Opinion:
¶ “EPA Unlikely to Buy Argument that Keystone XL Will Not Worsen Climate Change: Agency Concerns Were Ignored” NRDC concludes that the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement failed to address many EPA core concerns. [Energy Collective]
¶ “Solar PV to replace coal as ‘incumbent’ technology” Clean Energy Council CEO David Green says Australia is embarking on a radical, market-driven transformation of its electricity system that will see solar PV become the “incumbent” technology. [RenewEconomy]
¶ “Solar Power Threatening Future for U.S. Electric Utilities” A utility has to maintain the entire infrastructure of wires and poles only to have to buy back electricity generated by rooftop solar at the highest prevailing rate, often more than it can use. [OilPrice.com]
Science and Technology:
¶ Part of ending society’s addiction to fossil fuels is ending our addiction to the plastics they are used to make. There are a number of plastics that offer alternative solutions that do not use fossil fuels at all. [Care2.com]
World:
¶ The Australian Capital Territory is looking for bids on wind power. By offering a fixed 20-year tariff for 200 MW of wind capacity bid at the lowest price, it provides a measure of political certainty to developers in a buyers market. [Echonetdaily]
¶ China pledged on Sunday that it will make sure that 60% of its cities meet national pollution standards by 2020, with pressure growing to make cities livable as hundreds of millions of migrants are expected to relocate from the countryside. [The New Age Online]
¶ The Kraftpojkarna solar plant has been inaugurated in Sweden, becoming the largest operational tracker-based PV project in Scandinavia. The 1 MW facility covers 4.5 hectares along the main highway between Stockholm and Oslo. [reNews]
¶ Fitch Ratings says European utilities are better prepared for temporary disruption to Russian gas supplies via Ukraine than in the past. Gas demand fallen over the past few years, and is continuing, partly due to the increase in renewable energy generation. [Azerbaijan Business Center]
¶ Iran has continued buying parts for its nuclear program using covert means despite mostly keeping to an interim deal with six world powers, despite a UN embargo on selling nuclear military or nuclear materials to Iran that is in place. [The Times of Israel]
¶ Chuo Electric Power is set to open Japan’s first new geothermal power project in 15 years. The new geothermal plant is situated on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, in Kumamoto Prefecture, a region known for its natural hot springs and volcanic activity. [The Japan Daily Press]
¶ The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday his agency would keep working to improve safety after the Fukushima crisis, but no atomic plant could be “100%” safe from natural disasters. [News24]
¶ Last year, French utility firm EDF Energy, currently in charge of the Hinkley nuclear power project, was ordered to shut down the reactor at Dungeness B for five months while it corrected botched work to sea defence fortifications, without any public notice. [Click Green]
US:
¶ Eco-friendly cleaning supply company Method , along with the mayor of Chicago, announced details of the new production facility in Chicago, which it hopes will be the first LEED Platinum certified factory in the consumer packaged goods industry. [Triple Pundit]
¶ A pioneering method of turning waste plastic into fuel is quietly establishing a $20 million-plus foothold in Akron. A startup called Vadxx Energy is setting up a plant where scrap plastic will go in at one end and liquid fuel will come out the other. [Akron Beacon Journal]
¶ The Wyoming legislature has blocked educators’ use of new science standards that include the modern understanding of evolution and climate science. The reason appears to be because they do not like the implications of climate science. [Ars Technica]
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