Opinion:
¶ “Solar Power To Surge in 2014?” t looks as though solar power may be seeing an unprecedented surge in 2014, only 175 years after the photovoltaic effect was first identified. Well, better late than never, right? [CleanTechnica]
Science and Technology:
¶ Two studies released by the Alberta government separately show that the incidence of cancer downstream of tar sands development is higher than expected and that air emissions from a certain type of drilling tar sands operation is likely causing health problems. [Energy Collective]
World:
¶ Reuters reported that the full start-up of Swedish utility Vattenfall’s new German coal-fired power station at Moorburg, near Hamburg has been postponed after small cracks were found near some tube welding seams in a part of the plant’s two units. [SteelGuru]
¶ The total grid-connected solar capacity, commissioned under the National Solar Mission, crossed the 2,500-MW mark and stood at 2,632 MW as on March 31, 2014. Of the total, a little over a third of capacity was commissioned in Gujarat. [The Hindu]
¶ The UK’s Conservative party plans to pledge in its manifesto for next year’s general election that it will introduce a moratorium on future onshore wind farms from 2020 on the grounds that they have now become “self-defeating.” They will intensify building offshore wind farms. [Greenwise Business]
¶ France’s wind energy sector has set ambitious goals: the country plans to install 19,000 MW of onshore wind farms and 6,000 MW in offshore farms by 2020. At the current rate of installation, the country has a slim chance of reaching the goal, but there is hope. [Global Voices Online]
¶ The current Crimean crisis in Ukraine has resulted in Finns having second thoughts about the construction of a nuclear power plant with Russian technology. In a poll, only a third of the respondents said permission to build a nuclear power with a Russian reactor should be accepted. [Helsinki Times]
US:
¶ The Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives Act, S. 2189, introduced three Democratic senators, would improve the efficiency of our homes, workplaces, and industry by reinstating and improving important efficiency tax incentives. [Energy Collective]
¶ Florida Power & Light has announced a new solar power option that may soon be available to its customers in The Sunshine State. The proposal is for a voluntary, community-based, solar partnership pilot, under which FPL will install solar-powered facilities in Florida communities. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Despite Nebraska’s strong potential for wind, the state has had difficulty getting major wind development because of a lack of significant tax incentives and the public power structure with a mandate for low-cost energy. Some lawmakers are seeking to change that. [Sioux City Journal]
¶ Owners of at least two dozen nuclear reactors across the US will be required to undertake extensive analyses of their structures and components because they cannot show that their reactors would withstand the most severe earthquake revised estimates say they might face. [Indiana Gazette]
geoharvey 