geoharvey

Opinion:

¶   “Wind Energy Beats Nuclear & Carbon Capture For Global Warming Mitigation” An enduring myth about wind energy and nuclear energy needs to be put to bed. It is that only nuclear can be scaled sufficiently to reduce the impacts of global warming, so wind can be ignored. [CleanTechnica]

¶   “FERC Commissioners: Clean Power Plan Doesn’t Spell Doom for Grid Reliability” All five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission agree that acting on climate change is critical and none indicates the EPA’s plan to cut carbon emissions would hamper grid operations. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

World:

¶   Energy monolith GE has announced that it will be investing equity in three Atria Power wind projects currently under construction in India — a move that goes a long way towards GE’s commitment to invest $1 billion annually in the global renewable energy industry. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The Australian Renewable Energy Agency today celebrated a major milestone with the installation of the first solar panels at AGL’s large-scale solar plant in Nyngan, New South Wales. The project will have 1.35 million panels and a capacity of 102 MW. [MarineLink]

¶   Small, renewable energy projects in South Africa are starting to supplement the limited coal-fired power available from Eskom and the municipalities. About 1,000 MW is expected to be delivered from renewable sources such as wind and power by the end of this year. [SA Commercial Prop News]

¶   One of Australia’s oldest and most polluting coal-fired power stations, Energy Brix in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, is being shut down, the plant’s owner announced. It is the first coal plant in the state to close in decades. Environmentalists say its power is no longer needed. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Wind power is officially the cheapest source of energy in Denmark, according to the nation’s government—and by 2016, it claims the electricity whipped up by its newest turbines will be half the price of fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. [Motherboard]

¶   An independent judicial panel of citizens has concluded that three former TEPCO executives should face criminal charges in connection with the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the latest development in the search for justice following the accident. [Wall Street Journal]

US:

¶   SunPower Corp. today announced it has started construction on the 135-MW Quinto Solar Project in Merced County, California. After completion, which is scheduled for late 2015, the Quinto project is expected to generate enough electricity for 40,000 homes. [AZoBuild]

¶   NextEra Energy Resources has announced plans to begin construction on a wind farm in northeast Hockley County, Texas. The plan is set to have 47 wind turbines on the site by 2016, producing 80 MW. The name of the farm will be Red Raider Wind. [LubbockOnline.com]

¶   Members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 29 told a congressional committee that they are working closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make sure the coal-averse Clean Power Plan doesn’t destabilize the grid. [PennEnergy]

¶   Flexible alternating current transmission systems have been implemented in electric grids since the 1920s, but growing renewable energy deployment has increased their demand. According to Navigant Research, the market for them to 2022 will be $42 billion. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Exelon is getting into the fuel cell business with a commitment to finance projects at 75 commercial facilities throughout the US. The company will provide equity financing for California-based Bloom Energy, which uses fuel cells to produce electricity from natural gas. [Businessweek]

World:

¶   The longer the world waits to act on climate change, the more costly it will be to rein in the environmental impacts of releasing heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, according to a White House report on climate change. [Christian Science Monitor]

¶   An international arbitration court ruled on Monday that Russia must pay $50 billion for expropriating the assets of Yukos, the former oil giant whose CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky fell foul of the Kremlin. [Reuters]

¶   France’s planned energy law will mobilize about €10 billion ($13.4 billion) in tax credits and low-interest loans to spur energy efficiency and renewable generation, according to Environment Minister Segolene Royal. [Businessweek]

¶   Since 2010, 35 solar farms, totaling approximately 257 MW, have been constructed under the project and connected to the utility grid in Northeastern Thailand. A ceremony held earlier this month in Surin Province commemorated the launch of the installations. [Today’s Energy Solutions]

¶   In China, M&G Chemicals announced a joint venture with Anhui Guozhen CO, using PROESA technology licensed by Beta Renewables to convert 970,000-1,300,000 metric tons per year of agricultural residues into cellulosic ethanol, glycols and by-products such as lignin. [Biobased Digest]

¶   Onshore wind turbines market in Germany posted strong growth in the first half of 2014 with some 1,723 MW generation capacity having been installed as against 1,038 MW in the corresponding period last year, a growth of 66%. [Big News Network.com]

¶   PV installations in Germany generated significantly higher profits than onshore installations despite producing less electricity overall, according to a new study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research. [pv magazine]

¶   On the second anniversary of a scheme aimed at boosting Japan’s renewable energy after the Fukushima crisis, its powerful industry ministry is taking steps critics say will choke off solar investment and pave the way for a return to nuclear power. [eco-business.com]

¶   After months of attempting to negotiate with local residents in Fukushima, the Japanese government has abandoned its attempt to purchase land to store nuclear waste from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactors. [the Diplomat]

US:

¶   A new report by The Analysis Group, “EPA’s Clean Power Plan: States’ Tools for Reducing Costs and Increasing Benefits to Consumers,” shows that states seem to already possess the tools needed to cut down on carbon emissions, boost the economy and protect consumers financially. [Energy Collective]

¶   Under a system called “community choice,” a town can become the bulk buyer of electricity on behalf of its residential and small business customers. Marin Clean Energy in California has fought for nearly decade to offer service in their commitment to renewable energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶   A total of $250 million in state grant funding is available to fund clean-energy generation projects, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday. Funding will be for wind farms, fuel cells, biomass facilities, renewable biogas and the upgrading of types of hydropower projects. [WatertownDailyTimes.com]

¶   New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has launched a $27 million initiative to build the market for high-efficiency, low-emissions wood heating systems in the state. The money is coming from New York’s share of proceeds from the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. [Press & Sun-Bulletin]

¶   The “new reality” facing electricity consumers and their utility companies is that renewable energy is meeting an increasingly larger share of U.S. energy needs, according to a report Ceres and Clean Edge. That translates into more and better choices and a clean energy future. [Triple Pundit]

Opinion:

¶   “The Coal Industry Has Been Fear-Mongering for 40 Years Now” The fossil fuel industry has been promising catastrophe coming with regulation for decades. But if the sky fell because of the EPA’s proposed climate rule like promised, it would the first time the industry guessed it right. [The New Republic]

¶   “Energy diversity critical to U.S. economy” The uncertainty around the future prices of natural gas, oil, coal, uranium, and others means uncertainty regarding the cost to produce electricity. A diversified portfolio is the most cost-effective tool available … [Fierce Energy]

World:

¶   Gamesa has added two new Brazilian wind projects worth 214 MW to its order pipeline. According to the website, the Spanish wind manufacturer will supply 166 MW to Companhia de Energias Renováveis plus 48 MW to Eletrobras subsidiary Eletrosul. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Kyocera and partner SPCG have achieved full commercial operations at a solar cluster totalling 257 MW in Thailand. The string of 35 plants has been under development in Surin Province since 2010 and together constitute one of the largest PV projects in south-east Asia. [reNews]

¶   Babcock and Wilcox Company announced that B&W Vølund, a subsidiary of B&W Power Generation Group, was awarded a contract exceeding $80 million to build a 280 MWth biomass boiler system for the Skærbækværket district heating and power plant. [BioEnergy News]

¶   NextEra Energy Canada has received renewable energy approval for the 102 MW Goshen wind project to be constructed adjacent to Lake Huron in Ontario.  Goshen will employ 62 1.6 MW units and one 1.56 MW machine on 80-meter towers. [reNews]

¶   Atomic power’s share of global electricity supply is at the lowest level since the 1980s and may fall further without major new plant construction, according to a draft of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014. [Thomson Reuters Foundation]

¶   The share of renewables in Germany’s gross electricity consumption surged to a record 28.5% in the first half of 2014, up from 24.6% in the year-earlier period, according to preliminary figures from the federation of energy and water industries BDEW. [Recharge]

US:

¶   The American Wind Energy Association has just come out with some facts and figures about the so-called hidden cost of wind power. According to AWEA’s calculations the “hidden cost” for conventional power plants in Texas is 17 times more than wind. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Small natural gas leaks from old buried pipes may be more common than previously thought, according to the preliminary findings of a new methane mapping project being carried out by Environmental Defense Fund and Google Earth. [Energy Collective]

¶   Arizona Public Service Co. is looking to enter the rooftop residential solar market with a plan to install and operate panels on as many as 3,000 Phoenix-area homes. It’s a departure for the Arizona’s largest utility, which until this point has only built large utility-scale projects. [Phoenix Business Journal]

¶   Two Wisconsin utility companies — once among the early leaders in promoting solar power — now say the solar industry has grown so much it is hurting their business and their customers. They are asking state regulators for rate changes that they call a matter of fair treatment. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   Faced with increasing interest in renewable energy generation, the Chicopee, Massachusetts Planning Board and Planning Department is developing guidelines for generating power from sun or wind. The plan allows home and business solar installations without special permits. [MassLive.com]

¶   Oahu could become the first place in the United States to connect the energy harvested from ocean waves to a power grid. Northwest Energy Innovations, a private company, will start testing a prototype in September, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. [The Tribune]

¶   Green Mountain Power is expanding its groundbreaking heat pump pilot program to Montpelier as part of the city’s major initiative focused on making Montpelier the first net zero capital city in the country. [vtdigger.org]

Opinion:

¶   “Boom-or-Doom Riddle for Nuclear Industry” The nuclear industry paints a rosy picture of its future. Detractors of the industry say that industry projections are a pipe dream and that nuclear power will not expand at that pace, if at all, in the face of solar and wind power growth. [Truthdig]

Science and Technology:

¶   A new study finds that when climate models factor in the temporary warming and cooling impact of El Niño and La Niña, they accurately predict recent global warming. It agrees with other studies leading one climatologist to say, “Global temperatures look set to rise rapidly.” [Energy Collective]

¶   With an EPA-rated range of 265 miles per charge, the Tesla Model S is the longest-range electric car you can buy today. In an interview with AutoExpress, though, Elon Musk revealed that a 500-mile battery will be possible “soon” … but at an exceedingly high cost. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   Plans to replace up to 70% of the diesel-powered electricity generation on Australia’s Lord Howe Island with hybrid renewables generating capacity and storage have received financial backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. [CleanTechnica]

¶   GE Energy Financial Services, part of the GE conglomerate, has undertaken investments in three wind energy projects in India, the company said on Monday. These wind farms, being constructed by Atria Power, have a combined capacity of 126 MW. [NDTV]

¶   Soon, all of Germany’s coal-fired power plants will be dependent on imports, with the country expected to halt coal mining in 2018 when government subsidies end. US exports of power plant-grade coal to Germany have more than doubled since 2008. [Times Colonist]

¶   Solar Frontier has signed an agreement with the town of Hiraizumi to build a 13 MW CIS megasolar power plant. To be located on 30 hectares of land designated for commercial use, the utility-scale power plant has received support of local residents. [Energy Business Review]

¶   An Australian-made energy storage system is now on site in Western Sydney. Built for Transgrid by Magellan Power, the system has 400-kWh lithium polymer (LiMnNiCoO2) batteries and an advance bi-directional inverter. [Energy Matters]

US:

¶   Con Ed filed a proposal for a program it hopes can defer costs to build a $1 billion substation. Instead, $200 million would go to novel customer-side load management programs, and $300 million toward more traditional utility investments to reduce load from specific areas by 2018. [Energy Collective]

¶   Amazon Web Services and Greenpeace have become embroiled in another slanging match over the cloud provider’s green credentials, due its supposed lack of energy-efficient data centres to power its services. [V3.co.uk]

¶   The Army has awarded the final round of solar technology contracts that will support a $7 billion renewable and alternative energy power production for Department of Defense installations Multiple Award Task Order Contract. [AZoCleantech]

¶   Clarkson University, partnering with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, National Grid and others, is designing a grid that will provide renewable and conventional electricity to many entities in the village of Potsdam, New York. [WatertownDailyTimes.com]

¶   Dominion North Carolina Power dedicated the company’s first renewable power grid at Kitty Hawk. The project will be used to reduce the amount of power the Kitty Hawk regional office pulls from the grid. It has four wind turbines for 13 kW and 6 kW of solar PVs. [The Outer Banks Voice]

¶   A Texas Empowerment report released by Choose Energy shows that about one in three Texans choose renewably sourced energy options. That’s 100% more than any other state, according to Levente McCrary, spokeswoman for Choose Energy. [Tyler Morning Telegraph]

Economy and Finance:

¶   In the transition towards a post-carbon future, infrastructure built today for fossil fuels could easily become stranded assets which burden investors and taxpayers with sunk costs. The future looks bleak for coal, and we should not invest in it. [Resilience]

World:

¶   Kudos Energy, a new Australian start-up solar company, believes that the Australian market for rooftop solar leasing for the residential and commercial sectors could reach $100 billion in the next decade. Kudos is the brainchild of two leading private equity investors. [CleanTechnica]

¶   According to the Chilean specialized media ‘Electricidad,’ Abengoa, the world leader in the Concentrated Solar Power market, is planning to invest up to $10 billion in renewable energy infrastructures in Chile. [CSP World]

¶   Scottish businesses have invested almost £50 million in onsite power stations in recent years because of concerns over cost and security of supply. There are now 40 commercial-scale renewable energy projects including wind turbines, solar PVs and anaerobic digestion plants. [Scotsman]

¶   Secretaries of the ministries concerned will brief Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once a month on key infrastructure projects. This decision was taken at a meeting after the secretary of the Planning Commission presented India’s infrastructure targets and achievements. [Business Standard]

¶   From an initial targeted development of 23 MW, Filipino firm Eastern Renewables has been moving its goal higher to accomplish an expansion of up to 100 MW for biomass projects. Eastern Renewables is the arm for renewable energy ventures for Eastern Petroleum Corporation. [Manila Bulletin]

¶   Over £45 million has been invested in commercial-scale renewable energy projects across the UK county of Hampshire. Farmers, businesses, communities and public sector organisations in the county have taken advantage of renewable energy projects, with 74 now operating. [Daily Echo]

US:

¶   The old US microgrid model, built for power security and based on fossil fuels, is evolving. Microgrid development is expected to grow 70 to 80% in the next three years, with many hew projects at private commercial operations and including solar PV, battery storage and biogas. [Energy Collective]

¶   With a new battery pack built in partnership with LG Chem, it seems like GM plans to usurp Tesla’s plans to deliver a long-range and affordably priced EV to the masses. The rumors of a 200-mile GM-branded EV have been around for a while, and now the car may appear soon. [CleanTechnica]

¶   In the past few years a tremendous technological transformation has occurred. The barriers for electric companies to entertain unprecedented growth potential by devouring a large piece of the oil companies’ share of the US energy market for transportation is now clearly in reach. [Energy Collective]

¶   Ohio green energy advocates want to ensure the state’s new two-year freeze on renewable energy mandates for utilities becomes just that — a timeout from requirements set forth under a 2008 law and not a backdoor strategy to repeal it after this fall’s gubernatorial election. [Toledo Blade]

¶   A new project would transform 25 acres of brownfield in Lackawanna, New York into a 4 MW solar farm with 13,000 solar panels. The project would be near a related wind project with its 14 wind turbines on the Hamburg and Lackawanna waterfront. [Buffalo News]

¶   Renewable-energy advocates are rallying against a proposed utility fee for Utah residents who have solar panels and wind turbines, saying it could hinder further development of renewable energy. [Washington Times]

¶   This week a committee at the National Academy of Sciences released a report entitled, “Lessons Learned From the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety of US Nuclear Plants.” Those lessons are summarized as “Safety first, complacency never, shift to renewables.” [allvoices]

World:

¶   Russia is a major exporter of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas. Sales of these fuels accounted for 68% of Russia’s total export revenues in 2013, based on data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service. [Energy Collective]

¶   A consortium of Australian energy groups look to create a “mini electricity” system relying on local renewable energy production and storage. The search has begun for a suitable town to become Australia’s first “zero net energy town,” using renewables, storage and a local mini-grid. [RenewEconomy]

¶   The signals coming from Australia’s Federal Government say it is preparing to cut the renewable energy target back. But Melbourne and Sydney have set ambitious targets to slash carbon emissions and are determined to make it happen, whatever direction Canberra takes. [ABC Online]

¶   A project to build 65 MW of solar power generation in Uruguay has successfully reached financial close. The Spanish, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, has signed for $70 million in funds from Norway’s DNB Group. Spanish bank, Santander is also financing $24 million. [PV-Tech]

¶   Construction is starting at the Westermeerwind nearshore wind farm in the Netherlands after the developer reached financial close on the project. It will feature 48 3-MW turbines between 500 metres and 1100 metres from the dikes of the Noordoostpolder. [reNews]

¶   Restarts of reactors at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Japan’s Ehime Prefecture will be delayed until at least next year because the site does not meet safety standards. The emergency headquarters building at the facility needs to be completely replaced. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶   Seneca Mountain Wind issued a statement saying it has ceased development its project in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. It has withdrawn a request to connect the project to the New England power grid and it has terminated all its leases it had to build the turbines. [Greenfield Daily Reporter]

¶   A lobbyist for Exelon Corporation recently bragged about killing the wind industry and claimed they would kill the solar industry next. Now the company favors extension of a net metering cap in Massachusetts, though in a watered-down form. It remains to be seen why. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Georgia Power will add 34 MW of solar PVs via three large projects following an approval by the Georgia Public Service Commission in December. In addition, they will add an additional 7.2 MW at smaller sites through a small- and medium-sized initiative program. [Macon Telegraph]

¶   Two months after an Angelina County judge decided to allow the Aspen Power’s trustee to recommence operations at the biomass facility, wood chip conveyor belts were up and running. Traffic in and out of the facility signaled a positive movement for the restart of the facility. [KTRE]

¶   Researchers at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Minnesota are working together on an initiative to lower energy consumption and introduce renewable energy generation to crop, dairy, and swine production systems. [Morris Sun Tribune]

¶   The Baltimore Interfaith Solar Co-op allows members to purchase home solar systems from an installer together, negotiating a group rate. Despite its title, the Baltimore co-op is open to all regardless of church membership or religious affiliation. [Baltimore Sun]

¶   California could meet its energy needs with renewables alone, according to Stanford University researchers. The authors of a recent study say a transition scenario is economically as well as technically feasible. [Deutsche Welle]

¶   Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning has said he hopes to announce plans to expand the utility’s fleet of power reactors by the end of the year. The company is studying six existing plants and new sites for potential reactor construction. [Nuclear Street – Nuclear Power Portal]

Science and Technology:

¶   A new report has found that the number of incidents of wind turbines catching fire is a sizeable issue for the wind industry, and a problem that is not being accurately reported on, with an estimated ten times more fires occurring than are actually being reported. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   Global prospects for wind power are rising despite disappointing 2013 numbers, say analysts at Navigant Research. Wind power now supplies about 3% of the world’s electricity, but Navigant expects wind power to deliver 7.3% of global electricity by 2018. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Bradford Council has become the first local authority in the UK to back plans for its schools to run on solar power, as it emerged that nationally just five schools have installed renewables that qualify for feed-in tariff incentives in the past year. [Business Green]

¶   Alice Springs can expect 4% of its electricity supply to come from solar by the end of 2015. Already Australia’s largest tracking solar farm, the 3.1 MW expansion of Uterne will bring its total capacity to 4.1 MW. [ABC Online]

¶   Plans for a series of new UK offshore wind farms have been thrown into doubt after the Government disclosed it would only award enough subsidies this autumn to fund one such project. Wind farm developers for other projects will be forced to wait to find out about funds. [Telegraph.co.uk]

¶   Ventinveste, a consortium of some of Portugal’s top energy and engineering companies, and Ferrostaal GmbH, a worldwide project developer, will build four wind farms in the country, in a €220 million investment that will strengthen the country’s renewable energy cluster. [AltEnergyMag]

¶    Research sponsored by business groups and the mining industry shows Australia’s 20% renewable energy target (RET) will cost the economy $29 billion and 5000 jobs by 2020. This is in direct conflict with other recent reports finding consumers would be better off with the RET. [Sydney Morning Herald]

¶   European power sector stakeholders are fully aware that a substantial transition is taking place there. A poll taken during POWER-GEN Europe revealed that half of the delegates present expected that the European market for large power plants will never return. [Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine]

¶   According to a new report by analyst Frost & Sullivan published this week, global solar power market revenues are set to more than double to $137 billion by 2020, up from just under $60 billion in 2013. [Business Green]

¶   Kudankulam nuclear power project’s second 1,000 MW unit is expected to be commissioned shortly, the government said on Thursday. The power project, located in Tamil Nadu, has two units of 1,000 MW generation capacity each. [The Hindu]

US:

¶   The National Hockey League is the first A-list pro sports league to issue a Sustainability Report. In its report, the NHL took on climate change deniers and set a new high bar for all the other pro sports leagues in the US. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The US Energy Department and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have awarded funding totalling $1.35 million to four distributed wind companies to help drive down the cost of small- and medium-sized wind energy systems. [reNews]

¶   More than three years after the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts made a bet on green energy, the first municipal solar sites on Martha’s Vineyard are now feeding power back into the grid. But getting to this point has been anything but easy. [Martha’s Vineyard Gazette]

¶   New York State has awarded seven research teams $3.3 million to develop smart grid technologies to “enhance grid performance, reduce the risk of power outages, and lessen environmental impacts and energy consumption, all while reducing the cost of power delivery.” [SmartMeters]

¶   A new Stanford study finds that it is technically and economically feasible to convert California’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one powered by wind, water, and solar. The plan could create tens of thousands of jobs and save billions of dollars. [Phys.Org]

¶   Wind power makes up 15% of the energy supply that Xcel Energy provides to customers and can meet the energy needs of about 2.5 million homes. At one point in May 2013, wind accounted for more than 60% of the power on the Colorado system, setting the national record. [Intelligent Utility]

Science and Technology:

¶   As governments struggle to find practical routes forward with positive outcomes for CO2 mitigation, attention is turning to dealing with other greenhouse gases, particularly methane. A number of methane emission initiatives are now underway or being planned. [Energy Collective]

¶   Planning is underway to replace the aging US power network with a new, “smart” grid, one that’s energy efficient and flexible enough to handle variability in both supply and demand — one comprised of microgrids that can isolate electrical crises before they spread. [KQED QUEST]

¶   Google wants to see the size of inverters shrink – and will award a million dollars to the person or team that comes up with the best design. An inverter can take the DC current produced by the solar modules or wind turbines and converts it to AC. [Energy Matters]

World:

¶   UK renewable-power projects will compete for guaranteed payments totaling more than £200 million ($340 million) a year of as part of its first auction of contracts to spur low-carbon electricity. By 2021 as much as £1 billion a year may be available, it said. [Bloomberg]

¶   Increased focus on curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants is fuelling the global solar power market. Coupled with favourable legislation and the need to enhance energy self-sufficiency and security, these factors will help the solar power market grow rapidly. [Greentech Media]

¶   South Australia’s Tindo Solar is being provided up to $20 million senior debt finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to locally manufacture, install and own rooftop solar arrays and sell the power to building occupants under a power purchase agreement. [Manufacturers’ Monthly]

¶   All of Japan’s nuclear reactors remain shut down as the country heads into the hottest days of summer, when demand for energy is at its highest. Utilities are boosting production at thermal plants and the government is calling on locals and companies to save energy. [Nippon.com]

¶   The Government of Rwanda is preparing to commission in early August 2014 the first utility-scale solar PV power plant in East Africa with a production capacity of 8.5 MW. The project has commenced testing phase of up to 20% of its total capacity. [AltEnergyMag]

¶   First Solar has submitted an application to build a huge solar power plant in Chile. According to a press release from the Centre for Renewable Energy, the plant will be one of the biggest in the world and the largest in Latin America at 370 MW. [ValueWalk]

¶   The European Commission approved the U.K. government’s renewable energy contracts and so-called capacity payments, saying the program that benefits power plants complies with state-aid rules. [Businessweek]

¶   Up to 1.12 trillion becquerels of radioactive cesium are estimated to have been dispersed during work last summer to remove debris at reactor 3 at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, TEPCO said Wednesday. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶   According to data from the Solar Industries Association, more than 44% of solar capacity installed in the US during the first quarter was non-utility. Adding that amount to the utility solar power indicates that solar is leading the nation in terms of installations. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Though solar power is still far from surpassing coal as America’s primary energy source, the number of people employed by the solar industry has surpassed the number of coal miners. There are about 142,000 people in the US workforce working at least half time on solar. [CleanTechnica]

¶   On Wednesday, US Senator Chuck Schumer unveiled a proposal for a federal tax credit to reimburse farmers for 30% of the cost of anaerobic digesters. Such systems can be costly, but the electricity from the waste of 400 cows is enough to power 185 average households. [Albany Times Union]

¶   Last year, California created a mandate calling for 1,325 MW of energy storage projects by 2020. As of mid-2014, more than 2,000 MW of energy storage projects have already applied to interconnect with the state’s grid. [Energy Collective]

Opinion:

¶   “Will the micro-grid put major power companies out of business?” There is now a range of units such as cogeneration plants, which deliver heat and electricity, wind turbines and solar PVs, owned by a whole raft of municipalities, households and businesses. [The Guardian]

Science and Technology:

¶   A new material developed at MIT is able to convert 85% of incoming solar energy into steam — a significant improvement over recent approaches to solar-powered steam generation. Very little heat is lost in the process, and it can produce steam at relatively low solar intensity. [Energy Collective]

World:

¶   Germany and the United Kingdom have 18 of the 30 most polluting energy plants in the European Union, according to a study funded by the European Union. All of the EU’s most polluting plants are coal-fired. [EurActiv]

¶   Toyota will have at least three production fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle models on sale within ten years. That’s the official word from the company’s US National Manager Advanced Technology Vehicles, Craig Scott. [Motoring]

¶   Australia’s household solar revolution has caught the government-owned electricity sector by surprise. More than one million Australians have already installed solar panels on their rooftops, which has caused demand for electricity from the grid to plummet. [Huffington Post]

¶   Clean energy investment continued to grow in the second quarter. Investment was up 9% at $63.6 billion during the April-June period, with China the largest investor followed by the US, according to the latest quarterly update from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [Business Spectator]

¶   Indian Railways is all set to give a push to its plans to generate renewable energy. The national transporter is planning to generate 20% of its total energy requirement from solar and wind energy over the next couple of years. [Financial Express]

¶   The UK government will retain its 2023-27 target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, resisting reported pressure to water it down. Current estimates are that UK and EU levels of ambition on carbon-cutting “are likely to be extremely close”. [Recharge]

¶   Located in the Engadine Valley in Switzerland, Zernez has set the goal of using only renewable sources to meet its energy requirements for buildings in the municipality, thus reducing CO2 emissions to zero. [Nanowerk]

¶   Top officials at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, charged with the selection and construction of the nuclear waste facilities, were replaced last month because of lack of progress and in view of the planned restart of nuclear power plant operations. [The Japan News]

US:

¶   California officials have ordered an emergency shut-down of 11 oil and gas waste injection sites and a review more than 100 others in the state’s drought-wracked Central Valley out of fear that companies may have been pumping toxic waste into drinking water aquifers there. [Resilience]

¶   Consumers Energy is choosing four Michigan farms to produce renewable energy with anaerobic digesters. The farms could generate electricity under long-term contracts that total 2.6 MW, enough to power about 2,800 homes. [Your Renewable News]

¶   The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction for the 250-MW Beacon Solar Power Project. This new solar array is an important component of LADWP’s complete power supply transformation. [Sierra Wave]

Science and Technology:

¶   Just how fast the California’s climate is changing became apparent Monday when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released figures showing the first six months of this year were the hottest the state has ever recorded. [Willits News]

¶   The globe is on a hot streak, setting a heat record in June. That’s after the world broke a record in May. NOAA’s climate monitoring chief said both the June and May records were driven by unusually hot oceans, especially the Pacific and Indian oceans. [Lexington Herald Leader]

World:

¶   Research from the Energy Economics and Management Group in the School of Economics shows that wind energy – particularly in South Australia and Victoria – has a big impact on wholesale prices, even at peak demand time when the wind is least powerful. [CleanTechnica]

¶   New South Wales aims to be “Australia’s answer to California”, accelerating the use of renewable energy and finding new ways to curb waste, in a push that puts it at odds with Coalition counterparts in other states and at the federal level. [Sydney Morning Herald]

¶   For the first six months of 2014, China’s power consumption has recorded an increase of 5.3%. For the same period, coal used in generation declined year-over-year by three grams per kWh to an average of 317 grams per kWh of electricity produced. [Market Realist]

¶   EDF en Canada has reached agreement with three aboriginal groups on the 350 MW Rivière-du-Moulin wind project in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve in Quebec. The project is in a territory of interest for the Innu First Nations. [reNews]

¶   Iberdrola Ingeniería and Gamesa have entered into an agreement with Honduras-based Grupo Terra to build a turnkey project to cost $83.8 million. The new 50 MW wind farm will supply the electricity needs of 100,000 homes. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   The Australian Federal Parliament voted to scrap the country’s carbon price last week, causing concerns as to the future of PV in the country. However, the Australian Solar Council says that the move won’t halt the growth of solar. [pv magazine]

US:

¶   US agriculture could provide up to 155 million tonnes of crop residues and 60 million tonnes of manure for the generation of clean fuels and electricity in 2030, according to new analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists. [BioEnergy News]

¶   According to the latest  Energy Infrastructure Update from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, solar and wind energy constituted more than half of the new generating capacity in the country for the first half of 2014. [AlterNet]

¶   While the politics of fracking has taken hold of election-year energy discussions in Colorado, the wind power industry is quietly surging. On Friday Vesta Wind Systems announced it was hiring 800 new workers, after receiving orders for 370 turbines over the last few weeks. [ThinkProgress]

¶   Schneider Electric has partnered with Green Energy Corp to provide standardized microgrid solutions for energy clients. The partnership combines Schneider Electric’s experience in distributed energy resources with Green Energy Corp’s open source Linux tools. [SmartMeters]

¶   New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation advocating shutting down the Indian Point nuclear plant as an alternative to proposed engineering changes to the facility that have largely been rejected by Entergy, the plant’s operator. [Wall Street Journal]

Opinion:

¶   “The Politics of Renewable Energy” In 2011, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of leading scientists selected by the United Nations, found that there are few, if any, technological restrictions to powering the world through the use of clean energy. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

World:

¶   UK manufacturers are ­increasingly looking to generate their own power to sidestep fears of rising energy prices and threats to supply security, according to the Confederation of British Industry. New power options include wind, solar, and anaerobic digestors. [Express.co.uk]

¶   The UK government is expected to announce a cut in subsidies for small-scale hydro power schemes this week in a move that industry leaders said could kill off further investment in the sector and put Scottish jobs at risk. [Scotsman]

¶   In India, power demand is on an upswing due to lengthening summers, but declining monsoon rainfall has caused apprehension about hydropower output. With coal production dwindling, Coal India Limited has been asked to increase output. [SteelGuru]

¶   Another leak of radioactive water was found in the piping of water used to cool the spent fuel pool in the undamaged No. 5 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a sign of possible deterioration in the system. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶   Over the next 20 years the role that coal plays in providing power to Texas will continue to diminish, perhaps just not as fast as experts had hoped.  Rising prices of natural gas have slowed coal’s reduction putting its numbers at about 23% of the Texas generating capacity. [Energy Collective]

¶   California has announced $26.5 million in grants for microgrid projects that put renewable integration front and center. Applicants should be able to incorporate low-carbon energy resources with energy storage and on-site energy management. [Energy Collective]

¶   No state has done more than California to fight global warming. But a deepening drought could make that battle more difficult and more expensive. The state’s hydroelectric dams are running low after three parched winters. [SFGate]

¶   At least five major transmission projects — some estimated to cost more than $1 billion to build — have been proposed to connect New England to plentiful hydropower sources to the north. The projects, however, are spurring opposition and debate. [Boston Globe]

¶   The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority has filed a petition for a feed-in tariff rate to comply with the Feed-in Tariff Act the VI Senate passed in May. It is just one of the steps that the territory is making to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and diversify energy production. [Virgin Islands Daily News]

Opinion:

¶   “24% Renewable Energy Over 27 Years — Is That All?!?” EIA is the experts, but we wonder if they left a couple of things out of the equation when it comes to the competition between natural gas and renewables for a share of the new capacity market from 2015 on out. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶   There’s a class of fuels that don’t use an intervening biomass to make a fuel. For that reason, they are not really properly called biofuels. Those working with them prefer “solar fuels,” because they use sunlight to capture carbon dioxide and make it into a fuel. [Biobased Digest]

World:

¶   Green bonds have been experiencing quite a boom lately — having seen a huge surge in 2013, they are up to almost $14 billion. Now green bonds look to set to climb to perhaps as high as $40 billion this year, up from under $14 billion in 2013. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will spend 15 billion rupees (US$ 250 million) to increase solar power across the country and also to improve power delivery. Nearly 40% of India’s 1.2 billion people have no access to reliable electricity. [IEEE Spectrum]

¶   WindStream Technologies has installed what it says is the world’s largest wind-solar hybrid array on an office roof in Kingston, Jamaica. The array is expected to generate over 106,000 kWh annually. [Gizmag]

¶   Wind farms in the Australian state of Victoria may face termination due to the highly inflexible and restrictive nature of new anti-wind laws and permit rules. Companies granted permits before the new laws were passed cannot make simple upgrades to their turbines. [Green Left Weekly]

¶   Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea continues to experience difficulties in operating its 5 MW reactor, which was restarted in summer 2013. A new sand dam to ensure adequate water supply for the secondary cooling system failed in two places. [38 North]

US:

¶   President Obama announced a series of climate change initiatives on Wednesday at the White House aimed at helping cities and towns affected by storm surges, flooding, drought and erosion. [Latin Post]

¶   Waste Management is doubling capacity at its landfill gas power plant south of Arlington, Oregon, generating more energy for homes and businesses 260 miles away in Seattle. With the expansion, capacity will increase from 6.4 MW to 12.8 MW, or enough for 12,500 homes. [The Tribune]

¶   The Boothbay, Maine Planning Board gave a New York City firm conditional approval to build an energy storage facility. The board voted 5-0 approving Convergent Energy + Power’s application  to construct a valve-regulated lead acid battery storage facility. [Boothbay Register]

¶   The City of Rifle, Colorado produced enough power through its seven solar arrays to reach a net zero status for its electricity needs, including the City Hall, the police station, parks maintenance facility, public works, wastewater treatment, and other city buildings. [Glenwood Springs Post Independent]

¶   Gov. Mark Dayton wants Minnesota to eliminate coal as a source of energy production in the state. He wants the conversion of coal plants to natural gas to continue, along with boosting investment in renewable energy sources. [Rick Kupchella’s BringMeTheNews]

Opinion:

¶   “Decarbonizing the world energy system without nuclear” In 2013, where nuclear power supplied 11% of the world’s electricity, renewables about twice as much. And in 2013 renewables had a 72% share of new electricity generating capacity. [The Ecologist]

World:

¶   Onshore wind energy is the cheapest available form of new power generation in Denmark. Its cost, 5.4¢ (US) per kWh is about half that of offshore wind, new centralised coal, new centralized natural gas, and decentralised combined heat and power. [reNews]

¶   The UK government approved plans for a wind farm off the coast of Sussex. E.ON’s Rampion offshore wind farm, which would generate enough electricity to power approximately 450,000 homes, is expected to bring more than £2 billion of investment to the UK’s economy. [Insider Media]

¶   The price for thermal coal has plunged more than 10% in the last two months as the presumed major customers for Australian fossil fuels – China and India – make it clear that renewable energy is offering a competitive alternative to coal and gas. [RenewEconomy]

¶   The Asian Development Bank says there has been a spike in the need for investment in renewable energy in the Pacific as the cost of diesel becomes unaffordable and a structural shift to hydro, wind and solar power makes both economic and environmental sense. [Radio New Zealand]

¶   Among the latest insurance news for Europe’s renewable energy industry are plans being developed by insurers to provide protection to investors backing solar and wind power projects against the removal of vital federal subsidies. [Live Insurance News]

¶   Almost £8 billion was invested in renewable energy in the UK last year, according to a report by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The report showed renewables now produce 15% of the country’s electricity. [The Guardian]

¶   Turkey’s electricity consumption scored an all time record last week, highlighting the country’s thirst for new power capacity. Yet renewable power development plods slowly onwards. [pv magazine]

¶   Germany comes in first in a new energy efficiency ranking of the world’s major economies, followed by Italy, the European Union as a whole, China, and France, according to the 2014 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The US ranks 13th out of 16 countries ranked. [InvestorIdeas.com]

¶   According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research, global smart grid market was valued at $37.7 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $118.1 billion in 2019, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 18.2% from 2013 to 2019. [PR Newswire UK]

US:

¶   The US Department of Interior will offer leases to companies that want to build wind turbines off parts of the coast of New Jersey, along blocks of ocean floor starting about seven miles off Long Beach Island, Atlantic City and Cape May County. [Cherry Hill Courier Post]

¶   The city of Boulder, Colorado has filed to condemn portions of the electric system owned by Xcel Energy through eminent domain. Boulder deems parts of the Xcel’s system as necessary to create a local electric utility that would serve customers within city limits. [Boulder County Business Report]

¶   If renewable energy sources produced a higher percentage of energy in West Virginia, new jobs would be created, and health conditions, particularly in poor and black neighborhoods, would improve, according to a new report from the state chapter of the NAACP. [Charleston Gazette]

Australian Carbon Tax Repeal:

¶   The Australian Senate voted on Thursday to scrap the country’s carbon tax and plans for emissions trading, a major victory for conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott that leaves uncertainty about how the country will meet its carbon reduction goals. [Gulf Times]

¶   Opinion: “‘A Perfect Storm of Stupidity’: Scientists React To News The Carbon Tax Is Gone” The Abbott Government delivered on its election promise to repeal the carbon tax today, 10 months after taking office. [Business Insider Australia]

¶   Opinion: “Carbon repeal: condemning our children for cheap political points” Australia has returned to its old role opposing serious action on climate change, having replaced functional, effective and low-impact carbon pricing with a witless policy of handouts to corporate mates. [Crikey]

¶   John Rice, vice-chairman of US multinational GE, one of Australia’s largest foreign investors, says its $3.5 billion pipeline of investment in green energy in this country is at risk because of possible changes to the renewable energy target. [The Australian]

¶   The Tasmanian state government has hailed the repeal of the carbon tax as a win for consumers, and the repeal was immediately greeted with optimism by Acting Premier Jeremy Rockliff. But the Opposition says it will leave a huge black hole in the state’s budget. [Yahoo!7 News]

¶   Australia cut carbon dioxide emissions from its electricity sector by as much as 17 million tonnes because of the carbon price and would have curbed more had industry expected the price to be permanent, according to an Australian National University study. [Sydney Morning Herald]

¶   Global clean energy investment surged to $63.6 billion in the second quarter of 2014, up 33% compared to the first quarter and 9% compared to Q2 2013. But in Australia, utility-scale renewable energy project investment has largely dried up over policy uncertainty. [The Australian]

World:

¶   Europe will invest around $1 trillion into growing its renewable energy capacity by the year 2030, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Of this, $339 billion is expected to be into rooftop solar PV, and $250 billion into onshore wind energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Rural communities in Rwanda’s Eastern Province are quickly embracing use of biogas as a way of cutting the cost of fuel for cooking and lighting. The province, with the biggest cattle population in the country, has seen a number of households install biogas digesters. [AllAfrica.com]

¶   The government of Nepal has provided a ‘net metering’ system to allow a ratepayer to bank energy generated from the installation of rooftop solar PV system for later use or share for credits from Nepal Electricity Authority. [E Kantipur]

¶   EDF EN Canada Inc., a subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, and Enbridge Inc. dedicated the 300 MW Blackspring Ridge Wind Project today. Located in Vulcan County, Alberta, the project is the largest investment in wind energy in Western Canada. [AltEnergyMag]

¶   A new report from the European Wind Energy Association has revealed a total of 4.9 GW of new offshore wind power currently under construction in Europe consisting of 16 new commercial wind farms. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

US:

¶   Following two record-setting months in May and June of this year, total American EV sales have surged past 222,000 units since late 2010, and while the Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt remain the dominant players, there are many more options now. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Minnesota Power has settled with the EPA over emissions at coal-fired power plants. In addition to a $1.4 million civil penalty, the company will invest in renewable energy, including a 1-MW solar installation. The agreement includes 200 MW of wind energy. [Northland’s NewsCenter]

¶   The U.S. will build 351,000 MW of new electric generation capacity by 2040, according to an  Energy Department forecast. The agency projects new capacity over the next three decades will be 73% natural gas, 24% renewable and 3% nuclear. [FuelFix]

World:

¶   A national fleet of six tidal lagoon power plants could contribute £3.1 billion a year to the UK’s gross domestic product, according to a study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research examining Tidal Lagoon Power’s plans to build six projects. [reNews]

¶   Scatec Solar has completed a 40 MW solar plant in South Africa. Annual production will be around 94 million kWh, enough to cover the electricity demand of about 20 000 South African households. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶   Japanese authorities have declared that two nuclear reactors at Sendai meet new standards put in place after the 2011 Fukushima disaster and are safe enough to be restarted, paving the way for the revival of the country’s atomic energy industry. [Washington Post]

¶   Spanish manufacturer Gamesa has signed deals to supply 100 MW in Mexico and 190 MW in the United States. The US contract was agreed with EDP Renováveis and covers 95 G114 2 MW turbines at the Waverly wind farm in Coffey County, Kansas. [reNews]

¶   Shinsei Bank Ltd, a lender for Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s clean-energy projects in Japan, plans to provide as much as $2 billion in loans for renewable developments. Shinsei is among lenders increasing financing for clean-energy projects in Japan. [eco-business.com]

¶   2040-50 may finally be the decade when the installed renewable energy capacity in India would overtake the coal-based installed capacity, if the Integrated Plan for Desert Power Development is fully realized. The plan is called ambitious. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Australia’s investment in large-scale renewable energy all but dried up in the first half of 2014 amid uncertainty fueled by the government’s latest review of the mandatory target, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [Sydney Morning Herald]

¶   Project developers have been invited to apply for qualification to the Ontario Power Authority’s next Large Renewable Procurement round, which will see as much as 440 MW of wind and solar capacity allocated. [Recharge]

¶   Nigeria’s Minister of Power says plans are in place for solar technology solution to replace the generators run with diesel as primary source of energy for the rural electrification projects across the country. [WorldStage]

¶   UK-wide greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 12% between 2007 and 2012, according to a study by the Committee on Climate Change. The report says the first carbon budget was met “through a combination of the impact of the recession and low-carbon policies.” [reNews]

US:

¶   In Massachusetts, new legislation would accomplish the stated objectives of the Patrick Administration, including a deployment target of 1,600 MW of solar PV (four times current levels) by 2020, while addressing core concerns of the utilities. [Energy Collective]

¶   Microsoft has signed its biggest renewable energy agreement, committing to buy the output of a 175 MW wind farm in Illinois. The 20 year deal commits Microsoft to buying the output of the 175 MW Pilot Hill wind project. [TechWeekEurope UK]

¶   Northern Power Systems, a next-generation renewable energy technology company based in Vermont, has launched a new 60 kW permanent magnet/direct drive wind turbine. The unit was specifically engineered for the Italian and other low wind regime markets. [Stockhouse]

¶   Rather than simply working against the (likely inevitable) spread of distributed generation, Vermont’s Green Mountain Power has been transforming itself into a company with a business model that puts renewable energy and distributed generation at its core. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Just when Cape Wind officials thought it was safe to go back in the water, the GOP-controlled House approved an energy and water appropriations bill that included a measure to bar a $150 million federal loan guarantee for the Nantucket Sound offshore wind farm. [RenewablesBiz]

Opinion:

¶   “Orwellian Newspeak and the oil industry’s fake abundance story” The oil industry’s fake abundance story is so full of verbal legerdemain that it has become a sort of lexicon of Newspeak for oil. [Resilience]

¶   “Electric Cars Will Change the Way You Power Your Home” When you put a solar panel on your roof, your home becomes a mini-power plant. When you buy an electric vehicle, you suddenly control an automobile-shaped energy-storage device. [TIME]

¶   “Wisconsin reactor’s demise hits local economy” The legacy of the 2013 shutdown of the Kewaunee Power Station, which generated nuclear energy for 39 years along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, is lost jobs, hard-hit economy, and nuclear waste. [Finance and Commerce]

World:

¶   Global clean energy investment surged to $63.6 billion in the second quarter of 2014, up 33% compared to the first quarter and 9% compared to Q2 2013, according to the latest authoritative figures from research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [Commodities Now]

¶   General Electric will supply some 94 MW of wind turbines to the Dunmaglass Wind Farm in Scotland. This capacity will come from 33 wind turbines that will be delivered to SSE Renewables in the coming months. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

¶   Like many other small island nations, Barbados has to ship in all of the oil that it uses to produce electricity—making power over four times more costly than it is in the fuel-rich US. That high price has proven to be a boon for Barbados’ fledgling solar industry. [New America Media]

¶   The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has awarded funding of $17.3 million (US) to a hybrid energy project in South Australia. The system will integrate 2 MW of PV and 3 MW of wind with the town’s pre-existing diesel power station of 3.9 MW. [PV-Tech]

¶   The UK is in danger of missing its post-2020 climate change goals unless it strengthens low carbon policy, according to the Committee on Climate Change. Instead of reducing carbon emissions by 31% from 2013 to 2025, the UK will achieve reductions of 21 to 23%. [Business Green]

¶   The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has commissioned what it claims is the Germany’s largest solar power storage park. The 1-MW facility is being developed by the KIT together with its Solarwatt and Kostal Solar Electric partners. [Daily Fusion]

US:

¶   California-based Siva Power has an ambitious cost roadmap for its thin-film solar modules. Siva says its first 300-MW production line will manufacture modules at 40¢ per watt, but believes it can get all-in costs down to 28¢ per watt after another two years of operation. [Energy Collective]

¶   Minnesota Power has taken delivery of equipment for Bison 4, a 205–MW addition to a wind farm. Once operational, Bison 4 will push Minnesota Power past the 25% renewable energy goal established by state legislators, 11 years ahead of the 2025 deadline. [Northland’s NewsCenter]

¶   Armed with the knowledge that his New England counterparts saw their energy costs explode last winter, Quebec Premier Couillard made it clear at a conference of New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers that the province has plenty of power for sale. [The Telegram]

Opinion:

¶   “Is Solar Ownership Poised For A Comeback?” Most car buyers believe ownership tends to be a better deal than leasing. That’s why only 25% percent of new cars were leased in 2013. The same is true for solar: ownership has more risks, but can also have more financial rewards. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   UK-based AFC Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean hydrogen supplier Chang Shin Chemical for fuel cell systems totalling up to 5 MW. Hydrogen from Chang Shin’s chemical works to generate clean energy with zero carbon emissions. [reNews]

¶   Indian company Welspun Energy is kicking off construction of the 50 MW Baramati solar project in Maharashtra. The facility will be installed in two phases with an initial 36 MW being installed on 75 hectares of government land. [reNews]

¶   Political parties in the South West of England that oppose onshore wind development are likely to lose twice as many votes as they gain, according to research commissioned by RenewableUK. [Western Daily Press]

¶   In Denmark, wind-farm developers are obliged to auction a minimum of 20% of the shares in a wind turbine over 25 metres high to neighbours living within 4.5 km of the mast. In addition, funds are put aside for local improvements and compensations. [Irish Independent]

¶   AU Optronics has announced its PowerLegato commercial and home energy storage system is now available to Australian customers. There are 7.2, 4.8 and 2.4 kWh models, all with over current, over temperature, over voltage and undervoltage protection. [Energy Matters]

¶   Despite ‘best efforts’ by the Punjab government, it is not getting the coal supply from the Centre to run its newly-commissioned thermal plants, which would easily give the state more than 2,000 MW. Punjab is in a desperate need of coal to power irrigation for crops. [Hindustan Times]

US:

¶   Apple has permission to establish its third solar farm in North Carolina. Apple plans to spend $55 million, to create the 17.5 MW new solar farm. It estimates that the construction will be completed 5 years after purchase of the land. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The EPA has issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to solicit comments from the general public and affected stakeholders about 40 CFR 190, Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Nuclear Power Operations. [Energy Collective]

¶   On Saturday and Sunday in Oklahoma, there were seven earthquakes. As of last month, Oklahoma had surpassed California in the number of earthquakes. It’s possible that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could have played a role in causing them. [CNN]

World:

¶   A geothermal project valued at $958 million was approved by the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly last week. Over $600 million of the total will potentially be funded by two sources: the Japanese International Cooperation Agency and European Investment Bank. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Singapore-based wind and solar energy developer The Blue Circle and Bangkok-based renewable energy group Annex Power will form a partnership to tap into Thailand’s wind energy investments with investments of approximately $200 million. [AsiaOne]

¶   Ricky Muir, the lone senator of Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party, has revealed a broad belief in the environment, renewable energy and organic food. The government has been surprised along with almost all others. Muir’s votes in the senate may turn out to be pivotal. [Sydney Morning Herald]

¶   Work has begun on the first solar farm in Central Bedfordshire. The  five-MW farm is expected to supply enough power for 1500 homes. It will potentially contribute £17,500 for the two parish councils, some of which could help fund domestic solar panel installations. [Luton Today]

¶   Indian environmentalists say the new government’s budget shows no real commitment towards the environment and does not allocate enough funds towards promoting renewable energy or public transport and appears to favour corporates over people. [Hindustan Times]

¶   According to Ernst & Young’s Power Transactions and Trends report, the increasing role of the private sector in both power generation and water could boost large-scale transactions in Middle East – North Africa in the future. Renewables may be a fertile growth area. [CPI Financial]

¶   Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has awarded £2.2 million to a major industry program to reduce the costs of offshore wind power. The Carbon Trust’s Offshore Wind Accelerator brings major developers together to work on new technology concepts. [Business Green]

¶   NTR is lining up a €400m investment in wind energy on the island of Ireland as it seeks to diversify its US-focused power business. The company has just announced its first annual profit since the financial crash in 2008. [Irish Independent]

¶   German utility E.ON sees no need for any writedowns as a result of current low power prices, its finance chief was quoted as saying. Solar and wind power have edged out gas-fired power stations, causing an impairment wave in Europe. [Reuters]

¶   An anti-nuclear citizens’ network has translated a Japanese court’s ruling blocking restarts of two reactors at Ohi into English, Korean and Chinese. They want to spread the “universal values” of the judgment. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Seismologists said an earthquake that struck near Japan’s shuttered Fukushima nuclear site early Saturday was an aftershock of the tremor that sparked 2011’s deadly tsunami. They warn of more to come. [英文中國郵報] (This is the source as given – it is The China Post.)

US:

¶   After a period of explosive growth, the renewable power industry that Arizona helped pioneer is slowing there as utility regulators grapple with how much of a premium energy customers should pay to implement solar and other renewables. [Arizona Republic]

¶   SC Johnson, maker of Windex, Pledge, and Ziploc, among other things, says its largest manufacturing plant worldwide generally requires no outside electrical energy to operate. Most of its power comes from landfill methane, and the rest is from the wind and sun. [Journal Times]

World:

¶   A new report from analysts Clean Energy Pipeline has shown that global clean energy investment totaled $66.2 billion in the second quarter of 2014, the highest total since the end of 2012. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Hopes are high that West Harris will be central to Scottish wave energy production. The European Marine Energy Centre has been awarded rights to the seabed and will work alongside the West Harris Trust and the Comhairle to attract wave energy developers. [Stornoway Gazette]

¶   Medicine Hat’s (and Canada’s only) solar-thermal project is completed and only awaits regulatory approval from the Alberta Boiler Safety Association, while the three wind turbines are up and should be running by the end of summer. [Medicine Hat News]

¶   There may now be 6.5 million direct and indirect jobs in renewable energy, according to new data from the International Renewable Energy Agency. Global PV employment is estimated to be 2.3 million in 2013, with 1.45 million in biofuels and 834,000 in windpower. [Emirates 24/7]

¶   Regulators have given the go-ahead for the biggest investment in Scotland’s green energy sector in decades. The £1.2 billion submarine transmission cable in the Moray Firth is expected to pave the way for future wave and tidal energy generation in remote locations. [Scotsman]

¶   German hard coal consumption for power generation was down by 11% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014 as the use of coal in electricity production gave way to higher renewable power production, coal importers lobby VDKI said on Friday. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Sixteen Transition groups in 12 states are currently laying the groundwork in their communities to pilot Transition Streets, a project proven to reduce the carbon footprint of entire neighborhoods and save hundreds of dollars on energy bills. [Resilience]

¶   The city of Loveland, Colorado lost a dam and hydroelectric plant in last year’s flood, but there may be an opportunity to replace the renewable energy source with one 100 years more modern. City officials are in the initial planning stages for a 5 MW solar array. [ReporterHerald.com]

¶   The Senate passed legislation to encourage more geothermal energy production on federal lands, streamlining the federal geothermal leasing program to encourage development of geothermal power by making adjacent development rights available at fair market rates. [myCentralOregon.com]

¶   Solar energy companies can legally sell power directly to customers, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling will likely expedite the adoption of rooftop solar power generating systems – particularly by cities, schools and nonprofit groups. [Washington Times]

¶   Facing strong opposition from students, faculty and nearby residents who opposed a fossil fuel plant did due to its carbon footprint, the University of Delaware has scrapped plans for a 279 MW natural gas burning co-generation power plant. [Natural Gas Intelligence]

¶   Despite ample opportunities to replace the power from the closed San Onofre nuclear plant with renewables, energy efficiency, demand response and other pollution-free energy options, SDG&E is planning on buying 600 MW of power produced with natural gas. [Greentech Media]

¶   A dozen leading companies, including Wal-Mart and General Motors, called for market changes to make it easier to buy renewable energy. They say they want to purchase 8.4 million MWh per year of this energy, but the market often stymies their efforts. [USA TODAY]

¶   Exelon, which owns the Ginna nuclear plant, wants Rochester Gas and Electric to sign a contract promising payments keep the plant running. Exelon has filed a petition asking the New York Public Service Commission to enter into a multiyear contract by the end of 2014. [Rochester Democrat and Chronicle]

World:

¶   The United States and China on Tuesday signed eight partnership pacts to cut greenhouse gases that will bring the world’s two biggest carbon emitters closer together on climate policy, but fundamental differences between the two sides remain. [Scientific American]

¶   Global oil production advanced in 2013 by 557,000 barrels per day (bpd), an increase of 0.6 percent over 2012 and a new all-time high of 86.8 million bpd. After declining in 2009, global crude oil production has now increased 4 years in a row. [EnergyTrends Insider]

¶   Germany’s upper house of parliament Friday passed an ambitious renewable energy law which aims to mitigate the effects of the country’s move away from nuclear and fossil-fuel generated power. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   Swiss-based ABB has secured a contract worth about $400 million for the first electricity link between the island of Newfoundland and the North American power grid. The 500 MW connection will bring renewable energy from in Newfoundland and Labrador to Nova Scotia. [Energy Business Review]

¶   Globeleq, a private power generation company in Africa, has celebrated completion of another of its renewable energy projects in South Africa, the 138 MW Jeffreys Bay Wind Farm located between the towns of Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape. [Your Renewable News]

¶   Funds to help farmers adapt to climate change, ultra-modern solar power plants and schemes to promote women’s safety in cities are among pledges the new Indian government made in its first budget on Thursday. [Reuters India]

¶   Solar PV and wind energy will beat both coal and gas on costs – without subsidies – in the major Asia energy markets of China and India by 2020, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [RenewEconomy]

US:

¶   The White House threatened to veto a proposed $34 billion House bill setting FY 2015 spending for the DOE, the Department of Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers, saying it “significantly underfunds” investments to develop clean energy technologies. [POWER magazine]

¶   In Massachusetts, advocates of small-scale solar projects worry that a compromise worked out between large renewable energy developers and utilities — which nationally are pushing back against net metering rules — could darken the state’s successful solar development. [The Recorder]

¶   The Wisconsin Public Service Commission agreed to set up a $16 million revolving loan fund that would work with a commercial lender to help finance installation of solar, wind or bioenergy projects. The program is modeled in part on an initiative already in place in Iowa. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

¶   Dominion Virginia Power has started making test borings in the Atlantic Ocean off Virginia Beach as part of its proposed research project aimed at the eventual harvesting of offshore wind energy. [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

¶   The National Wildlife Federation, pushing for development of offshore windpower, released a report called “Catching the Wind:  State Actions Needed to Seize the Golden Opportunity of Atlantic Offshore Wind Power.” [WMTW Portland]

¶    Even as the TVA builds a newer and bigger nuclear plant, distributed energy is producing more of America’s electricity, using smaller sources such as solar, wind or small gas-generated turbines. [Chattanooga Times Free Press]

World:

¶   Wind and solar accounted for approximately 27% of Germany’s electricity generation in the first half of 2014. With 4% more coming from hydro, renewable energy sources accounted for a larger portion of electricity production than brown coal for the first time. [Business Spectator]

¶   China recently overhauled its basic environmental law in a way that brings it closer to the structure of the US Clean Air Act.  Among other things, the new law also contains a provision authorizing public interest litigation by certain Chinese NGOs. [Energy Collective]

¶   The Tokyo Electric Power Company nuclear power complex at Fukushima 1 has suffered a new and dangerous leak. The flaw is in the fifth reactor unit, not in one of the four originally wrecked in March 2011 in what might still become the world’s worst nuclear accident. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Saudi Aramco has come up with cost-effective ways to get at its tight gas and is now targeting a competitive price of $2.00 to $3.00 per thousand cubic feet. This is seen as a big blow to the US fracking industry. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The Abbott government’s bid to repeal Australia’s carbon tax has again been defeated in the Senate. It is still widely expected that the Senate will pass it, depending on how negotiations progress, but negotiations are not Abbott’s strong point. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Australians can look forward to more affordable energy bills if they keep developing renewable energy options, according to Giles Parkinson, editor of Renew Economy. He says South Australia and Tasmania may achieve virtually 100% renewables in about 15 years. [ABC Online]

¶   The Deep Decarbonization Pathways report, released by the UN secretary general, says the 15 countries that account for 70% of greenhouse gases, including the US, Britain, and China could cut emissions to nearly nothing by 2050, while also tripling economic output. [The Guardian]

¶   The European Commission said Wednesday it had secured a deal with Germany to allow the country to forge ahead with its ambitious renewable-energy laws, having agreed to some key changes to the legislation. [Wall Street Journal]

US:

¶   Collier County, Florida has taken the state to court charging that state regulators have been lax in their oversight a drilling process called “acid fracking,” jeopardizing public health and the environment of the Everglades region. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Apple on Wednesday published an Environmental Responsibility Report covering fiscal 2014, outlining steps the company has taken to reduce impact on climate change, use green materials in its products and conserve resources. [Apple Insider]

¶   Three Washington utilities have been awarded $14.3 million in matching grants from the state’s Clean Energy Fund to lead energy storage projects with ties to federally funded research at the US DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. [Renew Grid]

¶   Chicago is offering rooftop solar panel installations through the summer at 25% below market rates through a partnership with non-profit Vote Solar. The idea, announced Wednesday, is to jumpstart solar installations in the city. [Chicago Tribune]

Opinion:

¶   The US Northeast has a combination of high electricity prices, large cities with high power demand, an older fleet of fossil fuel generation, and difficulty building new transmission lines. This has led policymakers to develop pro-renewable energy policies, and they’ve worked well. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶   Pathways to Deep Decarbonization, a report prepared by researchers in 15 different countries, looks into what’s needed to achieve sufficient cuts in our carbon emissions. The report finds that current government pledges aren’t sufficient. [Ars Technica]

World:

¶   For the first time, a large fraction of the world’s fossil fuels could be replaced at a lower cost by clean energy, with today’s renewable technologies and prices. And virtually no further investments in fossil fuels make long-term economic sense. [Huffington Post]

¶   A project of Irish utility ESB to develop Ireland’s first wave energy scheme has been awarded €23 million by the European Commission under the EU New Entrant Reserve (NER 300) funding mechanism. The 5-MW scheme should be operational by 2018. [Businessandleadership.com]

¶   The European Commission has awarded €1 billion funding to 19 projects to fight climate change under the second call of the so-called NER 300 funding program. Project funding is from revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System, so polluters are paying for it. [Financial Mirror]

¶   A new partnership between British Gas’s solar division, Generation Community and Social Finance has been formed to build a pipeline of solar PV projects worth £60 million across local government sites in the UK to equip sites such as schools and town halls with solar arrays. [Solar Power Portal]

¶   Alinta Energy, Australia’s largest energy infrastructure company, has reached another milestone with its feasibility study into solar thermal generation. It now has recommended an assessment of stand-alone power tower technology at Port Augusta. [Nassau News Live]

¶   GE announced today that SSE Renewables, the UK’s largest renewable power producer, has picked GE to fill its newest wind farm with turbines. Under the agreement, GE will provide specially designed wind turbines, each of 2.85 MW for a total capacity of 94 MW. [Motley Fool]

¶   The Australian carbon tax may be all but dead, but a global plan for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change has found Australia could overhaul its fossil fuel dependent energy supply and cut emissions to zero by 2050 without trashing its economy. [eco-business.com]

US:

¶   Indiana Michigan Power announced plans on Tuesday to build and operate five emission-free, solar power generating facilities. If approved, the company’s Clean Energy Solar Pilot Project will have a combined capacity of about 16 MW, enough to power 2,500 homes. [Muncie Star Press]

¶   Public Service Company of New Mexico’s latest plan for providing power to half a million customers over the next two decades includes a proposal to add more coal and nuclear power, which is drawing fire from renewable energy and environmental advocates. [Santa Fe New Mexican.com]

¶   New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilitys’ Energy Resiliency Bank is beginning to frame the outlines of a new program to help critical facilities remain up and running in the wake of extreme storms, like Hurricane Sandy. [NJ Spotlight]

¶   GE Energy Financial Services and E.ON Climate and Renewables North America announced Tuesday they are teaming up to build a 211 MW wind farm about 26 miles east of Amarillo that could cost up to $422 million. [Amarillo.com]

¶   Privately held solar financing company Mosaic and Enphase Energy Inc. have formed a partnership to offer residential solar-power loan packages that include system maintenance as part of the deal, the companies said Tuesday. [AltEnergyMag]

¶   Apple recently reached another deal with Claremont, North Carolina to acquire 100 acres of land for a third solar farm. This project will bring more land into the city’s corporate limits as well as bring roughly 75 jobs. [ValueWalk]

¶   Though Kansas’ renewable energy mandates are under attack, a report released by the regulatory Kansas Corporation Commission, says all six of the state’s investor-owned utilities are on track to meet them and source 20% of their mix from renewables by 2020. [Next City]

Opinion:

¶   “Solar has won. Even if coal were free to burn, power stations couldn’t compete” As early as 2018, solar could be economically viable to power big cities. By 2040 over half of all electricity may be generated in the same place it’s used. Centralised, coal-fired power is over. [The Guardian]

¶   “Here’s why the forecast for microgrids looks this sunny” If current policy, technology and pricing trends are any indication, the conditions are clearly in place to facilitate mainstream adoption of microgrids. [GreenBiz.com]

World:

¶   Deutsche Bank AG plans to lend about $1 billion for Japan solar projects, joining Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in funding cleaner energy as the government struggles to restart nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster. [Businessweek]

¶   DCH Solargiga, a subsidiary of Chinese solar module manufacturer Solargiga, has signed an agreement to install 200 MW of solar power capacity in Ghana. The agreement was signed with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Increased generation capacity, high wind speeds, and low electricity demand has pushed the share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources to 19.4% in the UK during the first quarter of 2014, a substantial increase from 12.4% a year earlier. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Farmers, businesses and communities across Cambridgeshire have now invested more than £57 million in renewable energy projects such as wind turbines and rooftop solar installations. They produce 223 MW, enough to  power over 146,000 households. [Cambridge News]

¶   One thing that might get lost amidst the headlines on renewable energy is the fact the coal power is increasing, too. It was the world’s fastest growing fossil fuel last year, according to British Petroleum’s annual energy review. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Indian coal-based power plants are struggling to keep up with daily demand and almost have of them only have enough stocks to last a week, the minister of state for power, coal and new and renewable energy said Monday. [MINING.com]

¶   BNRG Renewables, an Irish-based solar energy group, has raised €918,000 via crowdfunding to refinance two solar farms in Kent, England, each with a capacity of 249 kW, enough to power 82 homes. [Siliconrepublic.com]

¶   The build-out of PV projects planned under South Africa’s flagship renewable energy programme continues with the completion of the 40 MW Linde project in the Northern Cape province. The project is the second utility-scale plant built by Norway’s Scatec Solar. [PV-Tech]

US:

¶   ET Solar Energy Corp, a leading smart energy solutions provider, announced that its high efficiency PV modules will power six utility scale projects throughout the state of North Carolina, with a combined capacity of 24.5 MW. [AZoCleantech]

¶   EDF Renewable Energy announced today that the 161-MW Spinning Spur II Wind Project in Texas has reached commercial operation. The company further announced the close of structured equity financing from GE Energy Financial Services and MUFG Union Bank. [AZoCleantech]

¶   The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative. a local Hawaiian cooperative utility, is surging toward 40% renewable energy in the next year, with a third of that total from customer-generated solar. Half its daytime energy will come from solar arrays by the end of 2015. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Maine’s two largest utilities have agreed to jointly develop electric transmission projects to enhance the strength and capacity of the state’s bulk power grid and improve access for new generation resources. [IT Business Net]

Opinion:

¶   “Votes Show Strong Support for Colorado Energy, Rejection of Anti-Fracking Activism” A pro-fracking author writes that the political atmosphere in Colorado supports development of natural gas and oil resources, even if it is fracked. [Energy Collective]

¶   “Give It Up, ‘Skeptics’ — America Is No Longer Debating Climate Change” This week, the Heartland Institute is holding a conference on climate change in Las Vegas, which they’ve dubbed “the biggest gathering of global warming skeptics in the world.” [VICE News]

World:

¶   The UK could save £12.1 billion a year through to 2050 by shifting the focus of its energy policy towards delivering greener buildings that consume less energy and are capable of generating their own heat and power, according to a new report. [Business Green]

¶   Australia is expected to spend some $55 billion on new electricity generation over the next decade and a half, but two thirds of this will be in the form of solar technology, and nearly half in rooftop solar PV, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecast. [Echonetdaily]

¶   Over 150 companies have called on the Prime Minister to back the UK’s solar industry. A letter signed by outfits including Triodos Bank, Ecotricity, Kyocera and Good Energy was delivered as DECC closed its consultation on proposed changes to support for solar power. [reNews]

¶   Solar Reserve, one of the world’s most advanced solar power companies has shelved plans to develop electricity plants for the public market in Australia because of the Government’s apparent hostility to renewable energy. [ABC Online]

¶   IBM announced an agreement on Monday with the city of Beijing to use advanced weather forecasting and cloud computing technologies to help tackle the Chinese capital’s persistent smog. [New York Times]

¶   The UK government will share new technologies in clean and renewable energy to help India in addressing climate change in a way that its growth will not be affected, according to a British government minister. [eco-business.com]

¶   Green energy developers in Northern Ireland welcome plans to keep wind power subsidies steady until at least 2017, although solar PV installations face support cuts, reflecting changes in technology costs and a need to ensure value for money for taxpayers. [Business Green]

¶   Siemens Energy has reached the significant milestone of 10 GW of installed wind power capacity in the Americas. Siemens has installed more than 5,600 wind turbines in Canada, the USA and South America, including Peru, Chile and Brazil. [Yahoo Finance UK]

US:

¶   After examining the publicly available compliance records of more than 41,000 wells in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Cornell-led researchers reported that 40% of the oil and gas wells in parts of the Marcellus shale region will probably leak methane into the atmosphere. [Energy Collective]

¶   A 150 kW solar orchard powering Vermont’s Woodchuck Hard Cider won two honors at a national solar show. The project was a “Project of Distinction” finalist and won “Project of Distinction 2014 Fan Favorite” at the PV America event in Boston. [vtdigger.org]

¶   Dominion Resources Inc, owner of the closed Kewaunee nuclear plant, has accelerated plans to remove and encase the spent fuel to address concerns raised by members of the local community, according to a company spokesman. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Opinion:

¶   “As a Solution for Climate Change – Nuclear Power is Falling Behind” A proponent of nuclear power considers why nuclear power is not expanding in a way that is even remotely like that of wind, solar, and other renewable power sources. [Energy Collective]

Science and Technology:

¶   UK researchers today announced what they believe to be a game changer in the use of hydrogen as a “green” fuel, by using ammonia as a clean and secure hydrogen-containing energy source to produce hydrogen on-demand in situ. [phys.org]

World:

¶   In Australia, the combination of low demand and strong output from the Queensland’s 1.1 GW of rooftop solar helped send the state’s electricity prices into negative territory on Wednesday – in the middle of the day, when demand is usually the highest, and prices too. [CleanTechnica]

¶   In India, coal scams during the tenure of the “previous government” adversely impacted the availability of coal forcing the power generation projects with collective capacity of 65,000 MW being shut in the country, according to Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal. [indiatvnews.com]

¶   While the cost of solar energy is declining, the number of people harnessing the sun’s energy in Alberta is on the rise. Over the past three years in Edmonton alone, the amount of solar energy generated in Edmonton has increased by about 16 times. [CBC.ca]

¶   Due to frequent power cuts in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, traffic has become un-manageable in the city, so the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board plans to install solar energy panels to keep traffic signals running during long power cuts, at a cost of $1 million. [Mizo News]

¶   Indian Railways is planning to generate 1 MW solar power at the New Delhi railway station by installing solar panels on the platform roofs. The power project is a part of the Railways’ initiative to convert some of its stations into ‘green buildings’. [The Hindu]

US:

¶   The American Council On Renewable Energy released the results of its “Business Leaders Opinion Polling.” It showed broad support for renewables in all areas , with 78% of business leaders saying renewable energy technologies are a real growth opportunity for the economy. [Electric Light & Power]

¶   Consumers Energy will build three acres of solar arrays on two Flint-area General Motors plants this summer as part of both companies’ efforts to boost renewable energy. The solar arrays will generate an estimated 400,000 kWh of power per year. [Bay City Times]

¶   A solar array in North Brookfield, Massachusetts will provide all of the power for a vocational school in Andover. The 3.6-MW solar energy system will provide 100% of the electricity for Greater Lawrence Technical High School of Andover. [Worcester Telegram]

¶   School division officials in Chesapeake, Virginia hope to have the turbine running by the end of July near the Grassfield High School athletic complex. They anticipate that it will help power the concession area at the football stadium and reduce the division’s energy bill. [The Virginian-Pilot]

¶   New England’s electricity supply is in peril. Natural gas power plants alone produced 46% of the region’s power in 2013, up from 15% in 2000. But in recent years, natural gas has come at an ever-increasing price, with little chance of improvement over 3 to 4 years. [Seacoastonline.com]

World:

¶   Whether it is in reaction to international trade conflicts, booming local demand for solar, or the firm belief that solar PV will soon be a dominant player in the energy market, recent company announcements highlight the great promise that solar manufacturing holds. [Renewable Energy World]

¶   The Abu Dhabi Environment Agency has called on Arab Gulf states to shift their focus to solar and other renewable energy when considering power for desalination to combat rising prices of fossil fuels and growing needs for potable water. [desalination.biz]

¶   A memorandum of understanding signed this past week sets up an agreement between British Columbian First Nations and the Clean Energy Association of BC to cooperate in developing British Columbia’s renewable sector, including hydroelectric power. [Canada First Perspective]

¶   Canada-based Windiga Energy is set expand its footprint across the sub-Saharan region with what would be the largest solar PV project of its kind in the region. The company intends to commission a 20 MW solar PV project in Burkina Faso by December 2015. [CleanTechnica]

¶   In Australia, a group of 25 Coalition MPs signed a petition calling for the renewable energy target to be diluted. Interestingly, most of those who signed it didn’t want their names to become public, which is almost unheard of for political petitions. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Renova Energia SA, a Brazilian renewable energy company, received approval to start a 294.4 MW project in the northeastern state of Bahia, two years behind schedule after a delay in making grid connections. [Businessweek]

¶   The UK government will tender for backup energy generation equivalent to 80% of peak time use as part of the first capacity market auction, intended to guarantee power production in 2018/19, the energy secretary has confirmed. [Out-Law.com]

¶   Kazakhstan has started the construction of the country’s first industrial wind park in Yereimentau. The capacity of the wind farm will be equal to 45 MW, which is likely to be expanded to 300 MW in the future. [AzerNews]

US:

¶   A series of recent industry announcements is pouring cold water on the argument that tar sands development will happen at the same pace and scale with or without major infrastructure projects like Keystone XL. [Energy Collective]

¶   More than 230 earthquakes of magnitude greater than 3.0 have shaken Oklahoma already this year. Before 2008 the state averaged one such quake a year. A study published today in Science explains how wastewater from fracking processes may be to blame. [Scientific American]

¶   Over the past month Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont have all either established climate adaptation laws or created long-term plans to tackle the increasing impacts of climate change. [CleanTechnica]

¶   President Obama recently asked developing countries to forgo the use of coal when building their economies and concentrate on developing “renewable” energy sources. While not naming names. the president’s message was clearly aimed at China and India. [American Thinker]

¶   JEA, the utility for Jacksonville, Florida, is considering how to reduce carbon emissions. Since Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia, is scheduled to go online in 2017, JEA is considering increasing its reliance on nuclear power. [Jacksonville Daily Record]

¶   Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant will be allowed to continue discharging millions of gallons of heated water into the Connecticut River until the plant shuts down later this year, despite owner Entergy Nuclear relying on “flawed science,” a draft state permit stated. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Science and Technology:

¶   Two important studies recently released on the economic costs of climate change show us the very high costs of continuing on our current carbon pollution trajectory. One is from the Risky Business Project, the other from top climate economists Simon Dietz and Nicholas Stern. [Energy Collective]

¶   The EPA has just given the thumbs-up to a genetically modified bacterium from the company Joule, which brings us one giant step closer to next generation biofuels made from sunlight and carbon dioxide. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Aston Martin recently announced a partnership with the Hanergy Global Solar Power & Applications Group that will fit solar panels on the roof of the Vantage GTE racing in the World Endurance Championship. [SmartMeters]

World:

¶   Northern Ireland has confirmed support levels for small-scale wind energy projects will remain unchanged until at least 2017. The decision follows a year-long review by Northern Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Investment. [reNews]

¶   A 50 MW solar PV project, led by India’s National Hydro Power Corporation, is to be constructed in the southern state of Kerala and floated on one of its lakes. The project is expected to cost $64-72 million and the first pilot is scheduled to begin work in October. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

¶   Canadian Solar Inc. has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., has entered into an Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract with Kinston Solar LP for the construction of 140 MW solar PV farm located in Ontario, Canada. [CleanTechnica]

¶   In the UK, onsite generation of power through renewable sources, including solar PV and anaerobic digestion, has increased by more than 25%, with the manufacturing sector leading the way. There have been 38 new schemes commissioned since last year. [Greenwise Business]

¶   TEPCO expected to restart two nuclear reactors at Kashiwazaki in July, though critics have said the goal was unrealistic. Four sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters the restart would be postponed. One source said the restart could be delayed by a year. [Investing.com]

US:

¶   The US DOE announced a new $4 billion loan guarantee program to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The program is geared specifically for projects that avoid, reduce or store greenhouse gases and prevent their release into the atmosphere. [FuelFix]

¶   The US DOE has included energy storage projects in a $4 billion loan guarantee programme announced yesterday. The programme is intended to help support new renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the US that help to mitigate greenhouse gases. [PV-Tech Storage]

¶   Historically, distributed generation has largely been limited to a handful of progressive states. But as solar power gains presence and storage prices go down, microgrids are expanding into new territory. [Energy Collective]

¶   The leading residential solar installer in the US, SolarCity Corp., along with privately held SunRun Inc., has filed a lawsuit against Arizona Department of Revenue as the state decided to impose property tax over leased solar panels. [NASDAQ]

¶   North Dakota regulators have given a green light to Infinity Wind Power’s 110-MW Sunflower project. The state Public Service Commission voted unanimously to issue a certificate of site compatibility for the up to 59-turbine scheme in Stark and Morton counties. [reNews]

Disruption and Transformation:

¶   A new book by Stanford University’s Tony Seba, Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation, has a dramatic prognosis: Silicon Valley will make oil, nuclear, natural gas, coal, electric utilities and conventional cars obsolete by 2030. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency and initiator of a series of world conferences on off-grid and minigrid electrification, sees our world on the cusp of unprecedented energy transformation. [CleanTechnica]

Science and Technology:

¶   Despite five months of below-average temperatures and twice the normal of snowfall, when the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility ended its one-year test run, it had produced 491 kWh more than it used. [ScienceDaily]

World:

¶   The latest word from Renewable Energy Network for the 21st Century is that renewable energy has continued to expand across the globe in 2013, increasing by more than eight percent and meeting almost one-fifth of the worlds final energy consumption. [Business Recorder]

¶   Alinta Energy has chosen a stand-alone concentrating solar power plant that could cost as much as $796 million as its preferred option for Port Augusta, South Australia. This is a conclusion of a feasibility study on a new a plant where it owns ageing coal-fired generators. [Courier Mail]

¶   Japan’s Kyocera Corporation has exceeded the 5-GW milestone in accumulated production of solar modules. Since the company began producing solar modules in 1975, they have now produced enough to supply individual 3.5 kW PV systems for more than 1.4 million homes. [EcoSeed]

¶   India-based wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Group has received a green light from CLP India to proceed with a 100.8-MW wind power project at Tejuva in Rajasthan. The wind project will utilize 48 units of Suzlon’s S97-2.1 MW wind turbines. [EcoSeed]

¶   The rising international price of natural gas is causing electricity providers to return to coal-fired power. Power companies are taking advantage of the export gas price, making more money by selling their gas rather than burning it. [ABC Online]

¶   Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority could give de facto approval for the restart of Kyushu Electric’s Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at its Sendai plant in southern Japan as soon as July 9, the Sankei newspaper reported without attribution. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   The United States will hold a commercial lease auction on 19 August 2014 for the up to 1.45-GW Maryland wind energy area, the county’s third such sale for offshore wind development. [reNews]

¶   The US EPA expanded the types of fuel that can be used to satisfy the federal biofuel mandate. The plan allows compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas produced using biogas [i.e., not fossil fuels] to qualify as cellulosic biofuel. [Reuters]

¶   When it comes to the urgent need to cut carbon pollution and address climate change, businesses and business-minded lawmakers in the Heartland get it. What they realize is this: Cutting carbon pollution is good for both the environment and the economy. [Huffington Post]

¶   San Diego-based EDF Renewable Energy Inc. entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with KCP&L parent Great Plains Energy Inc. for the 150-MW Slate Creek Wind Project in Kansas. [Kansas City Business Journal]

¶   Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems received 740 megawatts worth of new orders in the last several days, with its machines destined to generate electricity at wind farms in Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, and North Dakota. [Denver Business Journal]

¶   Portland General Electric hit two high notes in the latest assessment by the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The Portland-based utility has signed up more customers for renewable energy and sells more renewable energy than any other utility. [Portland Business Journal]

World:

¶   South Africa just crossed 500 MW in installed solar capacity, entering the list of top 10 countries in terms of solar power capacity. The milestone was reached after four utility-scale solar power projects were commissioned in South Africa in May this year. [CleanTechnica]

¶   India’s plans for a major ramp-up in solar power are on hold after a proposal to impose anti-dumping duties on equipment from overseas has led developers to say proposed projects would become unprofitable. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   The UK has installed 1.47 GW of solar PVs so far in 2014, according to the latest report from solar market analyst, NPD Solarbuzz. This is more than the estimated the record 1.2 GW of solar installed in the UK throughout all of 2013. [Solar Power Portal]

¶   As Prime Minister Tony Abbott again attacked renewables for their presumed impact on consumer bills, wholesale energy prices in Queensland have slumped to unprecedented lows as rooftop solar continues to boom in that state. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Two Norwegian state-controlled energy companies are in line to receive £1.6 billion in subsidies from UK consumers, after deciding to invest £1.5 billion in building a wind farm off the coast of Norfolk. [Telegraph.co.uk]

¶   Bloomberg New Energy Finance foresee that by 2030 the world’s power mix will have transformed to one with over half from zero-emission energy sources, saying, “Economics – rather than policy – will increasingly drive the uptake of renewable technologies.” [Business Spectator]

¶   New independent renewable projects in Scotland have seen a 50% increase in a year, and now produce enough energy to power one million homes, according to a new report. More than £66 million was invested in independent schemes. [Scotsman]

¶   President Hassan Rouhani’s government has quintupled its spending on solar power projects in the last year. While being good for the environment, the panels also offer rural Iran steady power amid uncertainty over the country’s contested nuclear program. [Greenfield Daily Reporter]

¶   The German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern generates 120% of its electricity from renewable sources, according to a new publication. Reportedly, there are over 1600 wind turbines in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is also a top tourist destination. [CleanTechnica]

¶   EU member states are not obliged to pay renewable energy subsidies to foreign suppliers, the European Court of Justice has decided in a case involving Sweden. EU member states that limit supports to within their borders do not need to overhaul their renewable energy policy. [E&T magazine]

US:

¶   Entergy Corp., which owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, has asked for permission to build a second concrete pad on which to store spent-fuel casks after the plant closes at the end of the year. The plant has one pad, and the second could be completed by 2017. [Businessweek]

¶   After studying production data from 65,000 wells from 31 different unconventional shale rock formations in 2012, geologist David Hughes predicted big trouble ahead for North America’s unconventional hydrocarbon revolution. [Resilience]

¶   Quad County Corn Processors beat DuPont and Poet to produce the state’s first-ever gallon of commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol. The Iowa company plans to quickly scale-up so that it’s producing about 2 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year. [DesMoinesRegister.com]

¶   The Department of Energy issued a $150 million loan guarantee to support construction of the Cape Wind offshore wind energy project. Cape Wind is to have a capacity of more than 360 MW of clean energy off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. [Utility Products]

World:

¶   ACIL Allen, the modellers hired for the Australian government’s review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET), suggest that the uptake of rooftop solar will be more without the RET because customers would pay higher electricity bills. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The next decade and a half will see renewable energy raise its share of European electricity generation capacity from 40% in 2012, to 60% in 2030, while the share of fossil-fuel sources such as coal and gas falls from 48% to 27%, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. [Nanowerk]

¶   A new report from Bloomberg News Energy Finance has revealed that the electricity generation capacity in the Americas is due for a big boost in the near future. The Americas will add 943 GW of capacity by 2030 – with 522 GW added to the US. [PV-Tech]

¶   In Taiwan, in an effort to conserve energy and reduce environmental impact, an Energy Bureau initiative allowing businesses and households to voluntarily purchase “green power” sourced form renewable sources will commence today. [China Post]

¶   The United States is helping Chile build a major solar power plant in the Atacama Desert, US President Barack Obama said in his meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. The $230 million in backing will come from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. [Jacaranda FM]

¶   Canadian Solar Inc. has announced signing a sales contract to supply 12.6 MW of PV modules to Kayseri Organized Industry Zone and a consortium of companies in the zone, for a solar power project located in Kayseri, Turkey. [Your Renewable News]

¶   Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss psychiatrist-turned-adventurer who circumnavigated the globe in a hot air balloon, now wants to become the first to do it in a solar-powered aircraft. He believes Solar Impulse 2 can promote renewables over nuclear and fossil fuels. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶   New York’s cities and towns can block hydraulic fracturing within their borders, the state’s highest court ruled, dealing a blow to an industry awaiting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision on whether to lift a six-year-old statewide moratorium. [Bloomberg]

¶   Georgia currently gets most of its electricity from coal, followed closely by nuclear and natural gas. The EPA’s plan calls for cutting dependence on coal, and many in the state believe this should be done by boosting the share of power from nuclear and gas. [Businessweek]

¶   Governor Pat Quinn today signed legislation to promote the purchase of solar-produced electricity in Illinois. The law requires that a special existing fund be used to purchase solar power and emphasizes the development of distributed solar generation. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   Several research studies have shown that renewable energy could wind up saving US consumers tens of billions of dollars. Two of them found that $26.7 billion a year could be saved in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The city of Burlington, Vermont now owns a full half of the second-largest power plant in the state. The city just completed payments on a 30-year bond for its stake in the 50 megawatt McNeil generating station, which burns wood chips to generate electricity. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   As a result of ongoing drought, each of the Hoover Dam’s 17 generating units was derated in June. The total nameplate capacity of 2,074 megawatts has been reduced to a current capacity of 1,592 MW and is projected to decline later this year. [Environment & Energy Publishing]