geoharvey

Economics:

¶   The microgrid is being developed, both technologically and economically, as a model for electric generation and distribution. [energybiz]

World:

¶   Emerging economies are expected to triple their renewable energy output within the remainder of this decade. [FuelFix]

¶   Germany’s environment minister, Peter Altmaier, has rejected a newspaper report suggesting the country was considering sending its nuclear waste to other countries. [Deutsche Welle]

US:

¶   MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Renewables, is investing over $2 billion in solar power generation in California. [Businessandleadership.com]

¶   There are no big federal legislative issues for renewable energy being considered for the next year, but a number of small issues could advance renewables a good deal. [Inside Climate News]

¶   A federal working group will address air pollution and employment concerns relating to the Navajo Generating Station, the largest coal-fired power plant in the western United States. The plant is on an Indian reservation near the Grand Canyon. [Reuters UK]

¶   The haggling over the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump is continuing, with a lack of funds even to investigate the idea central to the issue. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

¶   A plan for an interim storage facility in Utah for spent nuclear fuel is officially dead, as the owner has asked the NRC to cancel its license. According to the owner, this was because of obstruction by the Interior Department. This leaves the US with no interim storage option. [World Nuclear News]

Japan:

¶   Anti-nuclear protests continue to take place each Friday near the prime minister’s office in  opposition to nuclear power. December 21 marked the 36th such demonstration, according to the organizer, Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes. [Asahi Shimbun]

World:

¶   More than 500 villages in Pakistan will get their first electricity from solar photovoltaics. [Associated Press of Pakistan]

¶   The Australian Climate Change Authority has recommended that the key elements of their Renewable Energy Target remain unchanged. This provides a continuation of support for renewable energy projects. [JD Supra]

US:

¶   A new report from the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory says that concentrated solar with thermal storage can make utilities more profitable. [Phys.Org]

¶   The governor of Oregon released a 10-year action guide the state’s energy future through intentional investment and development. [SustainableBusiness.com]

¶   The same fossil fuel interests that reap huge subsidies from the federal government get them from the states. Among other benefits, they avoid taxes through exemptions. [SustainableBusiness.com]

Japan:

¶   For the first time, TEPCO has admitted a wrongful death happened as a result of its actions that brought on the Fukushima Disaster. [The Daily Yomiuri]

¶   Twenty-one months after the Fukushima Disaster, TEPCO is ready to start removing debris from Unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Chubu Electric is adding four meters to the height of the seawall under construction at the Hamaoka plant. It will be 22 meters (72 feet) tall instead of the 18 meters (59 feet) previously planned.  It is 1.6 km (1 mile) long. [Asahi Shimbun]

World:

¶   Scotland, with a goal of 100% renewable electric production by 2020, had hoped to achieve 31% in 2011. They surpassed that goal and achieved 36%. [BBC News]

¶   Output for renewable power production for the UK as a whole increased by 25% in the third quarter of 2012, over 2011. [Greenwise Business]

¶   A nuclear plant in Sweden had to shut down because of a sea water infiltration. [The Local.se]

US:

¶   Steven Chu called on Congress to approve legislation to let investors use master limited partnerships for renewable energy, which he said would spur development by giving investors in renewable projects a tax structure currently used by fossil fuel companies. [The Hill]

¶   After entering into out-of-court settlements with the Sierra Club and Audubon Society,  Southwestern Electric Power Co. began generating power at a new 600 MW coal-fired plant in southwest Arkansas. [KRQE]

¶   Two nuclear engineers have asked for a senatorial review of dangers at Indian Point and Oconee. [Huffington Post]

Renewable Power and Anger Management:

¶   An ad Donald Trump placed in two Scottish newspapers likens the people who support for onshore wind projects with those responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. [Scotsman]

¶   An employee of the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggested that anyone interested in a “murderous rampage” should start with reporters at a local news organization. [Heritage.org]

Japan:

¶   A conference on nuclear safety will be held by the Japanese ministry to dispel myths about the Fukushima Disaster. (Given the history of admitted collusion and falsehoods, it is difficult to see how they will accomplish anything to support nuclear power in Japan.) [BDlive]

¶   The Nuclear Regulation Agency has released the results of new computer simulations of spread of radiation from nuclear accidents to reflect errors found in earlier simulations. [The Daily Yomiuri]

World:

¶   The UN’s atomic energy agency and the Iranian government are both reporting progress in talks on nuclear power in Iran, including UN inspections. [International Business Times]
… Nevertheless, at least one member of the Iranian negotiating team says he is not optimistic. [Jerusalem Post]

¶   The workers who cleaned up after the Chernobyl Disaster have health problems, such as having  400% the normal cancer rate, but their medical and other needs are underfunded. [Kyiv Post]

¶   In an effort to increase the capacity of solar power, the Indian government is considering changing laws so consumers would be paid for the solar power they generate and feed into the grid. [Livemint]

US:

¶   Construction of two new reactors at Plant Vogtle is running over budget and behind schedule. [The Associated Press]

¶   Bipartisan legislation has been introduced to give renewable energy the same low-cost financing that is currently available for fossil fuel companies. [SustainableBusiness.com]

¶   Covered bonds, which are usually used for mortgages, are being promoted for renewable-energy projects. It is hoped this could raise the $1 trillion a year in new private capital that some estimates say are needed to keep emissions at safe levels. [Businessweek]

Japan:

¶   The massive reports of the Diet’s Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission and the Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident have both sold in large numbers to the Japanese public. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶   Twenty-two scientists from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences are in Japan, pursuing an independent investigation of the Fukushima Disaster. They hope to learn lessons to reduce dangers from nuclear reactors in the US. [The Japan Daily Press]

¶   A new political party, led by Governor Yukiko Kada of Shiga Prefecture, will pledge to phase out nuclear power within 10 years, aiming to make energy a key issue in the Dec. 16 election. [The Japan Times]

World:

¶   The International Atomic Energy Agency said one of its servers has been hacked by a group critical of a supposed Israel nuclear weapons program. [Huffington Post]

US:

¶   Hurricane Sandy demonstrated the superiority of decentralized power systems for energy security. [AOL Energy]

¶   The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released an updated version of the U.S. National Solar Radiation Database, which provides critical information about solar and meteorological data for 1,454 locations in the U.S. [Nanowerk LLC]

¶   A study from the Rocky Mountain Institute says California could replace San Onofre with renewable power and conservation. [KCET]

¶   A pinhole leak has been found in the reactor head at Oyster Creek. The leak allowed two or three drops of cooling water to escape each minute. The unit is under repair. [The Star-Ledger – NJ.com]

¶   Six elderly women who chained the Vermont Yankee gate shut and chained themselves to the fence have been convicted of unlawful trespass at the Vermont Yankee. They asked to go to jail, but were fined. They say they will not pay the fines. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]

¶   Cleanup of nuclear waste at a Superfund site in Parks Township, Pennsylvania was projected to cost $45 million. That has expanded to $500 million. [Tribune-Review]

Japan:

¶   Municipalities where nuclear plants are located realize now, 1½ years after the Fukushima Disaster, how much their finances depend on the nuclear power-induced money. “They’re like drug addicts cut off from supplies.” [The Japan Times]

¶   Nuclear policy is an important issue in the upcoming Japanese elections. Pro-nuclear people have hopes of seeing a change in their favor. [Asahi Shimbun]
… Anti-nuclear sentiment remains very strong in much of Japan. [BBC News]

¶   Governments of two municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture have decided to resume planting rice next year. [AsiaOne]

World:

¶   Germany’s Energiewende or energy transition, was set in motion by many factors, but it was reinvigorated by the Fukushima Disaster. It is not easy, but it is working. [The Market Oracle]

¶   In a recent interview, Australian Climate Change Commissioner Tim Flannery said, “What we can now see is the emerging inevitability that renewables are going to be running the economy at some point in the future.” He added that they give people independence. [RenewEconomy]

¶   The Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party) is deeply involved in protests at Kolar Gold Fields and Robertsonpet against dumping nuclear waste. They blocked the Marikuppam-Bangalore Swarna Express train for more than 20 minutes to mark their protest. [Waste Management World]

US:

¶   Harvard students overwhelmingly passed a referendum on the Undergraduate Council election ballot calling on Harvard to divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry. [Harvard Crimson]
… The university, however, is not considering divestment. [Harvard Crimson]
… Students at McGill University are among this pushing their colleges and universities to divest also. [McGill Daily]

¶   Conservatives and Libertarians are working with fossil fuel companies to reverse the laws most states have supporting renewable power. [Examiner.com]

Japan:

¶   Japan needs both to maintain a diverse energy mix and to diversify fuel sources. [The Japan Times]

¶   The upcoming elections in Japan have political parties arguing over energy in general, and nuclear energy in particular. [Utility Products]

World:

¶   A Scottish company selling solar panels has reported a ten-fold growth in sales over the past year. [Herald Scotland]

¶   The UK is bringing its energy plant to parliament. It will provide for the renewable energy legally required to meet 2050 carbon targets, but does not specify the shorter-term targets. It will add to the tariff on consumers’ bills, providing a modicum of support for renewable energy. [Wall Street Journal]
… Media prognosticators talk about effects from their own points of view. The actual cost to consumers may go down because of renewable additions. [The Week UK]
… Various environmental organizations are not happy with the bill. [Financial Times]

¶   Two days after the Indian Solicitor General told the Supreme Court that nuclear waste from Kudankulam would be dumped in abandoned mines at Kolar Gold Fields, an Indian cabinet minister clarified that there are no plans to put the waste anywhere in India. [Times of India]

US:

¶   Connecting the dots from different articles, ENEnews shows recent articles on inland tsunamis on lakes should be taken as warnings that Fukushima-like disasters could hit nuclear reactors on lake banks. There are 33 such reactors on the banks of the Great Lakes. [ENEnews]

¶   Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is urging Congress to enact legislation to prevent the NRC from relicensing nuclear plants more than ten years before their current licenses expire. [Worcester Telegram]

¶   Bechtel, which is building a plant in Hanford, Washington to treat high-level radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production, may have committed safety and health violations, an investigation found. [Big News Network.com]

Japan:

¶   Disagreement remains over whether the fault Japan’s only operating nuclear plant is sitting on is active. One geologist on the governing panel investigating the issue insists the fault is active, and says it is “very silly” to allow the plant to continue operating. [Hindu Business Line]

¶   The Japanese government’s support of TEPCO has problems because the program was poorly thought out. There are growing fears about business performance, leaving many concerned about the future of the company.

World:

¶   After shutting down half its nuclear power plants, Germany is exporting more power than ever before. The sources of that power are renewable, but the switch over is not entirely painless. [Deutsche Welle]

¶   With two reactors shut down because of falsified documentation for parts safety, and one for cracks, South Korea may be facing power outages. The country may also be beginning to rethink its energy portfolio. [Alaska Dispatch]

US:

¶   Twelve days after Hurricane Sandy hit, the end of the power outage is finally in sight. Yesterday, there were still 225,000 customers without power, down from 2,400,000 at the peak. [CNN]

¶   NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane talked in an interview about the importance of studying the geological status and other natural conditions of nuclear plants. [Laramie Boomerang]

Technology:

¶   Amonix Inc., based in Seal Beach, California, achieved a 33.5% outdoor efficiency rating with its concentrating photovoltaic modules. [solarserver.com]

Japan:

¶   The Nuclear Regulation Authority issued new guidelines to establish 30-kilometer-radius zones around nuclear plants for special disaster preparations. [The Daily Yomiuri]

¶   A Fukushima cleanup worker filed a legal complaint against TEPCO, saying the company sent crews in without proper protection or radiation risk warnings. [The Japan Daily Press]

World:

¶   According to the UK’s Office of Nuclear Regulation, a third of the US’s post-Fukushima nuclear concerns remain unresolved. [Businessweek]

¶   Tokelau, a tiny collection of atolls in the South Pacific, has become the first nation to support itself entirely with solar energy. [Wired.co.uk]

US:

¶   Between refueling outages and the hurricane, nuclear plant outages were at the second highest level since 1999. [Reuters]

¶   Oyster Creek is no long on alert status. [Press of Atlantic City]

¶   The US Department of Energy released a state-by-state status report on conditions after Hurricane Sandy. [Electric Light & Power]

¶    During a hearing of the Atomic Safety Licensing Board, the NRC and the owners of the proposed the Levy nuclear site admitted that they had not performed tests on the area where supply wells on the south side of the nuclear plant site will be dug. [Tampabay.com]
… Expert witnesses warned that construction and operation of the proposed dual reactors would deplete the region’s already endangered aquifer, cause saltwater intrusions. [Sacramento Bee]

Japan:

¶   TEPCO is reducing its projected losses for this year from ¥160 billion to ¥45 billion ($564 million. [The Voice of Russia]

¶   A study by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare found poor monitoring of the radiation doses at Fukushima Daiichi. [Asahi Shimbun]

World:

¶   As a result of its deal with Hitachi, Britain will have advanced boiling water reactors. [World Nuclear News]

¶   South Africa has approved an initial $5,4 billion worth of clean energy projects that will allow it to develop 1,400 MW of renewable generation capacity of electricity, reducing dependence on coal-fired generation. [NewsDay]

¶   Based on the success it has had so far, the government of Scotland is seeking to move toward its renewable goals faster, and hopes to generate 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015. [BBC News]

¶   Abu Dhabi is looking to making biofuels from algae. [Gulf Today]

¶   UK Energy minister John Hayes is suggesting a halt be made to the growth of wind farms. He says policy on wind turbines should not governed by “a bourgeois Left article of faith.” [The Week UK]
… Others in the governing coalition point out that John Hayes does not represent the government as a whole and cannot make policy by himself. [The Guardian]

US:

¶   Operations affected by Hurricane Sandy included an alert at Oyster Creek; shutdowns of one reactor at Indian Point, Salem, and Nine Mile Point; and reduced power at Millstone, Vermont Yankee, and Limerick. [Power Engineering Magazine]
… The alert at Oyster Creek is still in effect today (story filed at 3:40 am EST). [Newsroom America]
… A more serious problem at Oyster Creek was narrowly averted. [Center for Research on Globalization]

¶   Progress Energy Florida said it could take months more to decide whether to repair Crystal River or shut it down permanently. [Sunshine State News]

¶   Energy is being used more efficiently in the US, and more of it is coming from renewable resources. [environmentalresearchweb]

Science:

¶   Fracking can cause small earthquakes. This is a matter of concern, but the NRC says it is not interesting to them because the earthquakes caused in the past have been small. [Timesonline.com]

Japan:

¶   TEPCO is rapidly running out of space to store radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi. The 200,000 tons already accumulated are in tanks, but there is no more space to install tanks. A treatment facility should be open next year. [The Japan Times]

¶   Fish off the coast of Fukushima could be too radioactive to be eaten for another decade. Since indications are that the plant is still leaking radioactive water, there is no way to calculate when levels will be safe. [WND.com]

World:

¶   Nuclear  companies are hawking their goods in the developing world, because countries with nuclear plants are not anxious to have more. Developing countries are noticing. [The Guardian]

¶   In South Africa, wind is now the least expensive power source coming from new facilities. The country is large enough that wind could supply 25% of the power without any power storage, because the wind is always blowing somewhere.  [Independent Online]

US:

¶   More than a dozen nuclear power plants are in the path of Hurricane Sandy. They are preparing for flooding and other damage. [MINING.com]

¶   The owner of the Kewaunee nuclear plant is opting for SAFSTOR, so it will be sixty years before the plant is decommissioned. [Green Bay Press Gazette]

Science:

¶   Marine biologists are becoming alarmed at the fact that the oceans are becoming more acidic. The source of the acid is atmospheric carbon dioxide. [abc7news.com]

Japan:

¶   The reactors at Fukushima Daiichi may still be leaking radioactive materials into the sea. The levels of radiation in the aquatic life of the are not declining. [CRIENGLISH.com]

World:

¶   UK Environment Secretary Owen Patterson, who denied the idea that global warming was caused by human activity and opposed wind farms, is changing his views on both subjects. [Huffington Post UK]

¶   The UK’s largest coal-burning generating plant is converting to biomass. [CoalGuru.com]
… There are doubts about how sustainable biomass is, when it is used at such a great scale. [Energy and Environmental Management (EAEM) Magazine]

US:

¶   NRG Expert, a London and Toronto based energy intelligence and market research publisher, has calculated that by 2012, 16.25% of electricity generated in the US came from renewable power sources. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶   Operators of East Coast nuclear plants are making preparations for Hurricane Sandy. [The Star-Ledger – NJ.com]

¶   The Florida Public Service Commission is reviewing the status of the Crystal River nuclear plant in a conference starting this month. Crystal River has been out of service since 2009. [Tampa Bay Business Journal]

¶   Ocean Renewable Power Company, of Portland, Maine, plans to put 24 underwater turbines into the Western Passage of the Bay of Fundy in 2014. Each turbine will generate 150 kW as the tide changes. [Lewiston Sun Journal]

¶   The George W. Bush Presidential Center is contracting to have all its power from wind. This supports a goal of getting the center LEED platinum certification. [Equities.com]