Opinion:
¶ “Cutting Carbon Pollution Can Drive Montana’s Economy While Improving Health” – Investments in clean energy have and will continue to create new jobs, expand the economy, reduce pollution, lower electricity bills, and improve public and environmental health across the state. [Natural Resources Defense Council]
Montana Wind
Science and Technology:
¶ Scientists have raised concerns about a large, rapidly thinning glacier in Antarctica, warning it could contribute significantly to rising sea levels. They say they’ve discovered two openings that could channel warm seawater to the base of the huge Totten Glacier and bring the threat of potentially disastrous melting. [CNN]
World:
¶ New polling numbers from Britain’s YouGov has found that 71% of Scottish adults are in favor of the continued development of wind power as part of the country’s energy mix, a number that has increased from 64% two years prior. Wind power produced 146% of Scottish household needs in January of this year. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Italian company Enel Green Power has announced that the construction on three solar PV plants in South Africa has commenced. Solar power generated by the three PV plants will be sold to South African power utility Eskom based on erstwhile power supply agreements made by EGP. [African Review]
¶ A £1 billion tidal lagoon off the coast of south Wales will form the centerpiece of ambitious renewable energy plans to be unveiled today. George Osborne is set to use his Budget today to announce that the Government is beginning formal talks on funding the project to produce energy from turbines in Swansea Bay. [Daily Mail]
¶ Rooftop solar power generation and net metering have been introduced in Dubai. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority launched the initiative under the name “Shams Dubai” which allows generation of solar energy on buildings and their connection to the grid. It is the first such program in the Gulf Region. [Greentech Lead]
¶ China aims to install 17.8 GW of solar power capacity this year, China’s National Energy Administration said in a document posted on its website. This is up nearly 20% from the original goal of 15 GW of installations and nearly 70% from the 10.52 GW of solar generation capacity China installed last year. [Reuters Africa]
¶ MAN Truck & Bus South Africa has officially announced the conversion of its Pinetown assembly plant to solar power. The complete truck and bus-chassis assembly plant is now capable of operating entirely off solar energy. It is the first 100% carbon-neutral truck production site in Africa, and for MAN worldwide. [Media Update]
¶ Lebanon simply does not generate enough electricity to keep the lights on. Daily power outages affect every corner of the country – at least three hours even in well-to-do quarters of Beirut, and much longer in other areas. Now, Lebanon’s first solar farm will soon be connected to ailing power grid. [Ya Libnan]
The Beirut River Solar Snake project is set to contribute to Lebanon’s power network by the end of April 2015.
¶ A new initiative of a series of environmental groups called the Global Coal Plant Tracker identifies, maps, describes, and categorises every known coal-fired generating unit proposed across the world since January 1, 2010. It finds that two plants have been shelved or cancelled worldwide for every plant completed. [Business Spectator]
¶ China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Limited announced it has commenced commercial operation of its 6.5-MW super compact drive offshore wind turbine prototype at the at Longyuan Rudong Intertidal wind power farm in China. Ming Yang’s SCD wind turbine is designed for extreme offshore weather conditions, [PennEnergy]
¶ China approved the construction of new nuclear reactors for the first time since Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011 as the world’s biggest polluter seeks to drive protective masks out of fashion. The world’s largest energy consumer derived 77% of its electricity from coal and gas-fired utilities last year. [Bloomberg]
US:
¶ Members spoke and their co-ops listened. The result will be two 500-kW solar projects in Illinois. The projects announced March 10 will be built in the service territories of two of the G&T’s distribution co-ops. One solar installation will be located not far from the Shelbyville headquarters of Shelby Electric Cooperative.[Electric Co-op Today]
¶ State Representative John Szoka of Cumberland County, North Carolina, filed legislation designed to make it easier for businesses to obtain electricity from solar power and other renewable energy resources. It’s called The Energy Freedom Act. Szoka said it will create competition in the market for electricity. [Fayetteville Observer]
¶ Massachusetts had the fourth most new solar capacity added last year in the nation, according to the recently-released US Solar Market Insight 2014 Year in Review , but finished Number 1 for the first time among Northeast states. The state added 308 MW of solar capacity, bringing its total to 751 MW. [RenewablesBiz]
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