geoharvey

Opinion:

¶   “Why Fukushima is worse than you think” By Mycle Schneider, Special to CNN [CNN]

¶   “More U.S. nuclear power plant closures to come?” The closing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant could be indicative of more shutdowns to come, experts say. [iStockAnalyst]

World:

¶   A Kenyan government delegation met with key European wind power developers, government departments, and others to increase the use of renewable energy in Kenya and attract investment in wind power there. [Windpower Monthly]

¶   The West Bengal government does not want nuclear plants and it is instead all set to introduce rooftop solar power schemes to increase its renewable energy supply, a minister said Friday. [Vancouver Desi]

¶   In what experts call a novel and controversial solution, Japan is considering whether to install “a subterranean ring of ice” to contain the contaminated water leaking from Fukushima Daiichi. [Water Online]

US:

¶   Clean energy and sustainable transportation projects launched this year created nearly 40,000 new green jobs in America during the second quarter of 2013. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Duke Energy has agreed to retire five Indiana coal-fired power plants by June 2018 under a settlement with environmental and citizens groups that also calls for the company to increase its investments in renewable energy. [Huffington Post]

¶   Construction of a five-megawatt solar installation on 43 acres in East Lyme, Connecticut has begun, the project developer Middletown-based Greenskies Renewable Energy announced on Friday. [Hartford Business]

¶   Dominion Virginia Power updated its long-range energy plan, offering natural gas generation as its base plan but also wind and possibly nuclear options in anticipation of regulations to reduce greenhouse gases. [Washington Post]

¶   The governor of New Hampshire has formed a working group in response to the planned closing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. It will monitor plans for public safety and coordinate with other states to aid workers. [Concord Monitor]

¶   Duke Energy Florida wants to raise the average customer’s bill by more than $8 a month to $124.30 starting Jan. 1 to pay for an increase in fuel and nuclear costs. [Tampabay.com]

Opinion:

¶   “King Coal running out of luck, and it could be terminal” By Ben Caldecott, Bloomberg New Energy Finance [RenewEconomy]

Science and Technology:

¶   A small start-up with roots in North CarolinaA&TUniversity has developed PiGrid, an alternative to asphalt that is derived from pig waste and actually performs better than conventional asphalt itself. [ValueWalk]

¶   Electricity sourcing from energy storage technology is now a growing industry trend as businesses can reduce waste by producing their own power from renewable sources, including wind and solar. [The Strategic Sourceror]

World:

¶   According to the new data, renewables’ share of UK power generation rose from 11.3% in the first quarter of 2012 to 12.3% this year, delivered despite a 32.1% fall in hydro generation because of lack of rain, [Business Green]

¶   Azerbaijan is set to ramp up its renewable energy capacities. The government has instructed the Institute of Geography to draw up the country’s solar and wind power maps by July next year. [pv magazine]

US:

¶   Under Wisconsin’s renewable energy standard, Dairyland Power Cooperative should get 8.44% of its electricity from renewables by 2015. It has already achieved 12.47% in 2013. [Electric Co-op Today]

¶   The Renewable Energy Group has completed upgrades to its 30-million gallon biodiesel refinery in southern Minnesota to allow the plant to use multiple kinds of raw materials. [EcoSeed]

¶   The loss of a nuclear power plant that once provided Vermont with one-third of its electricity won’t affect the region’s power supply, according to officials at ISO New England. [The Keene Sentinel]

¶   Dismantling Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 and returning the property to a pre-plant state would cost about $918 million in 2012 dollars, John Buckley of the NRC said at a meeting Wednesday evening in Hershey. [The Sunday Dispatch]

Science and Technology:

¶   The largest battery in the world has been sitting quietly in George Washington National Forest along the Virginia-West Virginia border providing peak power for nearly 30 years. It is a pumped-storage facility with a capacity of 3003 MW. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   Carbon emissions in China could peak as soon as 2023 if a carbon pricing mechanism is introduced, according to new research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [4-traders]
… The report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance also predicts that China will invest $362 billion in new solar PV capacity by 2030, and could invest as much as $649 billion. [solarserver.com]

¶   Germany’s wind power sector will expand faster in the second half of the year, ahead of an expected reduction in government incentives. The country’s wind association said it expected about 2,900 MW of new capacity, up from 1,143 MW in the first six months. [Reuters UK]

US:

¶   The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has dedicated the entire $7 billion in its renewable energy purchase program to solar technology. The agency has additionally published a list of 22 companies that qualify for the work, which will span the next ten years. [solarserver.com]

¶   Google announced it decreased total carbon emissions 9% to 1.5 million tons of CO2 in 2012 in its Green Blog this week. It emitted 30 metric tons of carbon per million dollars of revenue compared to 44 tons in 2011, but revenue increased. [EarthTechling]

¶   Almost 4,500 people have signed up on the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation website since April, with a promise to pay a little more for electricity from wind turbines on Lake Erie. [freshwatercleveland]

¶   A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, looked at more than 50,000 home sales near 67 wind farms in nine states. Researchers found no statistical evidence that wind turbines negatively affected property values. [ThinkProgress]

¶   Duke Energy has publicly shared new proposals to divert rushing waters away from the Oconee nuclear plant in case the 385-foot-high Jocassee Dam were to ever fail. The fixes would be made to the Keowee Dam and areas of the station. [Greenville News]

¶   Entergy Nuclear has filed an amended petition with the Public Service Board seeking to operate Vermont Yankee until Dec. 31, 2014. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   The president of the Tennessee Valley Authority said a drop in demand is putting Bellefonte Nuclear Plant workers on the chopping block. More energy-efficient consumers and increased hydroelectric production are reducing demand for the plant’s power. [whnt.com]

Opinion:

¶   “Entergy Surrender On Vermont Yankee Reactor Is Latest Evidence Of ‘Rapid-Fire Downsizing’ Of Nuclear Power In US” Mark Cooper, senior fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School, makes his observations. [PR Newswire]

World:

¶   For the upcoming Australian election, the Coalition has announced it will realize $7.8 billion of savings from programs linked to carbon price and other emission reduction programs. This includes cuts to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. [Business Spectator]

¶   Bloomberg New Energy Finance has released analysis which finds wind and solar power will make up more than half of new power capacity growth in China to 2030. By 2030 total installed capacity of renewable energy power plants will equal that of coal. [Business Spectator]

¶   IKEA is a huge supporter of renewable energy and has had installed 500,000 solar PV panels. At the present time, renewable energy schemes provide the company with one third of its energy supply. [Solar Panels UK]

¶   The former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, 71-year-old former leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has made it known that he is for the abandonment of nuclear power. He is considered still to be influential in Japanese politics. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   The International Atomic Energy Agency, the world’s nuclear watchdog, has urged Japan to explain more clearly what is happening at Fukushima and avoid sending “confusing messages” about the disaster, the country’s atomic regulator revealed. [Yahoo!7 News]

US:

¶   According to the latest issue of the US Energy Information Administration’s “Electric Power Monthly,”  renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind) provided 14.2% of the nation’s electric power during the first half of the year. [Green Building Elements]

¶   While influenced by the future cost of natural gas and other forms of energy, a new report forecasts the cost of solar will be competitive after New Jersey state subsidies expire, a fact that one New Jersey Utility is investing in. [GetSolar.com]

¶   The governor of Louisiana and CEO of Cool Planet Energy Systems have announced that the company will build three bio-refineries in Louisiana with a capital investment of $168 million. The project will consist of modular biomass-to-gasoline refineries. [KMSS TV33]

¶   Development of solar and wind energy in Missouri has been sluggish, despite a 2008 law that instituted a renewable energy standard. A lawsuit has been filed alleging that state government has interfered with fulfillment of the law’s mandate. [Salon]

¶   The idle Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant is loaded with fuel for the first time in more than two years, and utility officials say it will be ready to operate safely if regulators allow it to restart. [Omaha World-Herald]

¶   The complete decommissioning of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant “is likely to take decades,” according to information released by its owners. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

¶   Vermont House Speaker Shap Smith said he will pursue whatever options are at his disposal to expedite a decommissioning process that could soon become the center of its own legislative controversy. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

World:

¶   According to the Worldwatch Institute, support policies for renewable energy technologies have increased dramatically over the last decade. The number has grown from 48 countries having policies in place in mid-2005 to 127 as of early 2013. [EcoSeed]

¶   German Environment Minister Peter Altmaier expects German solar panel installations to nearly halve this year, showing that efforts to curb subsidies and get solar expansion under control have yielded results. [Reuters UK]

¶   Hitting a target of 22 GW of installed solar capacity in the UK by 2020 will impact less than 0.29% of the nation’s agricultural land, according to research by PV operator Lightsource Renewable Energy. [reNews]

¶   Siemens, the world’s number three maker of wind turbines, expects the global market to be more than quadrupled by 2030, lifted by strong growth in Asia. They see globally installed wind power capacity increasing from 273 GW in 2012 to 1,107 GW in 2030. [CITY A.M.]

¶   First Solar has sold three solar projects in Ontario totalling 50 MW to an investment partnership led by GE Energy Financial Services. Output from the PV plants will be sold to Ontario Power Authority with 20-year power purchase agreements. [reNews]

¶   An officer of the King Abdullah city for Atomic and Renewable Energy says Saudi Arabia could become a leader in renewable energy by building 16 nuclear reactors by 2030 at an estimated cost of $100 billion and with a combined capacity of 22 GW. [Hindu Business Line]

¶   The Japanese government will lead “emergency measures” to tackle radioactive water spills at the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, wresting control of the disaster recovery from the plant’s heavily criticized operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶   Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are asking the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible anticompetitive practices by oil companies that limit consumers’ access to “homegrown renewable fuels.” [National Hog Farmer]

¶   The biofuels industry is pushing back against ad campaigns the oil-and-gas industry has been running in Ohio for years, launching a campaign against what it calls an attempt to “stop the growth of clean, green renewable fuels to protect their own bottom lines.” [Youngstown Vindicator]

¶   There is a proposal in the works to store and recycle nuclear waste in Mississippi. The Mississippi Energy Institute gave a presentation to the Senate Economic Development Committee Monday for an above-ground interim storage facility. [WDAM-TV]

¶   A radiation monitor at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant showed faulty readings last week, a continuation of a problem that has plagued the plant several times this summer. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   Friends of the Coast/New England Coalition reached a settlement agreement with the owners of the Seabrook nuclear plant regarding the remaining active contention against the plant’s operating license renewal. This may clear the way for a license extension. [Exeter News-Letter]

World:

¶   Nova Scotia, with its record-setting tides, could be a world leader in tidal technology. The epicentre of Nova Scotia’s attempts to stay in the tidal game is a stretch of ocean floor near the town of Parrsboro. [The Globe and Mail]

¶   According to the latest Fuel Mix and CO2 Emissions report, from industry watchdog the Commission for Energy Regulation, the Vayu, a Dublin-based firm, is the first provider in Ireland to achieve a 100% renewable energy rating for its electricity supply.  [Irish Examiner]

¶   The Norwegian government has given the green light to eight wind farms totalling around 1300 MW in a focused area of mid-Norway. Statkraft and Agder Energi Vind picked up nearly half of the total with permission granted to build a quartet of projects totalling 660 MW. [reNews]

¶   In the week beginning August 11, wind farms supplied a record 290 GWh to the National Electricity Market, which serves the eastern states and much of South Australia. That tally smashed the previous record of 246 GWh set in the week starting June 30 by 18%. [The Canberra Times]

¶   With the Fukushima nuclear plant leaking hundreds of tonnes of radioactive water into the Pacific every day, fishing has once again been banned off the coast. Test catches have shown that some fish – especially bottom-feeding species, have been affected. [ABC Online]

¶   Two years ago, Russia offered to help Japan clean up the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear power facility. This week, as TEPCO has found it difficult to continue the decommissioning process and has decided to seek outside help, Russia has stated that their offer to help still stands. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Japan’s industry minister visited the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and promised Monday that the government would take urgent action to curb leaks of radiation-contaminated water. [STLtoday.com]

US:

¶   A new study conducted by the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory indicates that by 2025 wind and solar power could become cost-competitive without federal subsidies, and including costs of integration and transmission. [Nanowerk]

¶   Ever Cat Fuels plant in Isanti, Minnesota has been working for two years with a team of scientists and farmers to commercially grow two seed-bearing weeds as energy crops. [Farming UK]

A Quote:

¶   “Unfortunately, what we’ve seen too often in Congress is that the fossil fuel industries tend to be very influential – let’s put it that way – on the energy committees in Congress and they tend not to be particularly sympathetic to alternative energy strategies,” President Obama said in a speech. [Opposing Views]

Opinion:

¶   “Finding Our Energy Future: A Conversation with Tony Klein” Tony Klein, chair of Vermont’s House Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, responds to the question, “What do you wish people knew about energy and Vermont?” [Montpelier Bridge]

World:

¶   Switching Australia to 100% renewable power from solar, wind and other clean sources would be technically viable by 2030, and could end up costing the same as continuing to use fossil fuels, a new study by the Australian federal government suggests. [Sydney Morning Herald]

¶   Marine energy could have the potential to boost the Welsh economy by up to £840 million according to a new report commissioned by the Welsh Government. The study examined the economic benefits for Wales from developing the sector, using three different scenarios. [WalesOnline]

¶   Alstom reports that its full-scale tidal turbine in Orkney, Scotland, has reached a full nominal power of 1 MW. The turbine was immersed in January 2013 at the European Marine Energy Center in Orkney. The turbine connected to the grid has now generated more than 10 MWh. [High Performance Composites]

¶   A state-run Chinese power generating equipment manufacturer has claimed to have built the world’s biggest nuclear generator in terms of per-unit installed capacity. The Dongfang Electrical Machinery Company Ltd says its 1,750 MW generator will soon be installed at a power plant. [Economic Times]

¶   The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant said Saturday that deteriorated seams and a possible contortion of a reassembled storage tank might have caused a massive contaminated water leak that has triggered fears over the plant’s radioactive water management. [Honolulu Star-Advertiser]

US:

¶   Iowa houses one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing wind markets, according to the US DOE, which released two reports earlier this month showing robust state and nationwide wind markets. The state can generate 25% of its power from wind, and the number is growing. [Dubuque Telegraph Herald]

¶   Lake Erie Energy Development’s Icebreaker project, a six-turbine, 18-megawatt undertaking, is in the serious planning stages after snagging a $4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant late last year. States and organizations are looking at other sites in the Great Lakes. [EarthTechling]

¶   A Gallup poll in March found that 76% of Americans thought the country should put more emphasis on producing domestic energy from solar power. As more options become available, more homeowners do it. Now, ten times as many homes get solar power than did five years ago. [Press Herald]

¶   The Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee and the Montpelier Planning and Community Development Office are working with the Energy Action Network, considering making Montpelier the nation’s first state capital to have all energy needs supplied by renewable energy sources. [Montpelier Bridge]

¶   Members of Vermont’s first community solar farm met at the site in Putney Friday to celebrate the opening of the solar array. SunFarm Community Solar, the 147 kilowatt solar project which is made up of 588 panels, is online and producing electricity, project founder Nick Ziter said. [Brattleboro Reformer]

¶   Dominion Virginia Power placed its biomass-fired Altavista Power Station into commercial operation in July. The 51 megawatt facility in Altavista, Va., is the first of three stations the company is converting from coal to biomass. [Biomass Magazine]

Opinion:

¶   “Externality 101, Understanding Hidden Costs of Fossil Fuel” Renewables don’t hurt us or our environment, an advantage that has a demonstrable dollar-and-cents value. [NJ Spotlight]

Science and Technology:

¶   An 7.5 MW wind turbine may be installed at Le Havre, France, at an onshore location designed to test turbines for both on and offshore use. Many of the world’s largest wind turbines are designed for offshore use, but this turbine, an Enercon E-126, is for onshore power generation. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   In the UK, a new rift could be developing as two government departments, led by a Liberal Democrat and Conservative MP respectively, are set to go head-to-head over a forthcoming report into the impact of wind turbines on rural house prices. [The Upcoming]

¶   Brazil has contracted 1.5GW of new capacity at an average price of around $46 per megawatt-hour during its first wind auction of 2013. The country sealed deals with 66 projects, each of which will be given a 20-year supply contract. Projects are due online by September 2015. [reNews]

¶   The Indian government is planning to reduce the time frame for setting up nuclear power plants to meet increasing energy demand, according to the Indian Minister of State. A bill pending with the parliament would reduce the time for permitting from five years to a maximum of two years. [New York Daily News]

¶   An enormous reservoir of radiation-contaminated water beneath Fukushima Daiichi is on the verge of spilling into the Pacific Ocean, creating a new serious worry in the long-running effort of to contain radioactive fallout from the 2011 disaster, the Associated Press reported on Friday. [Yahoo! News]

¶   Radiation spreading from Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant threatens to derail Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to revive nuclear power and deliver the lower energy prices needed to power his economic reforms. [Business Mirror]

US:

¶   A  forest fire in Yosemite National Park as led to declaration of a state of emergency for San Francisco, 150 miles away. The fire threatens a reservoir that supplies the city with water and electricity. [Huffington Post]

¶   At least six renewable energy projects, five solar-powered and one biomass facility, proposed for sites in southeastern Connecticut are vying to be chosen next month for power purchase agreements with the state’s two largest utilities. [TheDay.com]

¶   With the declining amount of tobacco grown these days, North Carolina farmers have been diversifying. Now, along with planting crops, a landowner can get a contract to use land for a solar farm. [WECT-TV6]

Opinion:

¶   “Climate Change, Poverty and Energy – Is renewable energy the solution for Africa?” Approximately 1.4 billion people don’t have access to electricity, yet countries in the emerging economies have huge, untapped potential in solar, wind, hydro, geothermal or biomass energy. [Sierra Express Media]

World:

¶   The UK Department of Energy & Climate Change is setting sustainability standards for biomass and biogas. Starting in 2015, the biomass industry must show its fuel is sustainable to receive financial support. [Biomass Magazine]

¶   The changing global energy mix and the growth of renewables will drive a revival in the underground compressed air energy storage industry, according to a new report. The analysis predicts that the sector will install capacity of 11 GW between this year and 2013. [Power Engineering International]

¶   China is half way through a $100 billion ultra-high voltage grid investment, according to an official from the country’s grid operator. The network will open remote renewable installations to the country’s east coast by moving power thousands of kilometres with minimal losses. [PV-Tech]

¶   A Japanese daily has reported all water drainage valves of a concrete barrier nearby the leaking tank at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant were, in fact, opened when highly radioactive water leaked and drained into the ocean. [Arirang News]

¶   More tanks at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site may have leaks as TEPCO, the plant operator, said on Aug. 22 that high radiation levels were detected near a second section of storage tanks. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   TEPCO failed to monitor storages tanks holding dangerously contaminated water properly, the country’s nuclear regulator has said. Now they have sprung leaks and are a source of international concern. TEPCO also failed to keep records of inspections of the tanks. [Reuters]

US:

¶   One of the largest thin-film PV power plants to date in southern California has been completed. The Catalina Solar Photovoltaic s located adjacent to the EDF’s 140 MW Pacific Wind power plant, making the combined facilities a globally significant hybrid project. [pv magazine]

¶   Vestas will be supplying wind-energy projects in the United States with 400 megawatts-worth of wind turbines, an order that is in line with a master supply agreement of 1,500 MW that they have with EDP Renovaveis. [EcoSeed]

¶   South Carolina’s electric cooperatives have stopped a solar energy forum that was supposed to let people explain how the state can improve its sun power rules, which are among the least customer friendly in the country. [Hilton Head Island Packet]

¶   The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US is working with Ecopetrol, the largest oil company in Colombia, to process the residue from sugar cane and palm oil harvesting into fuel ethanol for blending with gasoline. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

Interesting Report:

¶   “Solar Needs 32 Acres To Power 1,000 Homes” Did you know that “on a life-cycle electricity-output basis – including direct and indirect land transformation – utility-scale PV in the U.S. Southwest requires less land than the average U.S. power plant using surface-mined coal”? [EarthTechling]

Opinion:

¶   “Fossil Fuel Collateral Damage” Neighborhoods can be turned upside down by shale oil and shale gas drilling , but it’s always felt theoretical as the prospects of something like these happening in my neighborhood have seemed remote. [National Geographic]

World:

¶   The installed capacity of renewable sources worldwide will reach an estimated 2,252.3 GW in 2020, finds a new report from Frost & Sullivan. The report notes that since the beginning of the last decade the number of countries with renewable support policies has grown from 50 to over 120. [Solar Industry]

¶   If offshore wind sees continuous development over the next 10 years the cost of the electricity generated at schemes could be slashed by around a third, according to a study by Prognos and The Fichtner Group, which identified cost reduction potentials in Germany. [reNews]

¶   A nuclear expert who has advised the French and German governments has told the BBC that he believes the current water leaks at Fukushima are much worse than the authorities have stated. He says water is leaking out all over the site and there are no accurate figures for radiation levels. [BBC News]

US:

¶   California has released its new vehicle sales numbers for the first half of 2013. According to the data, the Tesla Model S has a greater market share than Buick, FIAT, Land Rover, Lincoln, and Mitsubishi. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The utilities supplying power to the US electrical grid sell $400 billion worth of electricity a year. Regulators set rates and utilities get guaranteed returns. The model is largely unaltered since Edison invented the light bulb. But the CEO of NRG Energy believes it’s doomed to obsolescence. [Businessweek]

¶   Bloomberg has reported that the boom in gas field purchasing from 2009 to 2012 has turned into a whopper of a bust, leaving oil and gas companies with a belly load of depressed assets and “disappointing” wells to go with falling gas prices. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The electricity powering San Francisco city departments is 100% renewable. It comes largely from the hydropower production in Yosemite Valley, but since 2004, the Public Utilities Commission agency has completed 15 solar projects that produce 7.5 MW of power. [San Francisco Examiner]

¶   Renewable energy projects in the United States experienced a banner year in 2012, with wind deployment adding a record 13,124 MW of capacity and solar adding 3,313 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity. [San Francisco Chronicle]

¶   According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, 845 MW of solar energy were installed across the country during the first quarter of this year, augmenting the record-breaking 3,313 MW installed in 2012. PV installations grew 76% in 2012 over 2011, with an estimated market value of $11.5 billion. [Solar Industry]

Science and Technology:

¶   Scientists are more convinced that human activity is behind the increase in global temperatures since the 1950s, which has boosted sea levels and the odds of extreme storms, according to a leaked draft of an upcoming U.N. report. [CNN]

World:

¶   The Federal Republic of Germany just broke its monthly solar generation record by clocking over 5.1 TWh in July, according to data from the EEX Transparency Platform. The July solar record is 42% higher than last year’s.  [inhabitat.com]

¶   PV will account for 3.6% of installed power generation globally by 2020, according to market analyst and advisor, Frost & Sullivan’s Annual Renewable Outlook 2013. It accounted for 0.7% in 2010. [PV-Tech]

¶   The Australian government appears to have made a remarkable concession following the release of the 100% renewables report by the country’s energy market operator – a renewables future will be no more costly than the largely fossil fuel alternative. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Renewable energy facilities that newly started operating in fiscal 2012 in Japan totaled 2.08 million kilowatts in capacity, which is worth two nuclear reactors, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry said Tuesday. [ECNmag.com]

¶   Six more young people from Fukushima prefecture in Japan have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer since Japan’s worst nuclear accident in 2011. There are now a total of 18 cancer cases among people who were 18 or younger at the time of the Fukushima Disaster. [Hindu Business Line]

¶   Japan is poised to declare a toxic water leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant a level 3 “serious incident,” its gravest warning since the aftermath of the massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami that sent three reactors into meltdown. [CNN]

US:

¶   Green building is growing fast in the US, and may represent more than half of all commercial and institutional construction as soon as 2016, according to a new report from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), “LEED in Motion: People and Progress,”  [CleanTechnica]

¶   Work commences in September on 448 turbines in Iowa, creating 460 construction jobs, then 48 permanent jobs. They will churn out $12 million a year in property tax and generate $3.2 million annually for their property owners. Call them YIMBYs: Yes in my backyard. [Muscatine Journal]

¶   The federal government has created a new renewable energy zone along the southeast shore of the Salton Sea that could eventually host thousands of megawatts of solar and geothermal energy on previously disturbed lands. [The Desert Sun]

¶   Siemens Energy has been awarded received an order for 116 units of its SWT-2.3-108 wind turbines from Portland General Electric Company in the US state of Oregon. Each has a capacity of 2.3 megawatts (MW) and a rotor diameter of 108 meters. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   San Francisco-based renewable power producer Pattern Energy Group said Tuesday it has started building a 218 megawatt wind power facility in the Texas Panhandle. The facility will be able to produce wind energy for up to 60,000 Texas homes. [FuelFix]

World:

¶   Just weeks after President Obama announced an end to US taxpayer support for overseas coal plants, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, followed suit. Now the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering similar action. [Energy Collective]

¶   The Australian Capital Territory government plans to bring another 650 MW of solar and wind energy generation to its region following the successful completion of the second round of its solar auction, to become the green capital. [RenewEconomy]

¶   A new poll by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations finds that 82% of the German public support the phase-out of nuclear energy and the expansion of renewable energy, but that only 40% support the current implementation. [solarserver.com]

¶    South Australian power demand was 339.51 GWh over the course of a period of nine days, and total SA wind generation was 157.07 GWh – meaning wind supplied 46.26% of total energy in South Australia. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Reports from TEPCO say that measurements of radioactive tritium in seawater at Fukushima Daiichi show levels at the highest tritium level in the measurement history of the site. Levels have been rising continuously since May. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Some 300 tonnes of radioactive water is believed to have leaked from a tank at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, the worst such leak since the crisis began. TEPCO said puddles around the tank have extremely high radiation levels of about 100 millisieverts per hour. [Capital FM Kenya]

US:

¶   Chevy cut the Volt’s price. Nissan cut the leaf’s price. And now the electric version of the Smart Fortwo (Fortwo — kind of romantic) is available for less, as well. The Smart Fortwo Electric Drive is now available for $139 per month on a three-year, 30,000-mile lease. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Aiming to expand the market for Southeast Alaska’s vast renewable hydro resource, Soule Hydro has applied for a Presidential permit for the first electric transmission line delivering Alaska-based renewable electric energy into Canada. [Financial Post]

¶   A naval architect and engineer from Glosten Associates, the company behind a floating offshore wind turbine demonstrator due to be deployed off the south coast of England in 2015, has said that a field of wind turbines floating on Lake Michigan isn’t that far off. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Eolian Renewable Energy has been given the green light to install meteorological towers in northern Vermont. The state Public Service Board granted a ‘certificate of public good’ authorizing the installation of four stations in the towns of Brighton, Ferdinand and Newark. [reNews]

¶   The troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant continues to inch closer to restarting, but federal regulators say significant work remains to be done at the Nebraska plant. [Sioux City Journal]

¶   According to a new report by Radiation and Public Health Project, the county where  the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant sits has the highest cancer rate of Michigan’s 34 most populated counties, and death rates there have more than doubled since the plant opened. [WWMT-TV]

¶   Both of Massachusetts’ US senators sent a letter  to Entergy to urge the owner-operator of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to expand the emergency planning zone and develop a realistic evacuation plan should the plant have a radioactive release. [Capecodonline]

¶   The NRC said Monday that Indian Point 2 in Buchanan can operate while its license renewal application is being reviewed. That could be more than a year. New York state and environmental groups are opposing a new 20-year license. [Westfield Republican]

Opinion:

¶   Amory Lovins: “Separating fact from fiction in Germany’s renewables revolution” Germany’s Energiewende is a bold, challenging, and complex experiment. On the whole, it has been highly successful so far and is on track for its seemingly ambitious goals. [RenewEconomy]

Science and Technology:

¶   General Atomics is working on designs of a nuclear reactor the size of a school bus, built on an assembly line and delivered to operators on a flatbed truck. They say it would be a safer, more efficient fission machine that could go 30 years without refueling. [U-T San Diego]

World:

¶   Danish manufacturer Vestas has fired up a 20 MW test bench at its global testing center in Aarhus and has begun putting the full nacelle of its 8 MW V164 offshore wind turbine through its paces. [reNews]

¶   About $4 billion in private funding would be sucked away from Australia’s solar power and renewable energy industries over the next three years if the Coalition wins government, confidential data obtained from banks and financial analysts shows. [The Canberra Times]

¶   Environmentalists in the Czech Republic say a law will approved by the Chamber of Deputies Friday end support to environmentally friendly production of electricity while maintaining subsidies to burning coal, gas and waste. [Prague Daily Monitor]

¶   A French nuclear research center has been using ordinary pressure cookers to store and transport plutonium and other “sensitive materials” for 50 years, it has been revealed. The news leaked as the center posted a public tender for 4,000 pressure cookers. [Ammon News]

¶   Investing in nuclear energy is down because of costs and waste disposal. The World Nuclear Industry Status Report for this year shows that global reliance on nuclear plants to generate power has fallen to a 10% share of total energy produced down from 17%. [MENAFN.COM]

US:

¶   The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently installed a 132-panel solar electric system at its Bald Hill Fish Culture Station in Newark. The system will supply 75% of current electric demand and will save $200,000 over the life of the panels. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   Bay City, Michigan is looking to buy a chunk of its electric power from a Gratiot County wind-turbine farm. The Bay City Commission on Monday is hearing a proposal to buy $18 million in electricity generated by the wind farm during the next 20 years. [Bay City Times]

¶   University researchers in South Dakota and North Dakota have been awarded $6 million to research using the molecular building blocks of grass, trees and other organic material to replace petroleum and producing chemicals for detergents, plastics and other items. [The Republic]

World:

¶   The Indian government announced a $7.9 billion investment to double its transmission capacity to increase access to power from wind and solar projects. These clean energy projects increase India’s energy supply, and they also create much-needed jobs. [Energy Collective]

¶   The president of Turkey has urged the creation of a low-carbon economy built on renewable energy resources, thereby reducing the share of fossil fuels, during the opening speech of the Solar Energy For World Peace Congress in Istanbul. [Hurriyet Daily News]

¶   The largest self-consumption rooftop solar array in Europe has been completed, and it is of course located in Germany. It covers 11 hectares (27.2 acres), has 33,000 solar panels, and has a generation capacity of 8.1 MW (enough to power about 1,846 homes).[CleanTechnica]

¶   The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant says 10 workers have been exposed to small amounts of radiation while conducting cleanup activities. TEPCO said it is still investigating how the workers were contaminated. [Las Vegas Sun]

US:

¶   Big Oil, in this case the American Petroleum Institute, is demanding that Congress repeal the law that requires ethanol to be blended with gasoline. The effects of such laws extend outside the US. [Globe and Mail]

¶   Four years after raising customers’ bills to meet clean power mandates, Michigan’s biggest utilities are cutting or eliminating the fees. Green energy proponents say this shows the program is a success and should be extended. [Daily Mining Gazette]

¶   St. Francis University, in Loretto, Pennsylvania, is accepting applications for its Renewable Energy Center’s anemometer loan program. The center recently purchased state of the art equipment to assist landowners with wind energy analysis. [The Tribune-Democrat]

¶   King Arthur Flour’s Norwich campus, site of its bakery, school, cafe, and store now features a PV-powered charging station to serve the growing number of electric cars in Vermont.  The charging station was built in cooperation with Green Mountain Power. [Rutland Herald]

¶   In 1959, a reactor in Simi Valley, California, partially melted down, belching radioactive gases. The government said there was no dangerous radioactive release. Full details were made public two decades later, and now the fallout is being cleaned up. [Huffington Post]

Opinion:

¶   “The Future of Electric Energy” The debate about using natural gas or coal for power is very old. But that’s all changing as the cost of traditional energy sources rises, and that of alternative energy falls, and on-site power generation becomes viable. [The Motley Fool]

World:

¶   Scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand estimate that suburban rooftops can generate enough solar power to make commuting carbon-free with enough juice left over to power cities for brief periods, as well. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

¶   Alberta could lead Canada toward replacing about half its necessary transportation fuel with non-petroleum products, says a global expert on biofuels, bioenergy and bioproducts. [Edmonton Journal]

¶   Fossil fuel and nuclear plants around the UK will be closing over the next decade. While power companies are quick to blame the rise of government-supported renewables for plant closures, in reality the writing has been on the wall for a long time. [Carbon Brief]

¶   The European Commission (EC), the EU’s executive, says its mind is still open on the topic, but it is under pressure to set a legal framework for state aid to nuclear projects after several member states, including Britain, sought its guidance. [Irish Independent]

US:

¶   In California, three-fourths of rooftop photovoltaic solar systems are leased, not purchased outright, according to the research group Climate Policy Initiative. Solar City makes the process of going solar almost a no-brainer for property owners. [Green Building Elements]

¶   MidAmerican Energy is intending to develop up to 1,050 MW of additional wind power generation in Iowa by the end of 2015 and has been granted permission to expand by the Iowa Utilities Board. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Natural gas from organic waste is gaining momentum as a renewable energy source, and a local transit agency in Seattle is already on board. Methane is purified and put into gas lines, where it is five to seven times more profitable, fueling local buses. [KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest]

¶   The chairman of Oregon’s GOP says of nuclear waste: “All we need do with nuclear waste is dilute it to a low radiation level and sprinkle it over the ocean—or even over America after hormesis is better understood and verified with respect to more diseases.” [Mother Jones]

World:

¶   Irish investor and asset manager of renewable projects NTR has reported a significantly lower loss of €16.2 million for the year ended 31 March 2013, down from €88.8 million the previous year, as it focused more sharply on wind power and delivered parts of its strategic plan a year early. [Businessandleadership.com]

¶   Drax, which operates the largest coal-fired power station in the UK, has launched a £700 million program to convert three of its six generating units from coal to biomass. This will transform the Drax site from the largest carbon emitters in the UK to one of the largest clean-energy plants in the world. [Financial Times]

¶   Were the new Australian Government to scrap the Carbon Pricing Mechanism, the country would fail to meet renewable energy targets, according to a report compiled for WWF-Australia by research firm RepuTex. The report says even a low price supports the development of renewable energy. [Tax-news.com]

¶   Enel Green Power has started construction works at Taltal, its biggest wind farm in Chile. The plant has a total installed capacity of 99 MW, and will be able to generate up to more than 300 GWh per year. [Newswire Today]

¶   The UK’s first large-scale battery has been connected to the grid in Orkney. Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution is running the trial project on the remote Scottish islands to investigate how the intermittent nature of renewable energy generation can be resolved. [Solar Power Portal]

¶   A feasibility study is being prepared now on how underground ice walls can be used to stop the “urgent problem,” that has also been called a “state of emergency,“ of radioactive ground water leaking into the ocean at Fukushima Daiichi. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   The US DOE expects a nonlinear surge in solar expansion once a key cost threshold is reached, resulting in a rapid, large-scale adoption of solar electricity in the US, with solar providing 27% of the country’s power by mid-century. If so, solar may prove to be the bigger story than shale in the end. [Telegraph.co.uk]

¶   A recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather, demonstrates that climate change is here today and that the energy sector is already suffering from its effects. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   In Vermont, the Washington Electric Co-op has announced that it would limit the size of future solar installations to 5 kilowatts. A system that size will not produce enough electricity to power the average Vermont home, according to a release from Renewable Energy Vermont. [Clean Energy Authority]

¶   The US federal government is preparing to kick off the first ever leasing process for wind and marine renewables off the West Coast. A request for competitive interest off Oregon is due to be published by the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management in the coming weeks. [reNews]

¶   As part of the Obama administration’s clean energy goals, the U.S. Interior Department has established a new Renewable Energy Evaluation Area that could result in the development of more than 3.3 GW of solar capacity. [pv magazine]

¶   Penn State, which is ranked first among universities engaged in alternative energy research by Elsevier Publishing, will launch an online master’s degree in renewable energy and sustainability systems starting this fall. [Gant Daily]

¶   Operators of the San Onofre nuclear power plant say it may cost $4.1 billion and take 15 years to tear down the troubled plant and restore the Southern California coastal site to its pristine condition. [Fresno Business Journal]

¶   In a new report to be released today, prepared at the request of the US Department of Defense, the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project will warn that dozens of reactor sites across the United States are inadequately protected from terrorist attacks that could trigger a meltdown or other disasters. [SouthCoastToday.com]

¶   The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City agreed largely with the earlier decision by US District Judge Garvan Murtha, in the law suit between Vermont and the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, but it did overturn the part saying that Vermont had to pay Entergy’s legal bills. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Opinion:

¶   “Abe’s Japan Is Blind to Scary Nuclear Reality” It’s mind-boggling how disengaged Japan’s leaders have been since their “BP moment” — the March 2011 near-meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. [Bloomberg] (Yes – the opinion piece actually does say “near-meltdown.”)

Science and Technology:

¶   Prof Steven Cowley, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, believes the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant in France could be producing viable electricity in the 2020s. [Irish Times]

¶   A Canadian government granting organization completed a month-long technical due diligence of SHEC Energy’s Ultra Lite solar technology, and found a materials cost reduction of 89% over its previous generation technology. [DigitalJournal.com]

World:

¶   An independent report released today has found that ditching the carbon price in Australia will hit investment in the renewable energy sector – and almost certainly lead to an increase in electricity prices. [ABC Online]

¶   Swedish furniture giant Ikea is spending €16 million to build a windfarm in Leitrim, Ireland, in a move to ensure all power for its outlets in Dublin and Belfast is sourced from renewable energy. [Irish Independent]

¶   EnergyAustralia, one of the big three utilities operating in Australia, says that rooftop solar PV and energy efficiency measures are causing “unprecedented structural change” to the national electricity market. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Dunlop is set to release a 100% fossil fuel free tire that does not use any fossil fuel resources such as petroleum or coal, at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013 and concurrently begin the sale of the product. [Japan Today]

¶   Russia is set to sign an agreement with Iran to build the country’s second nuclear power plant, outgoing Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said. [UPI.com]

US:

¶   The Georgia branch of the Tea Party has aligned itself with solar interests and environmental NGOs to force the monopoly utility Georgia Power to open its network to more solar power. [The Guardian]

¶   Northrop Grumman Corporation has achieved its inaugural greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25% in three years, two years ahead of plan. In 2012, the company realized a 25.3% intensity reduction from its 2008 baseline, resulting in a 26.9% absolute emissions reduction. [Your Renewable News]

¶   California, whose green ambitions helped the solar and wind industries take root, is taking an essential next step by proposing a sharp rise in energy storage. “We can’t just rely on sunlight,” Governor Jerry Brown said, “We’ve got to bottle the sunlight.” [Huffington Post]

¶   According to Southern California Edison, closing the San Onofre nuclear power plant is in the “best interests” of their 4.9 million customers, and those ratepayers should be prepared to pay a portion of the shutdown costs. [Los Angeles Times]

¶   An NRC inspection report finds that NextEra Energy Seabrook has shown the nuclear power plant’s staff is taking necessary steps to address the plant’s concrete degradation, leading the NRC to close all of the remaining action items to address the situation. [The Daily News of Newburyport]

World:

¶   A team from the University of Wollongong won a worldwide competition for a zero-emissions solar house by refitting a humble cottage made of fibrous cement sheet. Criteria for the competition are comfort and generating more energy than the house consumes. [ABC Online]

¶   Germany, Europe’s biggest electricity market, is beating up its traditional utilities as renewables take more market share. RWE AG and EON SE are getting hurt by falling power prices and a shrinking market share this year. They both may need to raise capital. [Businessweek]

¶   The Philippine Department of Energy expects an additional 5,905 megawatts of renewable capacity under a new law. Of 347 projects, there are 177 hydropower plants, 39 geothermal plants, 37 wind farms, 34 solar farms, 29 biomass plants, and 3 ocean energy projects. [Philippine Star]

¶   Workers at Fukushima Daiichi say they do not trust that TEPCO will be able to handle the situation. They believe that another serious accident is inevitable, as power outages and unexplained steam incidents have been part of their lives the past few months. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Ten workers at Fukushima Daiichi were exposed to radiation from contaminated cooling mist. The workers were waiting for a bus when they were sprayed, according to TEPCO. It was unknown how the mist became contaminated. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   IBM announced an advanced power and weather modeling technology to help utilities increase the reliability of renewable energy resources. It combines weather prediction and analytics to forecast the availability of wind power and solar energy accurately. [RTT News]

¶   There appears to be a competition among the branches of the US military as the services work on being green. This trend will only going to intensify going forward. Considering that the US military is the world’s largest fossil-fuel consumer, this is going to matter. [DailyFinance]

Economics and Finance:

¶   A new report from global research house Bloomberg New Energy Finance says cutting the renewable energy target would lead to an increase in electricity bills for consumers, not a reduction, puncturing the rhetoric from incumbent fossil fuel generators.  [RenewEconomy]

Books:

¶   Ironically, Texas is leading the way in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In “The Great Texas Wind Rush,” Kate Galbraith and Asher Price tell the strange, inspiring and at times funny story of how a culture known for Big Oil came to embrace Big Wind. [LubbockOnline.com]

World:

¶   Japanese residents are protesting against the country’s nuclear power policy following revelations that over 300 tons of contaminated water flow daily from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. [CRIENGLISH.com]

¶   South Korea has warned of power shortages this week partly because of heat and as partly because the country is struggling to keep up with demand after six nuclear plants have gone off-line. Three reactors are offline replacing cables with forged safety certificates. [Yahoo! News]

US:

¶   Scituate is the first town in Massachusetts to power all of its government services using only renewable energy, saving $400,000 per year. All municipal services – including water, sewer, municipal buildings, and streetlights – will soon be powered by the sun and the wind. [ENGINEERING.com]

¶   Pacific Gas & Electric,  the same company that sprung to notoriety in the wake of Erin Brockovich, has garnered a lot of positive attention lately as it quickly becomes the leading solar-powered electricity purchaser in the US. [DailyFinance]

¶   A 5.57 MW project in Plymouth, Massachusetts, covers 25 acres of land with 23,670 individual solar panels. The project went online this week, producing energy that will be credited to the local schools, an annual saving of $500,000. [Wicked Local Plymouth]

¶   The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate the finances of three nuclear reactors owned by Entergy Nuclear — Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim in Massachusetts and the FitzPatrick reactors in New York — as a result of a petition by four anti-nuclear groups. [Rutland Herald]

Science and Technology:

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is working with Ecopetrol, the largest oil company in Colombia, to process the residue from sugar cane and palm oil harvesting into fuel ethanol for blending with gasoline. [Biomass Magazine]

World:

¶   The EU-backed All-gas project, the world’s largest project to convert algae into low-cost clean energy using wastewater, has successfully grown its first crop of algae biomass at its site in Chiclana, Southern Spain. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶   A new poll shows that a majority of each of Conservatives, Labor, Liberal Democrats and UKIP voters say that the Government should continue giving incentives for wind and tidal technologies. [Offshore Technology International]

¶   The U.N. atomic energy agency is following closely the leak of radioactive water from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea and is ready to help out if asked, it said on Friday. [GMA News]

US:

¶   Colorado’s first biomass plant is nearing completion. The 11.5-megawatt plant will get much of its wood supply from a 10-year, $8.66 million forest stewardship project to remove insect-infested and diseased trees from the surrounding White River National Forest. [Grand Junction Sentinel]

¶   Minnesota Power says it has found a way to meet Minnesota’s renewable energy standard early and reduce costs at the same time, and Northern States Power says wind projects offer lower costs than other possible resources, like natural gas plants. [MinnPost.com]

¶   Massachusetts has approved 41 landfill post-closure permits for renewable energy facilities, including 39 solar and two wind turbine projects. Solar projects have been approved in Acton, Brookfield, Lancaster, Maynard, Norfolk and Winchendon. More are in the works. [Worcester Telegram]

¶   The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is not giving up the fight to dismantle popular clean energy laws across the country — despite completely failing in its last attempt. This year, its record is 0 for 13, so it is devising a new approach. [ThinkProgress]

¶   A report this week from the nonprofit Institute for Energy and Environmental Research asserts that relying on the development of small modular reactors “is unlikely to breathe new life into the increasingly moribund U.S. nuclear power industry.” [Pittsburgh Business Times]

¶   The Nebraska Public Power District’s board has decided against boosting capacity of the Cooper nuclear plant. The board had earlier decided to try to get an uprate raising output by 18%,but the latest estimated cost is $409 million, $120 million above an earlier estimate. [Westport-News]

Opinion:

¶   “Debunking the Renewable Energy Disinformation Campaign” by Amory Lovins [National Geographic]

Science and Technology:

¶   A new type of solar cell, made from material much cheaper to obtain and use than silicon, could generate as much power as today’s solar cells. Although the potential is just starting to be understood, it has caught the attention of leading solar researchers, and several companies are already working to commercialize it. [MIT Technology Review]

World:

¶   Crowdfunding is providing the financial impetus needed to lift renewable energy projects off the ground, as an investment company raises £700,000 in a month, according to Responding to Climate Change. Since the project launched last summer, it has raised a total of £3 million. [H&V News]

¶   The head of Estonia’s renewable energy association says it should be possible for heat and power systems to fully switch to renewable sources by 2030, if there is political will to do it. [ERR News]

¶   A new report examining renewable energy in the Middle East-North Africa region finds that PV is experiencing rapid growth due to its tremendous potential and continuously decreasing technology costs, with a current pipeline of 2.3 GW. [pv magazine]

¶   Tidal Lagoon Power is pitching a plan to build manmade lagoons with tidal power generation capacity in the UK’s Swansea Bay in the Severn Estuary. The plan is scalable up to $1 billion and could generate enough renewable energy to power 120,000 average U.K. homes by 2018. [Electric Light & Power]

¶   China has completed installing five wind turbines in Tibet at a height of about 4,900 meters above sea level, making it the highest wind farm in the world. A total of 33 wind turbines will be installed on the farm. The facility is scheduled to be connected to the grid at the end of the year. [The New Indian Express]

¶   In Japan, there are reports that prosecutors will lay no charges over the Fukushima nuclear disaster, two-and-a-half years ago, despite a parliamentary committee finding that the meltdowns of three of the plant’s reactors constituted a ‘manmade’ disaster. [ABC Online]

US:

¶   William Ruckelshaus, Lee Thomas, William Reilly, and Christine Todd Whitman, four Republican leaders who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under four Republican presidents, have declared their support for President Obama’s climate action plan. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶   In the second-quarter earnings report from its parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., Hawaiian Electric Co. noted that 18% of its electricity came from renewable sources. The state’s benchmark calls for 15% clean energy by 2015. [Pacific Business News]

¶   The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the state has set a record for biodiesel production. Iowa’s plants produced 56.7 million gallons of biodiesel during the second quarter of 2013. The plants’ production of 99.5 million gallons during the first six months also was a record. [The San Luis Obispo Tribune]

¶   A nonprofit nuclear group released a report Thursday saying that efforts to develop small modular reactors at Savannah River Site and other venues will require “tens of billions of dollars” in federal subsidies. [The Augusta Chronicle]

¶   Minnesota Utility regulators will investigate massive cost overruns at Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear plant. They cut utility’s rate increase request for the state’s 1.2 million customers by more than half and will allow the company to charge only part of the $655 million spent on plant upgrades. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

¶   The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has placed on probation a state-run office in Georgia that oversees the use of radioactive materials at hospitals, research centers and industrial sites, authorities said Thursday. [Online Athens]

World:

¶   Britain has opened the world’s second largest offshore wind farm. It will help generate enough renewable energy to power around half a million homes . The Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm cost £1.3 billion ($2 billion) and has 140 turbines. [IBTimes.co.uk]

¶   Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a leading solar energy company and the world’s largest PV manufacturer, which markets its products under the brand “Yingli Solar”, announced today the official opening of its Australian operations in Sydney, Australia. [CMO]

¶   Calls have been made to ensure that the Welsh Island of Anglesey becomes a world leader in renewable energy. Segen Wales, a partnership between Marine Current Turbines and RWE npower, is consulting on plans for a tidal farm off the Skerries, and Anglesey. [North Wales Chronicle]

¶   Members of the Liberal Democrats political party in the UK have put forth a proposal that would see millions of gasoline- and diesel-burning passenger vehicles banned from British roads by 2040. [Autoblog]

¶   Vietnam’s state-run English-language newspaper published an opinion ad Tuesday objecting to planned nuclear reactor exports by Japan. The ad says , “the Japanese people are opposed to Japan’s export of nuclear technology due to the immense dangers involved.” [The Japan Times]

¶   An Industry Ministry official says the flow of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima Daiichi is worse than previously thought, even as PM Shinzo Abe pledged to step up efforts to halt the crisis. The Voice Russia interviews Arnie Gundersen. [The Voice of Russia]

¶   Radioactive cesium has formed hotspots on the seabed east of Fukushima Daiichi. Several spots two to four miles from the plant had readings in excess of 5,000 becquerels, with one as high as 40,000 becquerels. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶   Vermont, its largest utility and the entity that operates the New England power grid continue to have their differences over where wind power fits in. ISO President Gordon van Welie responded to a letter from Vermont Governor Shumlin complaining about ISO actions. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

¶   Due in part to the increased deployment of wind power, average levelized prices for wind power purchase agreements have fallen about 43 percent since 2009 — going from a high of nearly $70 per MWh in 2009 to around $40 per MWh in 2012. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Washington County, Maryland is partnering with America First, Inc. to launch a waste-to-renewable energy initiative, which utilizes municipal solid waste (MSW) and converts it into a fuel source, at no cost to the County. [San Francisco Chronicle]

¶   Having failed completely in its attempt to repeal state renewable electricity standards during the spring 2013 legislative season, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is shifting gears. Their new strategy is more nuanced. [The Equation: Blog of the Union of Concerned Scientists]

Science and Technology:

¶   A team from the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   German utilities are heaping pressure on the government before September polls to soften green policies that are hurting their profits, with one company hinting it could even move gas or coal plants to countries where it can still make money. [Reuters]

¶   Israeli Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom took part in inaugurating the country’s largest solar field, a 10-megawatt photovoltaic “oasis” developed by SunPower on land belonging to Moshav Mivtahim in the northern Negev. [Jerusalem Post]

¶   Last month, TEPCO, finally admitted what many had suspected – that Fukushima Daiichi was leaking. Now Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority is calling the situation an emergency, and says TEPCO’s plans to stop the leak are unlikely to work. [New Scientist]

¶   The Japanese government will get directly involved in containing rising levels of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant instead of relying solely on the operator, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday, calling it an “urgent issue”. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Wind power became the number one source of new power capacity for the first time in the US last year. According to new reports released by the US DOE, wind energy represented 43% of all new electricity additions and accounted for $25 billion in investments in 2012. [Energy Live News]

¶   The authors of the 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report contend wind sector’s growth underscores the importance of continued policy support and clean energy tax credits to ensure that wind manufacturing and jobs remain in the US. [North American Windpower]

¶   The Obama administration told refiners to blend 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels into the nation’s gasoline supply this year, while paring a specialized ethanol requirement that the oil industry had criticized as too ambitious. [San Antonio Express]

¶   Americans are increasingly installing wind turbines near homes, farms and businesses to generate their own energy, a DOW lab is reporting. The DOE issued its first comprehensive analysis specifically on distributed wind. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   McNairy County, Tennessee is likely to be home by next spring to the two largest solar energy installations in the TVA region. Plans call for the two solar farms near Selmer to have more than 160,000 PV panels spread over parts of 326 acres, with a total output of 40 MW. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   Xcel Energy is giving a financial boost to a first-of-its-kind Minnesota project that aims to install small wind turbines on private land to produce energy for farms, businesses and rural homes, with a $1.1 million grant from its Renewable Development Fund. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

World:

¶   The residue radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear plant has become “an emergency”, the authorities said. The situation is even more serious as a barrier built to contain the water has already been breached, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority warned. [The Tokyo Times]

¶   Radioactivity levels soared 47-fold over just five days in groundwater from a monitoring well on the ocean side of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the plant operator said Aug. 5. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Following safety checks required under rules put in place since the Fukushima disaster two years ago, it may take until July to restart some of the reactors in Japan, according to a government-affiliated institute. [Chicago Tribune]

¶   A scandal over nuclear regulation in South Korea is worsening. Weeks of revelations about the close ties between South Korea’s nuclear power companies, their suppliers and testing companies have led the prime minister to liken the industry to a mafia. [Energy Tribune]

US:

¶   In a clash between renewable energy developers and environmental activists, a California appeals court approved plans to build one of the world’s largest solar power projects about 50 miles south of Silicon Valley. [Budget & Tax News]

¶   NRG has plans to build a renewable energy park in Montville, Connecticut. The park would produce 50 MW of power from a mix of biomass, fuel cell, and solar power. [TheDay.com]

¶   According to the EPA, many contaminated land sites in Kentucky have potential for large-scale photovoltaic solar installations. There are a handful of sites with utility-scale wind potential, and numerous opportunities for landfill gas energy and biopower. [WFPL]

¶   The New England Coalition and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group are asking the Vermont Public Service Board to take into account new information about layoffs at Vermont Yankee as part of the board’s decision on a Certificate of Public Good. [vtdigger.org]

¶   Entergy Nuclear and Green Mountain Power have reached a confidential settlement in the utility’s $6.6 million lawsuit over its increased power costs due to the partial collapse of Vermont Yankee’s cooling towers in 2007 and again in 2008. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Opinion:

¶   From Forbes: “Who’s Gonna Pay For Global Warming?” The middle classes of the developed world will pay with their hard-earned taxes.  The poor of the world will pay with their blood, sweat and tears. And half the species on this planet will pay with their lives. [Forbes]

Science and Technology:

¶   In order to combat the problems from fertilizers, such as ocean dead spots and toxic algae blooms, without loss of yield, researchers at the University of Nottingham are working on a technology that could enable crops to take nitrogen from the air, instead of the soil. [EarthTechling]

¶   Finnish scientists have found a way to turn dead wood into high quality biofuel for less than one euro a litre. They believe they can convert more than half the energy of raw wood – ligno-cellulosic biomass, if you prefer the technical term – into something that will drive a taxi, a tractor or a tank. [Truthdig]

World:

¶   UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg opened the Lincs offshore wind farm in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. The last of the wind farm’s 75 Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbines was connected to the National Grid on Wednesday 24th July, bringing the 270 MW project up to full strength for the first time. [Your Renewable News]

¶   First Solar is set to deliver a total of 155 MW of solar power in Australia. Two solar projects in New South Wales by AGL Energy Limited have achieved financial close. AGL has engaged First Solar to supply the projects with thin-film photovoltaic modules as well as provide services. [EcoSeed]

¶   Japan’s two remaining nuclear reactors will be shut down next month for regular inspections, leaving the country with no source for nuclear energy. Kansai Electric Power Company is set to submit to regulators on Thursday an application to shut down the Number 3 reactor at the Ohi plant in Fukui Prefecture. [The Tokyo Times]

¶   Nearly 10,000 people who worked at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are eligible for workers’ compensation if they develop leukemia, but few are aware of this and other cancer redress programs. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶   Wind turbines tower over rural vistas in the heartland, where the clean energy source is becoming increasingly popular with utility companies that face state-mandated renewable energy standards. Unfortunately, the nation’s aging power grid is hampering those efforts. [Bellingham Herald]

¶   Duke Energy Florida has filed a revised settlement agreement with the Florida Public Service Commission comprising provisions related to the Crystal River nuclear plant, the proposed Levy nuclear project, the Crystal River 1 and 2 coal units, and future gas-fired generation needs in Florida. [Gas to Power Journal]

¶   Mark Cooper, senior fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School and author of a July 17th report forecasting that three dozen reactors are at risk of early retirement, issued a statement on recent nuclear industry events as they appear to indicate he was right. [Your Industry News]

World:

¶   Householders in Scotland will soon be able to apply for interest free loans for installing energy efficiency measures under a new £3 million scheme unveiled by the Government. Loans worth up to £10,000 can be borrowed for systems such as solar panels, micro wind turbines, biomass boilers and heat pumps. [Energy Live News]

¶   There have been 17 reviews of the evidence about wind farms and health published internationally. Each of these reviews concludes that wind turbines can annoy a minority of people who live near them, rather predictably those with pre-existing negative attitudes, but there is no strong evidence that they make people ill. [Green Left Weekly]

¶   North British Distillery and HydroThane UK have won a major industry award for an anaerobic digestion project. The Edinburgh Scotch whisky grain distillery supplies famous brands such as Famous Grouse and  Johnnie Walker Black Label. The £6 million project reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 9,000 tonnes per year. [specifinder.com]

¶   TEPCO says that an estimated 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of tritium from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean since May 2011. [The Japan Times]

¶   Scientists in Japan are trying to identify four objects, all highly radioactive, found in an area evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The first found object is a small pile of what looks like dirt, discovered 9 miles from Fukushima Daiichi. It and the other objects look ordinary, but are extremely radioactive. [MENAFN.COM]

US:

¶    Federal regulators have given Boise-based Gridflex Energy a permit to explore building a dam and reservoir in Central Oregon to use water and pumps as a means of storing energy from such intermittent sources as wind turbines. Water is pumped up hill when demand is low, and used to generate power when demand is high. [News Radio 1310 KLIX]

¶   Two hydropower bills that should expand the production of the clean renewable energy are headed to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature. Both address the need to streamline the permitting processes, one for all small hydropower and conduit projects, the other for Bureau of Reclamation pipes, ditches and canals. [Denver Post]

¶   Duke Energy abandoned plans to build two nuclear reactors in Florida, but Florida Power and Light, which has interest in the project, still believes in nuclear power, and may be looking for ways to press forward on them somehow. [MiamiHerald.com]

World:

¶   Renewable energy projects in Chile have doubled over the last seven months, growing from 16 with a combined capacity of 795 MW of capacity in December 2012 to 24 projects with 1,493 MW. The 24 projects in the pipeline are comprised of seven wind farms, and 17 solar plants. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶   The Canadian Wind Energy Association predicts that Canada can have 55,000 MW of wind power capacity by 2025. GE’s new 2.5-MW Brilliant wind turbine is already providing next-generation designs built for the Canadian climate generating higher output, even at low-wind sites. [Canada.com]

¶   The International Finance Corporation has pledged to bring renewable energy to households in rural areas in Russia. It has signed an advisory services agreement with eastern Russia’s largest energy supplier to develop renewable projects in isolated parts of the country. [Energy Live News]

¶   UK government plans to invest in renewable energy will not be pushed off course by supporters of shale gas exploration, also known as fracking, according to Ed Davey, Britain’s energy and climate chief. He said this after announcing a £66 million package to boost offshore wind in the UK. Responding to Climate Change]

¶   UK Energy secretary Ed Davey warns there is no guarantee on when or even if a deal will be reached that allows work to start on the £10 billion nuclear Hinkley C nuclear power station. He says he is willing to see the project fail if a deal can’t be reached. [Building.co.uk]

¶   Radioactive groundwater at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has risen to levels above a barrier being built to contain it, highlighting the risk of an increasing amount of contaminated water reaching the sea, Japanese media reported on Saturday. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Strata Solar will build and maintain two 20-megawatt solar farms interconnected to the TVA power system through Pickwick Electric Cooperative. TVA will buy the electricity at market rates under TVA’s Renewable Standard Offer program. [Courieranywhere]

¶   The El Segundo Energy Center, a natural gas–fueled, combined-cycle generating facility located near Los Angeles, California, has gone into operation, with a capacity of 550 MW. It can be started quickly, in under an hour, allowing it to back up intermittent renewable technology. [Fort Mills Times]

World:

¶   The UK government has unveiled a long-term strategy that it says will add weight to the UK’s already dominant position in the offshore wind industry, while potentially boosting the economy by £7 billion by 2020. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

¶   Shares in Finnish refiner Neste Oil jumped 21% on Thursday after it forecast higher full-year profits for its biofuels unit and reported strong quarterly results. Neste has built three renewable diesel plants, as it also seeks to move away from traditional oil refining. [Reuters]

¶   Radioactive cesium levels were much higher in water deep underground at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant than in samples taken closer to the surface, TEPCO said on August 1.  [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   A fight broke out in Taiwan’s parliament ahead of a vote on a referendum on a nuclear plant. Several Taiwanese lawmakers exchanged punches and threw cups and bottles of water at each other on Friday. [BBC News]

US:

¶   In Florida, INEOS Bio announced that its Indian River BioEnergy Center is producing cellulosic ethanol at commercial-scale. First ethanol shipments will be released in August. The $130 million, 65-employee operation has an annual capacity of 8 million gallons. [woodworkingnetwork.com]

¶   Pear Energy has announced it is the first company to offer 100% clean, renewable energy nationwide. Available to both homeowners and businesses, Pear Energy makes it easy to apply conventional utility dollars to clean energy without service interruptions or contracts. [MRO]

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has determined solid figures regarding the land use requirements of solar farms per annual gigawatt hour of power produced. [Energy Matters]

¶   The University of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy and two partner organizations are sharing a federal grant to develop a system that could help capture renewable energy from the motion of ocean waves and offshore winds. [The Tribune]

¶   Duluth-based Minnesota Power has cut a deal that will mean it hits its 25% renewable quota 10 years early. It will expand of its Bison wind farm in North Dakota to the utility’s wind power capacity by 50% to supply 25% of power from renewable sources in 2015. [MinnPost.com]

¶   The downsizing of America’s  nuclear fleet appears to be accelerating. Duke Energy, the largest U.S. utility company based in Charlotte, NC, said it would abandon the Levy nuclear reactor project in Florida. [Forbes]

¶   As the power company awaits regulators’ decision on a pending rate increase request for its Minnesota customers, Xcel CEO Ben Fowke said they would need another rate increase for 2014 because of major investments in its nuclear power plants. [MENAFN.COM]

Science and Technology:

¶   Researchers from Monash University in Australia have developed a compact graphene-based energy storage device capable of lasting as long as a conventional battery. The device could be used in renewable energy storage, portable electronics and electric vehicles. [Responding to Climate Change]

World:

¶   The largest solar energy project in the southern hemisphere, costing A$450 million, has been given the go-ahead by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the New South Wales government. Two solar farms will have a combined capacity of 155 MW. [Responding to Climate Change]

¶   AGL Energy, one of the big three power utilities in Australia, says that 9,000 MW of fossil-fuel baseload capacity needs to be taken out of the national electricity market to bring it back into balance. [RenewEconomy]

¶   The world installed 31,100 MW of solar PVs in 2012—an all-time annual high that pushed global PV capacity above 100,000 MW. There is now enough PV operating to meet the household electricity needs of nearly 70 million people at the European level of use. [InvestorIdeas.com]

¶   Germany increased spending on energy research 77% in the past seven years, benefiting mainly renewable-power and efficiency projects. The government spent €708 million on research and development of energy technologies last year, up from €399 million euros in 2006. [Businessweek]

¶   EDF recorded a £903 million UK profits haul in the first half of the year with greatest profits from power generation. The group also said negotiations over building new nuclear power station continue, and it will make a decision on the project by the end of the year. [Aol Money]

US:

¶   UK-based energy company BP has cancelled a sale of US wind farms, according to BP Wind Energy spokesperson Amanda Abbott.  The projects have a gross generating capacity of about 2600 MW. [reNews]

¶   Deepwater Wind LLC of Providence, Rhode Island,  has successfully bid $3.8 million for the rights to develop offshore wind farms in nearly 165,000 acres of specially designated federal waters off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Up to 200 turbines are planned. [Boston Globe]

¶   New York’s Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST) and Dutch company DNV Kema have announced a $23 million joint investment to build the Battery and Energy Storage Technology testing and commercialization center in Rochester, New York. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Exelon Corp, the biggest nuclear power operator in the United States, says that weak prices for power and for natural gas have pushed it to reduce operating and maintenance costs but the company is not yet giving up on any of its reactors. [Reuters]