World:
¶ Solar power has reached grid parity in Italy and India, according to a report from Germany’s Deutsche Bank. It will soon reach grid parity in other countries, as well. [EcoSeed]
¶ A new study published in Energy Policy, suggests that a bold-but-not-extreme carbon price could make providing all of Australia’s electricity needs with renewables cost-effective by 2030. [Energy Collective]
¶ Even though there has been an enormous amount of solar and wind power capacity installed in Europe, the greatest source of renewable power there is from burning wood. In some countries, such as Finland and Poland, it accounts for 80% of renewable energy production. [Presseurop]
US:
¶ Xcel Energy wants to sell the surplus renewable energy credits it collects from a power plant in Benson, Minn., that burns turkey droppings. Utilities in North Carolina are interested in buying those credits to meet that state’s renewable energy mandate, which requires a portion of the power produced by its utilities to come from poultry litter. [Pioneer Press]
¶ The latest data shows alternative fuel use is up, and among the groups using fuel for vehicles at the highest rates, the larger, medium duty vans, most are picking to replace non-renewable oil with biodiesel. [Domestic Fuel]
¶ In Vermont, the Shumlin Administration, drawing on lessons learned from Tropical Storm Irene and the Fukushima Disaster, wants Vermont Yankee to pay more to help emergency officials respond to a nuclear accident. [Vermont Public Radio]
¶ Top Democrats in the Colorado Legislature moved Monday to expand renewable-energy mandates in rural areas, which have more lenient requirements than urban areas. [Cortez Journal]
¶ A study, conducted by scientists with the Radiation and Public Health Project, found that babies born on the West Coast shortly after the Fukushima Disaster were 28% more likely to suffer from congenital hypothyroidism than were children born in those states during the same period one year earlier. [San Diego Free Press]
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