Energy is the lifeblood of everything in the universe. We leaped out of the dark ages by harnessing the power of stored energy in the form of burning wood, then coal, and rocketed forward with the use of gasoline and other fossil fuels to power our energy needs. We simply wouldn’t be able to support 8 billion people without manipulating stored energy from the sun.
In recent decades we’ve tried to find cleaner burning ways to generate electricity and power in the form of wind, geothermal, water turbines, and solar. Almost everyone agrees that burning fewer fossil fuels and dumping less carbon into the atmosphere would be ideal for a cleaner and healthy environment if we are going to support another 8 billion people. What we haven’t all agreed on is how to effectively accomplish a cleaner world.
Unfortunately, after decades of pouring billions into alternative energies, we’ve made no headwind on burning less carbon. It’s only gotten worse. The reality is that fossil fuels are cheaper, more plentiful, and produce more reliable forms of energy. Emerging countries like India need cheap energy to fuel the growth of their population. It would be hypocritical and inhumane to deny India the use of coal, which is dense, plentiful, and cheap. Who are we to dictate to them that they can’t use dirtier, but cheaper fuels to raise the living standards of their own people?
The other issue that isn’t always considered is that a lot of alternative energy sources require, wait for it, burning large amounts of carbon to procure the rare earth metals needed for battery storage. Many of the countries that house these rare earth metals extract them under abusive labor laws, often involving children. Also, if you are charging your electric car that receives that power from a coal burning or natural gas-powered plant, you are simply putting out of view the large carbon emissions you might think you are eliminating. It doesn’t fix the problem.
Fortunately, there’s an abundantly available and clean burning fuel that we already use for about 10% of our global energy, in the form of uranium. Uranium is an incredibly dense piece of stored energy from the bursting of past suns. One pellet of uranium the size of your pinky equals about 140 barrels of oil. Nuclear energy is a powerful and reliable form of energy and to top it all off, is the lowest carbon emitting power source available to us today. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/introduction/what-is-uranium-how-does-it-work.aspx
Some estimate that nuclear power emits 1/3 the greenhouse gases than solar over its total lifecycle.
Due to unfortunate events that have been misunderstood and sensationalized, there are many false ideas and myths about nuclear energy. The disasters at Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island, are incorrectly used as a reason for not building more nuclear power plants. Powerful environmentalist groups rallied against nuclear energy during the 1970’s, spreading misinformation and fear and swaying public opinion against its use. In reality nuclear is the safest form of energy we have available.
Energy and other valuable resources have come into more careful view with the Russian war in Ukraine, and with China threatening to invade Taiwan. Smart energy policy is essential for economic prosperity and independence. We will have to secure clean and abundant energy to power all the cell phones, tablets, AI, and quantum computing the world will inevitably use following Moore’s Law. It’s time for the world, and America, to reembrace nuclear as a clean, abundant, and affordable form of energy.
It’s already starting. Many countries are racing to turn back on their old nuclear power plants, extending the life of their current plants, converting coal powered plants, and installing new plants. Last week Georgia Power just went live, for the first time in decades, with a plant built from scratch called Voglte 3. Even the most well-known environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, has recently embraced nuclear energy. New technology and engineering designs promise to make the already safe industry even safter. https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2023/04/03/greta-thunberg-has-embraced-nuclear-power-will-the-greens-follow/?sh=5ae431a71e9a
Uranium is the clear answer to our energy problems, and that brings us to the investment opportunity. Like most commodities, it can move strongly with imbalances of supply and demand. Due to headwinds in the industry of the past decade, the cost of producing uranium is higher than the price it can be sold for. That has caused an increasing deficit of supply as those who mine it shut their doors, or scale back on production. With a renewed focus and demand for nuclear energy accelerating, that should inevitably push the price of uranium much higher.
If you would like help on how to add uranium to your investment portfolio, please feel free to email me, or schedule a meeting It’s important to size the position properly in your portfolio to withstand the risk of a recession, or from something more sinister. It’s been feared that Russia could use the Ukraine nuclear power plant as a weapon. Even though the devastation of that possibility could be horrible, it isn’t likely to be a reason for stopping the use of it as a power source. We don’t stop using oil when it gets dumped into the ocean, or natural gas when it explodes and kills dozens of people. However, public opinion would likely sour on it for a period until the facts make their way back to the surface.
I believe uranium is the clear and logical answer to our energy needs and for a significantly cleaner environment. I also believe a new paradigm has been crossed as the realization of this sinks in from recent events. This presents a very asymmetrical investment opportunity. It isn’t hard to imagine in the right scenario seeing Uranium rise by 200%, and some of the companies that produce it, going even higher.
(Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The advice is general in nature and not intended for specific situations)