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The Electricity Shock of 2015

Written By Christian DeHaemer

Posted July 10, 2014

In January, electricity prices hit all-time highs of $0.13 per kWh.

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And they aren’t just rising in the U.S. — it is a global phenomenon.

From Australia’s The Age:

“An energy crisis is rapidly unfolding in the Australian electricity and gas sectors that will rival the oil shock of the 1970s.”

A quick search reveals other headlines from around the world lamenting the same problem:

“Armenians Shocked at Electricity Price Rise”

“Japan Growth Strategy Sidesteps Higher Energy Price Issue”

“Egypt: Electricity Prices Raised”

“Jakarta Post: Second Round of Electricity Increase”

Return of the Atom

Obviously, something needs to change.

Nuclear power has been on the decline since Japan’s Fukushima power plant melted down in 2011. After the accident, China’s State Council decided to halt approvals and licensing of new reactors until a safety plan was in place. Work was suspended on units that were on the drawing board but not yet being built.

This created a two-year stall that is finally reversing. China is leading the pack back to nuclear electricity production.

Its most recent reactor, Ningde 2, fired up in January 2014, pushing the number of operational nuclear reactors in mainland China to 20, with a combined net capacity of almost 17 Gigawatt-electric (GWe).

For the record, a gigawatt is equal to 1,000 megawatts. In comparison, the installed power in Germany is 169.6 GWe from all sources. The largest dam in the world, the Three Gorges hydro plant, produces 18.2 GWe.

Nuclear Growth

By the end of 2014, there will be 30 reactors in China pushing out 27 GWe. In 2015, capacity is estimated to reach 36 GWe, with eight more reactors.

In its latest five-year plan, China is pushing hard to reduce pollution by 45% by 2020. But it can only do this if it replaces the coal it uses for 80% of its energy mix.

In 2012, nuclear power represented only 1.8%. Of new capacity added since 2012, coal accounts for 59% of the fuel source.

First You Make Money, Then You Get Green

In the U.S., our energy mix looked very different ten years ago. In 2004, coal made up 49% of America’s net electricity generation, while renewables made up less than 1%.

Today, coal generation is down 10%, and carbon-free sources including nuclear make up more than 25% of electricity generation. The rest is taken up by natural gas.

China has no source of cheap natural gas, so it must push nuclear, as well as wind and solar, to reduce its coal consumption.

Nuclear power clearly trumps all other fuels including coal and natural gas when it comes to energy creation in terms of megajoules per kilogram.

And if it weren’t for the safety issues surrounding uranium, there would be nothing stopping nuclear energy from becoming the world’s future power supply.

Thorium’s Hammer

But what if we didn’t need uranium?

What if there was another way to use nuclear reactors to develop the same powerful energy?

In truth, we really don’t need uranium…

There is another way to generate the same (if not more) power using a much safer and much more abundant resource…

This resource works in a similar reactor but generates 200 times more power, and it is much more abundant.

It’s not plutonium or hydrogen… It’s thorium, named for Thor, the Norse god of thunder.

And according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the authority on nuclear power, “Thorium fuel has better thermal and physical properties as well as irradiation performance than uranium fuel.”

Not to mention it’s safer. The IAEA said in the same report: “The melting point of thorium dioxide is 500 degrees Celsius higher than that of uranium dioxide. This difference provides an added margin of safety in the event of a temporary power surge or loss of coolant in a reactor.”

Clearly if there were a way to develop reactors that could produce electricity from the much safer thorium, we could utilize cheap, safe, and abundant energy without causing environmental catastrophes and meltdowns like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.

Well, I have good news: I recently discovered a company that holds the patent rights to the technology capable of harnessing thorium in a nuclear reactor.

And one of the largest deposits of thorium in the world has been discovered under the Lemhi Pass in Idaho.

The state once known for its potatoes will soon be a world leader in thorium production, kicking off the next phase of American energy independence.

wondervien

That yellow plot pictured above is actually acres upon acres of thorium-rich land ready to be harvested and put to work in the reactors exclusively built by this little-known company.

My special report will tell you all about the $3 company with the only technology capable of harnessing thorium in a nuclear reactor and how it will kick off the next wave of energy profits.

Don’t wait; this stock is moving fast, and it won’t stay a secret for long.

All the best,

Christian DeHaemer Signature

Christian DeHaemer

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Christian is the founder of Bull and Bust Report and an editor at Energy and Capital. For more on Christian, see his editor’s page.

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