“They’ve got to shield the industry, or it will just go elsewhere,”

Chemical Industry Threatens To Exit Britain Over Green Energy Costs

High energy costs have emerged as the top concern of British chemical and pharmaceutical companies, according to the sector’s main trade association. Green policies such as the introduction of a carbon price floor – designed to encourage low-carbon forms of electricity generation, including nuclear power – have also hit the industry. Last November, the government offered compensation to heavy energy users to mitigate the effects of the carbon price floor and the EU emissions trading system on electricity costs. But the Chemical Industries Association said it was not enough.“They’ve got to shield the industry, or it will just go elsewhere,” said Alan Eastwood, the association’s economics adviser.—Guy Chazan, Financial Times, 1 May 2012[Registration Required]

Electricity prices are rising in Germany - and citizen with a low-income are suffering particularly. 10 to 15 percent of Germans are now struggling to pay their energy bills. 600,000 households have the electricity turned off every year.—Handelsblatt, 30 April 2012

IF there is to be a new beginning in global energy, the golden age is unlikely to be powered directly by the wind or sun. Despite high hopes for renewables, the figures show the world to be on the cusp of another fossil fuel boom. During the past decade, almost 50 per cent of new global electricity demand was met by coal, and many countries, including India, where 25 per cent of the population still has no access to electricity, have announced plans to rapidly increase construction of coal-fired power plants. The rush to coal and gas has been accelerated by a new crisis in the nuclear industry following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. —Graham Lloyd, The Australian, 28 April 2012

China’s coal imports from the United States are rising despite record production of the country’s main fuel, experts say. Although its coal output more than doubled in the past decade to over 3.5 billion tons, China has also become the world’s biggest coal buyer with imports of 182.4 million tons last year. The United States had a small piece of that huge market with exports to China of 5.5 million tons in 2011, according to Department of Energy (DOE) data. But China’s energy demand is driving predictions of greater growth for U.S. exports to come.—Michael Lelyveld, Radio Free Asia, 30 April 2012

Fracking operations could be brought to the Formby countryside (near Liverpool) as mining firms eye up shale oil deposits beneath the old oilfield. Scottish company Aurora Petroleum are set to explore the site for conventional oil in the coming weeks. However, Aurora revealed there was potential for fracking there in the future, with the area thought to possess shale oil reserves.—Joe Thomas, Formby Times, 1 May 2012

Moral reasoning is often used to intensify partisan loyalty. In that respect, it can actually harm public discourse. In this essay, I examine the problem of moral reasoning and offer three proposals for mitigating its damaging effects.—Arnold Kling, The American, 26 April 2012

Items of notes and interest from the web.