Opinion:
¶ The old catch-cry ‘renewables can’t provide baseload’ continues to haunt discussions about our long-term energy future. But this really misses the fact that we’re moving into an entirely new power system paradigm where traditional baseload won’t be required. [Business Spectator]
Science and Technology:
¶ A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience says fossil fuel use has severe impact on coral growth. [French Tribune]
World:
¶ A £200 million deal will turn fats, cooking waste from restaurants and food-processing companies that are currently a nuisance for from London sewage works, into renewable energy. [Greenwise Business]
¶ A new survey of property and construction industry insiders has shown that nine out of ten believe that Ireland should harness wind as its primary source of energy going forward. [thejournal.ie]
¶ A group of more than 50 MPs, academics and green campaigners have requested the National Audit Office should be tasked with undertaking a review of the negotiations between the government and EDF over Hinkley nuclear plant construction. [Business Green]
¶ A French nuclear expert warns that financial problems facing EDF could force it to pull out of the £14 billion Hinkley nuclear project. “EDF is in big trouble. The whole of the nuclear power industry in France is in big trouble.” [Telegraph.co.uk]
¶ The cost for overseas reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from Japanese nuclear power stations has nearly tripled since 1995 because of problems at a contracted British plant, including leakage of waste liquid. [Asahi Shimbun]
US:
¶ A study, led by researchers from Stanford and Cornell universities, provides a theoretical road map to how New Yorkers could rely on renewable energy within 17 years. [Huffington Post]
¶ Arizona Public Service, said last week that it added a record 148 megawatts of solar capacity in 2012, impressive enough on its own. But in 2013, new capacity should come in at more than twice that figure. [EarthTechling]
¶ The Brattleboro, Vermont Selectboard has agreed to enter the town into a 20-year contract to purchase solar power from a photovoltaic system which will be built in the coming year. [Brattleboro Reformer]
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