Opinion:
¶ Three myths about clean energy: (1) It wastes taxpayer money, (2) It is a failing market, (3) EPA regulations are killing the coal industry. [Forbes]
Technology:
¶ Researchers at Utah State University have found a biological catalyst that can turn carbon dioxide into methane. [Phys.Org]
¶ Researchers in Israel have found a way to use iron oxide (rust) and sunshine to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. [TG Daily]
Japan:
¶ Continuing high levels of radioactivity in some fish caught off the coast of Fukushima has prompted an investigation to learn why they are not declining in all, as expected. [Asahi Shimbun]
¶ A senior vice minister of industry, said he was “begging” the country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) to give utilities permission to restart nuclear reactors, giving some the impression that undue pressure was being applied. [The Japan Daily Press]
World:
¶ The President of Mongolia expects the country to produce 20% to 25% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020. He says Mongolia the potential to meet its entire domestic energy demand with renewable power. [Businessweek]
¶ Environmental groups worry that biofuel plants will burn wood faster than it can be grown, increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. [BBC News]
¶ According to the International Energy Agency, worldwide fossil fuel subsidies rose 30% between 2010 and 2011, to a level about six times that for renewable. [MarketWatch]
¶ Indian coal supplies are in a crisis. There are 33 power plants with only three days of supply left. [Hindu Business Line]
US:
¶ Opposition to building a dump for high-level radioactive waste is as intense in Nevada as ever. [Elko Daily Free Press]
¶ The Union of Concerned Scientists issued a study that found coal generating plants producing 59,000 MW of power have become too costly to continue running. This is in addition to 40,000 already scheduled to close or be converted. [Yahoo! News]
¶ A report from the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory says that returns on US solar and geothermal energy projects are above 10%, but financing is still difficult to get. [Hydrogen Fuel News]
¶ The US International Trade Commission has unanimously upheld a decision to introduce tariffs against Chinese solar imports that have depressed the US solar manufacturing business for several years. [Renewable Energy Magazine]
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