Science and Technology:
¶ California-based Rennovia announced that they have produced a 100% bio-based nylon polymer. Compared with petroleum-based adipic acid, which is used in making nylon polymer 6,6, using their bio-based version could reduce climate change emissions by 85%. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ Siemens Canada has received an order from Samsung Renewable Energy, Inc. and Pattern Energy Group LP for wind turbines for their Grand Renewable Energy Project in Ontario, Canada. The Grand Renewable Energy park will consist of 100 MW of solar power and 150 MW of wind power. [EcoSeed]
¶ Güssing once very poor and dying, is still growing with new approaches to renewable power. The town of 4000 now has 60 new companies, 1,500 new jobs, and annual revenues of $17 million due to energy sales, all resulting from the growth of the renewable energy sector. [RenewEconomy]
¶ Renewable-energy technologies like solar and wind power, which in many countries have begun to shake up the mix of energy sources, are now also challenging the traditional distribution system. Advocates of distributed generation, envision what they consider a better way. [New York Times]
¶ Canada’s National Research Council has launched a research program aimed at accelerating the deployment of energy storage systems, seen as crucial to the further uptake of renewable energy in Canada. The program seeks to improve the reliability and economy for solar and wind power. [PV-Tech]
¶ Carbon markets are more than 16 times cheaper at cutting greenhouse gases than renewable subsidies paid to power producers, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. [Businessweek]
¶ Former NRC chairman Jaczko says Entergy should shut the Indian Point nuclear power plant instead of continuing to fight local officials who oppose the facility. He says the best solution is for all the interested stakeholders to think about a way to shut plant down on a reasonable time frame. [Businessweek]
¶ Britain’s plans to use public money to subsidize a new generation of nuclear power suffered a setback on Tuesday when EU policy-makers decided to exclude atomic electricity from a list of funding guidelines. Omitting nuclear energy from the guidelines means decisions have to be made on an individual basis. [Reuters]
¶ Turkey’s first nuclear power plant is likely to be delayed by at least a year, a source close to the plans said on Tuesday, as bureaucratic hurdles hamper the $20 billion project. The 4,800 MW plant, being built by Russia’s Rosatom, is already behind schedule, even though it is not scheduled to operate until 2019. [Chicago Tribune]
¶ In its second accident in three days, a worker at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accidentally removed a pipe connected to the contaminated water treatment system. It has resulted in the worker and five others being exposed to radiation, as well as the leakage of several tons of water. [The Japan Daily Press]
US:
¶ A co-owner of a Vermont mountaintop wind power project is complaining that his turbines were ordered to stop sending electricity to the grid in favor of power produced by fossil fuel and nuclear plants. David Blittersdorf said the decision to curtail wind was counter to common sense and unsustainable. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]
¶ When we hear about the huge growth of solar installations in the US, the talk is mostly about solar PV, but there’s enormous potential in solar thermal – used for heating and cooling. Currently, there’s 9 gigawatts (GW) of solar thermal installed in the US, 1 GW less than solar PV. [SustainableBusiness.com]
¶ A pipeline explosion in rural northwestern Oklahoma was sending flames shooting into the night sky early Monday. No injuries have been reported, and residents within two miles of the blast have been evacuated. [CBS News]
¶ A federal court has ruled that Exelon Corp., the biggest U.S. nuclear operator, cannot use $1.69 billion of claimed liabilities associated with decommissioning three nuclear power plants to generate tax benefits. [Bloomberg]
¶ As costs and competition from cheap natural gas force more old nuclear plants to shut down, their owners now complain the electricity market is rigged against them. A president of sales at Entergy said it was a mistake for the market to force decisions scrapping plants based on the everyday cost of power.[New York Times]
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