The Catastrophic Downside Risk of Nuclear, Oil, Gas, and Coal

The Catastrophic Downside Risk of Nuclear, Oil, Gas, and Coal

Energy systems need to also be measured according to the potential risks associated with them in the advent of failure. And the actuarial costs of these risks need to be better understood and included into the market price for the energy that these systems produce. This post examines this catastrophic downside risk of nuclear and fossil energy focusing on the recent events in Japan and on the BP oil spill as two recent examples of hugely expensive catastrophes. It poses the question why should the taxpayers and the public bear the burden of these costs in this manner artificially lowering the price these energy sectors are thus able to charge for their products.

Green Project Management and the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill

Green Project Management and the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill

This is an explanation of how Green Project Management could assist in incorporating environmental thinking in any project, factoring the environment into project management processes. The authors believe that a more structured approach to including the environment in all project management processes would have uncovered some of the issues faced at the BP Deep Water Horizon Spill, and led to some very different decisions during the project, prior to deciding to drill more than five thousand feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico.