geoharvey

Opinion:

¶   “Graph of the Day: Even France could go 100% to renewables” [RenewEconomy]

¶   “Analysis – Renewables turn utilities into dinosaurs of the energy world” [Interactive Investor]

Science and Technology:

¶   “Where has all the ice gone?” The Earth Policy Institute tracks glacial melting. [InvestorIdeas.com]

¶   The power from solar and wind generators can be stored in the form of hydrogen. At Hanover Messe, 130 companies show off their technologies. [Nanotechnology News]

¶   Controlled whirlwinds can be used to generate electrical power. [Geekosystem]

World:

¶   Italy’s ERG more than doubled its core earnings in the fourth quarter, helped by an improved performance at its renewable energy and power and gas businesses, as it shifts from volatile refining. [Climate Spectator]

US:

¶   The US has a trade surplus in the solar trade with China, according to Pew Charitable Trust. [United Press International, Asia]

¶   Palo Alto, California, has instituted 100% renewable energy purchases. [Virtual-Strategy Magazine]

¶   As coal plants retire, and new sources of power come online, the grid is being upgraded. PJM has $5 billion in upgrades in the pipeline. [Platts]

¶   The Union of Concerned Scientists released its report on near-misses in nuclear plants. [The Advocate]

Science and Technology:

¶   Initial marketing tests show customers are strongly inclined to buy algae-based diesel fuel. [Autochannel]

Economics:

¶   The massive global increase of installed solar PV-systems has an enormous impact on the position of energy utilities, which need to compensate with changes to their business models. [InvestorIdeas.com]

¶   Fossil fuels are the fastest growing energy source. [Commodities Now]

World:

¶   In the UK, Hinkley Point’s nuclear power plans are under threat, as talks between owner EDF  and the Government reach crisis point, and could fail at any time. [South West Business]

¶   In Gujarat, India, forty-five hundred farmers walked out of a public meeting on a new nuclear power plant in protest. [Times of India]

¶   Weekly anti-nuclear rallies are continuing in Japan. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶   The sequester means a cut of 8.7% in renewable energy grants. [Greentech Media]

¶   The proposed New Hampshire moratorium on wind power is being held in committee over the summer. [New Hampshire Public Radio]

¶   There may be more storage tanks leaking at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation than the six we have already been told about. [OregonLive.com]

¶   There are mixed reactions to the appointment of Ernest Moniz, an advocate of both nuclear power and hydro fracking, to the position of Energy Secretary. [Energy Collective]

¶   Fire safety improvements the NRC required at the Oconee nuclear plant for 2012 are still not completed. The owners, who already failed to get the NRC to give them until the end of 2014, now say they cannot do them until 2016. [Anderson Independent Mail]

Economics:

¶   The fossil fuel industry’s party is about to end, according to Deutsche Bank and Standard and Poor’s. [RenewEconomy]

Science and Technology:

¶   Alta Devices has reached 30.8% solar cell efficiency from the company’s first implementation of a new generation solar cell technology. [SYS-CON Media]

World:

¶   Renewable energies can give hard-pressed farmers in the UK an important alternate source of income. [meatinfo.co.uk]

¶   Members of the UK parliament’s Energy Select Committee are warning that the government needs to plan for what happens if it cannot get new nuclear reactors built. [Telegraph.co.uk]

US:

¶   The greatest obstacle to taking advantage of the rich wind resources of  Texas is a need for new transmission lines. [El Paso Inc.]

¶   Some conservative lawmakers are souring on nuclear power because of its high costs. [NBC 29 News]

World:

¶   Tokelau, which has a grid supplied 100% by solar power, is taking on the fossil fuel industries. Their cry is, “We are not drowning, we are fighting.” And they are asking the rest of the world to join them in their fight. [Bay Area Indymedia]

¶   The CEO of Vestas, the world’s largest wind turbine company, met with the President of the Philippines, to talk about more wind power. The Philippines already has ambitious goals for renewable power. [4-traders]

US:

¶   Tidal power is making progress in Maine. [Co.Exist]

¶   The US budget sequestration is reducing available incentives for clean energy. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Warren Buffet is putting substantial amounts of money into investments in renewable energy. [MINING.com]

¶   The sequester is reducing the budget for nuclear waste cleanup, which is delaying progress at the Hanford site in Washington, where six tanks are known to be leaking highly toxic radioactive material. [Idaho Business Review]

¶   The US may eventually phase out nuclear power for economic reasons. [Newsroom America]

World:

¶  Libya could generate five times the amount of energy from solar panels alone than what it produces from crude oil, according to research by Nottingham Trent University. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

¶   Citizen groups are questioning the accuracy of the government’s contamination data for the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. [Deutsche Welle]

¶   China added 50 MW of wind capacity in 2012. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

US:

¶   Solar energy production in the US increased by 138.9% last year compared to 201. [Solar Novus Today]

¶   Three state legislatures have bills that target renewable energy initiatives. [Inside Climate News]

¶   A lobbyist for Koch Industries drew attention for having private talks with members of a Kansas House committee regarding a bill to weaken renewable energy requirements. [Kansas City Business Journal]

¶   A bill that started out as a three-year moratorium on wind projects in Vermont has been changed, but still has the strong opposition of renewable-energy advocates who argue it would essentially halt those projects. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

¶   The list of fixes needed at Fort Calhoun is growing. [Omaha World-Herald]

¶   The cost of the outage at San Onofre now exceeds $400 million. [Los Angeles Times]

¶   Washington Governor Jay Inslee is demanding that the federal government clean up the Hanford site. [KREM]

World:

¶   Estonia is the first country to establish a system of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles. [Nitrobahn]

¶   India has added 10,431 MW of renewable power in the last three years, surpassing a target of 9,623 MW. [SteelGuru]

¶   Analysts at Deutsche Bank predict that the global solar PV sector will transition from a subsidised market to a sustainable market within a year, citing the arrival of “grid parity” in a number of key markets, unexpectedly strong demand, and rebounding margins. [RenewEconomy]

¶   As demand for coal is falling in the US, it is rising in much of the rest of the world. [MIT Technology Review]

¶   The government of Taiwan is willing to accept a referendum on the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said Monday, amid mounting calls by anti-nuclear activists to have the nearly completed project scrapped. [Focus Taiwan News Channel]

US:

¶   The State of Hawaii, known for being a difficult place for permitting renewable energy projects, is  working on making things easier. [eco-business.com]

¶   The biggest obstacle to getting North Dakota windpower to the grid is the lack of high voltage transmission lines. [Public News Service]

Economy:

¶   “Taking a fresh look at solar energy’s benefits” [Highlands Today]

World:

¶   At European power rates, it is less expensive to install unsubsidized solar panels on the roof than to buy power from utilities. [The News International]

¶   Japan’s nuclear reactors are at 16 power plants. At present, none of the plants has met safety standards to become operational. The owners of nine plants say they are not sure when they will be able to pass safety standards. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   The government of Iran has announced significant finds of uranium ore and that it is planning 16 more nuclear reactors. [Arab Times Kuwait English Daily]

US:

¶   US utilities are increasingly turning to wind power, which is increasingly cost-competitive. The number of utilities owning large wind farms has increased by more than 50% in the last year. [Power Engineering Magazine]

Science and Technology:

¶   NASA has been developing a new form of nuclear power, which proponents claim could put a reactor into every house, car, or airplane. [Forbes]

World:

¶   A goal of 100% renewable power is turning out to be the new normal. It is a goal for communities, companies, and nations. Some are for the near future. At least one has already been achieved. [CleanTechnica]

¶   More than 100 GW of windpower is currently in the production pipeline in China. Current government goals are for 10 GW of solar and 18 GW of wind to be installed in 2013. [Greentech Media]

¶   Germany is getting serious about developing grid-scale energy storage. [Electric Light & Power]

US:

¶   Nine US-based companies have been awarded gold medals for sustainability practices in RobecoSAM and KPMG’s Sustainability Yearbook 2013. They include Molson Coors, Alcoa, Sonoco Products, Waste Management, PepsiCo and others. [Environmental Leader]

¶   The problem with high-level nuclear waste leaking at the Hanford site in Oregon is much worse than had been known, and involves at least six underground tanks. [Huffington Post]

Science and Economics:

¶   Fossil fuel prices do not include the costs of their side effects such as air pollution and the associated health care costs for premature deaths or asthma attacks. [ThinkProgress]

¶   Global Warming may be to blame for increased number and intensity of blizzards. [Huffington Post]

World:

¶   French electricity bills are set to increase 30% from now until 2016, with a large part of the increase being due to investment in developing renewable energy supplies. [The Connexion]

¶   Solar power is cheaper in England than nuclear, with the result that growth in the nuclear sector is appearing less and less likely. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets is warning of power rate increases, as more the nuclear sector is not growing and electricity is to be imported. [Public Service]

¶   The UK’s Government is reportedly set to offer guaranteed subsidies for up to 40 years to energy firms that agree to build new nuclear power stations. [ITV News]

¶   Taiwan’s main opposition political party wants to halt new nuclear projects. [Hong Kong Standard]

US:

¶   Under the provisions of the Sanders-Boxer bill, a fee on carbon pollution emissions would fund what the senators call “historic investments” in energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. [Renew Grid]

¶   The Waterford nuclear power plant is asking the NRC to allow it to use warmer water to cool its reactors as the water temperature of Long Island Sound hit a record high this past year. [Patch.com]

¶   A spike in fuel costs has driven up bills for Entergy’s New Orleans ratepayers. [NOLA.com]

Science and Technology:

¶   Reciprocating engines may have a future in electric generation for balancing the grid. They can be put in place quickly, are efficient, and can run on various types of biofuels. [Power Engineering Magazine]

World:

¶   The German opposition is rejecting a plan to limit increases in household electricity bills put forward by the ruling coalition. [Electric Light & Power]

¶   The Scottish government announced approval of construction of a 96-turbine wind farm that could generate as much as 288 megawatts of power. [UPI.com]

¶   China is ahead of schedule in a program to install 140 GW of windpower by 2015. [Greentech Media]

US:

¶   Bipartisan legislation introduced in the senate would streamline the permitting process for renewable energy projects on public lands. [Huffington Post]

¶   News on the attack on renewables in state legislatures:
… Renewable energy advocates are bracing to defend critical policies that have helped Texas become the leading wind-power state. [Fort Worth Star Telegram]
… Lawmakers in both the Kansas senate and house have started to hold hearings aimed at rolling back the state’s existing renewable energy portfolio standard. [ThinkProgress]

¶   The mayor of San Diego has asked the NRC not to allow San Onofre to restart, saying allowing the plant to operate would endanger millions of people. [OB Rag]

¶   An underground tank storing high-level radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington is leaking. [CNN]

¶   An Entergy vice president tried to convince the Public Service Board that problems at the Vermont Yankee plant during the 10 years of Entergy ownership were irrelevant to the question of whether the plant should be allowed to run for another 20 years. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

World:

¶   Changes in the energy market are happening faster than anyone predicted. Solar and wind are not only achieving grid parity, but “plug parity,” meaning that individuals can get electricity cheaper by making their own at their own homes using renewable resources. [RenewEconomy]

¶   In Portugal, 62% of  electric consumption was supplied by renewables in January, 2013. Hydro power supplied 31%, and wind provided 26%, with other sources supplying the rest. [The Portugal News]

¶   The company running the UK’s Sellafield nuclear site has pleaded guilty to charges relating to illegal dumping of four bags of low-level nuclear waste. [BBC News]

US:

¶   Of new power generating installations in 2012, 42% were windpower, and 55% were renewable. Windpower had the greatest share of all power sources. [Greentech Media]

¶   The CEO of Exelon says subsidies for wind power could lead to Exelon closing its nuclear plants. [Chicago Tribune]

¶   California grid operators are planning for a second summer without power from San Onofre. [Reuters]

¶   Business analysts say Duke’s decision to close Crystal River indicates a soft market for nuclear. Four other plants are particularly at risk, the foremost being Vermont Yankee. [Worcester Telegram]
… Exelon is also having problems with a soft market and high costs of nuclear plants. The dividend has been cut by 41%. [Chicago Business Journal]

¶   The Vermont legislature is considering ways to make sure the owner of Vermont Yankee stand by promises to restore the plant’s site to green field status after it shuts down. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   A solar array is up and running at the site of a former Vermont race track in Pownal. The array produces 2.2 MW at maximum. [Ct Post]