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]
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