Opinion:
¶ “Hinkley Point must be stopped – even if you believe in nuclear” UK support for low-carbon energy technologies is running at £250 million a year. But the government wants to throw four times that amount, every year for 35 years, at the Hinkley C nuclear power station. Meanwhile, the cost of solar power keeps dropping. [The Ecologist]
Salisbury Cathedral took 46 years to build. Would Hinkley C be any quicker? Photo: Photo Phiend via Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND.
Science and Technology:
¶ The summer of 2015 is Earth’s hottest on record. The meteorological summer of June-July-August saw its highest globally averaged temperature since records began in 1880, according to NOAA. Those record highs occurred on the surface of both land and sea. Scientists had predicted a record-breaking summer based on modeling. [CNN]
World:
¶ Australian utility AGL Energy Limited has announced its Broken Hill Solar Plant, in the eastern state of New South Wales, has begun generating electricity and feeding it into the National Electricity Market. The plant is not fully completed yet, with the currently-installed 26 MW only representing half of the expected 53 MW. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Wind farm operators in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, have decided to use the Condition Monitoring hardware and Remote Service of Bachmann Monitoring GmbH, of Rudolstadt/Jena, Germany. The order package consists of the hardware and monitoring contracts for 83 Gamesa turbines. [Windpower Engineering]
The CMS of Bachmann Monitoring GmbH are already in operation at the foot of the Concepcion volcano in the Southwest of Nicaragua.
¶ High electricity prices, limited connectivity to the national grid and frequent power outages all point to the need to innovate in Cambodia’s energy sector. Government officials and experts have agreed that solar power should have a prominent place in future plans. The country still has a long way to go, however. [The Cambodia Daily]
¶ One third of Irish households will be generating their own electricity within 10 years, the chief executive of ESB, the Irish retail electric provider, has predicted. Pat O’Doherty said that the company is witnessing a dramatic rise in the number of customers investing in new technologies to reduce their reliance on the national grid. [Irish Times]
¶ The Japanese government intends to make use of Tokyo 2020 as the venue to show off hydrogen fuel-cell technology to the rest of the world. This will be an expensive undertaking, but it will also be green, and a whole lot greener than Beijing 2008. The budget for the infrastructure could possibly exceed $300 million. [Ubergizmo]
Photo credit: Kawasaki Heavy Industries
US:
¶ For the first time since it was created 80 years ago, EPB, Chattanooga’s utility, may generate its own power. It will use solar PVs at a new community-based solar farm to produce power for about 125 homes. EPB and the TVA will partner on a 1.35-MW pilot program constructed on one of EPB’s service lots. [Chattanooga Times Free Press]
¶ The renewable energy technology that presents Hawaii the greatest potential for environmental impacts is utility-scale renewable energy, including wind and solar, according to the Hawaii Clean Energy final programmatic environmental impact statement by the US Department of Energy, released on Friday. [Pacific Business News]
¶ The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative has signed an agreement with SolarCity to construct the nation’s first utility-scale photovoltaic array with a battery storage system. The new project will generate 52 MW to charge a system of batteries which KIUC will then be able to turn on and off, just like a conventional generator. [Hawaii Public Radio-HPR2]
Kaua’i is not all this rugged. Photo by Christopher Michel. CC BY 2.0
¶ The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced the second round of support for Solarize campaigns is now open. Under Andrew M. Cuomo’s NY-Sun Community Solar NY program, Solarize campaigns make solar easier and more affordable through community-driven initiatives. [RealEstateRama]
¶ The US DOE, collaborating with National Institute of Building Sciences, has officially defined zero energy buildings, which also are referred to as net zero or zero net energy buildings. The definition extends to communities, campuses, and portfolios. They published guidelines for measurement and implementation. [Energy Manager Today]
geoharvey 