Llewellyn King

Latest articles from Llewellyn

• Rare Earths Problem Could Have A Nuclear Solution

  Published 30 March 2015 | viewed 25,355 times

  The 17 rare earth elements have energy supply by the throat. They are used in everything from oil refineries to solar and wind generators. These…

• Utilities Stumbling Into A New Dawn

  Published 10 March 2015 | viewed 5,217 times

  Conventional wisdom says that companies should stick to their core business. But what happens when the core is changing and it's no longer a reliable…

• Mystery Of The Adviser Who Turned Obama Against Keystone XL

  Published 02 March 2015 | viewed 7,598 times

  In medieval courts, the legendary question was, “Who advises the king?” In Washington we ask this very real question, “Who’s advising him?” Washington believes in…

• Electric Utilities Face A Disruptive Future

  Published 28 January 2015 | viewed 20,077 times

  Cheap gas and oil aren't the only forces disrupting the U.S. electric system. Solar is already wreaking havoc, and large-scale batteries are looming. What Uber…

• Natural Gas Threatens U.S. Nuclear Future

  Published 29 December 2014 | viewed 20,679 times

  This will be an unhappy new year for Vernon, a small town in the state of Vermont. It is losing its economic mainstay. The owner…

• The Great South China Sea Hydrocarbon Grab

  Published 08 December 2014 | viewed 25,666 times

  In all of the struggles for territory in history, none has been quite as ambitious or unusual as a country trying to steal a whole…

• The End of the Crisis for Now: America Is Awash in Energy

  Published 27 October 2014 | viewed 21,085 times

  Across America, something unusual is happening on main streets, in suburban strips, and at country stores: workers are lowering the prices on the signs for…

• The World’s Most Dangerous Dams

  Published 25 August 2014 | viewed 85,557 times

  Hydroelectric dams are a nifty way of producing a huge amount of power, but they do not last forever. This is a tale of two…

• Why France Isn't Intimidated By Nuclear Waste

  Published 30 June 2014 | viewed 11,931 times

  In decades to come, scholars may well puzzle on America’s attitude to nuclear energy. We love our nuclear defense capacity: its weapons, its submarines, and…

• Ocean Power Rides the Green Wave

  Published 16 June 2014 | viewed 7,816 times

  Summer is coming in the Northern Hemisphere and tens of millions of us have plans to flock to the beaches. As we frolic along the…

• Visegrad Group Urges U.S. To Hasten LNG Exports

  Published 05 May 2014 | viewed 10,856 times

  The trouble with gas is that it is not as easy to move around as oil, which is a problem, because it’s on the verge…

• Schlesinger, America's First Energy Secretary, Dies

  Published 31 March 2014 | viewed 6,236 times

  James Rodney Schlesinger was assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, director of the CIA, secretary of defense,…

• Obama Abandons Another Nuclear Waste Solution

  Published 20 March 2014 | viewed 6,384 times

  President Obama plans to attend the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 24-25. He has long professed a keen interest in reducing the…

• Solar Power Threatening Future for U.S. Electric Utilities

  Published 15 March 2014 | viewed 17,261 times

  A persistent warning light is flashing for U.S. electric utilities. The utilities -- big and small, for- and not-for-profit -- are facing serious disruptive technology.…

• Will the U.S. Follow the U.K. Into Power Shortages?

  Published 19 February 2014 | viewed 16,695 times

  As Britain endeavors to build new nuclear power plants to avert an electric crisis in 20 years -- with the retirement of nearly all the…

• Government Will Need to Save Nuclear in the U.S.

  Published 05 February 2014 | viewed 10,738 times

  Who is going to finance advanced drugs? Who is going to guarantee the electric supply in 30 years? Whisper this: It will be the government.In…

• Europe and Its Slippery Energy Slope

  Published 02 December 2013 | viewed 20,429 times

  BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Europe, at present the world's largest market and largest economic bloc, is in decline and living standards are in danger. That was…

• A Civics Lesson on Government-Private Collaboration

  Published 26 November 2013 | viewed 8,515 times

  The world is awash in natural gas and, to a somewhat lesser extent, in oil. This is due to the controversial but hugely effective technology…

• Carbon Capture Gets a Big Boost in Washington

  Published 13 November 2013 | viewed 4,767 times

  Forty years ago, America and its allies were paralyzed by the Arab oil embargo, which followed the Yom Kippur War. It concentrated the international mind…

• Nuclear Power Gets Hope from New Radiation Data

  Published 30 October 2013 | viewed 8,493 times

  Can we learn to love radiation? Maybe not, but if we understood it better, we might not be so damned scared of it – a…