Press Q&A:
¶ Newly appointed GE Renewable Energy VP Anne McEntee, who will run the world leading wind division, met with a group of reporters to talk shop at Windpower 2013, the industry’s annual conclave. [Energy Collective]
World:
¶ Germany and France want to make Europe a “pioneer continent” for the expansion of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, the countries’ environment ministers said. [Businessweek]
¶ Renewable energy in Spain has grown fast. The problem is that it was financed badly, using deficit spending at a time when the country was already in financial trouble. [Forbes]
¶ The U.K. Green Investment Bank said it has committed a total of 635 million pounds ($987 million) to 11 renewable energy and carbon-reduction projects during the period of the five months ending March 31. [Businessweek]
¶ The offshore wind market is posed for sweeping growth in the coming years, with global investment forecasted to reach €130 billion ($170.75 billion) between now and 2020, according to Roland Berger Consultancy. [EcoSeed]
¶ In April, the EU published a report acknowledging for the first time that the 20 percent renewable energy target may not be reached by 2020. There are, however, indicators of progress, both in Europe and elsewhere. [Commodities Now]
US:
¶ A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists has found that for fourteen of the 29 states with an RPS where data was available, all but one had a cost increase of 1.6 percent or less. [Greentech Media]
¶ Opposition to Connecticut’s plan to revamp its renewable energy portfolio standards is growing, with New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan adding her voice to environmentalists who are against it. [New Haven Register]
¶ The Solar Foundation recently released an interactive map and a report that ranks states by the number of PV installations and solar industry jobs. [The Equation: Blog of the Union of Concerned Scientists]
¶ The nuclear renaissance seems to have gone into reverse. This last week is being called the worst for the nuclear industry in the US since the Fukushima disaster. [Sacramento Bee]
¶ Three people, one an elderly nun, were found guilty of intending to harm national security when they intruded onto the Y-12 National Security Complex, a nuclear-weapons production facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. [Washington Post]
geoharvey 