Opinion:
¶ “New 600 MW Colorado Wind Farm Blows Past ALEC Roadblock” • The powerful lobbying organization ALEC has been trying to trip up the US wind industry for years. Even so, despite objections from at least one organization linked to ALEC, Colorado officials have just approved a massive new 600-MW wind farm. [CleanTechnica]
Rush Creek Wind Farm (Photo courtesy of Xcel Energy)
¶ “Coalition’s stunning hypocrisy – and ignorance – on renewable energy” • Australia’s Coalition Government, dropping all pretended support for renewable energy, contradicted the grid owner, the market operator, and the biggest generator, saying a coal plant would have kept the lights on when the power lines were blown down. [CleanTechnica]
World:
¶ The regions of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, an area with over four million people, have created an initiative to get 70% of its energy from green sources by 2025, going fully green a decade later. NEW4.0 is a large scale scheme which combines business, science and politics from the two states. [Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy]
Hamburg (Shutterstock image)
¶ Canada will impose a federal price on emissions of carbon dioxide nationwide in 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced. The policy approach could push tougher limits on provinces that already use a carbon tax or a program for cap-and-trade, and could require major new programs for other parts of the country. [Bloomberg BNA]
¶ According to Energy Business Review, Mexico has selected 23 bidders for the development of $4 billion worth of photovoltaic solar, wind, and other clean energy projects. In total, the second tender round has awarded rights to build 8,909 GWh of capacity, of which 54% is for PV plants and 43% for wind farms. [CleanTechnica]
Mexican Pyramid (Image from Google Creative Commons)
¶ Work has begun on the east side of the Adriatic to lay a 100-MW undersea power cable linking Montenegro and Italy. The Italian side has already installed 136 km, starting in Pescara. The total planned length is 455 km. The project, expected to cost €800 million and should be completed by the end of 2018. [SeeNews]
¶ Scotland’s wind power output increased by more than a third in September compared to the same period last year. Wind turbines provided 766,116 MWh of electricity to the National Grid during the month, up 36% from 563,834 MWh in September 2015. The output was enough to power 87% of Scottish households or 2.1 million homes. [Scotsman]
Scottish wind farm (Photo: Ian Rutherford)
¶ The Australian state of Victoria has a program, the Advanced Lignite Demonstration Program, meant to find ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning lignite for power generation. Companies in the program have pulled out one by one, and it seems the last one standing is behind on milestones. [Energy Matters]
¶ Oil and gas resources in Russia may run out by 2030, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref said on a popular TV show. The head of the country’s biggest bank stressed that by macroeconomic standards there is not much time to transform Russia’s economy, warning of dire consequences of avoiding the issue. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]
Beregovaya gas compression station
(Photo by Rdfr, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ Local government officials in the Philippine province of Ilocos Norte have totally banned the use of coal with the passage of a provincial board resolution, making it the first province to phase out coal use to become a total renewable-energy consumer. One energy board member said it is a “clean, green and coal-free province.” [The Manila Times]
US:
¶ As seas continue to rise on Virginia’s coast, so too does action continue to stem this most visible impact of our changing climate. The state’s top environmental official just penned an op-ed cataloguing the positive past steps the governor has taken to help curb climate change and grow clean energy in Virginia. [Natural Resources Defense Council]
Live oak on the coast of Virginia
(photo by Wyatt Greene, CC BY SA, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ New York’s Attorney General issued a statement on arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in support of the EPA’s “Clean Power Plan,” a rule requiring fossil-fueled power plants to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases pursuant to the Clean Air Act. [Madison County Courier]
¶ It was 50 years ago today that Ohio was the site of the worst nuclear accident at a US commercial power plant, years before Three Mile Island captivated the nation. The incident occurred around 3 pm at the now-defunct Fermi 1 plant in Frenchtown Township and involved the partial meltdown of the reactor’s nuclear fuel. [Detroit Free Press]
Fermi 1 nuclear plant
(US government photo, public domain, Wikimedia Commons)
¶ In a first for Texas electricity retailers, TXU Energy unveiled a new limited-time instant rebate for residential customers who buy a SunPower rooftop solar PV system through the firm. The rebate varies between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on the PV system wattage size, and is a per-watt discount at the time of purchase. [CleanTechnica]
¶ After 2015, with solar policy setbacks in key states, 2016 has seen multiple policy wins. Utilities continue filing requests to increase fixed charges, but reports show regulators have denied the majority of these requests. Policymakers have supported solar power in several states, as voters did powerfully in Florida. [Solar Industry]
geoharvey 
October 6, 2016 at 3:52 pm
Reblogged this on nuclear-news.