Technology:
¶ A researcher at the Flinders University of South Australia has developed a cheaper and faster way of making large-scale plastic solar cells. [Phys.Org]
¶ Update on the technology piece of September 19 on battery development at Murdoch University: I got an email from Manickam Minakshi Sundaram, one of the inventors behind the battery, saying they hoped to see it on the market by mid 2014. They are looking for financial partners.
Japan:
¶ The Japanese government seems to be waffling on whether to phase out nuclear power. [The Daily Yomiuri]
¶ The new Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seen by some experts as a continuation of the same old, flawed thing. [The Japan Times]
¶ Arnie Gundersen says the Fukushima Disaster could have been worse yet. [Center for Research on Globalization]
¶ Komatsu, the world’s second-largest construction equipment maker, has a goal of saving several hundred million dollars a year by cutting its electricity usage in half by March 2015. It will do this by various kinds of efficiency, including replacing forty buildings. [Business Week]
World:
¶ A rise in the uranium market, predicted consistently over the past year, may take longer than forecasts have said. [StarPhoenix]
¶ Alternative energy analysts predict that UK renewable sources will be equal to thermal by 2025, given continued government support. [SolarNovus.com]
… The government of the UK is considering cutting support for renewable energy sharply. [PV-Tech]
US:
¶ The Clean Energy Development Fund Board has approved an additional $1.25 million to support the installation renewable generation systems for Vermont home owners, communities, and businesses. [Vermont Biz]
¶ The Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved the final environmental document required to expand a transmission line for additional renewable energy resources to be transmitted from the Tehachapi Mountains and Mojave Desert areas to Los Angeles. [Power Engineering]
¶ Some environmentalists are arguing against renewable projects that displace or kill animals. [Bloomberg] (I cannot refrain from commenting. How should we prioritize this? Is it more important to save a few thousand animals, or is it more important to save a few thousand species?)
geoharvey 