geoharvey

Opinion:

¶   “What’s in store for the future of net metering and rooftop solar?” The cost for rooftop solar panels has fallen 80% since 2008. Installed rooftop solar energy increased by 900% between 2000 and 2011. As more net metered rooftop solar panels and net meter them, utility revenues will decrease. [GreenBiz.com]

World:

¶   Sainsbury’s, one of the biggest UK retailers, has just completed its 210th rooftop PV system. The supermarket chain has now installed 100,000 solar panels across its stores, totaling 22 MW, enough to cover 35 football pitches. [pv magazine]

¶   A new report published by the Swiss Energy Foundation has made it clear that Switzerland cannot afford not to transition to renewables by looking at the overall cost of not transitioning to renewables and lower consumption. [CleanTechnica]

¶   São Paulo — the largest, richest, and most populous state in Brazil — has now set the relatively ambitious goal of receiving around 70% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by the year 2020. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Japan’s nuclear watchdog will play a more direct role in the cleanup at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant after doubts were raised about the ability of the plant’s operator to cope with continuing problems. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   With the aim of reducing its power bill, Indian Railways is actively considering setting up captive nuclear power plants to meet the rising demand of energy for train operation. [Firstpost]

US:

¶   Federal energy regulators accused JPMorgan on Monday of manipulating California electricity markets. In an official notice, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission alleged that the bank had engaged in “eight manipulative bidding strategies” in California and Midwestern markets. [CNN]

¶   Oil drillers in North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields are allowing nearly a third of the natural gas they drill to burn off into the air, with a value of more than $100 million per month, according to a study to be released on Monday. [Huffington Post]

¶   EDF Renewable Energy is aggressively expanding its wind energy portfolio in Texas and may soon cross the milestone of 1,000 MW operational capacity in the state. The company has entered into an agreement to acquire part of a new wind energy project in Texas. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Twenty projects have been recommended to receive grants from Xcel Energy’s Renewable Development Fund. The approximately $30 million in grants announced today will bring to nearly $200 million the total amount provided to renewable energy projects from the fund since 2001. [4-traders]

¶   After two years with low enrollment, New Hampshire’s largest electric utility is phasing out a program that allows customers to pay more to support renewable energy. [Nashua Telegraph]

¶   In a letter to the president and chief executive of ISO New England, Vermont Governor Shumlin criticized the grid operator’s decision to increase output from coal and oil power plants, while scaling back renewable energy production. [Boston Globe]

¶   The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant had two more malfunctions of its radiation monitors on the plant’s refueling floor last week, for a total of four erroneous readings that radiation had exceeded safe standards within the building. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Opinion:

¶   “Divesting From Fossil Fuels Means A Cleaner, Safer and More Resilient Future” We have ample reserves of fossil fuels, but if we want to stabilize the climate and avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, we have to stop investing in extracting, refining and burning them. [Forbes]

World:

¶   Renewable energy technology specialists ENER-G, based in Salford, England, have partnered with Fife Council to help power and heat Dunfermline, Scotland, with food and garden waste – using anaerobic digestion. [Manchester Gazette]

¶   Delhi could break the 2 GW solar power barrier by 2020 due to plummeting costs, extensive roof space and the rising demand for electricity, according to Greenpeace. [Responding to Climate Change]

¶   The European Commission said Saturday it has reached an “amicable solution” with Beijing over imports of Chinese solar panels, a dispute that had threatened a full-blown trade war between two of the world’s largest trading powers. [The News International]

¶   A new report from the European Wind Energy Association states the power produced from turbines in deep waters in the North Sea alone could meet the EU’s electricity consumption – four times over. [Energy Matters]

¶   TEPCO detected 8.7 million becquerels of tritium per liter in water taken from a cable trench running under a turbine building, about some 50 meters from the Ocean. According to the report, TEPCO has been unable to figure out why the groundwater is tainted with radiation. [Zee News]

¶   The construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant seems likely to be delayed as the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry rejected the Environmental Impact Analysis Report for the Akkuyu plant, citing deficiencies in form and content. [Balkans.com Business News]

US:

¶   Some residents of Grafton, Vermont, say they’re glad they had an opportunity to voice concerns to Governor Peter Shumlin about the possibility of an industrial wind power project being built in their community. [Albany Times Union]

¶   Southern California Edison officials believe ratepayers—not shareholders— should pay to maintain the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. [Patch.com]

¶   Entergy determined the false alarms at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is that the radiation monitors  were faulty and will replace four of the devices. Spokesman Rob Williams says the manufacturer had experienced problems with that particular “lot” of monitor devices. [vtdigger.org]

World:

¶   In the view of the Indian Credit Ratings Agency, fundamental long-term demand outlook for wind energy in India is expected to remain strong. Demand will be supported by large wind energy requirements to meet the renewable purchase obligation requirements in the country. [Economic Times]

¶   In Canada, hundreds of people came to Vancouver’s waterfront today for a sun-baked demonstration against the fossil fuel industry, and its projects in the Northwest. The climate change advocates 350.org  organized a national day of action around a broad range of fossil fuels. [OPB News]

¶   Inspectors from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on Saturday started their third on-site survey o check for active faults beneath the Ohi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. Members of the inspection team are split over whether there is an active fault underneath the plant. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶   US President Barack Obama called into question the number of jobs that would be created from the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in an interview with the New York Times released on Saturday. [Huffington Post]

¶   U.S. capacity to generate solar energy has tripled since 2010 and increased tenfold since 2007, according to a new report from the nonprofit advocacy group Environment America. [The Coloradoan]

¶   According to the Energy Information Administration, rooftop solar electricity accounts for less than a quarter of 1 percent of the nation’s power generation. And yet, to hear executives tell it, such power sources could ultimately threaten traditional utilities’ ability to maintain the nation’s grid. [Boston Globe]

¶   In a dramatic but symbolic statement, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Columbia River on Saturday to protest fossil fuel exports. Their message: proposed oil, coal and natural gas facilities in the Northwest won’t go through without a fight.  [The Columbian]

¶   JPMorgan Chase is exploring shedding its stakes in power plants, oil tank farms and warehouses as well as the trading desks that buy and sell oil, natural gas and coal. But the bank said it would continue its activities in the commodity markets, including financial derivatives and precious metals. [gulfnews.com]

¶   First, there were two high radiation alarms at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. Then, the plant claimed they were false alarms. Now, Entergy spokesman Robert Williams says, “To be perfectly clear, the monitors did not fail. They did not fail; they were generating false signals.” [Rutland Herald]

Opinion:

¶   “Fracking Isn’t a Fairytale, It’s a Nightmare” Natalie Bennett, leader of the UK’s Green Party, says belief in “fairydust” – a magical solution to our energy needs – has been far too prevalent among far too many of their political leaders in recent months. [Huffington Post UK]

Science and Technology:

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is studying the ability of wood borers to make enzymes that convert biomass into sugars, which can be used for the biofuels industry. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

World:

¶   Over the next three decades, world energy consumption is projected to increase by 56%, driven by growth in the developing world, according to International Energy Outlook 2013, released by the US Energy Information Administration. [Eurasia Review]

¶   A plan to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River for recycling in Sweden has been cancelled after delays caused by public opposition. [Lethbridge Herald]

¶   Two international nuclear experts invited to a nuclear reform monitoring panel took the organizer, TEPCO, to task for failing to keep the public informed about toxic water leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. Dale Klein, former NRC head told TEPCO they don’t know what they are doing. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   By a two-to-one margin, New Hampshire residents believe there should be a higher priority put on increasing the use of renewable energy instead of increased drilling for oil. Also, nine in 10 New Hampshire residents believe that climate change is happening now. [Foster’s Daily Democrat]

¶   The Obama administration is pushing plans for renewable energy projects on public land, banning new mining claims on more than 300,000 acres in the West to make sure the areas are available for solar power installations. But some conservationists are not happy. [Grist]

¶   US natural gas use needs to peak within 17 years in order to meet the Obama administration’s climate goals and prevent the worst impacts of global warming, according to the Center for American Progress said. [Platts]

¶   Kansas has more wind energy potential than any state except Texas, but eight states generate more windpower. A key problem: a lack of high-voltage electricity lines to connect the remote areas where turbines churn out power to the bustling regions that demand it. [Willits News]

¶   The government of Vermont has asked federal regulators to look into why radiation monitors failed recently at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   Federal regulators are worried that a security manager’s firing from a job at a nuclear plant could deter employees and contractors from questioning safety at one of the nation’s largest nuclear power stations. [FederalNewsRadio.com]

Science and Technology:

¶   A team of researchers at MIT is developing an alternative to zirconium-based nuclear fuel rod cladding with the hope of reducing the risk of hydrogen production by roughly a thousandfold. The new cladding material is a ceramic compound called silicon carbide. [Eureka! Science News]

World:

¶   France will likely miss a goal for renewables to make up 23 percent of energy consumption by 2020 unless power users stump up billions of euros, according to the state auditor. [Businessweek]

¶   The UK may have missed its 2011/12 target of producing 4.04% of energy from renewable sources, as provisional figures put it at 3.94%. Conventional hydropower is not mentioned as a renewable. Changes in policy have led to uncertainty in the market. [Resource Magazine]

US:

¶   Blue Sky West, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Wind Energy, has proposed what would be the largest wind farm in New England to the Maine Government. The farm would carry 162 wind turbines and have a capacity of up to 191 MW across several towns in Central Maine. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The US biodiesel industry reached a new production record for the first half of the year and is on pace for its best year ever, according to new EPA figures. [KTIC]

¶   The Ivanpah Valley of the Mojave Desert in California will soon be home to the largest solar thermal energy plant in the world. More than six years in the making, the plant is now slated to begin generating power before summer’s end. [National Geographic]

¶   Maryland’s Governor O’Malley has announced an aggressive plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost renewable energy. Under the plan, Maryland would meet the goal of reducing emissions 25% by 2020. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The NRC has issued an information notice to US nuclear power plants concerning cracking resulting from stress and age in the local plant’s steam generator tubes. The warning is based on issues discovered at the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant last year. [Hampton Union]

¶   Vermont Yankee nuclear plant officials said Thursday two recent high radiation readings in the reactor building at the Vernon plant were false alarms. [Boston.com]

¶   Omaha Public Power District and the US NRC held a public meeting to talk about the progress in ongoing efforts to bring the Ft. Calhoun nuclear power plant back online. Over one-third of the issues that need to be addressed were not ready for the NRC inspection team to evaluate.[KVNO News]

Science and Technology:

¶   Shale and other clay-rich rock formations might offer permanent disposal solutions for spent nuclear fuel, according to a new paper by the US Geological Survey. [Akron Beacon Journal]

¶   Scientists are working to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels by developing environmentally friendly and cost-effective plastics from natural, sustainable and renewable materials. Researchers especially are focused on creating polymers from renewable starting materials, are non-toxic and can be composted. [National Science Foundation]

World:

¶   A leaked Scottish National Party document speaks of Scotland’s need to move away from “damaging, price-volatile fossil fuels”. The pro-UK Better Together campaign says it reveals ministers’ private fears, despite claims that Scotland will see a second North Sea boom. [Herald Scotland]

¶   A poll shows Australians overwhelmingly support solar power, with 26.3% of 2643 people responding saying they have at least some solar PVs installed already. The Australian Photovoltaic Association commissioned the poll from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. [Clean Energy Authority]

¶   Government figures released today in the annual Digest of UK Energy Statistics show that electricity production from renewable energy sources in 2012 was up by almost 20% on the previous year and accounted for over 11% of all electricity generated in the year. [Click Green]

¶   French nuclear group Areva said first-half earnings were hit by a €150 million ($198) charge related to the construction of its flagship EPR reactor in Olkiluoto, Finland, which is years behind schedule and billions of euros over budget. [Interactive Investor]

¶   It has been revealed that TEPCO knew about leaks of radioactive groundwater from Fukushima Daiichi into the ocean a month before it publicly disclosed the problem. Japan’s nuclear watchdog has rebuked The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) for its slack response to the leaks. [Yahoo!7 News]

¶   Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas in the first half of 2013 were down 2.7% to 43.4 million tons, the first half-yearly decline since the nuclear accident more than two years ago. [Wall Street Journal]

US:

¶   Xcel Energy indicated that it would request to add 42.5 megawatts of new renewable generation in Colorado in 2014, including 24 megawatts of on¬site, small solar and 6.5 megawatts of community solar, through the company’s Solar*Rewards program. [4-traders]

¶   Days after announcing plans to purchase nearly 700 megawatts of wind power for customers in New Mexico and Texas, Xcel is telling regulators it wanted to add 600 megawatts of power from three planned wind-farm projects in North Dakota and Minnesota to its portfolio. The interest in wind is based on cost. [Greentech Media]

World:

¶   Australia could phase out almost all its fossil-fuel sourced electricity by 2040 if it doubled the current rate of take-up of solar energy and wind energy maintained its current growth pace, said Professor Ken Baldwin, director of ANU’s Energy Change Institute. [The Canberra Times]

¶   Ontario officials have granted a renewable energy approval (REA) for the 270 MW K2 wind project proposed near the southeastern shore of Lake Huron. Partners Samsung Renewable Energy, Pattern Energy and Capital Power plan to build 140 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines [reNews]

¶   New flexible renewable energy units in Germany will help reduce the risk of negative power prices and limit the need for fossil plants for backup capacity, a study found. In 2012, power prices fell below €-50/MWh 22 on occasions of high solar or wind power supply with low demand. [Gas to Power Journal]

¶   European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy yesterday said phasing out fossil fuel subsidies would be among its priorities at the G20 summit in Russia in September. [Business Green]

¶   Experts from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have been studying the situation at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and have come to the conclusion that the decontamination efforts would cost around $50 billion. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau have announced that BOEM will hold its second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the US Outer Continental Shelf. [Windtech International]

¶   Maryland Governor O’Malley is expected to propose boosting the state’s renewable portfolio standard, requiring utilities to make renewables 25 percent of their mix of electricity generation by 2020, up from the current target of 20 percent by 2022. [Washington Post]

¶   This week, however, the Georgia Public Service Commission awarded approval for a solar energy program t hat would be managed by the state’s primary energy distributor, Georgia Power. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

¶   A natural gas platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday, the US Coast Guard reported. While gas is flowing from the well, “no oil is being released.” A light sheen about a half-mile wide was spotted by environmental inspectors, but was dissipating. [CNN]

¶   The nuclear shutdown at San Onofre is partially to blame for a 59 percent increase in wholesale electricity prices for California in the first half of the year, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. [U-T San Diego]

¶   A former employee of Entergy at its Indian Point Energy Center was arrested today on federal charges brought by the US Attorney’s Office for falsifying documents at Indian Point in 2012. Employees found the falsification and reported it to management who notified the NRC. [MENAFN.COM]

Opinion:

¶   “Could job cuts hurt VY’s case?” Sometime before the end of the year, the state Public Service Board is likely to tell the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant whether it can continue operating. The plant’s owners’ plans for job cuts may have just hurt their case. [vt.Buzz]

World:

¶   The Center for Alternative Technology has released an update to its Zero Carbon Britain scenario, which shows that the UK can reduce carbon emissions with existing technology. Nuclear power is not part of the carbon-free mix. [H&V News]

¶   The World Bank Group has released a report, Toward a Sustainable Future for All: Directions for the World Bank Group’s Energy Sector, calling for more investment in solar energy as a tool for tackling extreme poverty. [PV-Tech]

¶   French Environment Minister Philippe Martin has announced that the country’s oldest nuclear plant of Fessenheim is expected to be closed by the end of 2016. France has 58 nuclear reactors producing nearly 75% of the nation’s electricity. [Energy Business Review]

¶   For the second time in two weeks, workers at Fukushima Daiichi have reported that steam rising from the building that houses reactor no 3. Workers spotted the steam coming out of the same area as last week. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Backtracking on previous comments, TEPCO confirmed that radioactive groundwater from melted reactors at Fukushima Daiichi has been leaking into the Pacific Ocean, raising concern the toxic water has been flowing into the sea for over two years. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   The Californian city of Palo Alto has this week committed to using 100 per cent renewable electricity after its council voted in favour of making the move – effective immediately – on Monday. The estimated added cost to homeowners’ bills of less than $3 per year. [RenewEconomy]

¶   San Diego-based EDF Renewable Energy, a renewable energy projects developer, said today that it is in a deal to buy a wind project. The company said it will acquire the first phase of an up to 500 megawatt project in Texas, the Hereford Wind Project. [socalTech.com]

¶   Dominion Resources, the owner of Virginia’s largest utility, bought three solar projects under construction in Indiana with 28.6 megawatts of capacity that will increase the amount of energy produced from sunlight in the state more than fivefold. [Businessweek]

¶   Electric utilities Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating selected 145 clean projects in the second round of the state’s $1 billion renewable energy credit program. [Hartford Business]

¶   US Navy fighter jets may soon fly on tree-fuel. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture are exploring ways to convert invasive trees such as junipers and pinyon pine trees that are common in the West, into aviation fuel. It’s to be tested by the Navy. [Central Valley Business Times]

¶   San Francisco will launch CleanPowerSF, a 100% renewable energy alternative to PG&E power. This creates a path toward energy independence by giving San Franciscans the ability to invest in and build their own renewable resources, which will create living-wage jobs. [Huffington Post]

Opinion:

¶   “Energy companies are paying a heavy price for shunning renewables” The argument for green solutions is not just about climate change – traditional sources of power will soon cost more. [The Guardian]

Science and Technology:

¶   The German experience shows that the more wind and solar PV installations one has across the country, the less the so-called intermittency is an issue and the daily electric power levels become more stable and more foreseeable as the number of installations increases nationwide. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   Developing countries made 46% of the global investment in renewables in 2012, according to the UN Environment Program. Wind accounted for 39% of new renewable capacity, followed by hydropower and solar PVs, which each accounted for 26%. [Irish Times]

¶   Hydro Tasmania says its King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project has achieved extended periods of 100% renewable energy for the island’s grid – the first time that a grid of this scale has been serviced by wind, solar and storage devices. [RenewEconomy]

¶   China is working extensively to unlock its domestic solar potential by pushing small-scale distributed projects. The State Council’s guideline to facilitate development of the solar products’ industry, issued on July 15, is a major boost in this regard. [People’s Daily Online]

¶   Wind integration studies suggest that grid operators could cope with more renewable power without adding big back-up plants, obviating the need for European governments to intervene in power markets. [Gulf Times]

¶   The £128 million deal to compensate Somerset for hosting the proposed new Hinkley C power station is “a drop in the ocean” according to campaigners. [South West Business]

¶   Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has won control of the parliament in upper-house elections. This is seen to pave the way for the reopening of many of the nation’s shuttered nuclear-power plants. [MarketWatch]
… Many in the US media infer from the election results that the Japanese nuclear plants will be  restarted soon. The inference is wrong. [geoharvey]

US:

¶   Vermont’s homegrown Green Mountain Power Cow Power program is paving the way for cleaner air, happier farm neighbors and more successful Vermont businesses. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   A slump in power prices, increasing maintenance expense as plants age and stricter safety regulations following Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster may prompt the industry to retire as many as five plants before the end of the decade, according to research firm UBS Securities LLC. [Businessweek]

World:

¶   A higher price for oil will have almost no impact on the growth of electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Canada, according to the US Department of Energy. [Energy Digital]

¶   According to new Saudi Arabian National Energy Plan, in addition to solar power, Saudi Arabia is looking at using nuclear energy, geothermal energy and wind power to fulfill its ambitious target of producing 54 GW of energy through renewable resources in the next two decades. [Business Standard]

¶   German daily paper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the European Commission was working on plans to allow state subsidies for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. The Commission denies the claims. [Deutsche Welle]

¶   Media surveys ahead of Sunday’s upper house election show that Japanese voters are placing the economy above all other issues, including the future of nuclear energy use. [Wall Street Journal]

US:

¶   American farmers have teamed up with environmentalists and other pro-green energy groups to push legislators to keep the renewable energy mandates. Their voices, some local businesses, and the prospect of new clean energy jobs, have made repeal of the standards difficult. [Care2.com]

¶   A third grade class in southern Indiana raised $25,000 from business grants and penny-jar donations for  a wind turbine, and got siting approvals. But utility company policies make the project so expensive that the third grade class project and Vectren are in court. [WRAL.com]

¶   A transmission agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District and the California ISO could create a model for ensuring adequate transmission for renewable energy development at the Salton Sea, which is increasingly seen as critical to funding any plan to save the dying sea. [The Desert Sun]

¶   The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan is supposed to identify areas in California deserts most suited to new energy development. The California Wind Energy Association says too little land has been set aside for wind projects and in less than ideal wind-producing areas. [Los Angeles Times]

¶   RES America Developments Inc. is working with Xcel Energy to construct the 200 MW Pleasant Valley Wind Farm. The project is near Austin, Minnesota, adjacent to the Grand Meadow wind project owned by Xcel Energy. [AZoBuild]

World:

¶   The islands off the north and west of Scotland hold the UK’s best renewable resources, yet for more than a decade energy policies have prevented them from realising their full potential, due to long out-of-date doctrines from a previous era still in place today. [The Conversation]

¶   Ukraine more than doubled power generation by renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and biofuel power plants, in the first half of the year. Renewable output was 581.4 GWh in January-June, compared with 266.2 GWh in the same period a year ago. [Platts]

¶   In a survey of Japanese people, 94% of the respondents said that it was in their opinion that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has not been controlled effectively. Their primary reason for thinking this is the ongoing leaking of radioactive substances at the plant. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   French police are investigating what rail officials said was an apparent act of sabotage that resulted in the derailment of a train carrying nuclear waste. A previously unknown anti-nuclear group has claimed responsibility for the incident. [UPI.com]

¶   As China pushes an aggressive expansion of nuclear power it is running into a stumbling block – a breakdown of trust, post-Fukushima, in official assurances of public safety. There is growing skepticism in China over official assurances of safety after a series of food and pollution scandals. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal, accounted for 24.93% of all new US capacity installed in the first six months of this year for a total of 2,144 MW. This is more than coal or nuclear, but less than half of new natural gas capacity. [Renew Grid]

¶   Entergy has launched a company-wide effort to cut costs and increase efficiencies. Company officials did not agree to an interview. But in a written statement, Entergy said: “We do expect workforce reductions to be one result of this initiative.” [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   Owners of the San Onofre nuclear plant are blaming Mitsubishi for the plant’s troubles in an effort to recover billions of dollars in costs and investments. Mitsubishi says that the contract remains in effect and that the manufacturer is responsible only for the cost of equipment. [U-T San Diego]

World:

¶   The California Solar Initiative, intended to encourage solar electric generation, has been so successful that a record-breaking 391 MW of solar panels was installed in California in 2012, 26% more than 2011. [Green Building Elements]

¶   Wind power capacity must grow exponentially if the UK is to hit its 2020 renewables target, according to National Grid models. Gary Dolphin, market outlook manager at National Grid, maintained that meeting all the UK’s green targets was “challenging but achievable”. [Utility Week]

¶   According to a new report from Navigant Research, installed capacity of storage systems for solar and wind power integration will total 21.8 GW from 2013 to 2023. During that time, more than 1,300 GW of wind and solar power generation capacity are expected to come online. [Windpower Engineering]

¶   The U.K. government will require electricity suppliers to buy power from independent renewable generators, an effort to help them compete in an electricity market dominated by three large utilities. [Bloomberg]

¶   WWF Scotland director Lang Banks has said that the number of wind farms in the UK could increase following the successful testing of new safety equipment designed to eliminate concerns over installing turbines near airports. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Diverting cash used to subsidise fossil fuel production and consumption could raise up to $600 billion a year to fund cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and help poor countries adapt to the effect of a warmer planet, delegates at U.N. talks were told in the Philippines this week. [Reuters AlertNet]

¶   The total electricity production from renewable sources hit record levels in Portugal in June, reaching 72%, according to NGO Quercus, based on figures from the national grid company REN. This is almost double the 38% seen just 12 months earlier. [The Portugal News]

¶   TEPCO says that 1,973 workers at its disaster-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have estimated thyroid radiation doses exceeding 100 millisieverts and are therefore at higher risk of suffering from thyroid cancer. [The Japan Times]

¶   In a new poll of 1200 Japanese aged 15 to 79, approximately 23%  said that a nuclear disaster like the one in Fukushima “will occur” if ever the idled reactors are restarted, and nearly 57% are of the opinion that a disaster will “probably occur.” [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has received the Biomass Thermal Energy Council’s recognition for the wood chip heating systems that provide the lab’s heat. [Watch List News]

¶   Right-wing efforts to overturn state-level renewable-energy mandates have been failing across the nation. Here’s one big reason why: Many conservatives actually like the mandates. [Grist]

¶   According to the annual U.S. energy charts released by Lawrence Livermore, wind production, in quadrillion BTU (quads), went from 1.17  in 2011 to 1.36 in 2012. Solar power jumped from 0.158 in 2011 to roughly 0.235 in 2012. [Buildings] (Increases of 16% and 49%, respectively)

¶   Two energy companies are pulling out of northeastern Pennsylvania, where a three-year moratorium on gas drilling has infuriated landowners who say it is now cost them a windfall of more than $187 million. [Akron Beacon Journal]

¶   Southern California Edison (SCE) announced the inevitable: it is filing a lawsuit against Mitsubishi, the Japanese company that made the faulty replacement steam generators which led to the downfall of SCE’s San Onofre nuclear plant. [OC Weekly]

¶   The Pilgrim nuclear power plant has been forced to reduce its power output after this week’s heat wave made Cape Cod Bay water too warm to use for cooling the reactor. [The Patriot Ledger]

World:

¶   The Centre for Alternative Technology, released an update of its Zero Carbon Britain report saying solar and wind energy sources can be backed up by using carbon-neutral synthetic gas for a rapid shift to a carbon-neutral Britain. [theenergycollective.com]

¶   Saudi Arabia aims to become the world’s foremost market for renewable energy with an aggressive investment budget of $109 billion. By 2032, the country strives to generate as much as a third of the Kingdom’s energy demands using renewable energy (54 GW). [Arab News]

¶   The World Bank has decided that it will halt the financing of coal-fired power plants and will allow it only under rare circumstances where there are no other feasible alternatives to coal. [The Green Optimistic]

¶   Wind integration studies suggest that European grid operators could cope with more renewable power without adding big back-up plants, so governments need not intervene in power markets. This could be done by having grids increase cooperation across regions. [Business Recorder]

¶   The UK’s government has introduced tax-payer funded benefit packages for people living in the vicinity of future nuclear reactors. Some £128m will be awarded to the area around Hinkley Point. The plans have encountered criticism. [E&T magazine]

¶   The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2013 was published last Thursday and revealed a measly growth of over 1.2 GW during 2012 globally, compared to 32 GW of solar growth in the same time. The decline results from Fukushima and renewable power. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Another day brings another mishap at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Thursday that steam has been spotted coming out near the pool storing machinery on the fifth floor of the reactor 3 building. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   The Vermont Energy Partnership recently published its latest study, “The Three-Legged Race: Vermont’s Pursuit of 90% Renewables by 2050,” an overview of progress towards reaching the Vermont Department of Public Service goal of using 90% renewable energy by 2050. [Mountaintimes]

¶   US power producers must reduce their dependence on water or they may be forced to lower output as drought and other extreme weather events curtail their access to water supplies, researchers said today. Coal and nuclear plants are affected most. [FuelFix]

¶   Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant has had two leaks since shutting down in May to repair a leaking water tank.  One was in a pipe in the service water system. The other had a small amount of water dripping from the control room ceiling onto a panel. [The San Luis Obispo Tribune]

¶   Arizona utilities can’t use electricity generated by burning trash to meet their renewable energy requirements, a judge ruled Wednesday. A chapter of the Sierra Club had filed a suit to stop a trash-burning plant near Phoenix from being counted as renewable. [Arizona Daily Star]

¶   America’s fleet of aging nuclear power plants is rapidly becoming uneconomical to operate, according to a new report, “Renaissance in Reverse,” by Mark Cooper of the Vermont Law School. [Plain Dealer]

¶   Construction on the first 65 miles of California’s high-speed rail project is about to begin, and according to a report from the California’s High Speed Rail Authority, the project will produce zero net greenhouse gas emissions. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Xcel has lifted the secrecy about cost overruns at its Monticello nuclear power plant, revealing that recently completed upgrades, originally budgeted at $320 million, were actually costing $640 million. [MENAFN.COM]

Science and Technology:

¶   Replacing old power plants with renewable energy could help ease both the carbon and water footprint, according to a study released Tuesday morning by the Union of Concerned Scientists. [FuelFix]

World:

¶   After a lackluster first quarter, second quarter investment in global clean energy was up, reaching $53.1 billion, according to figures gathered by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [RenewEconomy]

¶   German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will fight in Brussels for a disputed clause within Germany’s renewable energy law that exempts energy-intensive industries from charges which other consumers must pay. [Reuters]

¶   Solar power output goes up during the day, and down to zero at night. Remarkably, Germany’s electricity imports and exports now follow an identical cycle. [theenergycollective.com]

¶   277 new offshore wind turbines, totalling 1,045 MW, were fully grid connected in Europe during the first six months of 2013. This is double compared to the same period in 2012 when 523.2 MW were installed. [Balkans.com Business News]

¶   New Brunswick’s energy minister says it comes as no surprise that there was a $638-million cost overrun, more than doubling the bill, during its refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear plant. [Victoria Times Colonist]

US:

¶   Dakota Power says they are hoping to build as many as 500 wind turbines in southern Lincoln County in the coming years and double South Dakota’s wind output. [KDLT News]

¶   There has been a sharp increase in small earthquakes in some areas of the US. Clearly, s scientists believe this is associated with fracking. [theenergycollective]

¶   Opponents of nuclear power are to blame for much of the cost overruns at Plant Vogtle, Gov. Nathan Deal said Tuesday even as the utility overseeing its construction cites other reasons. [Florida Times-Union]

Disturbing:

¶   A Korean website assembled this image collection of produce from towns and villages surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And they are NOT pretty pictures. [msnNOW]

World:

¶   China will multiply its solar capacity fivefold to more than 35 GW installed by 2015. Added demand will help alleviate industry oversupply that contributed to a 20% plunge in the average price of solar panels last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. [eco-business.com]

¶   German power utilities E.ON and EnBW have both announced plans to mothball fossil-fuel power plants in Europe that can no longer compete with renewables in electricity markets. [Recharge]

¶   Most people in the UK back the idea of a switch to a renewables-based energy system, according to research by academics from the Universities of Cardiff and Nottingham. Of people polled, 85% support solar and 75% support wind. [reNews]

¶   Enel Green Power has connected its first PV plants in Romania to the grid. The two plants have a combined installed capacity of around 19 MW. The operating plants will be able to generate up to an approximate 29 million kWh per year. [Your Renewable News]

¶   Just before Greenpeace activists broke into the Tricastin nuclear plant in France, the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report saying significant progress had been made strengthening nuclear safety, despite the “challenge” posed by ageing reactors. [Carbonated.tv]

¶   On the 700th day of their protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, villagers of Idinthakarai in Tamil Nadu”dropped dead” on the roads in a symbolic gesture, an anti-plant activist said Monday. [Business Standard]

US:

¶   The oil industry’s top lobby group in Washington has launched an aggressive new ad campaign urging the repeal of the Renewable Fuel Standard, a 2007 law mandating the blending of gasoline with increasing volumes of ethanol. [Economic Times]

¶   Dominion Virginia Power’s Altavista power station is now running on renewable biomass as part of a plan to convert three of its coal-fired power plants in the state to burn mostly waste wood left from regional timbering operations as fuel. [CBS Local]

¶   Providing capital and technology to farm the wind in America’s heartland with global renewable energy company Enel Green Power, GE is investing common equity and supplying turbines for the 250-MW Buffalo Dunes Wind Project in Kansas. [Windpower Engineering]

¶   An Xcel Energy subsidiary expects to save $590 million in fuel costs over the next 20 years as a result of long-term power purchase agreements with three wind power farms in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. [Triple Pundit]

¶   Temperatures reached 116 degrees in some urban parts of California early this month, but there were no rolling blackouts, no brownouts, no problems. That happened with the San Onofre Nuclear Power Station producing not even one watt of electricity. [San Gabriel Valley Tribune]

¶   Panels of alarms designed to warn personnel of operational failures at the Pilgrim nuclear plant in Massachusetts mysteriously shut down at 12:30 AM Monday and just as mysteriously restarted at 2:05 AM. [Capecodonline]

Science and Technology:

¶   A new study led by researchers at Columbia University and published Friday in the journal Science suggests a strong quake that strikes halfway around the globe can set off small to mid-size quakes near injection wells in the U.S. heartland. [Dalles Chronicle]

¶   A new Silicon Valley developer of thin film solar PV modules has claimed an engineering breakthrough that could cut the manufacturing costs of PV modules by one third, to less than 40¢ per watt. [CleanTechnica]

Economics and Finance:

¶   Research done a London-based non-governmental organisation concludes that when stricter regulations on carbon come into play, the market value of fossil fuel companies could drop dramatically, as extraction becomes uneconomic. [Investment Europe]

World:

¶   After over two years of delays, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change has published tariff levels for residential installations. The Solar Trade Association called the announcement a “breakthrough”. [solarserver.com]

¶   Wind energy is now cost competitive with new-build coal capacity in India, and solar is likely to follow suit sometime between 2016-18, despite the fact that subsidies for wind are up to 15% lower than those for new coal capacity. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Germany could face a probe into whether it has breached EU competition rules by letting consumers partly foot the bill as it switches to renewable energy, Der Spiegel reported Sunday. [GlobalPost]

¶   Nine years after residents of the small German village of Jühnde got together to build a bioenergy plant fueled with plants and manure,  the plant supplies all of their heat and allows them to sell surplus electricity to the national grid. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   Scientists have discovered cesium 137 in sediment under a Swiss lake used for drinking water and situated near a nuclear plant. Lake Biel is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) downstream from the plant, which may have discharged waste in 2000. [Business Standard]

¶   Dozens of Greenpeace activists entered an EDF nuclear power plant in Tricastin, southern France early on Monday morning, demanding the government shut it down, the environmental campaign group said. [FRANCE 24]

US:

¶   Heliae’s first commercial-scale algae production facility has raised $28.4 million of investment capital to support and expand the operations of its first commercial production facility in its hometown of Gilbert, Arizona.[CleanTechnica]

¶   The troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant has missed another target date for restarting, so the Omaha Public Power District might spend another summer buying electricity to help meet peak demand. [Greenwich Time]

¶   The Monticello nuclear plant will restart after getting a 12% uprate and other maintenance, but it is over budget. Expected to cost $320 million, the four-month job wound up costing more than $587 million. How much more is not known. [MENAFN.COM]

Opinion:

¶   “Clean, green can mean all sorts of jobs” Most people think renewable power means solar or wind power, and are fuzzy on the implications. One implication is all sorts of jobs for all sorts of people. [USA TODAY]

World:

¶   The Financial Times reports that Queen Elizabeth employs renewable electricity, smart meters, and other green measures at Windsor Castle, including smart meters, conservation, and two Archimedes screw water turbines on the Thames. [SmartMeters]

¶   Africa’s oldest nuclear reactor has been shut since 2004, after it overheated and the bottom plate that held the nuclear fuel cylinders warped. Now the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo wants to start it again. [The Sunday Times]

¶   The first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear plant has attained criticality. In the first stage, the plant will be synchronized with India’s southern grid with about 400 megawatts power expected within 30 to 45 days. [Indian Express]

US:

¶   Following its efforts in fuel cell technology, GM announced it has started working on a project with TimberRock Energy Solutions that would allow energy from electric vehicles to be added back into the local power grid. [Wall St. Cheat Sheet]

¶   As the University of Maine prepares its bid for a long-term contract for an offshore wind energy farm, the school announced that it will extend its test deployment of its floating wind turbine will stay in Castine Harbor to a year. [Lewiston Sun Journal]

¶   California has had a surge in people interested in investing in solar energy systems for their homes over the past couple years. They not being moved because it’s chic to be green, but because it makes good financial sense. [Valley News]

¶   As a war brews between goliath investor-owned utilities and distributed solar energy supporters, solar advocates say they think the utilities have already lost – they just don’t know it yet. [Clean Energy Authority]

Science and Technology:

¶   Extreme weather brought about by climate change could make the nation’s critical energy infrastructure vulnerable, according to a US DOE report. Thermal plants, including nuclear, coal, and natural gas, are most threatened. [Houston Business Journal]

¶   Japan’s Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry will build a large-scale experimental facility to reduce nuclear waste by transmuting it into other elements by bombarding it with neutrons from an accelerator. [The Japan News]

World:

¶   Plans to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm equipped with 288 turbines have been approved for the Triton Knoll site off the coast of Lincolnshire near Skegness. The £3.6 billion project will generate 1.2 GW of electricity. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Parts of a Japan’s largest floating wind farm are being moved towards waters off Fukushima. A 2 megawatt wind turbine, 30 stories high, left Tokyo, followed by the massive floating substation. Power generation is due to start in October. [New Tang Dynasty Television]

¶   Spain’s government plans to slash subsidies for renewable-energy providers and raise electricity bills to reduce pressure on public coffers. The move is expected to produces defaults by solar-power firms and pressure banks. [NASDAQ]

¶   Kyushu Electric Power Co. filed Friday for government safety assessments on two reactors, raising to 12 the number of units for which restarts are being sought in the wake of the introduction earlier this week of new safety requirements. [The Japan Times]

¶   Since the Fukushima Disaster, public attitudes worldwide remain hardened against nuclear power. One major exception is the UK, but Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and even France are moving away from it. [The Conversation]

¶   A day after Atomic Energy Regulatory Board gave the green signal for commissioning of Unit 1 of the controversial Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant , authorities set in motion work on taking it to First Approach to Criticality. [The New Indian Express]

¶   One day after a rare public protest, Chinese authorities say they were abandoning plans to construct a uranium processing plant in southeastern China, where residents raised concerns about its safety and potential environmental impact. [New York Times]

US:

¶   Georgia Power must purchase more solar power for its energy system under a plan approved by state utility regulators, a move sought by renewable energy proponents but denounced by a commissioner who argued it could raise costs. [Marietta Daily Journal]

¶   The nuclear renaissance lies in ruins, say authors of an industry report, because the economics don’t work. [MINING.com]

¶   The government has confirmed that, based on the latest estimates, the Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, won’t become operational until 2025 — and that’s just the first phase of what’s now become a three-phase project. [Knoxville News Sentinel]

Opinion:

¶   “Nuclear Renaissance was just a Fairy Tale” Peter Bradford of the Vermont Law School tells us the gap between nuclear rhetoric and nuclear reality has been a fundamental impediment to wise energy policy decisions for half a century now. [The Guardian]

¶   “It may not pay to be green, but you lose money being brown.” Financial analysis makes a case for divesting of fossil fuels entirely for reasons of market economy. [Financial News]

Book Review:

¶   Discussing Mark Lynas’ “Nuclear 2.0: Why a Green Future Needs Nuclear Power” Spoiler: The book does have a few errors in it. [Lenz Blog]

Economics and Finance:

¶   Solar power panel prices may stabilize this year and the market is expected to grow past $134 billion annually by 2020, according to a new report from Boulder-based Navigant Research. [Denver Business Journal]

World:

¶   Germany has 1.3 million renewable energy producers. Small farm villages are increasingly becoming equipped with solar panels and wind turbines, while the big cities like Berlin, are developing new ways to take advantage of the incentives. [The Green Optimistic]

¶   A new nuclear deal on the Hinkley nuclear plant is imminent, the UK’s government continues to promise. But beneath the contractual wrangling is another potential stumbling block: whether or not the deal is legal. [Carbon Brief]

¶   The UK’s new nuclear program is taking so long to complete that it is in danger of becoming a “museum” piece by the time it is due to come on line in 2020, according to a leading Labour MP. [Utility Week]

¶   It looks like Japan Atomic Power Co. is set to contest Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority findings that the fault line that lies under one of its nuclear reactors at the Tsuruga nuclear power facility is active. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   A study published Thursday in the journal Science has linked geothermal energy production in the Salton Sea area with an increase in local earthquakes. [KCET]

¶   The  Browns Ferry whistleblower made a surprise appearance Thursday during a three-hour U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission public meeting Calhoun Community College, and said that safety records had been altered.  [News Courier]

¶   An NRC report on a problem that shut down the Harris nuclear plant for three weeks suggests that the nuclear industry tolerates punishing work schedules, creating conditions in which overworked technicians can make serious mistakes. [News & Observer]

¶   The US NRC is advising power plant operators to inspect steam generators more closely after finding evidence of developing cracks on the equipment at Seabrook Station. The tubes were removed from service. [Foster’s Daily Democrat]

World:

¶   Germany is to halt the subsidising of solar energy by 2018 at the latest, its Environment Minister said. He said the 52 GW limit would be reached by 2017 or 2018. The current solar capacity in Germany stands at 34 GW. [NewNet]

¶   The North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany has begun daily operation of its first wind power electrolysis plant, which supplies the h2herten application center with renewable energy in the form of hydrogen for generating electricity. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶   From 2012 to 2018, wind generation is expected to more than double globally, from 519 TWh to 1220 TWh. Generation from solar PV will more than triple from 100 TWh to 358 TWh. [Greentech Media]

¶   Australia’s electricity market shrank by $4 billion in four years, down 40%, sparking warnings of effects on the reliability and stability of power supplies. Lower wholesale prices were caused by an increased supply of renewable energy. [The Australian]

¶   A joint venture including Mainstream Renewable Power will submit a planning application this month to erect 1,000 megawatts of wind turbines off the coast of Yorkshire. [Irish Independent]

¶   The cost of refurbishing New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau nuclear power plant could be as high as $3.3 billion, nearly $1 billion more than previously estimated, a memo for the Prime Minister’s Office suggests. [MetroNews Canada]

¶   Fukushima Daiichi has probably been leaking contaminated water into the ocean for two years, ever since an earthquake and tsunami badly damaged the plant, Japan’s chief nuclear regulator said on Wednesday. [New York Times]

US:

¶   Government spending on renewables and other green energy programs would be halved and incandescent light bulbs dropped from federal regulation under the Energy-Water Development appropriations bill passed today in the House. [Businessweek]

¶   The U.S. now has more than 10 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar PV capacity, joining Germany, Italy, and China — and it’s just getting warmed up, according to new calculations from NPD SolarBuzz. [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

World:

¶   Germany set a new record for solar power with an output of 23.9 GW. The previous record, 22 GW was set in May. About 8.5 million people live in buildings in Germany that use their own solar power systems to generate electricity or heat. [Responding to Climate Change]

¶   All four export cables are in place at the UK’s 576 MW Gwynt y Mor offshore wind farm, representing another milestone for the €2 billion ($2.6 billion) project off the coast of North Wales. [Recharge]

¶   Severe pollution has slashed an average of five and half years from life expectancy in northern China, as toxic air has led to higher rates of stroke, heart disease and cancer. The main pollution source is coal. [CNN Money]

¶   A major Dutch bank has decided to cease lending money to unconventional fossil fuel projects – shale gas and tar sands – because of the environmental and social implications. [Business Spectator]

¶   Japan’s atomic regulator urged TEPCO to speed up completion of a seawall to protect the ocean from rising levels of contamination detected in the Fukushima nuclear plant’s groundwater. [Businessweek]

¶   Ontario is to host Canada’s first nuclear emergency response support centre to house critical equipment in the event an extreme, Fukushima-like disaster cripples on-site safety systems at a nuclear reactor. [Ottawa Citizen]

¶   Russia will begin to operate the world’s first floating nuclear power plant in three years. The specially made ship with a nuclear power plant on-board will provide energy, heat and drinking water to relatively inaccessible areas of the vast country. [Daily Mail]

US:

¶   More than 30 states considered legislation this year to change their renewable energy standards. Of the 121 bills considered that would change standards, 16 bills passed, including 8 that increased renewable standards and none that reduced them. [Northern Colorado Business Report]

¶   The federal agency managing public lands issued a 20-year ban on mining on nearly 304,000 acres in six western states to promote solar energy development. The ban is in 17 areas in California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. [Press-Enterprise]

¶   President Obama has nominated Vice Adm. Dennis V. McGinn (Ret.) as the Navy’s assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment. McGinn comes over from the American Council on Renewable Energy. [The Hill]

¶   Through more than $1 billion in investments and large contracts for renewable power, Google has become the most significant player in the energy business outside of actual energy companies and financial institutions. [The Advocate]

¶   Federal officials are considering routing nuclear waste through downtown Las Vegas and heavily populated areas around the city. Federal analysis found going through populated areas would produce no significant environmental differences. [Las Vegas Sun]

Science and Technology:

¶   Spanish researchers have developed a new renewable energy system to produce electrical energy from ocean currents. The system is smaller, less expensive to produce, can operate in relatively deep waters, and can be controlled by a remote. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

World:

¶   A runaway train carrying crude oil in Quebec derailed, causing explosions, fire, and a number of deaths. Resilience.org compiled a list of headlines. [resilience.org]

¶   According to the IPA in South Australia, where wind energy accounts for around 25 per cent of both capacity and demand, coal-fired generation has fallen dramatically, and there has been no need for new peaking power stations. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Clenergy, a solar park solution provider, and its strategic partner CGN Solar Energy, signed an investment and development agreement with the city of Lijiang to provide the city with 100 MW of photovoltaic capacity. [EcoSeed]

¶   The 42-year-old Santa Maria de Garoña nuclear power in Spain has been shut down. The power plant continues to be the target of criticism from the opposition and non-governmental organizations, such as Greenpeace. [Energy Tribune]

¶   Radioactive cesium levels in one of the observation wells at Fukushima Daiichi have jumped up 90 times over the past 3 days. TEPCO experts have been unable so far to determine the cause or assess the impact on the nearby ocean. [www.worldbulletin.net]

¶   Masao Yoshida, the plant manager of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant at the time of the 2011 nuclear disaster, has died of esophageal cancer. He was 58. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   The San Diego County Water Authority and the City of San Diego are mulling building a 500 MW hydroelectric power plant to compensate for the power deficit caused by the shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. [Energy Business Review]

¶   Oregon Institute of Technology has broken ground on renewable energy projects designed to make the campus almost 100% carbon neutral, and it’s being done at virtually no cost to the university. [Herald and News]

World:

¶   Recent achievements in Sweden show how cities could adopt low-carbon initiatives. Three Swedish cities offer insights into how local government can approach low-carbon policies: through energy and electricity, public transport, and urban planning. [Business Spectator]

¶   The government of Pakistan, aiming to supply part of the national energy requirement through renewable energy technologies, plans to get up to 2,500 MW from wind energy by the end of 2015. The country had a capacity of 50 MW in December 2012. [The Nation]

¶   Genesis Energy has received consents for their Castle Hill wind farm, an 860 megawatt wind power project in New Zealand from the country’s Environment Court. New Zealand has set a target to generate over 90 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2025. [EcoSeed]

¶   The Shanghai Securities News reported that China is proposing restrictions to the solar panels exports to European Union to 10 gigawatts per year in order to avoid anti-dumping tariffs. [PR Carbon]

¶   The 42-year-old Santa Maria de Garoña nuclear power plant in the province of Burgos, one of the eight nuclear reactors operating in Spain, has been shut down. It has been a target of criticism from the opposition and NGOs, such as Greenpeace. [Latin American Herald Tribune]

¶   China’s thinking has shifted increasingly towards renewable energy, which is reaching the market faster than nuclear power, a German environment official says. He says the country understood it could deliver power without air pollution, and create jobs in remote areas. [South China Morning Post]

¶   Energy expert Alan Simpson has rubbished claims that Britain will get a good deal on a new nuclear energy plant as a “complete dishonesty”. The government is desperate for French state energy firm EDF to deliver Somerset’s Hinkley Point plant. [Morning Star Online]

¶   Japanese nuclear operators have applied to restart reactors under new rules drawn up following the Fukushima Disaster, but early approval is unlikely as a more independent regulator strives to show a sceptical public it is serious about safety. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Georgia’s utility regulators are getting ready to vote on Georgia Power’s long-range plans, including whether to require the company to incorporate more solar power. Georgia Power wants to shut down 16 coal- and oil-fired power plants. [GPB]

¶   For more than two years, the largest nuclear plant in Alabama operated without a fully functioning failsafe system. A whistleblower is talking about the plant and a lack of safety culture that earned it a red finding from the NRC. [The Birmingham News – al.com]

Science and Technology:

¶   The experimental Solar Impulse plane, powered by the sun, has completed a transcontinental trip across the United States, touching down in New York despite a rip in the fabric of one wing. [Courier Mail]

World:

¶   The world’s largest biomass plant is being built in Pakistan. It will convert 4,200 tons of cattle waste and 700 tons of food waste per day to bio-gas, which will be used for power generation at a facility with an installed capacity of up to 30 MW. [The Express Tribune]

¶   In India, Ahuja Engineering Services has come up with green energy technology solutions to help the poultry and food processing industry deal with waste management and renewable energy generation. The technology is High Rate Biomethanation. [Postnoon]

¶   In the face of an understanding that nuclear power plants will be turned on again in Japan, renewable power projects are being cut back. In some cases, grid operators will not allow the new projects to be connected to the grid. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Japanese and Korean companies are willing to build nuclear reactors in Britain for a level of subsidy lower than France’s EDF has so far accepted, Ed Davey, the energy secretary, has said. [Telegraph.co.uk]

US:

¶   The federal government will auction leases for wind farms off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts on July 31, marking the first time it has sold competitive leases for wind energy on the outer continental shelf, the U.S. Department of Interior said. [Foster’s Daily Democrat]

¶   In a recent interview, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder expressed his support for increasing Michigan’s renewable energy standard and praised the benefits of energy efficiency. Clean energy is creating jobs and building new businesses across the state. [Southgate News Herald]

¶   A 110 MW concentrating solar project is being built in Nevada. It may change the way people think about solar power, as it delivers power to the grid 12 hours each day. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Before they adjourned this week, Rhode Island legislators passed a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bill that aims to bolster investment in renewable energy and improve energy efficiency. [The Providence Journal]

World:

¶   In the UK, it is now possible to buy gas from two suppliers that is 100% renewable under the Green Gas Certification Scheme. Most of the gas is generated from anaerobic digestion. [Energy Live News]

¶   Desertec Foundation and the Desertec Industrial Initiative, the two main advocates of driving the European renewable energy revolution with desert solar power, have split. They both say their plans for desert solar power have not changed. [The Guardian]

¶   The Japanese utility still battling leaks of radiated water at the nuclear plant sent into meltdown by the 2011 tsunami thinks it has found the perfect person to oversee its safety campaign — a foreign woman. [Asian Correspondent]

¶   TEPCO is postponing an application for restarting two reactors in Niigata Prefecture due to staunch opposition from the prefectural governor. He refused to approve the plans and criticized TEPCO for failing to consult with the local community. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Germany’s boom in green power, coupled with the lowest demand in 10 years, cut production at nuclear reactors and sent the average operating margin at 15 European utilities to the lowest since 2002, company data compiled by Bloomberg show. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   Legislation to expand access to clean and affordable renewable energy to millions of Californians who currently can’t take advantage of the state’s renewable programs has taken another step toward the Governor’s desk. [The Reporter]

¶   The New Mexico State Land Office is seeking lease bids for the El Cabo wind farm, a proposed 1 GW project that would be built on state trust land. According to the office, the project would be located on 33,600 acres and built in several phases. [North American Windpower]

¶   With the completion last month of a solar project at the Charlotte, N.C., IKEA store, the company now has solar on 39 of its 44 U.S. facilities, totaling up to close to 38 MW of generation. [GreenBiz.com]

¶   The Public Service Board last week held its final day of hearings on whether the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s continued operation is in the best interest of the public and therefore merits a new license. [vtdigger.org]

Opinion:

¶   There are fundamental factors at work that ultimately will make fossil fuel subsidies unsustainable worldwide, leading to their decline and allowing other forms of energy to compete more easily. [Forbes]

Science and Technology:

¶   The Solar Impulse leaves from Washington on a journey to New York City planned for Saturday, depending on the weather. It will take hours for the journey — top speed is 45 mph (73 kph). It is the last leg of a transcontinental crossing. [Huffington Post]

World:

¶   Plans have been submitted to Marine Scotland for a proposed 213-turbine wind farm in the Firth of Tay. The proposed Inch Cape wind farm development  would have installed capacity of more than 1,000 megawatts (MW). [Business7]

¶   According to a survey by Nottingham Trent University, Forum for the Future and Farmers Weekly, 40% out of 700 responding farmers are now using renewables, compared to 5% in 2010. Of the others, 61% say they are likely to within five years. [Energy and Environmental Management Magazine]

¶   Former French Environment Minister Delphine Batho said her support for a ban on shale drilling and reducing dependence on nuclear power cost her her job. [Businessweek]

¶   China expects to resolve a muli-billion dollar solar trade spat with the European Union by next month, a senior Chinese industry official said on Friday, after a newspaper reported that Beijing has made a new offer with EU to settle the dispute. [WA today]

¶   TEPCO notivied Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) they intend to apply to restart reactors idled after the Fukushima Disaster, and four additional regional utilities also have notified the authority of similar plans. [Bloomberg]
… The mayor of the city that hosts the biggest nuclear power plant in the world had some harsh criticism for TEPCO for announcing it will apply for a government safety assessment of two reactors before informing local authorities. [The Japan Times]
… The NRA says that it will take a “long time” to uphold safety culture, which the it is convinced not to be the current priority in nuclear industry. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   The Energy Information Administration has released a new infographic on the history of energy in the US, starting in 1776, showing the rise of coal, hydro, oil, nuclear, and now renewables. [EIA.gov]

Science and Technology:

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has built flexible solar cells out of Corning’s Willow Glass. They are strong enough to function as roofing shingles, significantly shrinking the biggest barrier to mass adoption of solar power: the cost of installation. [ExtremeTech]

¶   New research in Finland indicates that lignocellulosic biomass from forest product residue can be used in the production of high-quality biofuels at moderate cost. The technology is considered ready for commercial-scale production in Europe. [Science Codex]

World:

¶   Prime Minister David Cameron has hailed the 630 MW London Array as a “big win for renewable energy” at the offshore wind farm’s official opening. The project is in the outer Thames Estuary, 20 km from the coasts of Kent and Essex, and has 175 turbines. [reNews]

¶   Advanced biofuels, biomethane and electric vehicles could out-compete conventional transport options like gasoline by 2020 if support policies are enhanced and expanded, said a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Wednesday. [Xinhua]

¶   Solar energy is set to emerge as one of the Gulf region’s main sources of energy by 2017 with approximately 155 billion worth of solar power installation projects in the pipeline to generate more than 84 GW of power. [MENAFN.COM]

¶   The latest forecast from Navigant Research (formerly known as Pike Research) is that 241,000 MW of new wind power capacity will be installed worldwide from 2012 to 2017. [CleanTechnica]

¶   A report by renewable firm Regen SW reveals that the renewable energy capacity in the UK’s South West has grown by almost 50% in the past 12 months. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

¶   Security analysts present at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna believe that the Fukushima meltdown in 2011 may inspire terrorists. With actual experience of nuclear disaster, the Atomic Energy Agency of Japan has been scheduled for a presentation. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   A bill signed into law in Hawaii allows landlords to install renewable energy systems on their property and sell the electricity to their tenants or lessees. It requires the rate charged for the electricity to be lower than that charged by the utility and be part of the lease. [Big Island Now]

¶   New Mexico utility PNM announced a plan to increase the solar PV it owns by 30 percent next year and to increase the wind on its system by 50 percent in 2015. The proposal meets the state’s energy portfolio requirement for 2015, while keeping costs below the state’s 3% cost cap. [Deming Headlight]

¶   The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved two crops to use in a renewable fuel program that environmentalists have warned are invasive species. The crops in question are giant reed and napier grass. The agency is putting restrictions on production to avoid spreading. [The Hill]

¶   The California power grid operator passed its first heat wave test of 2013 without the San Onofre nuclear plant and another reactor at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant without much trouble. [Reuters]

Opinion:

¶   “Coal’s future dims under Obama’s climate plan” If new EPA standards for existing plants are similar to those that have been proposed for new plants so far, they would likely spell the end of coal-fired generation in the US. [The Age]

World:

¶   GE has opened a new wind energy services center in Bahia, Brazil. Its first facility there will enable it to more quickly and efficiently put local expertise to work in meeting the country’s growing demand for advanced wind energy services. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Mongolia’s first wind farm, located deep in the Mongolian Steppe, 70 km. from its capital, Ulaanbaatar, was officially opened by the Mongolian Minister of Energy, Mishig Sonompil. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   The U.K. may take “a few months” to agree the price that Electricite de France SA (EDF) will get for power from Britain’s first new nuclear power station in two decades, Energy Secretary Ed Davey suggested. [Bloomberg]

¶   Electricity saving began Monday in large parts of Japan for the high demand season. For the first time, the government had no specific power-saving targets, as people have become accustomed to conserving electricity, ensuring sufficiency. [SteelGuru]

¶   The Nuclear Regulation Authority decided to allow Japan’s only two reactors currently online to continue operating until they shut down for inspection in September. They will need approval under new safety requirements for restart. [GlobalPost]

US:

¶   Already having two 20 MW solar farms in North Carolina, Apple is taking on a big photovoltaic project in Nevada to help power a new Reno-area data center. A 137 acre solar array will produce about 43.5 million kWh per year. [EarthTechling]

¶   June 30th was the latest proposed restart date for the troubled Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station. Now that the day has come and gone, and there are still questions as to when all necessary conditions are to be met. [KVNO News]

Opinion:

¶   “‘Intermittent & unpredictable’: Nuclear reactor fails during heat wave” Nuclear plants have proven unreliable during heat waves, just when power is most needed. In comparison, solar and wind are called “variable and predictable.” [RenewEconomy]

Science and Technology:

¶   In Australia, Algae Tec plans to take carbon dioxide a year from Macquarie Generation’s Bayswater power station in the Upper Hunter, using it to feed algae, which will be used to make biofuel. [ABC Online]

World:

¶   The UK is not meeting its 2020 Renewable Energy Target. Renewable Energy Association data showed that the UK was the only EU member state that did not meet its 2011 renewable energy target, and things just get worse for 2012. [OilPrice.com]

¶   Donald Trump is suing the government of Scotland over eleven wind turbines that will be visible from his resort golf course. Trump argues that wind turbines are ugly and dangerous, kill birds, are made in China, and are too expensive. [Triple Pundit]

¶   Speaking at a meeting in Vienna, Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned against a “false sense of security” over the danger of nuclear terrorism. [Times LIVE]

US:

¶   Six Sioux tribes, the Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Oglala Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Yankton Sioux have united to develop the Sioux Wind Project in South Dakota. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   A new coalition in Massachusetts has formed to advocate for renewable heat policies within the state. It includes biomass-focused organizations and is called the new Massachusetts Renewable Thermal Coalition. [Biomass Magazine]

¶   The city council of Austin, Texas has approved its energy contract. Duke Energy Renewables will build two 200-megawatt wind farms in Texas to provide power for Austin Energy under a 25-year contract that could be worth up to $1 billion. [Charlotte Business Journal]

¶   Legislation before the Pennsylvania state could open treeless land, nominally a state forest but actually an infertile former strip mine, for construction of a wind farm. [MassLive.com]

¶   It has not been a good 2013 for nuclear power in the US. Only six months in, the U.S. nuclear fleet has had one of its worst years ever, arguably worse than 2011, with the impact of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan. [POWER magazine]

¶   An oppressive heat wave is testing the California grid, and so far it seems to be passing, despite loss of three nuclear reactors. Improved grid technology and better communication of energy use have helped prevent major blackouts so far. [Christian Science Monitor]

Science and Technology:

¶   Though solar panels and wind turbines in the Eastern US do not produce as much electricity as they do in the West, they have far more positive effects on health, because more of the power they are replacing comes from coal. [90.5 WESA]

¶   Australian National University researchers have developed a material that can store large amounts of power rapidly – and with very little energy loss. Based on the mineral rutile, a mineral of titanium dioxide, it may be developed for capacitors for grid electric storage. [Energy Matters]
… The hope is that the new material could open the door to electric cars that can be recharged in minutes, and wind and solar power that can top up the grid as needed. [The Australian]

World:

¶   Tokelau is preparing to move into a second phase of its 100 percent renewable energy project. Last year, Tokelau became the first country in the world to source all its electricity from solar power. Now, it is planning to fuel its emergency backup generators with coconut oil. [Radio New Zealand International]

¶   In Australia, the Greens will push for a 90% renewable energy target by 2030, party leader Senator Christine Milne has announced. [BigPond News]

¶   Wind, sun, tidal, thermal – one legacy of the Fukushima Disaster is a surge in interest in Japan in all things renewable within the energy industry. Prime Minister Age said of this, “The times are changing. We are in the age where consumers themselves produce power.” [Ammon News]

¶   Japanese company Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company, has developed the SKWID, a floating wind and current hybrid power generation system. [Energy Harvesting Journal]

¶   Some 40% of farmers in the UK are now using renewable energy compared with only 5% identified in 2010. The Farm as Power Station project involving Nottingham Trent University, Forum for the Future and Farmers Weekly found 30% of those had opted for wind installations. [reNews]

US:

¶   US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has approved a 500 MW wind energy project proposed by BP Wind Energy North America, which will power 175,000 houses and create about 750 jobs. The wind farm will have 243 wind turbines. [NewNet]

¶   Gilchrist Metal Fabrication Company, of Hudson, New Hampshire, has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for powering the company’s facility with 100% renewable energy. The fabrication facility is powered entirely by wind. [PR Web]

¶   About 10% of electricity in the United States is fueled by enriched uranium originally produced in Russia for nuclear warheads, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration. They announced last week that the fuel source will be used up this year. [Forbes]