geoharvey

Opinion:

¶   The Myth of Fossil Fuel Abundance Hurts the Fight against Climate Change. [OilPrice.com]

Technology:

¶   Researchers at Iowa State University are working on a new way to make biofuels from switchgrass or algae. [Iowa State Daily]

Japan:

¶   A United Nations rights investigator says the Japanese government has overly optimistic views of radiation risks and has not done enough to protect the health of residents and workers after Fukushima Disaster. [CBC.ca]

¶   A TEPCO official says the root causes of the Fukushima Disaster rose from a lack of humility in anticipating the effects of natural disasters and fear that sharing internal concerns about risks would “make people worry about the safety.” [Science AAAS]

¶   Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, head of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, issued its pre-election pledges Tuesday, promising to abandon nuclear power gradually. [Global Times]
… Hosoda, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s general council, says the Japanese need to restart their nuclear reactors. The process of restarting reactors, if it happens, would most likely be slow. [Businessweek]

¶   People displaced by the Fukushima Disaster are losing hope that they will ever be able to return to their homes. [New York Times]

World:

¶   Last year, Germany’s CO₂ emissions fell by 2.4%, according the Federal Environment Agency. The decrease was largely due to an increased push towards renewable energy after nearly half of the nuclear plants were closed. [The Guardian]

¶   Tim Flannery, Chief Commissioner of the Australian Climate Commission, says Australia installed more solar panels last year than any other country, but is still under-utilizing its renewable energy potential. [Energy Tribune]

¶   Indian and Chinese companies entered into agreements on trade in clean energy, infrastructure, electric power, steel and other projects, worth billions of dollars as the two countries . [Hong Kong Standard]

US:

¶   Florida regulators approved passing $143 million in costs on to customers in 2013 for the proposed Levy nuclear plant and upgrades to the idle Crystal River plant. The projected cost of Levy is $24 billion. [First Coast News]