Energy Blast – Sept 3, 2010

According to the China Atomic Energy Authority, China and Russia will expand nuclear cooperation in seven areas, including floating power plants and safety technology.  Gazprom’s first-quarter profits hit a new record of $10.6 billion, over triple the same result for the previous year.  Ukraine’s Energy Minister says that the government is not happy about the South Stream pipeline, as it could reduce the volumes of Russian gas currently traveling through Ukraine’s pipelines by half.  An oil platform owned by Mariner Energy has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico; no one was killed.  The Economist’s ‘Technology Quarterly‘ report looks at energy supplies for the world’s poorest, and the risks and obstacles facing geothermal power.  This report examines the difficulties involved in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision on the extent to which she includes nuclear power in Germany’s energy policy, as 56% of Germans want it phased out, but ‘the money is irresistible‘.