Japan:
¶ The energy and environment committee of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan has proposed abandoning nuclear for generating electricity by the early 2050s, rather than a target of 2030. The proposal includes closing all reactors more than forty years old, restarting only those reactors that have passed strict safety requirements, and building no new reactors. [Asahi Shimbun]
¶ The governments of both Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka have formally asked the central government to close the only two reactors running in Japan. Among other things, they criticized the central government for failing to fulfill its obligations on safety. [The Japan Daily Press]
¶ The government is proposing that it promote four specific underdeveloped renewable power sources: offshore wind, tidal and wave energy, geothermal, and biomass. Combined, these sources produce about 1% of the electricity generated today, and the goal is to increase that to 10% by 2030. [Power Engineering]
¶ The Japanese Environment Ministry has chosen a national forest in Tochigi Prefecture (between Fukushima and Tokyo) as a site for nuclear waste disposal. [The Daily Yomiuri]
World:
¶ Chempolis, a Finnish company, is setting up a biorefinery in India. The company says biorefining can cut Indian oil imports by 25%. [Utility Products]
¶ A third of farmers polled by Barclays said they were planning on investing in renewable energy production over the next two years. Renewable generating is seen as a way of diversifying. [FarmersWeekly]
¶ In Northern Ireland, the green economy is producing more jobs than automotive, financial services, and telecommunications combined. [H&V News]
US:
¶ Ocean Power Technologies is setting up the first commercially licensed grid-connected wave-energy generator in the US. [New York Times]
¶ The political positions of US presidential candidates are very different, and there may be no more glaring difference than their positions on coal. Obama has supported environmental limits. Though he had also done so as governor, Romney now supports relaxation of them. [Resource Investing News]
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