Science and Technology:
¶ Dosing farm animals with antibiotics increases greenhouse gas emissions from cow dung, new research suggests. Scientists say the drugs boost methane production in cowpats, apparently by favoring antibiotic-resistant, methane-producing organisms found in the gut. [BBC]
Methane from cattle burps is a major contributor to carbon emissions. Science Photo Library.
¶ A PricewaterhouseCoopers report, Electricity beyond the grid: accelerating access to sustainable power for all, says rural electrification is best done by renewable off-grid technologies. It said current trends will leave two-thirds of the world’s population without electricity in 2030. [CPI Financial]
¶ The gulf between laboratory tests and real world air pollution from cars is hampering efforts to cut the toxic air that kills millions of people a year worldwide, an expert at the UN warned. The World Health Organisation said harmful airborne particulates had risen by 8% in cities. [The Guardian]
World:
¶ Home Energy Africa, which specializes in the development and sales of renewable energy products, got a $705,000 grant from the US Trade and Development Agency for a solar PV project in Ghana. The project is projected to generate 100 MW, powering about 80,000 homes. [Planetsave]
Ghanaian landscape. Image via Shutterstock.
¶ Growth of the Chinese electrochemical energy storage market over the past 5 years has eclipsed the global average, a report says, with a CAGR (2010–2015) of 110%. That’s about 6 times the global figure. The lithium-ion battery market accounted for about 66% of that market. [CleanTechnica]
¶ According to new figures published by MAKE Consulting, the Asia Pacific excluding-China region is expected to install more than 63 GW of new wind power capacity in the next decade, with India, Australia, and Japan constituting approximately 72% of all new installations for the region. [CleanTechnica]
Wind farm in South India. Photo by Thangaraj Kumaravel from Chennai, India. CC BY 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.
¶ Renewable energy could provide as much as four times the UK’s current energy consumption, according to a report from The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The 2008 Climate Change Act has set the target of slashing emissions by 80 percent by 2050, compared to a 1990 baseline. [CNBC]
¶ Total and SunPower announced a power purchase agreement for the supply of 300 GWh per year of solar energy to Metro of Santiago. With this agreement, Metro of Santiago will become the first public transportation system in the world to run mostly on solar energy. [Sun & Wind Energy]
Santiago Metro train. Image placed in the public domain by its author, Fevarasv. Wikimedia Commons.
¶ After provoking fuel shortages, French trade unions now want to turn their attention to the country’s electricity supplies as they up the ante against the government and its labour reforms. The union is calling on workers at the country’s nuclear power stations to join the strikes. [The Local.fr]
¶ The operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant revealed that 600 tonnes of fuel melted during the disaster, and that the exact location of the highly radioactive blobs remains a mystery. He also admitted the technology needed to remove the fuel, once it is found, has to be invented. [ABC Online]
Fukushima Daiichi five years after the meltdown. ABC: Yumi Asada
US:
¶ DTE Energy has installed the first of nearly 200,000 solar panels at its 45-MW Lapeer solar project in Michigan. The project will consist of two solar farms with capacity of 30 MW, on 150 acres, and 15 MW, on 100 acres. Both projects are expected to be complete by the end of the year. [reNews]
¶ By continuing to advance technology and lower costs, windpower will stay on pace to grow to supply 10% of U.S. electricity by 2020. The ongoing cost cuts have led zero-emission wind energy to become one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways to cut carbon pollution. [Windpower Engineering]
The wind could supply 10% of US electricity by 2020.
¶ US commercial PV inverter manufacturer Yaskawa – Solectria Solar has announced that Bombard Renewable Energy chose its US-made utility-scale inverters and monitoring systems for a 17.5-MW community solar project in the Mojave Desert town of Pahrump, Nevada. [PV-Tech]
¶ Duke Energy Corp is taking a second step into pig poop. The company announced a deal, similar to one in March, to collect methane from animal waste and convert it into fuel for two of its existing electricity plants. The plants will provide annual power needs for about 880 homes. [PennEnergy]
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