Science and Technology:
¶ Audi has been a pioneer of diesel vehicle technology for decades. Now they have announced having successfully produced their first batch of an eco-friendly diesel fuel. It is a synthetic version, made from carbon dioxide and water, using Audi’s latest technology in sustainability. Ambient CO2 can be collected for use. [eGMCarTech]
World:
¶ Korea has created a PV-covered bike lane connecting Sejong and Daejeon. It offers a clean transit option that utilizes unused median space in an existing highway, while providing renewable solar electricity. The PV-covered bike lanes runs approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers) between the two cities. [CleanTechnica]
Korean solar PV-covered bike lane.
¶ Big oil is losing its grip on the auto industry; and, perhaps more interestingly, the recent drop in oil prices is at least partly the result of demand destruction rather than simply being a supply issue, according to analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The future of transportation is set to look very different. [CleanTechnica]
¶ A drone carrying small traces of a radioactive material was found on the roof of Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s office Wednesday morning, police said. The drone was equipped with a small camera and a plastic bottle containing small traces of a radioactive material, according to Japanese media, citing police. [CNN]
¶ While North Korea is notorious for a lack of electricity, many North Koreans are taking power into their hands by installing cheap household solar panels to charge mobile phones and light up their homes. Apartment blocks are increasingly adorned with the panels, hung from balconies and windows. [Thomson Reuters Foundation]
Solar panels face the sun from balconies of an apartment building in Mangyongdae District, Pyongyang, Aug. 27, 2014. REUTERS/Staff
¶ Germany got 170 bids surpassing in volume the targeted 150 MW of solar power generation capacity in the country’s pilot green energy auction, according to the Federal Network Agency. Projects are ground-mounted and must exceed 10 MW. Under the tender’s rules, bids cannot exceed €0.1129 ($0.12) per kWh. [SeeNews Renewables]
¶ GE is collaborating with Toyo Engineering Corporation and Kuni Umi Asset Management Co on the 231-MW Setouchi Kirei Solar Power Plant in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. GE’s Power Conversion business will provide 94 units of 1-MW Brilliance solar inverters and its SunIQ platform for the facility. [PV-Tech]
¶ A court in Japan rejected a bid to block the restart of two nuclear reactors operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co, easing the way for the resumption of nuclear power in Japan for the first time in more than a year and a half. The ruling affects reactors at Kyushu’s Sendai nuclear-power station in Satsumasendai. [Bloomberg]
US:
¶ An Energy Department report says severe weather is the leading cause of power disruptions, costing the nation’s economy $18 billion to $33 billion a year, and climate change will only make it worse. The report recommends investments in the electric grid to protect it from the severe storms and other threats. [Tribune-Review]
¶ Iowa, already a leading producer of corn ethanol and biodiesel, may be about to plunge into the production of renewable fuels from animal manure, municipal waste and other organic byproducts of farming and manufacturing, because of a change in the Renewable Fuels Standard enhancing the value of biogas. [Midwest Energy News]
Photo by Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
¶ The USDA Secretary Tuesday announced funding for six rural electric infrastructure projects, including three in North Carolina, that will use solar energy to generate electricity for rural communities. The investments come to $72 million. Projects include biomass and wind as well as solar. [Hoosier Ag Today]
¶ The North Carolina General Assembly sent a bill that would create a “soft landing” for ending the state’s 35% tax credit for renewable-energy projects to Governor Pat McCrory. The bill comes as proposals to extend the credits for five years seem to be garnering strength for passage in both chambers. [Charlotte Business Journal]
¶ Three organizations, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co, the US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the industry-backed National Fuel Cell Research Center, are combining forces to produce a series of projects demonstrating converting renewable power into methane fuel. [Natural Gas Intelligence]
¶ Rifle, Colorado, a city with a population of 9172, has 3 MW of municipally owned solar capacity. That is 325 watts per person. By comparison, Honolulu leads major American cities in solar power generated per person, at 265 watts. Rifle’s city government produces as much power as it uses. [Glenwood Springs Post Independent]
¶ EDF Renewable Energy and its partner BlackRock Infrastructure have inaugurated the 200-MW Hereford wind farm in Texas. The project is spread across 15,000 acres of land in Deaf Smith County. It has 54 of General Electric’s 1.85-MW turbines and 50 of V100 2.0-MW turbines from Vestas. [Power Technology]
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