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World:

¶   Just weeks after President Obama announced an end to US taxpayer support for overseas coal plants, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, followed suit. Now the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering similar action. [Energy Collective]

¶   The Australian Capital Territory government plans to bring another 650 MW of solar and wind energy generation to its region following the successful completion of the second round of its solar auction, to become the green capital. [RenewEconomy]

¶   A new poll by the Federation of German Consumer Organizations finds that 82% of the German public support the phase-out of nuclear energy and the expansion of renewable energy, but that only 40% support the current implementation. [solarserver.com]

¶    South Australian power demand was 339.51 GWh over the course of a period of nine days, and total SA wind generation was 157.07 GWh – meaning wind supplied 46.26% of total energy in South Australia. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Reports from TEPCO say that measurements of radioactive tritium in seawater at Fukushima Daiichi show levels at the highest tritium level in the measurement history of the site. Levels have been rising continuously since May. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Some 300 tonnes of radioactive water is believed to have leaked from a tank at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, the worst such leak since the crisis began. TEPCO said puddles around the tank have extremely high radiation levels of about 100 millisieverts per hour. [Capital FM Kenya]

US:

¶   Chevy cut the Volt’s price. Nissan cut the leaf’s price. And now the electric version of the Smart Fortwo (Fortwo — kind of romantic) is available for less, as well. The Smart Fortwo Electric Drive is now available for $139 per month on a three-year, 30,000-mile lease. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Aiming to expand the market for Southeast Alaska’s vast renewable hydro resource, Soule Hydro has applied for a Presidential permit for the first electric transmission line delivering Alaska-based renewable electric energy into Canada. [Financial Post]

¶   A naval architect and engineer from Glosten Associates, the company behind a floating offshore wind turbine demonstrator due to be deployed off the south coast of England in 2015, has said that a field of wind turbines floating on Lake Michigan isn’t that far off. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Eolian Renewable Energy has been given the green light to install meteorological towers in northern Vermont. The state Public Service Board granted a ‘certificate of public good’ authorizing the installation of four stations in the towns of Brighton, Ferdinand and Newark. [reNews]

¶   The troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant continues to inch closer to restarting, but federal regulators say significant work remains to be done at the Nebraska plant. [Sioux City Journal]

¶   According to a new report by Radiation and Public Health Project, the county where  the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant sits has the highest cancer rate of Michigan’s 34 most populated counties, and death rates there have more than doubled since the plant opened. [WWMT-TV]

¶   Both of Massachusetts’ US senators sent a letter  to Entergy to urge the owner-operator of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to expand the emergency planning zone and develop a realistic evacuation plan should the plant have a radioactive release. [Capecodonline]

¶   The NRC said Monday that Indian Point 2 in Buchanan can operate while its license renewal application is being reviewed. That could be more than a year. New York state and environmental groups are opposing a new 20-year license. [Westfield Republican]

Opinion:

¶   Amory Lovins: “Separating fact from fiction in Germany’s renewables revolution” Germany’s Energiewende is a bold, challenging, and complex experiment. On the whole, it has been highly successful so far and is on track for its seemingly ambitious goals. [RenewEconomy]

Science and Technology:

¶   General Atomics is working on designs of a nuclear reactor the size of a school bus, built on an assembly line and delivered to operators on a flatbed truck. They say it would be a safer, more efficient fission machine that could go 30 years without refueling. [U-T San Diego]

World:

¶   Danish manufacturer Vestas has fired up a 20 MW test bench at its global testing center in Aarhus and has begun putting the full nacelle of its 8 MW V164 offshore wind turbine through its paces. [reNews]

¶   About $4 billion in private funding would be sucked away from Australia’s solar power and renewable energy industries over the next three years if the Coalition wins government, confidential data obtained from banks and financial analysts shows. [The Canberra Times]

¶   Environmentalists in the Czech Republic say a law will approved by the Chamber of Deputies Friday end support to environmentally friendly production of electricity while maintaining subsidies to burning coal, gas and waste. [Prague Daily Monitor]

¶   A French nuclear research center has been using ordinary pressure cookers to store and transport plutonium and other “sensitive materials” for 50 years, it has been revealed. The news leaked as the center posted a public tender for 4,000 pressure cookers. [Ammon News]

¶   Investing in nuclear energy is down because of costs and waste disposal. The World Nuclear Industry Status Report for this year shows that global reliance on nuclear plants to generate power has fallen to a 10% share of total energy produced down from 17%. [MENAFN.COM]

US:

¶   The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently installed a 132-panel solar electric system at its Bald Hill Fish Culture Station in Newark. The system will supply 75% of current electric demand and will save $200,000 over the life of the panels. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   Bay City, Michigan is looking to buy a chunk of its electric power from a Gratiot County wind-turbine farm. The Bay City Commission on Monday is hearing a proposal to buy $18 million in electricity generated by the wind farm during the next 20 years. [Bay City Times]

¶   University researchers in South Dakota and North Dakota have been awarded $6 million to research using the molecular building blocks of grass, trees and other organic material to replace petroleum and producing chemicals for detergents, plastics and other items. [The Republic]

World:

¶   The Indian government announced a $7.9 billion investment to double its transmission capacity to increase access to power from wind and solar projects. These clean energy projects increase India’s energy supply, and they also create much-needed jobs. [Energy Collective]

¶   The president of Turkey has urged the creation of a low-carbon economy built on renewable energy resources, thereby reducing the share of fossil fuels, during the opening speech of the Solar Energy For World Peace Congress in Istanbul. [Hurriyet Daily News]

¶   The largest self-consumption rooftop solar array in Europe has been completed, and it is of course located in Germany. It covers 11 hectares (27.2 acres), has 33,000 solar panels, and has a generation capacity of 8.1 MW (enough to power about 1,846 homes).[CleanTechnica]

¶   The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant says 10 workers have been exposed to small amounts of radiation while conducting cleanup activities. TEPCO said it is still investigating how the workers were contaminated. [Las Vegas Sun]

US:

¶   Big Oil, in this case the American Petroleum Institute, is demanding that Congress repeal the law that requires ethanol to be blended with gasoline. The effects of such laws extend outside the US. [Globe and Mail]

¶   Four years after raising customers’ bills to meet clean power mandates, Michigan’s biggest utilities are cutting or eliminating the fees. Green energy proponents say this shows the program is a success and should be extended. [Daily Mining Gazette]

¶   St. Francis University, in Loretto, Pennsylvania, is accepting applications for its Renewable Energy Center’s anemometer loan program. The center recently purchased state of the art equipment to assist landowners with wind energy analysis. [The Tribune-Democrat]

¶   King Arthur Flour’s Norwich campus, site of its bakery, school, cafe, and store now features a PV-powered charging station to serve the growing number of electric cars in Vermont.  The charging station was built in cooperation with Green Mountain Power. [Rutland Herald]

¶   In 1959, a reactor in Simi Valley, California, partially melted down, belching radioactive gases. The government said there was no dangerous radioactive release. Full details were made public two decades later, and now the fallout is being cleaned up. [Huffington Post]

Opinion:

¶   “The Future of Electric Energy” The debate about using natural gas or coal for power is very old. But that’s all changing as the cost of traditional energy sources rises, and that of alternative energy falls, and on-site power generation becomes viable. [The Motley Fool]

World:

¶   Scientists at the University of Auckland in New Zealand estimate that suburban rooftops can generate enough solar power to make commuting carbon-free with enough juice left over to power cities for brief periods, as well. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

¶   Alberta could lead Canada toward replacing about half its necessary transportation fuel with non-petroleum products, says a global expert on biofuels, bioenergy and bioproducts. [Edmonton Journal]

¶   Fossil fuel and nuclear plants around the UK will be closing over the next decade. While power companies are quick to blame the rise of government-supported renewables for plant closures, in reality the writing has been on the wall for a long time. [Carbon Brief]

¶   The European Commission (EC), the EU’s executive, says its mind is still open on the topic, but it is under pressure to set a legal framework for state aid to nuclear projects after several member states, including Britain, sought its guidance. [Irish Independent]

US:

¶   In California, three-fourths of rooftop photovoltaic solar systems are leased, not purchased outright, according to the research group Climate Policy Initiative. Solar City makes the process of going solar almost a no-brainer for property owners. [Green Building Elements]

¶   MidAmerican Energy is intending to develop up to 1,050 MW of additional wind power generation in Iowa by the end of 2015 and has been granted permission to expand by the Iowa Utilities Board. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Natural gas from organic waste is gaining momentum as a renewable energy source, and a local transit agency in Seattle is already on board. Methane is purified and put into gas lines, where it is five to seven times more profitable, fueling local buses. [KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest]

¶   The chairman of Oregon’s GOP says of nuclear waste: “All we need do with nuclear waste is dilute it to a low radiation level and sprinkle it over the ocean—or even over America after hormesis is better understood and verified with respect to more diseases.” [Mother Jones]

World:

¶   Irish investor and asset manager of renewable projects NTR has reported a significantly lower loss of €16.2 million for the year ended 31 March 2013, down from €88.8 million the previous year, as it focused more sharply on wind power and delivered parts of its strategic plan a year early. [Businessandleadership.com]

¶   Drax, which operates the largest coal-fired power station in the UK, has launched a £700 million program to convert three of its six generating units from coal to biomass. This will transform the Drax site from the largest carbon emitters in the UK to one of the largest clean-energy plants in the world. [Financial Times]

¶   Were the new Australian Government to scrap the Carbon Pricing Mechanism, the country would fail to meet renewable energy targets, according to a report compiled for WWF-Australia by research firm RepuTex. The report says even a low price supports the development of renewable energy. [Tax-news.com]

¶   Enel Green Power has started construction works at Taltal, its biggest wind farm in Chile. The plant has a total installed capacity of 99 MW, and will be able to generate up to more than 300 GWh per year. [Newswire Today]

¶   The UK’s first large-scale battery has been connected to the grid in Orkney. Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution is running the trial project on the remote Scottish islands to investigate how the intermittent nature of renewable energy generation can be resolved. [Solar Power Portal]

¶   A feasibility study is being prepared now on how underground ice walls can be used to stop the “urgent problem,” that has also been called a “state of emergency,“ of radioactive ground water leaking into the ocean at Fukushima Daiichi. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   The US DOE expects a nonlinear surge in solar expansion once a key cost threshold is reached, resulting in a rapid, large-scale adoption of solar electricity in the US, with solar providing 27% of the country’s power by mid-century. If so, solar may prove to be the bigger story than shale in the end. [Telegraph.co.uk]

¶   A recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather, demonstrates that climate change is here today and that the energy sector is already suffering from its effects. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   In Vermont, the Washington Electric Co-op has announced that it would limit the size of future solar installations to 5 kilowatts. A system that size will not produce enough electricity to power the average Vermont home, according to a release from Renewable Energy Vermont. [Clean Energy Authority]

¶   The US federal government is preparing to kick off the first ever leasing process for wind and marine renewables off the West Coast. A request for competitive interest off Oregon is due to be published by the Bureau for Ocean Energy Management in the coming weeks. [reNews]

¶   As part of the Obama administration’s clean energy goals, the U.S. Interior Department has established a new Renewable Energy Evaluation Area that could result in the development of more than 3.3 GW of solar capacity. [pv magazine]

¶   Penn State, which is ranked first among universities engaged in alternative energy research by Elsevier Publishing, will launch an online master’s degree in renewable energy and sustainability systems starting this fall. [Gant Daily]

¶   Operators of the San Onofre nuclear power plant say it may cost $4.1 billion and take 15 years to tear down the troubled plant and restore the Southern California coastal site to its pristine condition. [Fresno Business Journal]

¶   In a new report to be released today, prepared at the request of the US Department of Defense, the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project will warn that dozens of reactor sites across the United States are inadequately protected from terrorist attacks that could trigger a meltdown or other disasters. [SouthCoastToday.com]

¶   The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City agreed largely with the earlier decision by US District Judge Garvan Murtha, in the law suit between Vermont and the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, but it did overturn the part saying that Vermont had to pay Entergy’s legal bills. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Opinion:

¶   “Abe’s Japan Is Blind to Scary Nuclear Reality” It’s mind-boggling how disengaged Japan’s leaders have been since their “BP moment” — the March 2011 near-meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. [Bloomberg] (Yes – the opinion piece actually does say “near-meltdown.”)

Science and Technology:

¶   Prof Steven Cowley, chief executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, believes the world’s first nuclear fusion power plant in France could be producing viable electricity in the 2020s. [Irish Times]

¶   A Canadian government granting organization completed a month-long technical due diligence of SHEC Energy’s Ultra Lite solar technology, and found a materials cost reduction of 89% over its previous generation technology. [DigitalJournal.com]

World:

¶   An independent report released today has found that ditching the carbon price in Australia will hit investment in the renewable energy sector – and almost certainly lead to an increase in electricity prices. [ABC Online]

¶   Swedish furniture giant Ikea is spending €16 million to build a windfarm in Leitrim, Ireland, in a move to ensure all power for its outlets in Dublin and Belfast is sourced from renewable energy. [Irish Independent]

¶   EnergyAustralia, one of the big three utilities operating in Australia, says that rooftop solar PV and energy efficiency measures are causing “unprecedented structural change” to the national electricity market. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Dunlop is set to release a 100% fossil fuel free tire that does not use any fossil fuel resources such as petroleum or coal, at the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show 2013 and concurrently begin the sale of the product. [Japan Today]

¶   Russia is set to sign an agreement with Iran to build the country’s second nuclear power plant, outgoing Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said. [UPI.com]

US:

¶   The Georgia branch of the Tea Party has aligned itself with solar interests and environmental NGOs to force the monopoly utility Georgia Power to open its network to more solar power. [The Guardian]

¶   Northrop Grumman Corporation has achieved its inaugural greenhouse gas reduction goal of 25% in three years, two years ahead of plan. In 2012, the company realized a 25.3% intensity reduction from its 2008 baseline, resulting in a 26.9% absolute emissions reduction. [Your Renewable News]

¶   California, whose green ambitions helped the solar and wind industries take root, is taking an essential next step by proposing a sharp rise in energy storage. “We can’t just rely on sunlight,” Governor Jerry Brown said, “We’ve got to bottle the sunlight.” [Huffington Post]

¶   According to Southern California Edison, closing the San Onofre nuclear power plant is in the “best interests” of their 4.9 million customers, and those ratepayers should be prepared to pay a portion of the shutdown costs. [Los Angeles Times]

¶   An NRC inspection report finds that NextEra Energy Seabrook has shown the nuclear power plant’s staff is taking necessary steps to address the plant’s concrete degradation, leading the NRC to close all of the remaining action items to address the situation. [The Daily News of Newburyport]

World:

¶   A team from the University of Wollongong won a worldwide competition for a zero-emissions solar house by refitting a humble cottage made of fibrous cement sheet. Criteria for the competition are comfort and generating more energy than the house consumes. [ABC Online]

¶   Germany, Europe’s biggest electricity market, is beating up its traditional utilities as renewables take more market share. RWE AG and EON SE are getting hurt by falling power prices and a shrinking market share this year. They both may need to raise capital. [Businessweek]

¶   The Philippine Department of Energy expects an additional 5,905 megawatts of renewable capacity under a new law. Of 347 projects, there are 177 hydropower plants, 39 geothermal plants, 37 wind farms, 34 solar farms, 29 biomass plants, and 3 ocean energy projects. [Philippine Star]

¶   Workers at Fukushima Daiichi say they do not trust that TEPCO will be able to handle the situation. They believe that another serious accident is inevitable, as power outages and unexplained steam incidents have been part of their lives the past few months. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Ten workers at Fukushima Daiichi were exposed to radiation from contaminated cooling mist. The workers were waiting for a bus when they were sprayed, according to TEPCO. It was unknown how the mist became contaminated. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   IBM announced an advanced power and weather modeling technology to help utilities increase the reliability of renewable energy resources. It combines weather prediction and analytics to forecast the availability of wind power and solar energy accurately. [RTT News]

¶   There appears to be a competition among the branches of the US military as the services work on being green. This trend will only going to intensify going forward. Considering that the US military is the world’s largest fossil-fuel consumer, this is going to matter. [DailyFinance]

Economics and Finance:

¶   A new report from global research house Bloomberg New Energy Finance says cutting the renewable energy target would lead to an increase in electricity bills for consumers, not a reduction, puncturing the rhetoric from incumbent fossil fuel generators.  [RenewEconomy]

Books:

¶   Ironically, Texas is leading the way in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In “The Great Texas Wind Rush,” Kate Galbraith and Asher Price tell the strange, inspiring and at times funny story of how a culture known for Big Oil came to embrace Big Wind. [LubbockOnline.com]

World:

¶   Japanese residents are protesting against the country’s nuclear power policy following revelations that over 300 tons of contaminated water flow daily from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. [CRIENGLISH.com]

¶   South Korea has warned of power shortages this week partly because of heat and as partly because the country is struggling to keep up with demand after six nuclear plants have gone off-line. Three reactors are offline replacing cables with forged safety certificates. [Yahoo! News]

US:

¶   Scituate is the first town in Massachusetts to power all of its government services using only renewable energy, saving $400,000 per year. All municipal services – including water, sewer, municipal buildings, and streetlights – will soon be powered by the sun and the wind. [ENGINEERING.com]

¶   Pacific Gas & Electric,  the same company that sprung to notoriety in the wake of Erin Brockovich, has garnered a lot of positive attention lately as it quickly becomes the leading solar-powered electricity purchaser in the US. [DailyFinance]

¶   A 5.57 MW project in Plymouth, Massachusetts, covers 25 acres of land with 23,670 individual solar panels. The project went online this week, producing energy that will be credited to the local schools, an annual saving of $500,000. [Wicked Local Plymouth]

¶   The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will investigate the finances of three nuclear reactors owned by Entergy Nuclear — Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim in Massachusetts and the FitzPatrick reactors in New York — as a result of a petition by four anti-nuclear groups. [Rutland Herald]

Science and Technology:

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is working with Ecopetrol, the largest oil company in Colombia, to process the residue from sugar cane and palm oil harvesting into fuel ethanol for blending with gasoline. [Biomass Magazine]

World:

¶   The EU-backed All-gas project, the world’s largest project to convert algae into low-cost clean energy using wastewater, has successfully grown its first crop of algae biomass at its site in Chiclana, Southern Spain. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶   A new poll shows that a majority of each of Conservatives, Labor, Liberal Democrats and UKIP voters say that the Government should continue giving incentives for wind and tidal technologies. [Offshore Technology International]

¶   The U.N. atomic energy agency is following closely the leak of radioactive water from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea and is ready to help out if asked, it said on Friday. [GMA News]

US:

¶   Colorado’s first biomass plant is nearing completion. The 11.5-megawatt plant will get much of its wood supply from a 10-year, $8.66 million forest stewardship project to remove insect-infested and diseased trees from the surrounding White River National Forest. [Grand Junction Sentinel]

¶   Minnesota Power says it has found a way to meet Minnesota’s renewable energy standard early and reduce costs at the same time, and Northern States Power says wind projects offer lower costs than other possible resources, like natural gas plants. [MinnPost.com]

¶   Massachusetts has approved 41 landfill post-closure permits for renewable energy facilities, including 39 solar and two wind turbine projects. Solar projects have been approved in Acton, Brookfield, Lancaster, Maynard, Norfolk and Winchendon. More are in the works. [Worcester Telegram]

¶   The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is not giving up the fight to dismantle popular clean energy laws across the country — despite completely failing in its last attempt. This year, its record is 0 for 13, so it is devising a new approach. [ThinkProgress]

¶   A report this week from the nonprofit Institute for Energy and Environmental Research asserts that relying on the development of small modular reactors “is unlikely to breathe new life into the increasingly moribund U.S. nuclear power industry.” [Pittsburgh Business Times]

¶   The Nebraska Public Power District’s board has decided against boosting capacity of the Cooper nuclear plant. The board had earlier decided to try to get an uprate raising output by 18%,but the latest estimated cost is $409 million, $120 million above an earlier estimate. [Westport-News]

Opinion:

¶   “Debunking the Renewable Energy Disinformation Campaign” by Amory Lovins [National Geographic]

Science and Technology:

¶   A new type of solar cell, made from material much cheaper to obtain and use than silicon, could generate as much power as today’s solar cells. Although the potential is just starting to be understood, it has caught the attention of leading solar researchers, and several companies are already working to commercialize it. [MIT Technology Review]

World:

¶   Crowdfunding is providing the financial impetus needed to lift renewable energy projects off the ground, as an investment company raises £700,000 in a month, according to Responding to Climate Change. Since the project launched last summer, it has raised a total of £3 million. [H&V News]

¶   The head of Estonia’s renewable energy association says it should be possible for heat and power systems to fully switch to renewable sources by 2030, if there is political will to do it. [ERR News]

¶   A new report examining renewable energy in the Middle East-North Africa region finds that PV is experiencing rapid growth due to its tremendous potential and continuously decreasing technology costs, with a current pipeline of 2.3 GW. [pv magazine]

¶   Tidal Lagoon Power is pitching a plan to build manmade lagoons with tidal power generation capacity in the UK’s Swansea Bay in the Severn Estuary. The plan is scalable up to $1 billion and could generate enough renewable energy to power 120,000 average U.K. homes by 2018. [Electric Light & Power]

¶   China has completed installing five wind turbines in Tibet at a height of about 4,900 meters above sea level, making it the highest wind farm in the world. A total of 33 wind turbines will be installed on the farm. The facility is scheduled to be connected to the grid at the end of the year. [The New Indian Express]

¶   In Japan, there are reports that prosecutors will lay no charges over the Fukushima nuclear disaster, two-and-a-half years ago, despite a parliamentary committee finding that the meltdowns of three of the plant’s reactors constituted a ‘manmade’ disaster. [ABC Online]

US:

¶   William Ruckelshaus, Lee Thomas, William Reilly, and Christine Todd Whitman, four Republican leaders who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under four Republican presidents, have declared their support for President Obama’s climate action plan. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶   In the second-quarter earnings report from its parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., Hawaiian Electric Co. noted that 18% of its electricity came from renewable sources. The state’s benchmark calls for 15% clean energy by 2015. [Pacific Business News]

¶   The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the state has set a record for biodiesel production. Iowa’s plants produced 56.7 million gallons of biodiesel during the second quarter of 2013. The plants’ production of 99.5 million gallons during the first six months also was a record. [The San Luis Obispo Tribune]

¶   A nonprofit nuclear group released a report Thursday saying that efforts to develop small modular reactors at Savannah River Site and other venues will require “tens of billions of dollars” in federal subsidies. [The Augusta Chronicle]

¶   Minnesota Utility regulators will investigate massive cost overruns at Xcel Energy’s Monticello nuclear plant. They cut utility’s rate increase request for the state’s 1.2 million customers by more than half and will allow the company to charge only part of the $655 million spent on plant upgrades. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

¶   The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has placed on probation a state-run office in Georgia that oversees the use of radioactive materials at hospitals, research centers and industrial sites, authorities said Thursday. [Online Athens]

World:

¶   Britain has opened the world’s second largest offshore wind farm. It will help generate enough renewable energy to power around half a million homes . The Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm cost £1.3 billion ($2 billion) and has 140 turbines. [IBTimes.co.uk]

¶   Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, a leading solar energy company and the world’s largest PV manufacturer, which markets its products under the brand “Yingli Solar”, announced today the official opening of its Australian operations in Sydney, Australia. [CMO]

¶   Calls have been made to ensure that the Welsh Island of Anglesey becomes a world leader in renewable energy. Segen Wales, a partnership between Marine Current Turbines and RWE npower, is consulting on plans for a tidal farm off the Skerries, and Anglesey. [North Wales Chronicle]

¶   Members of the Liberal Democrats political party in the UK have put forth a proposal that would see millions of gasoline- and diesel-burning passenger vehicles banned from British roads by 2040. [Autoblog]

¶   Vietnam’s state-run English-language newspaper published an opinion ad Tuesday objecting to planned nuclear reactor exports by Japan. The ad says , “the Japanese people are opposed to Japan’s export of nuclear technology due to the immense dangers involved.” [The Japan Times]

¶   An Industry Ministry official says the flow of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima Daiichi is worse than previously thought, even as PM Shinzo Abe pledged to step up efforts to halt the crisis. The Voice Russia interviews Arnie Gundersen. [The Voice of Russia]

¶   Radioactive cesium has formed hotspots on the seabed east of Fukushima Daiichi. Several spots two to four miles from the plant had readings in excess of 5,000 becquerels, with one as high as 40,000 becquerels. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶   Vermont, its largest utility and the entity that operates the New England power grid continue to have their differences over where wind power fits in. ISO President Gordon van Welie responded to a letter from Vermont Governor Shumlin complaining about ISO actions. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

¶   Due in part to the increased deployment of wind power, average levelized prices for wind power purchase agreements have fallen about 43 percent since 2009 — going from a high of nearly $70 per MWh in 2009 to around $40 per MWh in 2012. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Washington County, Maryland is partnering with America First, Inc. to launch a waste-to-renewable energy initiative, which utilizes municipal solid waste (MSW) and converts it into a fuel source, at no cost to the County. [San Francisco Chronicle]

¶   Having failed completely in its attempt to repeal state renewable electricity standards during the spring 2013 legislative season, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is shifting gears. Their new strategy is more nuanced. [The Equation: Blog of the Union of Concerned Scientists]

Science and Technology:

¶   A team from the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   German utilities are heaping pressure on the government before September polls to soften green policies that are hurting their profits, with one company hinting it could even move gas or coal plants to countries where it can still make money. [Reuters]

¶   Israeli Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom took part in inaugurating the country’s largest solar field, a 10-megawatt photovoltaic “oasis” developed by SunPower on land belonging to Moshav Mivtahim in the northern Negev. [Jerusalem Post]

¶   Last month, TEPCO, finally admitted what many had suspected – that Fukushima Daiichi was leaking. Now Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority is calling the situation an emergency, and says TEPCO’s plans to stop the leak are unlikely to work. [New Scientist]

¶   The Japanese government will get directly involved in containing rising levels of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant instead of relying solely on the operator, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday, calling it an “urgent issue”. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Wind power became the number one source of new power capacity for the first time in the US last year. According to new reports released by the US DOE, wind energy represented 43% of all new electricity additions and accounted for $25 billion in investments in 2012. [Energy Live News]

¶   The authors of the 2012 Wind Technologies Market Report contend wind sector’s growth underscores the importance of continued policy support and clean energy tax credits to ensure that wind manufacturing and jobs remain in the US. [North American Windpower]

¶   The Obama administration told refiners to blend 16.55 billion gallons of renewable fuels into the nation’s gasoline supply this year, while paring a specialized ethanol requirement that the oil industry had criticized as too ambitious. [San Antonio Express]

¶   Americans are increasingly installing wind turbines near homes, farms and businesses to generate their own energy, a DOW lab is reporting. The DOE issued its first comprehensive analysis specifically on distributed wind. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   McNairy County, Tennessee is likely to be home by next spring to the two largest solar energy installations in the TVA region. Plans call for the two solar farms near Selmer to have more than 160,000 PV panels spread over parts of 326 acres, with a total output of 40 MW. [RenewablesBiz]

¶   Xcel Energy is giving a financial boost to a first-of-its-kind Minnesota project that aims to install small wind turbines on private land to produce energy for farms, businesses and rural homes, with a $1.1 million grant from its Renewable Development Fund. [Minneapolis Star Tribune]

World:

¶   The residue radioactive water at the Fukushima nuclear plant has become “an emergency”, the authorities said. The situation is even more serious as a barrier built to contain the water has already been breached, the Nuclear Regulatory Authority warned. [The Tokyo Times]

¶   Radioactivity levels soared 47-fold over just five days in groundwater from a monitoring well on the ocean side of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the plant operator said Aug. 5. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Following safety checks required under rules put in place since the Fukushima disaster two years ago, it may take until July to restart some of the reactors in Japan, according to a government-affiliated institute. [Chicago Tribune]

¶   A scandal over nuclear regulation in South Korea is worsening. Weeks of revelations about the close ties between South Korea’s nuclear power companies, their suppliers and testing companies have led the prime minister to liken the industry to a mafia. [Energy Tribune]

US:

¶   In a clash between renewable energy developers and environmental activists, a California appeals court approved plans to build one of the world’s largest solar power projects about 50 miles south of Silicon Valley. [Budget & Tax News]

¶   NRG has plans to build a renewable energy park in Montville, Connecticut. The park would produce 50 MW of power from a mix of biomass, fuel cell, and solar power. [TheDay.com]

¶   According to the EPA, many contaminated land sites in Kentucky have potential for large-scale photovoltaic solar installations. There are a handful of sites with utility-scale wind potential, and numerous opportunities for landfill gas energy and biopower. [WFPL]

¶   The New England Coalition and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group are asking the Vermont Public Service Board to take into account new information about layoffs at Vermont Yankee as part of the board’s decision on a Certificate of Public Good. [vtdigger.org]

¶   Entergy Nuclear and Green Mountain Power have reached a confidential settlement in the utility’s $6.6 million lawsuit over its increased power costs due to the partial collapse of Vermont Yankee’s cooling towers in 2007 and again in 2008. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Opinion:

¶   From Forbes: “Who’s Gonna Pay For Global Warming?” The middle classes of the developed world will pay with their hard-earned taxes.  The poor of the world will pay with their blood, sweat and tears. And half the species on this planet will pay with their lives. [Forbes]

Science and Technology:

¶   In order to combat the problems from fertilizers, such as ocean dead spots and toxic algae blooms, without loss of yield, researchers at the University of Nottingham are working on a technology that could enable crops to take nitrogen from the air, instead of the soil. [EarthTechling]

¶   Finnish scientists have found a way to turn dead wood into high quality biofuel for less than one euro a litre. They believe they can convert more than half the energy of raw wood – ligno-cellulosic biomass, if you prefer the technical term – into something that will drive a taxi, a tractor or a tank. [Truthdig]

World:

¶   UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg opened the Lincs offshore wind farm in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. The last of the wind farm’s 75 Siemens 3.6 MW wind turbines was connected to the National Grid on Wednesday 24th July, bringing the 270 MW project up to full strength for the first time. [Your Renewable News]

¶   First Solar is set to deliver a total of 155 MW of solar power in Australia. Two solar projects in New South Wales by AGL Energy Limited have achieved financial close. AGL has engaged First Solar to supply the projects with thin-film photovoltaic modules as well as provide services. [EcoSeed]

¶   Japan’s two remaining nuclear reactors will be shut down next month for regular inspections, leaving the country with no source for nuclear energy. Kansai Electric Power Company is set to submit to regulators on Thursday an application to shut down the Number 3 reactor at the Ohi plant in Fukui Prefecture. [The Tokyo Times]

¶   Nearly 10,000 people who worked at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are eligible for workers’ compensation if they develop leukemia, but few are aware of this and other cancer redress programs. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶   Wind turbines tower over rural vistas in the heartland, where the clean energy source is becoming increasingly popular with utility companies that face state-mandated renewable energy standards. Unfortunately, the nation’s aging power grid is hampering those efforts. [Bellingham Herald]

¶   Duke Energy Florida has filed a revised settlement agreement with the Florida Public Service Commission comprising provisions related to the Crystal River nuclear plant, the proposed Levy nuclear project, the Crystal River 1 and 2 coal units, and future gas-fired generation needs in Florida. [Gas to Power Journal]

¶   Mark Cooper, senior fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment, Vermont Law School and author of a July 17th report forecasting that three dozen reactors are at risk of early retirement, issued a statement on recent nuclear industry events as they appear to indicate he was right. [Your Industry News]

World:

¶   Householders in Scotland will soon be able to apply for interest free loans for installing energy efficiency measures under a new £3 million scheme unveiled by the Government. Loans worth up to £10,000 can be borrowed for systems such as solar panels, micro wind turbines, biomass boilers and heat pumps. [Energy Live News]

¶   There have been 17 reviews of the evidence about wind farms and health published internationally. Each of these reviews concludes that wind turbines can annoy a minority of people who live near them, rather predictably those with pre-existing negative attitudes, but there is no strong evidence that they make people ill. [Green Left Weekly]

¶   North British Distillery and HydroThane UK have won a major industry award for an anaerobic digestion project. The Edinburgh Scotch whisky grain distillery supplies famous brands such as Famous Grouse and  Johnnie Walker Black Label. The £6 million project reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 9,000 tonnes per year. [specifinder.com]

¶   TEPCO says that an estimated 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of tritium from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean since May 2011. [The Japan Times]

¶   Scientists in Japan are trying to identify four objects, all highly radioactive, found in an area evacuated after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The first found object is a small pile of what looks like dirt, discovered 9 miles from Fukushima Daiichi. It and the other objects look ordinary, but are extremely radioactive. [MENAFN.COM]

US:

¶    Federal regulators have given Boise-based Gridflex Energy a permit to explore building a dam and reservoir in Central Oregon to use water and pumps as a means of storing energy from such intermittent sources as wind turbines. Water is pumped up hill when demand is low, and used to generate power when demand is high. [News Radio 1310 KLIX]

¶   Two hydropower bills that should expand the production of the clean renewable energy are headed to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature. Both address the need to streamline the permitting processes, one for all small hydropower and conduit projects, the other for Bureau of Reclamation pipes, ditches and canals. [Denver Post]

¶   Duke Energy abandoned plans to build two nuclear reactors in Florida, but Florida Power and Light, which has interest in the project, still believes in nuclear power, and may be looking for ways to press forward on them somehow. [MiamiHerald.com]

World:

¶   Renewable energy projects in Chile have doubled over the last seven months, growing from 16 with a combined capacity of 795 MW of capacity in December 2012 to 24 projects with 1,493 MW. The 24 projects in the pipeline are comprised of seven wind farms, and 17 solar plants. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

¶   The Canadian Wind Energy Association predicts that Canada can have 55,000 MW of wind power capacity by 2025. GE’s new 2.5-MW Brilliant wind turbine is already providing next-generation designs built for the Canadian climate generating higher output, even at low-wind sites. [Canada.com]

¶   The International Finance Corporation has pledged to bring renewable energy to households in rural areas in Russia. It has signed an advisory services agreement with eastern Russia’s largest energy supplier to develop renewable projects in isolated parts of the country. [Energy Live News]

¶   UK government plans to invest in renewable energy will not be pushed off course by supporters of shale gas exploration, also known as fracking, according to Ed Davey, Britain’s energy and climate chief. He said this after announcing a £66 million package to boost offshore wind in the UK. Responding to Climate Change]

¶   UK Energy secretary Ed Davey warns there is no guarantee on when or even if a deal will be reached that allows work to start on the £10 billion nuclear Hinkley C nuclear power station. He says he is willing to see the project fail if a deal can’t be reached. [Building.co.uk]

¶   Radioactive groundwater at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has risen to levels above a barrier being built to contain it, highlighting the risk of an increasing amount of contaminated water reaching the sea, Japanese media reported on Saturday. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Strata Solar will build and maintain two 20-megawatt solar farms interconnected to the TVA power system through Pickwick Electric Cooperative. TVA will buy the electricity at market rates under TVA’s Renewable Standard Offer program. [Courieranywhere]

¶   The El Segundo Energy Center, a natural gas–fueled, combined-cycle generating facility located near Los Angeles, California, has gone into operation, with a capacity of 550 MW. It can be started quickly, in under an hour, allowing it to back up intermittent renewable technology. [Fort Mills Times]

World:

¶   The UK government has unveiled a long-term strategy that it says will add weight to the UK’s already dominant position in the offshore wind industry, while potentially boosting the economy by £7 billion by 2020. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

¶   Shares in Finnish refiner Neste Oil jumped 21% on Thursday after it forecast higher full-year profits for its biofuels unit and reported strong quarterly results. Neste has built three renewable diesel plants, as it also seeks to move away from traditional oil refining. [Reuters]

¶   Radioactive cesium levels were much higher in water deep underground at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant than in samples taken closer to the surface, TEPCO said on August 1.  [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   A fight broke out in Taiwan’s parliament ahead of a vote on a referendum on a nuclear plant. Several Taiwanese lawmakers exchanged punches and threw cups and bottles of water at each other on Friday. [BBC News]

US:

¶   In Florida, INEOS Bio announced that its Indian River BioEnergy Center is producing cellulosic ethanol at commercial-scale. First ethanol shipments will be released in August. The $130 million, 65-employee operation has an annual capacity of 8 million gallons. [woodworkingnetwork.com]

¶   Pear Energy has announced it is the first company to offer 100% clean, renewable energy nationwide. Available to both homeowners and businesses, Pear Energy makes it easy to apply conventional utility dollars to clean energy without service interruptions or contracts. [MRO]

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has determined solid figures regarding the land use requirements of solar farms per annual gigawatt hour of power produced. [Energy Matters]

¶   The University of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy and two partner organizations are sharing a federal grant to develop a system that could help capture renewable energy from the motion of ocean waves and offshore winds. [The Tribune]

¶   Duluth-based Minnesota Power has cut a deal that will mean it hits its 25% renewable quota 10 years early. It will expand of its Bison wind farm in North Dakota to the utility’s wind power capacity by 50% to supply 25% of power from renewable sources in 2015. [MinnPost.com]

¶   The downsizing of America’s  nuclear fleet appears to be accelerating. Duke Energy, the largest U.S. utility company based in Charlotte, NC, said it would abandon the Levy nuclear reactor project in Florida. [Forbes]

¶   As the power company awaits regulators’ decision on a pending rate increase request for its Minnesota customers, Xcel CEO Ben Fowke said they would need another rate increase for 2014 because of major investments in its nuclear power plants. [MENAFN.COM]

Science and Technology:

¶   Researchers from Monash University in Australia have developed a compact graphene-based energy storage device capable of lasting as long as a conventional battery. The device could be used in renewable energy storage, portable electronics and electric vehicles. [Responding to Climate Change]

World:

¶   The largest solar energy project in the southern hemisphere, costing A$450 million, has been given the go-ahead by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the New South Wales government. Two solar farms will have a combined capacity of 155 MW. [Responding to Climate Change]

¶   AGL Energy, one of the big three power utilities in Australia, says that 9,000 MW of fossil-fuel baseload capacity needs to be taken out of the national electricity market to bring it back into balance. [RenewEconomy]

¶   The world installed 31,100 MW of solar PVs in 2012—an all-time annual high that pushed global PV capacity above 100,000 MW. There is now enough PV operating to meet the household electricity needs of nearly 70 million people at the European level of use. [InvestorIdeas.com]

¶   Germany increased spending on energy research 77% in the past seven years, benefiting mainly renewable-power and efficiency projects. The government spent €708 million on research and development of energy technologies last year, up from €399 million euros in 2006. [Businessweek]

¶   EDF recorded a £903 million UK profits haul in the first half of the year with greatest profits from power generation. The group also said negotiations over building new nuclear power station continue, and it will make a decision on the project by the end of the year. [Aol Money]

US:

¶   UK-based energy company BP has cancelled a sale of US wind farms, according to BP Wind Energy spokesperson Amanda Abbott.  The projects have a gross generating capacity of about 2600 MW. [reNews]

¶   Deepwater Wind LLC of Providence, Rhode Island,  has successfully bid $3.8 million for the rights to develop offshore wind farms in nearly 165,000 acres of specially designated federal waters off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Up to 200 turbines are planned. [Boston Globe]

¶   New York’s Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST) and Dutch company DNV Kema have announced a $23 million joint investment to build the Battery and Energy Storage Technology testing and commercialization center in Rochester, New York. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Exelon Corp, the biggest nuclear power operator in the United States, says that weak prices for power and for natural gas have pushed it to reduce operating and maintenance costs but the company is not yet giving up on any of its reactors. [Reuters]

Opinion:

¶   “What’s in store for the future of net metering and rooftop solar?” The cost for rooftop solar panels has fallen 80% since 2008. Installed rooftop solar energy increased by 900% between 2000 and 2011. As more net metered rooftop solar panels and net meter them, utility revenues will decrease. [GreenBiz.com]

World:

¶   Sainsbury’s, one of the biggest UK retailers, has just completed its 210th rooftop PV system. The supermarket chain has now installed 100,000 solar panels across its stores, totaling 22 MW, enough to cover 35 football pitches. [pv magazine]

¶   A new report published by the Swiss Energy Foundation has made it clear that Switzerland cannot afford not to transition to renewables by looking at the overall cost of not transitioning to renewables and lower consumption. [CleanTechnica]

¶   São Paulo — the largest, richest, and most populous state in Brazil — has now set the relatively ambitious goal of receiving around 70% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by the year 2020. [RenewEconomy]

¶   Japan’s nuclear watchdog will play a more direct role in the cleanup at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant after doubts were raised about the ability of the plant’s operator to cope with continuing problems. [Wall Street Journal]

¶   With the aim of reducing its power bill, Indian Railways is actively considering setting up captive nuclear power plants to meet the rising demand of energy for train operation. [Firstpost]

US:

¶   Federal energy regulators accused JPMorgan on Monday of manipulating California electricity markets. In an official notice, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission alleged that the bank had engaged in “eight manipulative bidding strategies” in California and Midwestern markets. [CNN]

¶   Oil drillers in North Dakota’s Bakken shale fields are allowing nearly a third of the natural gas they drill to burn off into the air, with a value of more than $100 million per month, according to a study to be released on Monday. [Huffington Post]

¶   EDF Renewable Energy is aggressively expanding its wind energy portfolio in Texas and may soon cross the milestone of 1,000 MW operational capacity in the state. The company has entered into an agreement to acquire part of a new wind energy project in Texas. [CleanTechnica]

¶   Twenty projects have been recommended to receive grants from Xcel Energy’s Renewable Development Fund. The approximately $30 million in grants announced today will bring to nearly $200 million the total amount provided to renewable energy projects from the fund since 2001. [4-traders]

¶   After two years with low enrollment, New Hampshire’s largest electric utility is phasing out a program that allows customers to pay more to support renewable energy. [Nashua Telegraph]

¶   In a letter to the president and chief executive of ISO New England, Vermont Governor Shumlin criticized the grid operator’s decision to increase output from coal and oil power plants, while scaling back renewable energy production. [Boston Globe]

¶   The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant had two more malfunctions of its radiation monitors on the plant’s refueling floor last week, for a total of four erroneous readings that radiation had exceeded safe standards within the building. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

Opinion:

¶   “Divesting From Fossil Fuels Means A Cleaner, Safer and More Resilient Future” We have ample reserves of fossil fuels, but if we want to stabilize the climate and avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, we have to stop investing in extracting, refining and burning them. [Forbes]

World:

¶   Renewable energy technology specialists ENER-G, based in Salford, England, have partnered with Fife Council to help power and heat Dunfermline, Scotland, with food and garden waste – using anaerobic digestion. [Manchester Gazette]

¶   Delhi could break the 2 GW solar power barrier by 2020 due to plummeting costs, extensive roof space and the rising demand for electricity, according to Greenpeace. [Responding to Climate Change]

¶   The European Commission said Saturday it has reached an “amicable solution” with Beijing over imports of Chinese solar panels, a dispute that had threatened a full-blown trade war between two of the world’s largest trading powers. [The News International]

¶   A new report from the European Wind Energy Association states the power produced from turbines in deep waters in the North Sea alone could meet the EU’s electricity consumption – four times over. [Energy Matters]

¶   TEPCO detected 8.7 million becquerels of tritium per liter in water taken from a cable trench running under a turbine building, about some 50 meters from the Ocean. According to the report, TEPCO has been unable to figure out why the groundwater is tainted with radiation. [Zee News]

¶   The construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant seems likely to be delayed as the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry rejected the Environmental Impact Analysis Report for the Akkuyu plant, citing deficiencies in form and content. [Balkans.com Business News]

US:

¶   Some residents of Grafton, Vermont, say they’re glad they had an opportunity to voice concerns to Governor Peter Shumlin about the possibility of an industrial wind power project being built in their community. [Albany Times Union]

¶   Southern California Edison officials believe ratepayers—not shareholders— should pay to maintain the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. [Patch.com]

¶   Entergy determined the false alarms at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is that the radiation monitors  were faulty and will replace four of the devices. Spokesman Rob Williams says the manufacturer had experienced problems with that particular “lot” of monitor devices. [vtdigger.org]

World:

¶   In the view of the Indian Credit Ratings Agency, fundamental long-term demand outlook for wind energy in India is expected to remain strong. Demand will be supported by large wind energy requirements to meet the renewable purchase obligation requirements in the country. [Economic Times]

¶   In Canada, hundreds of people came to Vancouver’s waterfront today for a sun-baked demonstration against the fossil fuel industry, and its projects in the Northwest. The climate change advocates 350.org  organized a national day of action around a broad range of fossil fuels. [OPB News]

¶   Inspectors from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on Saturday started their third on-site survey o check for active faults beneath the Ohi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. Members of the inspection team are split over whether there is an active fault underneath the plant. [The Japan Times]

US:

¶   US President Barack Obama called into question the number of jobs that would be created from the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in an interview with the New York Times released on Saturday. [Huffington Post]

¶   U.S. capacity to generate solar energy has tripled since 2010 and increased tenfold since 2007, according to a new report from the nonprofit advocacy group Environment America. [The Coloradoan]

¶   According to the Energy Information Administration, rooftop solar electricity accounts for less than a quarter of 1 percent of the nation’s power generation. And yet, to hear executives tell it, such power sources could ultimately threaten traditional utilities’ ability to maintain the nation’s grid. [Boston Globe]

¶   In a dramatic but symbolic statement, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Columbia River on Saturday to protest fossil fuel exports. Their message: proposed oil, coal and natural gas facilities in the Northwest won’t go through without a fight.  [The Columbian]

¶   JPMorgan Chase is exploring shedding its stakes in power plants, oil tank farms and warehouses as well as the trading desks that buy and sell oil, natural gas and coal. But the bank said it would continue its activities in the commodity markets, including financial derivatives and precious metals. [gulfnews.com]

¶   First, there were two high radiation alarms at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. Then, the plant claimed they were false alarms. Now, Entergy spokesman Robert Williams says, “To be perfectly clear, the monitors did not fail. They did not fail; they were generating false signals.” [Rutland Herald]

Opinion:

¶   “Fracking Isn’t a Fairytale, It’s a Nightmare” Natalie Bennett, leader of the UK’s Green Party, says belief in “fairydust” – a magical solution to our energy needs – has been far too prevalent among far too many of their political leaders in recent months. [Huffington Post UK]

Science and Technology:

¶   The US DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is studying the ability of wood borers to make enzymes that convert biomass into sugars, which can be used for the biofuels industry. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

World:

¶   Over the next three decades, world energy consumption is projected to increase by 56%, driven by growth in the developing world, according to International Energy Outlook 2013, released by the US Energy Information Administration. [Eurasia Review]

¶   A plan to ship 16 radioactive steam generators through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River for recycling in Sweden has been cancelled after delays caused by public opposition. [Lethbridge Herald]

¶   Two international nuclear experts invited to a nuclear reform monitoring panel took the organizer, TEPCO, to task for failing to keep the public informed about toxic water leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. Dale Klein, former NRC head told TEPCO they don’t know what they are doing. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   By a two-to-one margin, New Hampshire residents believe there should be a higher priority put on increasing the use of renewable energy instead of increased drilling for oil. Also, nine in 10 New Hampshire residents believe that climate change is happening now. [Foster’s Daily Democrat]

¶   The Obama administration is pushing plans for renewable energy projects on public land, banning new mining claims on more than 300,000 acres in the West to make sure the areas are available for solar power installations. But some conservationists are not happy. [Grist]

¶   US natural gas use needs to peak within 17 years in order to meet the Obama administration’s climate goals and prevent the worst impacts of global warming, according to the Center for American Progress said. [Platts]

¶   Kansas has more wind energy potential than any state except Texas, but eight states generate more windpower. A key problem: a lack of high-voltage electricity lines to connect the remote areas where turbines churn out power to the bustling regions that demand it. [Willits News]

¶   The government of Vermont has asked federal regulators to look into why radiation monitors failed recently at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   Federal regulators are worried that a security manager’s firing from a job at a nuclear plant could deter employees and contractors from questioning safety at one of the nation’s largest nuclear power stations. [FederalNewsRadio.com]

Science and Technology:

¶   A team of researchers at MIT is developing an alternative to zirconium-based nuclear fuel rod cladding with the hope of reducing the risk of hydrogen production by roughly a thousandfold. The new cladding material is a ceramic compound called silicon carbide. [Eureka! Science News]

World:

¶   France will likely miss a goal for renewables to make up 23 percent of energy consumption by 2020 unless power users stump up billions of euros, according to the state auditor. [Businessweek]

¶   The UK may have missed its 2011/12 target of producing 4.04% of energy from renewable sources, as provisional figures put it at 3.94%. Conventional hydropower is not mentioned as a renewable. Changes in policy have led to uncertainty in the market. [Resource Magazine]

US:

¶   Blue Sky West, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Wind Energy, has proposed what would be the largest wind farm in New England to the Maine Government. The farm would carry 162 wind turbines and have a capacity of up to 191 MW across several towns in Central Maine. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The US biodiesel industry reached a new production record for the first half of the year and is on pace for its best year ever, according to new EPA figures. [KTIC]

¶   The Ivanpah Valley of the Mojave Desert in California will soon be home to the largest solar thermal energy plant in the world. More than six years in the making, the plant is now slated to begin generating power before summer’s end. [National Geographic]

¶   Maryland’s Governor O’Malley has announced an aggressive plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost renewable energy. Under the plan, Maryland would meet the goal of reducing emissions 25% by 2020. [CleanTechnica]

¶   The NRC has issued an information notice to US nuclear power plants concerning cracking resulting from stress and age in the local plant’s steam generator tubes. The warning is based on issues discovered at the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant last year. [Hampton Union]

¶   Vermont Yankee nuclear plant officials said Thursday two recent high radiation readings in the reactor building at the Vernon plant were false alarms. [Boston.com]

¶   Omaha Public Power District and the US NRC held a public meeting to talk about the progress in ongoing efforts to bring the Ft. Calhoun nuclear power plant back online. Over one-third of the issues that need to be addressed were not ready for the NRC inspection team to evaluate.[KVNO News]

Science and Technology:

¶   Shale and other clay-rich rock formations might offer permanent disposal solutions for spent nuclear fuel, according to a new paper by the US Geological Survey. [Akron Beacon Journal]

¶   Scientists are working to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels by developing environmentally friendly and cost-effective plastics from natural, sustainable and renewable materials. Researchers especially are focused on creating polymers from renewable starting materials, are non-toxic and can be composted. [National Science Foundation]

World:

¶   A leaked Scottish National Party document speaks of Scotland’s need to move away from “damaging, price-volatile fossil fuels”. The pro-UK Better Together campaign says it reveals ministers’ private fears, despite claims that Scotland will see a second North Sea boom. [Herald Scotland]

¶   A poll shows Australians overwhelmingly support solar power, with 26.3% of 2643 people responding saying they have at least some solar PVs installed already. The Australian Photovoltaic Association commissioned the poll from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. [Clean Energy Authority]

¶   Government figures released today in the annual Digest of UK Energy Statistics show that electricity production from renewable energy sources in 2012 was up by almost 20% on the previous year and accounted for over 11% of all electricity generated in the year. [Click Green]

¶   French nuclear group Areva said first-half earnings were hit by a €150 million ($198) charge related to the construction of its flagship EPR reactor in Olkiluoto, Finland, which is years behind schedule and billions of euros over budget. [Interactive Investor]

¶   It has been revealed that TEPCO knew about leaks of radioactive groundwater from Fukushima Daiichi into the ocean a month before it publicly disclosed the problem. Japan’s nuclear watchdog has rebuked The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) for its slack response to the leaks. [Yahoo!7 News]

¶   Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas in the first half of 2013 were down 2.7% to 43.4 million tons, the first half-yearly decline since the nuclear accident more than two years ago. [Wall Street Journal]

US:

¶   Xcel Energy indicated that it would request to add 42.5 megawatts of new renewable generation in Colorado in 2014, including 24 megawatts of on¬site, small solar and 6.5 megawatts of community solar, through the company’s Solar*Rewards program. [4-traders]

¶   Days after announcing plans to purchase nearly 700 megawatts of wind power for customers in New Mexico and Texas, Xcel is telling regulators it wanted to add 600 megawatts of power from three planned wind-farm projects in North Dakota and Minnesota to its portfolio. The interest in wind is based on cost. [Greentech Media]

World:

¶   Australia could phase out almost all its fossil-fuel sourced electricity by 2040 if it doubled the current rate of take-up of solar energy and wind energy maintained its current growth pace, said Professor Ken Baldwin, director of ANU’s Energy Change Institute. [The Canberra Times]

¶   Ontario officials have granted a renewable energy approval (REA) for the 270 MW K2 wind project proposed near the southeastern shore of Lake Huron. Partners Samsung Renewable Energy, Pattern Energy and Capital Power plan to build 140 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines [reNews]

¶   New flexible renewable energy units in Germany will help reduce the risk of negative power prices and limit the need for fossil plants for backup capacity, a study found. In 2012, power prices fell below €-50/MWh 22 on occasions of high solar or wind power supply with low demand. [Gas to Power Journal]

¶   European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy yesterday said phasing out fossil fuel subsidies would be among its priorities at the G20 summit in Russia in September. [Business Green]

¶   Experts from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have been studying the situation at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and have come to the conclusion that the decontamination efforts would cost around $50 billion. [The Japan Daily Press]

US:

¶   Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau have announced that BOEM will hold its second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the US Outer Continental Shelf. [Windtech International]

¶   Maryland Governor O’Malley is expected to propose boosting the state’s renewable portfolio standard, requiring utilities to make renewables 25 percent of their mix of electricity generation by 2020, up from the current target of 20 percent by 2022. [Washington Post]

¶   This week, however, the Georgia Public Service Commission awarded approval for a solar energy program t hat would be managed by the state’s primary energy distributor, Georgia Power. [Hydrogen Fuel News]

¶   A natural gas platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday, the US Coast Guard reported. While gas is flowing from the well, “no oil is being released.” A light sheen about a half-mile wide was spotted by environmental inspectors, but was dissipating. [CNN]

¶   The nuclear shutdown at San Onofre is partially to blame for a 59 percent increase in wholesale electricity prices for California in the first half of the year, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. [U-T San Diego]

¶   A former employee of Entergy at its Indian Point Energy Center was arrested today on federal charges brought by the US Attorney’s Office for falsifying documents at Indian Point in 2012. Employees found the falsification and reported it to management who notified the NRC. [MENAFN.COM]

Opinion:

¶   “Could job cuts hurt VY’s case?” Sometime before the end of the year, the state Public Service Board is likely to tell the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant whether it can continue operating. The plant’s owners’ plans for job cuts may have just hurt their case. [vt.Buzz]

World:

¶   The Center for Alternative Technology has released an update to its Zero Carbon Britain scenario, which shows that the UK can reduce carbon emissions with existing technology. Nuclear power is not part of the carbon-free mix. [H&V News]

¶   The World Bank Group has released a report, Toward a Sustainable Future for All: Directions for the World Bank Group’s Energy Sector, calling for more investment in solar energy as a tool for tackling extreme poverty. [PV-Tech]

¶   French Environment Minister Philippe Martin has announced that the country’s oldest nuclear plant of Fessenheim is expected to be closed by the end of 2016. France has 58 nuclear reactors producing nearly 75% of the nation’s electricity. [Energy Business Review]

¶   For the second time in two weeks, workers at Fukushima Daiichi have reported that steam rising from the building that houses reactor no 3. Workers spotted the steam coming out of the same area as last week. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   Backtracking on previous comments, TEPCO confirmed that radioactive groundwater from melted reactors at Fukushima Daiichi has been leaking into the Pacific Ocean, raising concern the toxic water has been flowing into the sea for over two years. [Businessweek]

US:

¶   The Californian city of Palo Alto has this week committed to using 100 per cent renewable electricity after its council voted in favour of making the move – effective immediately – on Monday. The estimated added cost to homeowners’ bills of less than $3 per year. [RenewEconomy]

¶   San Diego-based EDF Renewable Energy, a renewable energy projects developer, said today that it is in a deal to buy a wind project. The company said it will acquire the first phase of an up to 500 megawatt project in Texas, the Hereford Wind Project. [socalTech.com]

¶   Dominion Resources, the owner of Virginia’s largest utility, bought three solar projects under construction in Indiana with 28.6 megawatts of capacity that will increase the amount of energy produced from sunlight in the state more than fivefold. [Businessweek]

¶   Electric utilities Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating selected 145 clean projects in the second round of the state’s $1 billion renewable energy credit program. [Hartford Business]

¶   US Navy fighter jets may soon fly on tree-fuel. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture are exploring ways to convert invasive trees such as junipers and pinyon pine trees that are common in the West, into aviation fuel. It’s to be tested by the Navy. [Central Valley Business Times]

¶   San Francisco will launch CleanPowerSF, a 100% renewable energy alternative to PG&E power. This creates a path toward energy independence by giving San Franciscans the ability to invest in and build their own renewable resources, which will create living-wage jobs. [Huffington Post]

Opinion:

¶   “Energy companies are paying a heavy price for shunning renewables” The argument for green solutions is not just about climate change – traditional sources of power will soon cost more. [The Guardian]

Science and Technology:

¶   The German experience shows that the more wind and solar PV installations one has across the country, the less the so-called intermittency is an issue and the daily electric power levels become more stable and more foreseeable as the number of installations increases nationwide. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶   Developing countries made 46% of the global investment in renewables in 2012, according to the UN Environment Program. Wind accounted for 39% of new renewable capacity, followed by hydropower and solar PVs, which each accounted for 26%. [Irish Times]

¶   Hydro Tasmania says its King Island Renewable Energy Integration Project has achieved extended periods of 100% renewable energy for the island’s grid – the first time that a grid of this scale has been serviced by wind, solar and storage devices. [RenewEconomy]

¶   China is working extensively to unlock its domestic solar potential by pushing small-scale distributed projects. The State Council’s guideline to facilitate development of the solar products’ industry, issued on July 15, is a major boost in this regard. [People’s Daily Online]

¶   Wind integration studies suggest that grid operators could cope with more renewable power without adding big back-up plants, obviating the need for European governments to intervene in power markets. [Gulf Times]

¶   The £128 million deal to compensate Somerset for hosting the proposed new Hinkley C power station is “a drop in the ocean” according to campaigners. [South West Business]

¶   Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has won control of the parliament in upper-house elections. This is seen to pave the way for the reopening of many of the nation’s shuttered nuclear-power plants. [MarketWatch]
… Many in the US media infer from the election results that the Japanese nuclear plants will be  restarted soon. The inference is wrong. [geoharvey]

US:

¶   Vermont’s homegrown Green Mountain Power Cow Power program is paving the way for cleaner air, happier farm neighbors and more successful Vermont businesses. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   A slump in power prices, increasing maintenance expense as plants age and stricter safety regulations following Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster may prompt the industry to retire as many as five plants before the end of the decade, according to research firm UBS Securities LLC. [Businessweek]

World:

¶   A higher price for oil will have almost no impact on the growth of electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Canada, according to the US Department of Energy. [Energy Digital]

¶   According to new Saudi Arabian National Energy Plan, in addition to solar power, Saudi Arabia is looking at using nuclear energy, geothermal energy and wind power to fulfill its ambitious target of producing 54 GW of energy through renewable resources in the next two decades. [Business Standard]

¶   German daily paper, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the European Commission was working on plans to allow state subsidies for the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. The Commission denies the claims. [Deutsche Welle]

¶   Media surveys ahead of Sunday’s upper house election show that Japanese voters are placing the economy above all other issues, including the future of nuclear energy use. [Wall Street Journal]

US:

¶   American farmers have teamed up with environmentalists and other pro-green energy groups to push legislators to keep the renewable energy mandates. Their voices, some local businesses, and the prospect of new clean energy jobs, have made repeal of the standards difficult. [Care2.com]

¶   A third grade class in southern Indiana raised $25,000 from business grants and penny-jar donations for  a wind turbine, and got siting approvals. But utility company policies make the project so expensive that the third grade class project and Vectren are in court. [WRAL.com]

¶   A transmission agreement between the Imperial Irrigation District and the California ISO could create a model for ensuring adequate transmission for renewable energy development at the Salton Sea, which is increasingly seen as critical to funding any plan to save the dying sea. [The Desert Sun]

¶   The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan is supposed to identify areas in California deserts most suited to new energy development. The California Wind Energy Association says too little land has been set aside for wind projects and in less than ideal wind-producing areas. [Los Angeles Times]

¶   RES America Developments Inc. is working with Xcel Energy to construct the 200 MW Pleasant Valley Wind Farm. The project is near Austin, Minnesota, adjacent to the Grand Meadow wind project owned by Xcel Energy. [AZoBuild]

World:

¶   The islands off the north and west of Scotland hold the UK’s best renewable resources, yet for more than a decade energy policies have prevented them from realising their full potential, due to long out-of-date doctrines from a previous era still in place today. [The Conversation]

¶   Ukraine more than doubled power generation by renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and biofuel power plants, in the first half of the year. Renewable output was 581.4 GWh in January-June, compared with 266.2 GWh in the same period a year ago. [Platts]

¶   In a survey of Japanese people, 94% of the respondents said that it was in their opinion that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has not been controlled effectively. Their primary reason for thinking this is the ongoing leaking of radioactive substances at the plant. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   French police are investigating what rail officials said was an apparent act of sabotage that resulted in the derailment of a train carrying nuclear waste. A previously unknown anti-nuclear group has claimed responsibility for the incident. [UPI.com]

¶   As China pushes an aggressive expansion of nuclear power it is running into a stumbling block – a breakdown of trust, post-Fukushima, in official assurances of public safety. There is growing skepticism in China over official assurances of safety after a series of food and pollution scandals. [Reuters]

US:

¶   Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal, accounted for 24.93% of all new US capacity installed in the first six months of this year for a total of 2,144 MW. This is more than coal or nuclear, but less than half of new natural gas capacity. [Renew Grid]

¶   Entergy has launched a company-wide effort to cut costs and increase efficiencies. Company officials did not agree to an interview. But in a written statement, Entergy said: “We do expect workforce reductions to be one result of this initiative.” [Vermont Public Radio]

¶   Owners of the San Onofre nuclear plant are blaming Mitsubishi for the plant’s troubles in an effort to recover billions of dollars in costs and investments. Mitsubishi says that the contract remains in effect and that the manufacturer is responsible only for the cost of equipment. [U-T San Diego]