Opinion:
¶ “Despite New Plants, Nuclear Future Still Decades Away” The Energy Department provided financing for the nation’s first new nuclear plants in years, but a generation of new plants remains a long way off. [U.S. News & World Report]
Science and Technology:
¶ Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new type of low-temperature fuel cell that directly converts biomass to electricity with assistance from a catalyst activated by solar or thermal energy. [Science Daily]
¶ EPA has announced that the two primary encapsulated uses of coal ash are safe, so recyclers have no legitimate remaining arguments to support their previous requests for a weak coal ash rule. [Energy Collective]
World:
¶ The Northern Cape is ready to become South Africa’s renewable energy hub through the construction of large solar and wind power stations, Premier Sylvia Lucas said on Friday. [AllAfrica.com]
¶ The Guardian has run an unprecedented banner headline in response to the record-smashing deluges that have inundated the UK: “Climate change is here now. It could lead to global conflict. Yet the politicians squabble.” [Energy Collective]
US:
¶ The US Army has handed out 20 new solar, wind and biomass base contracts under its $7 billion renewables drive. The agreements were signed off by under the US Army Corps of Engineers under the Multiple Award Task Order Contract scheme. [reNews]
¶ California SB 594 was passed, making it legal for power generated from an on-site renewable facility to be counted against other meters. Farms and ranches typically have multiple electrical meters on their property, and so will benefit from the change. [Daily Democrat]
¶ California’s second-largest county wants to designate almost ten percent of its land for renewable energy development, and a cultural protection group is taking up metaphorical arms against the core of the proposed policy. So much for NIMBYism. [KCET]
¶ According to the latest Energy Infrastructure Update report from the FERC, non-hydro renewable energy sources accounted for more than 99% of all new domestic electrical generating capacity installed during January 2014 for a total of 324 MW. [PennEnergy]
¶ The Washington State Senate passed a bill that would create a task force to study nuclear power as a replacement for fossil fuels with a 34-15 vote. It moved to the House Technology and Economic Development Committee on Feb. 20 for a public hearing. [Auburn Reporter]
¶ Upon completion of a new solar array, the 640-member Farmers Electric Cooperative of southeastern Iowa will have over 1,500 Watts of solar per customer on their system, nearly double the #2 utility. It’s also the most reliable utility in Iowa. [CleanTechnica]
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