La sécurité des approvisionnements stratégiques de la France Si les ressources mondiales d'énergies fossiles (pétrole, gaz, charbon)> sont d'ampleur limitée, leurs quantités disponibles sont difficiles à évaluer précisément, pour deux raisons principales : - de nombreux gisements restent à découvrir ; - la rentabilité économique de leur exploitation fluctue en fonction des prix mondiaux de l'énergie. Il semble cependant avéré que les pays de l'Union européenne ne disposent pas, <en dehors du charbon, de stocks significatifs d'énergies fossiles>. La France, en particulier, dépend d'approvisionnements extérieurs pour le pétrole et le gaz qu'elle consomme. Les risques pesant sur celles-ci ont donc été répertoriés, ainsi que les solutions permettant de les surmonter. Ce rapport dresse un tableau synthétique des principales énergies fossiles nécessaires au bon fonctionnement de notre économie et, donc, à la préservation de nos intérêts vitaux. La diversification des sources d'énergie de l'UE est retracée dans le schéma suivant. En carburéacteur
Former Fukushima plant chief rushed to hospital with cerebral hemorrhage National ( ) Masao Yoshida, former manager of the Tokyo Electric Power Co’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was rushed to hospital last week to undergo surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage, TEPCO said Tuesday. Yoshida, who was the on-site chief at the Fukushima plant when the earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11, remains in a stable condition after the surgery, TEPCO officials were quoted as saying by Sankei Shimbun. Although he is still a corporate officer at TEPCO, Yoshida retired as plant chief in December due to being diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Earlier this year, Yoshida gave a testimony in which he criticized the handling of the crisis at a Diet hearing of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission. Doctors said that they do not believe the radiation to which Yoshida was exposed since 2010 is connected to the bleeding in his brain, Sankei reported. Japan Today
Special report: Australia’s electricity demand collapse This is part 1 of a 2 part series. The 2nd part can be found here. Electricity demand has been sinking for the better part of four years. Yet we plough on accepting throwaway lines from executives and journalists that peak demand is a costly problem. And from forecasters we hear that all of a sudden overall demand is going to burst back to life. Analysing the six reasons why demand has gone down – according to industry players and the Australian Energy Market Operator – it’s clear those factors are only likely to further constrain demand, contrary to forecasts: -- High power prices. While it is right to say high prices have helped bring demand down, this is unlikely to change as prices are heading higher in the next few years; although rises should at least moderate. -- Solar PV. Take last year’s release of AEMO’s Rooftop PV Information Paper as proof. The forecaster predicted that through 2012-2018 there would be an average of 320 MW of solar installed annually across the NEM.
[Charbonnages de France] - Le charbon Même si on accepte difficilement le principe, la réalité est là qui s'impose et qui veut que, comme toute entreprise humaine, l'activité d'un site minier connaît un commencement et une fin. A la fin des années 60, les houillères françaises rencontrent des difficultés croissantes. Il est devenu évident que le marché devient plus favorable aux produits pétroliers qu'à la houille. Et la concurrence des charbons étrangers, commercialisés à bas prix, est de plus en plus sensible. (*) Un déficit de 2,5 milliards, une subvention de 6,5 milliards et un endettement de 24 milliards. La force d'un contrat Proposé par le Gouvernement, sous la conduite du Ministre de l'Industrie, Gérard Longuet, et après concertation avec les partenaires sociaux, le Pacte Charbonnier National est signé le 20 octobre 1994 par Charbonnages de France et la majorité des organisations syndicales nationales (FO, CFTC, CFDT, CGC). Une gestion exemplaire des ressources humaines
ONLINE - International News Network TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda approved Saturday the reactivation of two nuclear reactors in western Japan, the first restart since last year’s atomic disaster. The government told the operator Kansai Electric Power Co to reactivate the idled units 3 and 4 of the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture over strong public opposition after the premier met Governor Issei Nishikawa, who gave his consent. The plant is 60 kilometres north of Kyoto city, the ancient capital and a major tourist destination with a population of 1.38 million. Japan’s 50 reactors have been shut down for maintenance. Utility companies have been unable to reactivate them because of public fears about nuclear power after the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2001. The plant suffered meltdowns after it was struck by an earthquake and tsunami. Nuclear plants accounted for about 30 per cent of the country’s supply before the Fukushima disaster. <<Go back
ment: Why electricity prices keep rising | Electricity By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute If there's logic behind the way Australian energy markets work, at first glance it's hard to fathom. Increases in power bills have previously been justified by our increasing demand. But as energy demand in Australia drops prices continue to rise. This raises numerous questions. Is the type of demand changing? In 2012-13, residential electricity prices increased by 14%, continuing a trend of double-digit increases going back to around 2007. The largest component of the price increase has come from costs imposed by the network distribution businesses, and yet these are regulated monopolies. Grattan Institute issued a report in December, 2012: Putting the customer back in front: how to make electricity prices cheaper. The report made four recommendations that have the potential to deliver savings to consumers of around $2.2 billion per year, a saving to the average domestic customer of $100 per year.
Qui produit, qui consomme le charbon ? Mise à jour le 09/08/2013, mise en ligne le 08/09/2010 Le charbon est la deuxième source d’énergie primaire utilisée dans le monde (derrière le pétrole), et la première pour la génération d’électricité. Si le charbon est considéré comme une énergie très polluante, l’abondance des réserves en fait une énergie encore très utilisée. En Asie, sa production et sa consommation sont en forte augmentation. Le charbon, une énergie incontournable pour les pays émergents * Millions tonnes équivalent pétroleSources : Le coût d’exploitation du charbon étant assez faible, il permet de répondre à la hausse de la demande en énergie dans les grands pays émergents. En Inde, dont la consommation de charbon connaît une forte croissance, le charbon (298 Mtep) a couvert la moitié des besoins en énergie primaire (564 Mtep) en 2012. Production de charbon : la Chine reste numéro un
Japan approves reactor restarts, more seen Nearly a year after a tsunami and 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan, NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel travels to the evacuation zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The plant suffered a triple meltdown in the wake of the earthquake, turning the neighborhoods in the 12 mile radius of the plant into ghost towns. Engel journeyed near the mangled plant which remains very much a hotspot. Radiation levels were so high, the NBC News team on the ground had to wear face masks and full body suits. Even as NBC News drove half a mile from the reactor, radiation monitors were screaming in alarm. By msnbc.com news services TOKYO -- Japan on Saturday approved the resumption of nuclear power operations at two reactors despite mass public opposition, the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, his popularity ratings sagging, had backed the restarts for some time.
Electricity selloff 'failed to deliver' on cheaper power Price shock: No benefits to Victorians over other states. Photo: Rob Homer The privatisation of government-owned electricity assets has failed to deliver cheaper power, with efficiency falling sharply as power prices have risen well above the underlying rate of inflation, a study by The Australia Institute has found. Victoria was the first state to sell off its power sector assets, reaping the government windfall profits. Since then, the number of management staff has risen along with a surge in sales staff, which has blunted benefits from the move. Since privatisation in the 1990s, electricity prices have heavily outpaced the inflation rate, the study found, rising by 170 per cent compared with an increase of 60 per cent in the consumer price index. Advertisement Also notable is the fact that power prices in Victoria have risen in line with prices in other states, so that privatisation has delivered no specific benefits to consumers. In 1997 there was one manager for every 13 workers.
Société nationale d'électricité et de thermique Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. La société nationale d'électricité et de thermique (SNET) est une entreprise française productrice d'électricité. [RCS]: 399 361 468. Histoire[modifier | modifier le code] Héritière des centrales thermiques des Charbonnages de France, elle dispose d'une puissance installée de 2,4 GW (soit environ 2 % de celle d'EDF). La SNET s'est positionnée comme concurrent d'EDF dès l'ouverture du marché français de l'électricité aux clients éligibles en 1999. En Septembre 2004, le contrôle de la société est passé aux mains d'Endesa, premier producteur d'électricité en Espagne, qui s'assure ainsi un accès au marché français. En juin 2008[1], la SNET est vendue au groupe Allemand E.ON et contrôlée par E.ON-France qui emploie plus de 850 personnes[2]. Voir aussi[modifier | modifier le code] Lien externe[modifier | modifier le code] SNET, site officiel Références[modifier | modifier le code]
Why Are Japanese Buying Swiss Companies? By SwissInfo By Fumi Kashimada In the last two years, takeovers of Swiss companies by Japanese interests have become more frequent. Takeda’s acquisition of pharma giant Nycomed was one example. The Japanese economy is currently suffering from the effects of the Tohoku earthquake of 2011 as well as from the strength of the yen. As early as 2009, the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi took over the biggest Swiss plastics manufacturer Quadrant, followed in 2011 by the billion-dollar acquisition of Nycomed by Takeda Pharmaceutical, the takeover of door system manufacturer Kaba Gilgen by Nabtesco and of the well established electricity firm Landis + Gyr by Toshiba. At the begining of March this year, the Japanese watchmaking giant Citizen anounced it was paying $70 million to acquire Prothor Holding, which owns Swiss watch component makers. swissinfo: Why has the number of takeovers of Swiss firms by Japanese companies increased so much in the last two years? There are several reasons for this.
UPDATE 3-China ups stakes in Australia power firms as Singapore retreats