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]
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