Archive for May 31st, 2013

May 31 Energy News

May 31, 2013

Quote of the Day:

¶   After agreeing, with misgivings, to have wind turbines installed and then experiencing the result, North Dakota landowner Evelyn Conitz had this to say, “You think, `Oh, you don`t know.` It just changes the landscape and it isn`t like it was when we lived there for 40 some years. But now it`s so acceptable and you realize they`re doing a good thing for the nation. So it makes good sense to participate.” [KMOT]

Science and Technology:

¶   Policy-makers and the off-setting industry worldwide need to re-think the idea that planting trees can offset carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, says an international study published today in Nature Climate Change. [University of Bristol]

World:

¶   A report sketching out the framework of the new UN development agenda has included targets for renewable energy, the eradication of fossil fuel subsidies and energy efficiency. [Responding to Climate Change]

¶   Farmers are becoming increasingly won-over by renewable energy schemes for cheaper energy bills and extra sources of income. Increasing numbers of farmers in Devon and Cornwall are considering wind and solar schemes. [This is Cornwall]

¶   Major changes to Ontario’s rules on green energy projects will give municipalities a greater say over the location of new wind and solar farms, and a chance to get a slice of the revenue. Ontario changed its rules to comply with a WTO ruling. [Waterloo Record]

¶   France’s prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says a bill to close definitively the country’s oldest nuclear plant of Fessenheim, near the border with Germany, would be presented before the Parliament this fall. [4-traders]

¶   Fearing that the Fukushima Daiichi plant is running out of space to store contaminated water, the Japanese government has ordered TEPCO to freeze the ground around the plant to prevent groundwater from moving. [Radio New Zealand]

US:

¶    Minnesota Power has dedicated a new wind farm in North Dakota, delivering power to Minnesota using a 465 mile dedicated transmission line. So far, 101 Siemens wind turbines have been installed, producing 292 MW. [NewNet]

¶   According to a report from Common Cause/NY, a good-government group, from 2005 to 2012, Entergy Nuclear spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions. The report details some of the amounts. [The Journal News | LoHud.com]