Cato Institute
Policy Analysis
<<  <  >  >>
82. For a description of the environmental and
69. Judah Rose, "Comparative Costs of New
economic features of a modern coal plant avail-
Powerplants--Overseas Economics," Presenta-
able to the international market, see Cat Jones,
tion by ICF Resources, April 1997; and Josh
"Shinchi Leads Way for Large Advanced Coal-
Spencer, ICF Resources, communication with the
Fired  Units,"  Electric  Power  International,
author, February 18, 1998. A 1995 study by DRI
September 1997, pp. 36­41.
estimated the cost of electricity from new coal
plants (in 1993 dollars) at between 4.3 cents and
83. Deren Zhu and Yuzhuo Zhang, "Major Trends
5.1 cents per kWh. DRI, Energy Choices in a
of New Technologies for Coal Mining and
Competitive Era, p. TA-15.
Utilization beyond 2000--Technical Scenario of
the Chinese Coal Industry," Proceedings: 17th
70. J. Santucci and G. Sliter, "Ensuring the
Congress of the World Energy Council (London: World
Economic Competitiveness of Advanced Light
Energy Council, 1998), vol. 5, p. 93.
Water Reactors," Paper presented at TOPNUX
'96, Paris, September 1996, p. 1. Copy in
84. EIA, International Energy Outlook 1998, p. 78.
author's files.
85. DRI, Energy Choices in a Competitive Era, p. 4-3.
71. Arlon Tussing and Bob Tippee, The Natural
Gas Industry (Tulsa: PennWell Books, 1995),
86. Chinese and Indian energy planners provide
p. 54.
an example of energy exploitation. They made
wind and solar investments that had high capaci-
72. Makansi, pp. 27­28.
ty ratings but produced little energy. See EIA,
International Energy Outlook 1998, pp. 103­4.
73. Enron Corp., The Natural Gas Advantage:
Strategies for Electric Utilities in the 1990s (Houston:
87. Roger Fouquet and Peter Pearson, "A
Enron, 1992), pp. 2­8.
Thousand Years of Energy Use in the United
Kingdom," Energy Journal 19, no. 4 (1998): 7.
74. This could be true if for no other reason than
the "act of God" limitations of wind and solar--
88. Carlo LaPorta, "Renewable Energy: Recent
intermittent stillness for wind and darkness and
Commercial Performance in the USA as an
intermittent cloudiness for solar.
Index of Future Prospects," in Global Warming:
The Greenpeace Report, ed. Jeremy Leggett
75. World Association of Nuclear Operators,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), pp.
"1998 Performance Indicators for the U.S.
235, 242­43.
Nuclear Utility Industry," http://www.nei.org/
library/tmiframe.html.
89. Flavin and Lenssen, p. 189.
76. EIA, Annual Energy Review 1997, pp. 7,
90. Paul Druger and Carel Otte, eds., Geothermal
241, 243.
Energy: Resources, Production, Stimulation (Stanford,
Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1973), pp. 21­58.
77. Nuclear Energy Institute, Strategic Plan for
Building New Nuclear Power Plants (Washington:
91. "Shell Gets Serious about Alternative Power,"
Nuclear Energy Institute, 1998), pp. III-4 and III-5.
Petroleum Economist, December 1997, p. 38; and
Kimberly Music, "Shell Pledges to Focus on
78. EIA, Annual Energy Outlook 1998, p. 54.
Renewable Energy," Oil Daily, October 17, 1997,
79. Nuclear Energy Institute, Nuclear Energy,
p. 1.
fourth quarter 1994; and Nuclear Energy
92. John Browne, Climate Change: The New Agenda
Institute, Nuclear Energy Insight 1996, February
(London: British Petroleum Company, 1997).
1996, pp. 1­2.
93. Enron Corp., "Enron Forms Enron Renewable
80. "EPRI Unveils New Reactor Design
Energy Corp.; Acquires Zond Corporation,
Standardization to Improve Safety," Electric
Leading Developer of Wind Energy Power," Press
Power Alert, July 1, 1998, pp. 27­28. A natural
release, January 6, 1997.
gas combined-cycle plant of the same size can
still be built in two-thirds of this time.
94. Total international energy investment, esti-
mated by the World Energy Council to be $1 tril-
81. As the Department of Energy has noted,
lion annually, would make planned investments
"Without [the Price-Anderson Act of 1957], the
in wind, solar, geothermal, and biopower minus-
nuclear power industry would not have developed
cule. Commercial energy financing only, estimat-
or grown." U.S. Department of Energy, United
ed to be around $150 billion in 1995 alone, would
States Energy Policy: 1980­1988 (Washington: DOE,
put nonhydro renewable investment at a fraction
1988), p. 105.
44