges

Small, modular nuclear reactors have been touted for at least the past 30-40 or so! Will they be more successful this time? There is a good chance for that given more electrical energy demand!

In the past high costs of large nuclear power reactors, fear of nuclear accidents and proliferation of atomic weapons prevented to some extent the expansion of civilian nuclear power generation (except in countries like France or China).

"The nuclear industry is in the midst of a renaissance. Old plants are being refurbished, and investors are showering startups with cash.

In the last several weeks of 2025 alone, nuclear startups raised $1.1 billion, largely on investor optimism that smaller nuclear reactors will succeed where the broader industry has recently stumbled.

Traditional nuclear reactors are massive pieces of infrastructure. The newest reactors built in the U.S. — Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia — contain tens of thousands of tons of concrete, are powered by fuel assemblies 14 feet tall, and generate over 1 gigawatt of electricity each. But they were also eight years late and more than $20 billion over budget. ...

Need more power? Just add more reactors. Smaller reactors, they argue, can be built using mass production techniques, and as companies produce more parts, they should get better at making them, which should drive down costs. ..."

Nuclear startups are back in vogue with small reactors, and big challenges | TechCrunch

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Friday, December 19, 2025

Radiant Nuclear raises $300M for its semi-sized 1 MW reactor

Good news! More nuclear power is required!

"Radiant Nuclear said today that it has raised more than $300 million, just one day after Last Energy said it had raised $100 million.
Three weeks ago, X-energy raised $700 million, and
in August, Aalo Atomics raised $100 million. Heck, Radiant itself raised $165 million just six months ago.

Given the string of investments, it seems reasonable to ask whether the nuclear world is in a bubble. Investment in the technology has tracked closely with the data center boom. AI requires tremendous amounts of electricity, and tech companies and data center developers have been rushing to secure supplies from sources ranging from nuclear fission to supersonic jet engines. ..."

Radiant Nuclear raises $300M for its semi-sized 1 MW reactor | TechCrunch

Thursday, December 18, 2025

India to open nuclear power industry to private sector

Good news!

"India's parliament on Thursday passed a bill intended to open up the country's closely controlled nuclear energy sector to private companies over strong protests from opposition party members. ..."

India to open nuclear power industry to private sector - Nikkei Asia "Nuclear energy currently meets just over 3% of electricity needs"

Trump’s social media company is getting into the nuclear fusion business via a merger valued at $6billion

Good news! When I first saw these news coming out earlier today, I said what! President Trump is breathtaking!

Wanna bet Trump will make nuclear fusion a success?

Well, if nuclear fusion can be safely commercialized on a large scale to supply the world with endless energy, then this will be a gigantic milestone in human history! Unfortunately, we have been waiting for this to happen since at least the 1960s or earlier despite decades of intensive research.

What is President Trump up to next? I can't wait to find out! A man who survived an assassination attempt is on a mission. 

"Fusion power to blaze path toward America’s A.I. dominance and energy security"

"... The transaction, which still requires regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to finalize by mid-2026. If completed, the combined company will launch one of the world’s first publicly traded fusion power ventures and plans to begin construction of a 50 MWe utility-scale fusion power plant in 2026. ..."

The Wall Street Journal What's news


Trump Media to Merge with Fusion Pioneer TAE Technologies in Deal Worth over $6 Billion "In a major move blending media, capital markets, and next-generation energy innovation, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) announced today it will merge with TAE Technologies, a California-based company developing fusion power solutions. The all-stock deal is valued at more than $6 billion, with both companies’ shareholders each holding approximately 50% of the combined entity upon closing."





Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Trump administration unlocks Alaska energy with resolutions removing several 46th President-era roadblocks

Good news! Let the Alaska energy bonanza begin! Let's buy Greenland!

"On Monday, federal regulators approved the permits for an 800-mile pipeline that will transport natural gas from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula in the south-central part of Alaska  ...

On Dec. 5, Trump signed a Senate joint resolution, sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, that overturned a []46th President]-era block on oil and gas drilling in nearly half of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which covers approximately 13 million acres. ...

On Thursday, Trump also signed two joint resolutions repealing restrictions on oil and gas development in other parts of northern Alaska

All three resolutions were signed under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to block certain finalized federal regulations. ..."

Trump administration unlocks Alaska energy with resolutions removing Biden-era roadblocks | Just The News "... Alaska energy development got a big boost in December. President Donald Trump signed three resolutions that nullify regulations passed during the [46th President] administration which blocked millions of acres of The Last Frontier from oil and gas development."