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]
geoharvey 