World:
¶ The International Desalination Association announced a Desalination Academy course, “Integration of Hybrid Technologies with Renewable Energy to Improve the Sustainability of Water Desalination,” at that the International Water Summit. [Pollution Solutions]
¶ China has become a powerhouse for renewable energy. China’s electric capacity additions of hydro, wind and solar PVs have totalled 33.8 GW so far this year, while capacity powered by fossil fuels amounts to 27.0 GW and by nuclear is just 2.2 GW [The Ecologist]
¶ Bolivia has inaugurated its first wind farm after Hydrochina Corporation completed construction and commissioning work. The $7.6 million scheme features two 1.5 MW machines by Chinese manufacturer Goldwind, and may be expanded to 15 MW. [reNews]
¶ UK wind turbines, many in world-leading offshore arrays, sent 2,841,000 MWh of electricity to grid operator National Grid – 10 percent of Britain’s total electricity demand during the month, according to the industry group RenewableUK. [EarthTechling]
¶ TEPCO, the utility that owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, has confirmed the presence of a steam plume coming from what looks like the fifth floor of the building [Unit 3], but the source of the plume is unknown. [WND.com]
US:
¶ New York City’s climate change pollution is down 19% since 2005. As he leaves office, May Bloomberg announced a new initiative focused on large buildings, and ten of the city’s leading residential property management firms say they are accepting the challenge. [Energy Collective]
¶ In December, the wind power industry in the United States was in the middle of what seems to have become a holiday season tradition: the mad dash to get wind projects in the ground before the impending expiration of a federal production tax credit. [Energy Collective]
¶ For the first time, California’s utility-scale solar power production has topped 3 GW. The California ISO, which oversees the grid for much of the state, tweeted that solar generation hit a record 3,048 MW at 12:02 p.m. January 3. [EarthTechling]
¶ Arizona added about 410 MW of solar capacity to its generating portfolio in 2013. This represents the company’s largest annual increase in solar capacity and nearly triples the total brought online in 2012, when it added nearly 150 MW of capacity. [reNews]
¶ Back in 2010 Colorado saw efforts to legalize solar gardens, and that effort appears to have paid off. Now Business Green reports that Fort Collins is actively encouraging the development of solar gardens, starting with a 300 kW array. [Treehugger]
¶ According to a new consumer survey from Navigant Research, favorable attitudes toward a number of clean and renewable energy concepts, particularly solar, wind, hybrids and electric cars, have rebounded significantly from their 2012 levels. [Domestic Fuel]
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