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]
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