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Opinion:

¶ “Why Used Electric Car Batteries Could Be Crucial To A Clean Energy Future” • Major EV makers are examining the values of used EV batteries when they no longer meet the strict standards for powering cars. This potential second life for EV batteries is a clean energy game changer. [ThinkProgress]

Used Chevy Volt batteries help a new GM IT building
use solar and wind power. Via GM

¶ “Physicist claims Hinkley Point deal means UK taxpayer could get £53 billion bill to supply cheap nuclear energy to France” • Professor Barnham, of Imperial College London, claims the Hinkley Point deal means UK taxpayer could get £53 billion bill to supply cheap power to France. [The Independent]

Science and Technology:

¶ A group of scientists led by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Colorado-Boulder has developed a new, eco-friendly method to produce ammonia, the main ingredient of fertilizers, using light. Their paper is in Science. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ Other than large hydroelectric plants, all forms of renewable energy in Russia account for less than 1% of power generation capacity. This is according to Russia Direct, which reports that Russian wind, solar and geothermal energy is terrifyingly underdeveloped. [CleanTechnica]

Moscow. Image via Shutterstock.

¶ E-Force, based in Switzerland, has developed an 18-ton all-electric truck intended to compete to standard diesel-powered delivery vehicles in the region. E-Force says its range is 300 km (187.5 miles) per full charge, and it uses 0.80 to 1.10 kWh/km at highway speeds. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Developing countries’ renewable energy markets are becoming increasingly attractive for investors, and European markets less so, a report Ernst & Young said. The top 10 countries were the United States, China, India, Chile, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, France, Canada and Australia. [Business Today]

¶ The UK’s attractiveness as a destination for investment in renewable energy has reached an all-time low, due to a series of unexpected green policy U-turns and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the role of renewables in our energy mix, according to the Ernst & Young report. [edie.net]

The EY report warns that the current record levels of financial support could fall badly.

¶ According to the calculations by Agora Energiewende, due to the weather conditions on Sunday, May 8, renewable energy generation in Germany reached a new high. At 11 AM local time, renewables covered a record 95 % of the country’s electricity consumption. [pv magazine]

¶ Extremely negative prices were seen on the German wholesale electricity market over the weekend. On the EPEX SPOT exchange, the German Sunday baseload price was minus €12.89/MWh (minus $14.66). For the 14:00-15:00 Berlin-time slot, it was minus €130.09/MWh (minus $147.94). [ICIS]

US:

¶ Carbon dioxide emissions from the US’s energy sector fell in 2015 and now stand at 12% below 2005 levels, a drop mainly driven by the continuing collapse of the coal industry. The 12% cut since 2005 has come during a period in which the US economy has, adjusting for inflation, grown by 15%. [The Guardian]

Steam billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station in New Hampshire. Photograph: Jim Cole/AP

¶ A report says utility-scale solar surpassed wind for the first time in California. Public records from the California Independent Systems Operations show utility-scale solar energy in 2015 reached 6.7 % of California’s electricity generation, compared to wind’s 5.3%. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Rocky Mountain Power’s commercial customers will soon have a new option to use solar power and commercial customers will be able to reserve solar blocks. Subscriber Solar allows commercial and residential customers to purchase solar power even if they do not have suitable roofs. [St George News]

Rocky Mountain Solar Farm

¶ Anbaric Transmission and National Grid filed with the New York Public Service Commission for a permit for an extension of their Vermont Green Line. The project would connect 400 MW of New York wind generation to Vermont through lines under Lake Champlain. [RTO Insider]

¶ Developers of a $900 million upstate New York [gas-fired] power plant are at the center of a federal probe into allegations of improper lobbying and conflicts of interest. They had sought and received important state approvals to fast-track the plant. Now, progress could soon grind to a halt. [Newsday]

¶ The California Public Utilities Commission is re-evaluating an agreement that left ratepayers on the hook for $3.3 billion of the cost of closing the San Onofre nuclear plant. The issue is that representatives of the plant’s primary owner engaged in secret talks with regulators. [Los Angeles Times]

Science and Technology:

¶ “After the Pacific Ocean swallows villages and five Solomon Islands, a study blames climate change” • In a recent paper in the journal Environmental Research Letters, scientists link destructive sea level rise to anthropogenic, meaning human-caused, climate change. [Washington Post]

Village in the Solomon Islands. Photo taken by Irene Scott for AusAID. CC BY-SA 2.0 generic. Wikimedia Commons.

Opinion:

¶ “Does nuclear help the integration of renewables?” • French nuclear power does not facilitate the integration of wind and solar in neighboring countries. Rather, it clogs the grid and reduces flexibility. By contrast, Germany typically exports power just as demand peaks. [Renewables International]

World:

¶ Wildfires raging through Alberta are set to move away from the main oil-sands facilities north of Fort McMurray after knocking out an estimated 1 million barrels of production. A cold front scheduled to pass through the area may bring light rain that would help fire fighters battle the inferno. [Bloomberg]

Wildfire burning out of control in Alberta on May 7.
Photo by Darryl Dyck / Bloomberg

¶ Sadiq Khan’s decisive victory in the London Mayoral elections means a “clean energy revolution” will soon be underway in the capital following the Labor mayor’s election pledge to be “the greenest mayor London has ever had.” His plan would reduce both costs and emissions. [Solar Power Portal]

¶ DeepOcean 1 UK has contracted SMD to deliver a mechanical cutting boom and cable handling system for its T3200 tracked trenching vehicle. Combining simultaneous mechanical and jet trenching, it enables protection of submarine power cables in rock and other hard ground areas. [reNews]

T3200 trenching vehicle (DeepOcean)

¶ UK-based Sainsbury’s has entered a partnership with ReFood to power several of its supermarkets with sustainable green gas. Waste will be collected from two depots, and then converted into heat, gas, and fertilizer at ReFood’s latest anaerobic digestion processing facilities. [Power Technology]

¶ The coal era has ended in South Australia this morning with the closure of Alinta’s Northern power station in Port Augusta. The state treasurer said the “sad day” came because the Port Augusta plant was based on outdated technology. Renewable energy had made it unprofitable. [InDaily]

Port Augusta’s northern power station shut down.

¶ This summer, Ikea stores will have another section, the “Solar Shop,” despite UK’s amendments on solar subsidies. Ikea is determined to invest and expand sales of solar panels. Currently, there are three UK solar shops located in Glasgow, Birmingham and Lakeside. [Nature World News]

US:

¶ The top official at the US EPA said the ongoing legal fight over regulating carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants won’t delay the nation’s accelerating shift to cleaner sources of energy. She spoke at Climate Action 2016, a conference n Washington, DC. [Sioux City Journal]

The Kintigh Generating Station in Somerset, New York. Photo by Matthew D. Wilson. CC BY-SA 2.5 generic. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Caterpillar and First Solar, Inc announced a strategic alliance to develop integrated solar PV micro-grid applications. First Solar will design and manufacture a pre-engineered turnkey package for use in remote micro-grid applications, such as small communities and mining sites. [solarserver.com]

World:

¶ The failure of monsoon last year led to declining water levels at dams across the river Kali in the Indian state of Karnataka. If there is no rain by June, the reservoirs are likely to dry up, with effects on power generation at both hydro-electric and nuclear power plants. [Times of India]

Kali River in Karnataka. Photo by solarisgirl from pune, india.
CC BY-SA 2.0 generic. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Saudi Arabia’s veteran oil minister has been removed in a broad government overhaul. He has been replaced by former a health minister. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude exporter, but the country has unveiled major economic reforms aimed at ending its dependence on oil. [BBC]

¶ Zambian President Edgar Lungu has commissioned construction works for the $1.2 billion first ever solar power station plants in Lusaka. The two solar plants, which will have a capacity of 100 MW, are expected to supplying power before the end of the year, under a World Bank program. [ZNBC]

Zambian long term development in the Energy sector.

¶ Former US Energy Secretary Steven Chu commented on energy auctions in Mexico, which are unsubsidized. Mexico’s state utility got bids on solar, wind, hydro, cogeneration, combined-cycle gas, and geothermal energy. Solar and wind cost about 4¢/kWh, far below the costs of fossil fuels. [Forbes]

US:

¶ Iowa’s two largest energy providers, Mid-American and Aliant have both recently launched “pilot plans” meant to get the discussion started about building large scale solar arrays. Meanwhile a small, municipal utility in Cedar Falls is already harnessing energy from the sun. [Iowa Public Radio]

Simple Solar project in Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls Utilities photo.

¶ While Republican lawmakers in Washington have fought to protect coal-fired power plants, opposing President Obama’s efforts to cut carbon emissions, data show their home states are often the ones benefiting most from the nation’s accelerating shift to renewable energy. [Kokomo Tribune]

¶ Chad Pregracke may be known as “The Rivers’ Garbageman,” having cleaned up America’s waterways for almost 20 years, but he also loves planting trees. In 2007, his nonprofit, Living Lands & Waters, set a new goal, to plant 1 million oak trees, and now, it has reached that goal. [CNN]

Chad Pregracke and his nonprofit surprised students by planting the group’s millionth tree at their school.

¶ Philadelphia will experience the largest transit agency investment in zero-emission buses in the US Northeast, according to the director of the Sierra Club’s electric vehicles initiative. Philadelphia is a walkable city already, but cleaning up the buses will make that even better. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Motorists passing by six domed tanks near LaSalle, Colorado, might dismiss them as just more oil facilities. They are, however, part of the county’s rapidly growing renewable energy portfolio, the Heartland Biogas Project, the largest anaerobic digester in North America. [Greeley Tribune]

Trucks sit outside A1 Organic’s facilities on Weld County Road 49. Eliott Foust | The Greeley Tribune

¶ Year two of the California legislative cycle usually yields some bold policy ideas, and this year it looks like rethinking the state’s relationship with natural gas is on that track. A number of bills before the legislature arise from the major methane pollution event at Aliso Canyon. [Energy Collective]

Opinion:

¶ “The fire in Canada looks a lot like climate change – and that should scare you” • It’s impossible for scientists to say global warming caused this specific fire, of course, but polluting the atmosphere is creating conditions that make such disasters more likely, bigger and costlier. [CNN]

Traffic at a standstill as evacuees flee Fort McMurray, May 4.

World:

¶ The only land convoy evacuating people trapped by a huge wildfire in the Canadian state of Alberta has been suspended after 200-ft (60-meter) flames flanked the road, officials say. There is also concern about oil facilities, particularly near Nexen’s Long Lake oil extraction site. [BBC]

¶ Installed wind power capacity in China will more than treble from about 149 GW in 2015 to over 495 GW by 2030, a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 9%, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. China had a third of total world wind power capacity in 2015. [Today’s Energy Solutions]

Wind power in China

¶ Large heat pumps are expected to play a key role in meeting carbon reduction targets, according to developers of the UK’s largest air source heat pump for residential use. The new heating technology is expected to become the pathway to zero carbon, cheap heating. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ Last year two German federal states generated more renewable electricity than they consumed, according to the German clean energy publication Renewables International. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern reached net 130% renewable electricity. Schleswig-Holstein reached net 100%. [Inhabitat]

German wind farm. Image via Wikimedia.

¶ Energy start-up Open Utility yesterday unveiled the results of its six‐month trial of Piclo, the UK’s first online peer‐to‐peer renewable energy marketplace. It showed advantages for local markets and decentralized energy that could lead to significant savings, said Good Energy. [SeeNews Renewables]

US:

¶ Two Florida mayors are unique positions for local leaders: they both believe that climate change is occurring, and that the consequences will hit Florida residents hard. That puts them at odds with the state government, which fervently denies that climate change is occurring. [ThinkProgress]

Florida cities are in danger of rising seas. Shutterstock image.

¶ BioStar Renewables announced they will add 5.1 MW of solar power installations to their portfolio as a result of contracts totaling over $31 million. The installations will benefit schools in Hawaii and a cold storage facility in New Jersey, saving money and decreasing carbon emissions. [PennEnergy]

¶ Indiana’s use of coal for generating power plunged nearly 40% from 2007 through 2015 as its utilities retired older coal-fired plants and increasingly embraced natural gas and renewable energy, a new federal report shows. Indiana was among three states with big declines in coal use. [WSBT-TV]

Coal use in Indiana.

¶ Maui Electric Company requested permission from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to begin acquiring about 40 MW of dispatchable, firm power generation by 2022. About 20 MW would come from renewable resources and 20 MW from fuel-flexible resources. [Maui Now]

¶ ComEd and Exelon proposed wide-ranging state legislation in Illinois to save two financially ailing nuclear plants, “jumpstart” solar power development and reform the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. The proposal would also make controversial adjustments to electric rates. [Progress Illinois]

Clinton power station, near Clinton, Illinois. Photo by
Dual Freq. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ SolarCity will now offer services to utility and grid operators, including installation, financing, and consulting services for utility-scale solar and energy storage development, advanced controls for demand response, distributed energy resources, and aggregated grid services. [CleanTechnica]

Opinion:

¶ “Who’s Killing Renewable Energy?” • Fifteen years the Cape Wind project began, bureaucratic obstacles, high costs, and wealthy Cape Cod residents hostile to a major renewable energy project near their homes plague the endeavor. But Cape Wind is no longer alone. [TakePart]

Offshore wind farm at Copenhagen.
Photo by Martin Nikolaj Christensen from Sorø, Denmark.
CC BY-SA 2.0 generic. Wikimedia Commons.

Science and Technology:

¶ Research has found that solar farms have a positive impact on biodiversity for a range of plant and animal species when used with appropriate land management. The report tested and confirmed a growing body of anecdotal evidence that solar farms can benefit local wildlife. [Renewable Energy Focus]

¶ Many researchers believe that El Niño was not the only factor increasing the risk of a major fire in Alberta. A number of research papers have highlighted the fact that warming is leading to increased wildfire risk. Studies also show that northern latitudes feel those impacts more strongly. [BBC]

Cars heading toward flames they must pass to leave Fort McMurray. Photo by DarrenRD. CC BY-SA International. Wikimedia Commons.

World:

¶ The fire at Fort McMurray in Canada’s energy heartland and forced a precautionary shutdown of some oil production, driving up global oil prices. When fire has blocked the only escape route south, thousands of evacuees fled north or were cut off. The fire has covered 210,000 acres. [The Quint]

Cars fleeing Fort McMurray. This was stop-and-go traffic.

¶ The Science Based Targets initiative said 155 companies have committed to set emissions reduction targets in line with attempting to keep global warming well below 2° C. The companies include Coca-Cola, Dell, Kellogg, NRG Energy, Procter & Gamble, Owens Corning, Toyota. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is powering a number of its UK stores with energy generated from anaerobic digestion through a partnership with food waste processor ReFood. About 10% of its national gas consumption is now generated from food waste under the agreement. [letsrecycle.com]

¶ The US DOE, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the Caribbean Community have signed a pact to promote and support renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies across the Caribbean region. [SeeNews Renewables]

Caribbean wind energy. Author: Boris Kasimov.
License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic.

¶ The Times reports that plans for Hinkley Point C have been thrown into chaos after the admission that engineers have falsified vital safety tests on parts supplied to reactors in France and possibly the UK. Power Magazine says France’s nuclear sector has been rocked to its core. [Blue & Green Tomorrow]

US:

¶ Tucson Electric Power has received approval from the state’s regulator to build two 10-MW energy storage systems, including one co-located with solar. The utility had originally sought bids for a single system, but the bids were so low that the two projects fit within its budget. [PV-Tech]

E.ON Climate & Renewables will build one of the two systems.
E.ON image.

¶ A first-in-the-nation partnership between an electric utility and Tesla, the automotive and energy storage company, has resulted in the installation of new battery units in some Vermont homes. Green Mountain Power is helping customers access the Tesla Powerwall batteries. [WPTZ]

¶ Solar panels will soon help power three communities in the Alaskan Arctic. The Department of Energy awarded federal funding to install panels in Kotzebue, Buckland and Deering. Energy costs are notoriously high in rural Alaskan areas dependent on diesel power. [Alaska Public Radio Network]

Solar panels in the Northwest Arctic village of Shugnak.
(Photo courtesy of Ingemar Mathiasson/NWAB)

¶ Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump is positioning himself for the November election by vowing to bring coal-mining jobs back to states that he now sees as critical to his presidential hopes. Since 2008, coal has been in sharp decline in the US. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

¶ The New York State Department of Public Service, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, EnterSolar, and Clean Energy Collective announced that construction has begun on the first Shared Renewables community solar project in New York State. [CleanTechnica]

New York Capitol. Image via Shutterstock.

¶ Enel Green Power North America has started construction of the Aurora utility-scale distributed PV solar project in Minnesota. It will be the Enel Group’s largest solar power plant in North America. It will consist of 16 PV plants with a total installed capacity of 150 MW. [Your Renewable News]

¶ The Tennessee Valley Authority board voted to declare the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear plant surplus. It includes two partially finished reactors, office buildings, warehouses, railroad spurs and a helicopter pad. It has cost $4 billion and has an appraised value of $36 million. [Myrtle Beach Sun News]

World:

¶ A fire has forced evacuation of all 88,000 residents of Fort McMurray, Alberta. The fire, which broke out on Sunday in the heart on the country’s oil sands region, has already gutted 1,600 buildings, including a new school. High temperatures and wind are driving the fire. [BBC]

Fort McMurray fire. AP photo. According to
The Weather Channel, high temperatures were at 90° F,
or 32° C, breaking the old record of 82° F.

¶ According to the fourth edition of the Asset Owners Disclosure Project’s Global Climate 500 Index, 246 of the world’s 500 biggest investors, with $14.3 trillion in funds, are ignoring climate risks completely, 97 are taking tangible action to mitigate the risk, and 147 are taking first steps. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Offshore wind can fill the low-carbon gap left by the potential non-delivery of the delayed Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, according to Scottish Power Renewables. They said the offshore wind supply chain, projects, developers and funding were in place to plug any shortfall. [reNews]

Scottish Power’s West of Duddon Sands
offshore wind farm (Scottish Power)

¶ India has taken its first major step at probably one of the most ambitious rooftop solar power capacity addition targets in the world. The Solar Energy Corporation of India recently floated a tender for the implementation of 500 MW of rooftop solar power capacity across the country. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Independent renewable generators supply 7.6% of UK power demand. They have a capacity of almost 11 GW, or 40% of the country’s green power, a report from SmartestEnergy said. Over 5,400 renewable projects were developed last year. [Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy]

SmartestEnergy photo.

¶ Enel Green Power RSA has grid connected a 82.5-MW solar power plant in South Africa’s Western Cape province. It is Enel’s largest solar plant in South Africa and is supported by a 20-year power supply agreement with utility Eskom. Enel has 430 MW more under construction. [reNews]

US:

¶ Tesla just released its quarterly shareholder letter. The first item is a whopper: Tesla aims to move its 2020 target to produce 500,000 vehicles a year to 2018. This is clearly in response to the high demand for the Tesla Model 3, which topped 400,000 reservations weeks ago. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model 3 @ Unveiling Event
Image Credit: Kyle Field, for CleanTechnica

¶ A Superior Court judge in the state of Washington ruled in favor of 7 young plaintiffs who brought suit on climate change. He ordered the state’s Department of Ecology to promulgate an emissions reduction rule during 2016 and bring recommendations to the state legislature in 2017. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Vestas is to supply 54 of their V117 3.3MW turbines for Capital Power’s 178-MW Bloom wind farm in Kansas. Manufacturing and shipment of the units is expected this year, with commissioning scheduled for the first and second quarter of 2017. The deal includes a 5-year service agreement. [reNews]

Vestas 3MW v90 turbine wind. Photo by Davagh.

¶ Dynegy Inc will shut down three coal-fired units at two Illinois power plants because they are no longer economical in the Midwestern power market, the Houston-based electric utility said. The three units together have over 1,800 MW of capacity, about 30% of southern Illinois’ total. [Reuters]

¶ Caterpillar Inc announced the launch of Cat® Microgrid technology, a suite of power systems that adds solar panels, state-of-the-art energy storage, and advanced monitoring and control systems to Caterpillar’s traditional line of power generation equipment. [POWER magazine]

Opinion and Action:

¶ “Largest Civil Disobedience in History of the Environmental Movement Begins Today” • Starting today, a global wave of peaceful direct actions lasting for 12 days will take place across six continents targeting the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel projects, under the banner of Break Free. [EcoWatch]

World:

¶ While Tesla may have the lock on electric vehicles for personal use, BYD has its sights set on the commercial side of things. BYD is bringing a full array of electric trucks to market which are aimed directly at one of the key sources of PM2.5 and PM10 pollution in our cities – diesel trucks. [CleanTechnica]

¶ In the UK, farmers and landowners built 209 new projects in 2015 with a combined capacity of 56 MW, providing valuable new revenue streams, often on low-quality land. Together they account for 28% of all independent renewable projects and 5% of the market by capacity. [FarmingUK]

Farmers and Landowners built 209 new projects in 2015.

¶ The UK wing of Danish-based energy supplier DONG Energy has announced offerings to UK businesses of renewable electricity at no additional premium to ‘brown energy’ sources. DONG Energy is already the leading developer and operator of offshore wind in the UK. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Kent’s independent renewable energy producers generate enough power to put pressure on the UK’s Big 6 energy companies to lower their prices, according to a new study. Kent has seen £70 million invested in 108 projects, for 351 MW of capacity, enough to power 179,000 homes last year. [Kent Online]

A green cottage in the UK. Photo by martin dawes. CC BY-SA 2.0 generic. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ According to new information from IHS Inc of Englewood, Colorado, Europe recently reached an important solar energy milestone, installing 100 GW of grid-connected PV power. PV is one of the most competitive forms of energy generation in Europe today. [solarserver.com]

¶ Scottish wind power jumped 15% in April 2016 from April 2015, putting nearly 700,000 MWh onto the national grid. Figures highlighted by WWF Scotland showed that the country’s turbines generated enough to meet, on average, the electrical needs of 79% of Scottish households. [reNews]

The Farr wind farm in Scotland (Siemens photo)

¶ US solar investment and consulting firm GSSG Solar LLC has started construction of a 46.8-MW solar farm in Japan, to be completed by the end of 2017. GSSG Solar has assessed over 2.5 GW of potential projects in Japan, and has 170 MW under development. [SeeNews Renewables]

US:

¶ The Stone Edge Farm and winery in Sonoma, California has a 32 kW solar array, 14 of Aquion’s 25 kWh M-Line battery modules, and an Ideal Power 30 kW multi-port power conversion system. The solar PV array provides electricity to the primary residence, workshops, and offices. [CleanTechnica]

Stone Edge Farm photo

¶ Solar power in Minnesota is shining brightly. The state is poised to climb into the top 10 states for annual solar installations from its 25th rank in 2015, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which expects the state’s solar capacity to increase by more than 500 MW in 2016. [Osakis Review]

¶ The city of San Diego has enacted an initiative that will have it running on 100% renewable energy by 2035. According to the Climate Action Plan, not only will the city rely completely on renewable energy but it also hopes to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a staggering 50% by 2035. [Digital Trends]

A solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in San Diego. Photo by Joshua Rainey / 123RF

¶ The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to start a nuclear chain reaction in its newest reactor this month as it moves toward adding the first new atomic unit to the US power grid in two decades by this summer. The Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant has a capacity of 1,411 MW. [Chattanooga Times Free Press]

Science and Technology:

¶ Solar Impulse, the zero-fuel airplane, has flown the first leg across the continental US in its attempt to fly around the world. It left Mountain View, California, at dawn on Monday and landed 16 hours later in Goodyear, Arizona. It was the 10th leg of its round the world quest. [BBC]

A pre-dawn take-off for Solar Impulse from Moffett Airfield.
Solar Impulse photo.

World:

¶ Manitoba Hydro is now helping customers go solar. The crown corporation announced the details of the new Power Smart Solar Energy PV Program. The plan allows goodies for businesses and home owners to go solar, while selling surplus solar energy back to Manitoba Hydro. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S has fully installed 31 turbines at the 310-MW Lake Turkana wind farm in Kenya. The Lake Turkana Wind Power project will use total of 365 pieces of V52-850 kW turbines, capable of generating over 1,400 GWh together. [SeeNews Renewables]

Lake Turkana wind system. Vestas photo.

¶ An international consortium recently announced that it started building a 2-GW solar project in Egypt. The project is expected to require a total investment of $3.5 billion. The consortium includes Terra Sola Ventures, Terra Nex, RWE New Energy, and Hareon Solar Technologies. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Mexico and Costa Rica aim to increase their capacities of geothermal power to help meet the challenges they face of curbing planet-warming emissions and making their energy supplies secure. Geothermal makes up only 5% of installed power capacity in Central America. [Reuters UK]

¶ Nestlé Waters, the world’s largest bottled water company, has today announced its UK operations are now powered by 100% renewable electricity. The firm, which produces San Pellegrino and other brands of water, said electricity for its Buxton factory is now entirely from renewable sources. [Business Green]

Nestlé Waters factory Buxton

¶ Two Indian states have commissioned canal-top solar power projects, according to reports. Two projects with a total installed capacity of 5 MW were commissioned by the Punjab government. Andhra Pradesh commissioned a 400-kW project supplying power to five villages. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Perhaps unsurprisingly, Denmark boasts the highest wind-produced electricity consumption in the world. And they announced last month another increase, with 42% of their total electricity use coming from wind turbines in 2015. That’s a highly significant rise of 3% from 2014. [The News Hub]

US:

¶ Oklahoma is the latest state to get into the game on community solar. Tri-County Electric Co-op, headquartered in Hooker, dedicated the first community solar project in the state on April 26. TCEC members pay a one-time subscription fee of $340 per share to buy into the project. [Electric Co-op Today]

Wind turbines in Oklahoma. Photo by the US Geological Survey. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Leadership from Georgia Power and the Navy, community leaders, and others gathered at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany to mark the start of construction at a 31-MW AC solar facility. It is Georgia Power’s fifth large-scale solar project on military bases. [Today’s Energy Solutions]

¶ Solar power in New Hampshire cleared a major hurdle Monday after Governor Maggie Hassan signed a bill into law that doubles the state cap for net metering from 50 MW to 100 MW. Net metering is an incentive that lets people sell their excess solar energy back into the grid. [Concord Monitor]

¶ Lawmakers in Massachusetts are drafting a bill that would jump-start the offshore wind industry. The energy bill is expected to require utilities to purchase power from offshore wind farms, according to Representative Thomas Golden, a Democrat, whose party controls the legislature. [Bloomberg]

Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg

¶ Solar energy is still a small part of Wisconsin’s overall energy mix, but it’s the fastest-growing component. The Solar Energy Industries Association reports Wisconsin ranks 30th overall among the 50 states in installed solar capacity, but investment in solar rose about 70% last year. [Kenosha News]

¶ Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, Senator Richard Shelby, and others are urging the Tennessee Valley Authority to sell its unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant. More than four decades of work hasn’t produced a watt of electricity. At least one potential buyer has been identified. [FederalNewsRadio.com]

Opinion:

¶ “Tesla Model 3 Is Changing Auto History” • In its first week alone, the Tesla had amassed, “about $14 billion in implied future sales, making this the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever.” And it’s growing. Last week, Tesla had almost 400,000 orders for the Model 3. [CleanTechnica]

Tesla Model 3

¶ “Stuck in Time – Ruined Chernobyl nuclear plant to remain a threat for 3,000 years” • It is 30 years since Chernobyl came to mean more than just a little village in rural Ukraine. Now, 25 years after the country that built it ceased to exist, the full damage of that day is still argued. [The Keene Sentinel]

World:

¶ The price per barrel of global benchmark Brent Crude ended April just above $47. Since dipping briefly below $30 in January, it has risen by nearly two-thirds. That sounds a lot. And it is. But it’s worth remembering that the price is still down by 30% on this time last year, and 60% on June 2014. [BBC News]

Offshore oil. Nexen image.

¶ Palestinians will take a step toward greater power independence by announcing terms of a solar-energy auction intended to boost installed capacity by as much as 100 MW. The Palestinian Energy Authority said it plans to auction permits to build 10 solar plants generating 10 MW each. [gulfnews.com]

¶ The leading off-grid home solar energy system provider in Uganda, Fenix International, has now signed 60,000 leases for its ReadyPay Power offering (since January 2014), according to a new press release. An estimated 300,000 Ugandans now have reliable electricity for the first time. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Danish marine energy developer Floating Power Plant teamed up with engineering outfit Ocean Power & Energy Services with a development agreement. FPP has been grid testing its combined wind and wave power solution off Denmark for a number of years and has three possibilities for sites. [reNews]

FPP wind and wave concept (FPP image)

¶ Canadian company CMX Renewable Energy Inc has sought a license to build a 150-MW solar plant in the central Vietnamese province of Ninh Thuan at an estimated cost of $150 million, news website Dau Tu reported. Around 1% of the plant’s output would be provided free to locals. [Thanh Nien Daily]

¶ Spain’s power sector, which has been shaken financially in recent years owing to plunging power demand, posted its first electricity tariff surplus in 14 years at the end of 2015. The National Markets and Competition Commission said there was a 7% decrease from a year earlier. [POWER magazine]

Solar array in Spain. Photo by Certo Xornal. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Dubai’s tender for the right to build the 800-MW phase III of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar complex has attracted a bid of just $29.90 (€26) per MWh. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is now evaluating a total of five bids. The winner is to be announced in June. [SeeNews Renewables]

US:

¶ Growth in wind-power production slowed in 2015 to slightly over 5%, according to a DOE report. This was because of lower wind speeds in key regions, particularly in western states. Some states such as Colorado that put more turbines onto the grid held steady outputs. [Public News Service]

Wind farm in Colorado. (Makunin/Pixabay)

¶ After almost 12 years of political gridlock and stiff opposition from competitors, San Francisco’s green energy program, CleanPowerSF, began operating on Sunday. CleanPowerSF is now able to deliver electricity to more than 7,800 residences and businesses. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Science and Technology:

¶ Running around the clock for two weeks, ACWA Power’s 50-MW Bokpoort project is an example of Concentrated Solar Power, the solar that can be called on day or night. Because when it has integrated thermal energy storage in molten salts, it is dispatchable solar. [CleanTechnica]

Image Credit: ACWA Power

World:

¶ India will achieve the target of 10,500 MW new solar power capacity in the current fiscal, the New and Renewable Energy Minister said. He said, “The way things are progressing in solar energy sector, we will definitely achieve our target. Solar energy is economically viable.” [IndUS Business Journal]

¶ New plans from the ECOWAS Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency will see a “clean energy corridor” with 2 GW of combined capacity in West Africa. The corridor will feature numerous 10 to 15 MW solar PV systems, together with wind and hydro plants. [CleanTechnica]

West Africa. Image by SEWA (some rights reserved)

¶ Venezuelans lost half an hour of sleep on Sunday when their clocks moved forward to save power, as the country grapples with a deep economic crisis. The time change was ordered by President Nicolas Maduro as part of a package of measures to cope with a severe electricity shortage. [BBC]

¶ Global wind power installations are estimated to more than double in the next five years according to a new study, which also spotlights the record global wind growth in 2015, led by China and Germany. Prices continue to decrease and renewable energy is a priority for many countries. [The Climate Group]

Offshore wind

¶ Belgium’s High Health Council decided to expand the radius of iodine pill distribution around the country’s nuclear sites from 20 km (12 miles) to 100 km (62 miles), focusing on people who are most susceptible to radiation illness, such as children and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. [wtvr.com]

US:

¶ The Michigan utility company Consumers Energy recently finished shutting down 7 regional coal-fired power plants, and is beginning operations at a new community solar energy project in the area. The new 3-MW solar energy project is on a 17-acre site at Grand Valley State University. [CleanTechnica]

Image by Consumers Energy (some rights reserved)

¶ Greentech Media notes that an average gross cost of a solar energy system in Texas is the lowest in the country, down to $3.21 per watt, while the national average cost is $3.69 per watt. This is based on data in EnergySage’s Second Solar Marketplace Intel Report. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Republican and Democratic presidential contests have been unusually competitive, with strong challengers and less dominant front-runners than years past. The presidential hopefuls all have made statements on coal. Some have put forward detailed policies. [Casper Star-Tribune Online]

¶ A Post and Courier analysis shows that South Carolina utility Santee Cooper has effectively deprived its more than 170,000 direct customers of the energy savings and environmental benefits that the state’s new renewable energy law made available to residents. [Charleston Post Courier]

Science and Technology:

¶ Unencumbered by red tape, venture-backed fusion may be faster and cheaper than government-sponsored projects, and some very influential people agree. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel are all backing firms in fusion development. [BBC]

The plasma inside a tokamak reactor must be
confined … but that’s the hard part (Credit: SPL)

World:

¶ A new UK Public Attitudes Tracking Survey found that 81% of people polled support renewable energy. Support for individual technologies remained high. Total support for solar sat at 84%; Wave and Tidal at 77%; Offshore wind 76%; 69% for onshore wind; and 63% for biomass. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Peru’s Ministry of Energy said on Wednesday the country’s wind and solar energy output in March 2016 increased 79% year-on-year to 96 GWh. The huge difference can be attributed to the 97-MW CE Tres Hermanas wind park that began commercial operation that March. [SeeNews Renewables]

Renewable power. Author: Gerry Machen.
License: Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic.

¶ A global network of over 270 institutional investors, representing assets of over €20 trillion, warned global utilities of the threat of climate change. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change released a report this week as a guide to help move boards of utility companies. [CleanTechnica]

¶ India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently reported that the country added 6,937 MW of grid-connected renewable energy capacity during FY 2015–16. The target for the year was 4,460 MW. Additionally, 176 MW of distributed renewable energy capacity was added. [CleanTechnica]

US:

¶ A 36-inch natural gas pipeline 30 miles east of Pittsburgh exploded. One man got burns as he ran for his life. Towering trees were reduced to blackened poles and siding melted off buildings. A quarter-mile evacuation zone was established. The cause is unknown. [Staunton News Leader]

A burned out house after a natural gas explosion in Salem Township, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

¶ At present, 47% of conservative Republicans now believe climate change is happening. That’s according to a national survey released this week by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. [CNN]

¶ ExxonMobil reported a 63% slide in first quarter profits following low crude oil prices and weak refining margins. It reported a profit of $1.8 billion, a sharp decline from $4.94 billion for the same period last year and its lowest quarterly profit since 1999. Rival Chevron suffered losses. [BBC]

Reuters photo

¶ The US wind industry added 520 MW in the first quarter of 2016, its most productive first quarter since 2012, with another 2 GW in construction. This brings the country’s total capacity in construction to 10,100 MW, according to a report from the American Wind Energy Association. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Vermont Supreme Court on Friday sided with developers of a major solar power project in Rutland Town against the wishes of the town and its neighbors. The five-member court split three ways before ruling 3-2 in support of allowing construction of the project. [BurlingtonFreePress.com]

¶ If Nebraska switches from coal to wind energy, it would save the state almost two billion gallons of water a year, according to the Center for Rural Affairs. Nebraska currently ranks fourth in the nation for wind energy potential and 13th for solar power potential, but relies heavily on coal. [HPPR]

Wind power plants. Credit Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Missouri-based Associated Electric Cooperative Inc has issued a request for proposals for 50 MW to 300 MW of renewable energy from wind power. AECI is a wholesale power supplier to six regional generation and transmission cooperatives in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma. [North American Windpower]

¶ With Exelon’s Clinton nuclear power plant again in jeopardy of closing, Illinois state legislators and local officials are renewing their effort to pass legislation to save the plant that is DeWitt County’s largest employer. The plant has lost $453 million over the last six years. [Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette]

¶ A national campaign by the nuclear industry to stabilize profits in a volatile energy market scored a victory Friday night with the unanimous passage of bipartisan legislation changing the rules for procuring electricity in Connecticut, a state heavily reliant on nuclear power. [The CT Mirror]

Opinion:

¶ “The Untold Grassroots History of Iowa’s Clean Energy Transformation” • In 2006, 75% of Iowa’s electricity already came from coal and more coal was planned. Now, Iowa-based utility MidAmerican says it will be 85% wind power by 2020, without raising electricity rates. [Huffington Post]

Winter Windmills in Iowa. Photo by Tony Webster.
CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ “Do Voters In States Suing Over CPP Actually Oppose The
Plan?” • According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, polling found widespread support for the Clean Power Plan and attorneys general that filed the legal challenge are out of step with their constituents. [North American Windpower]

World:

¶ Next Kraftwerke, a German virtual power plant operator, aggregates small producers and sells their output in lucrative “balancing” markets. The firm stands to place more than 10 TWh of volumes on power exchanges this year, up from 9 TWh in 2015 and 5.3 TWh in 2014. [Reuters]

A small power producer in Germany. Photo by Molgreen.
CC BY-SA 4.0 international. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ London-based Powervault bills itself as manufacturing the UK’s “first fully-integrated solar energy storage system for the home.” The start-up, which was launched back in 2012, announced on Wednesday the introduction of its new range of smart home energy storage products. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Australian Capital Territory government, which had a 90% renewable energy target by 2020, said it will in fact get 100% of its electricity from renewable energy by that date. ACT’s climate change minister said the switch to 100% renewables is achievable and affordable. [RenewEconomy]

Canberra Lake George wind farm

¶ Gamesa announced on its website that it had received a new order for the supply of 65 of its G114-2.1 MW turbines to the Babilonia wind complex being developed in the Brazilian town of Morro do Chapéu, in Bahia state. Operation is expected to start in the second half of 2018. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Thermal energy management solutions company Viking Cold Storage announced the launch of Solar Energy Storage at Hannover Messe trade fair. The system can reduce peak demand for electricity by up to 90%, saving customers money and helping to balance the grid. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

US:

¶ A home energy storage partnership deal has been inked between California-based Verengo Solar and battery provider Swell Energy. The deal is intended to establish a(nother) one-stop home energy storage and backup power solution for the residential market. [CleanTechnica]

Solar panel installation. Image via Shutterstock

¶ A community solar project in Halfmoon, New York will allow more than 100 local residents to participate in generating solar energy, even if they can’t have their own private PV systems. The PV installation for the shared solar project in Halfmoon, NY will generate 741,230 kWh annually. [pv magazine]

¶ Duke Energy, the utility ranking third in the US for adding new solar projects for its customers, has increased its renewable energy target by 33% in light of recent growth and successes in the sector. The North Carolina-based firm will seek to reach 8 GW of installed clean power by 2030. [pv magazine]

Duke Energy

¶ Renewable energy advocates and business interests launched a new campaign focused on steering the statewide energy debate toward renewable energy opportunities in the face of weakening demand for Montana coal. Called “Charge,” the campaign’s slogan is “A Boom That Won’t Bust.” [Montana Standard]

¶ The developer of the 468-MW Cape Wind project off Nantucket has gone to the Supreme Judicial Court in a bid to keep key transmission line approvals. The developer is appealing a Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board rejection of its application for permit extensions. [SeeNews Renewables]

Nantucket Sound image by Ernest McGray, Jr. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

¶ Since the Supreme Court’s stay of the Clean Power Plan, states have operated under uncertainty and have taken different approaches the rule. Here is a timeline of the events to date, a summary of the different legal arguments, and a brief overview of different state approaches on the CPP. [JD Supra]

¶ Consumption of steam coal for electricity generation in the US fell 29% from its peak of 1,045 million short tons (MMst) in 2007 to an estimated 739 MMst in 2015. Consumption fell in nearly every state, rising only in Nebraska and Alaska over that period. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]

Source: US Energy Information Administration, Power Plant Operations Report Form EIA-923

¶ Federal regulators have approved a key permit for construction of a new nuclear reactor in New Jersey, at Artificial Island along the Delaware River in Lower Alloways Creek Township. It is not the final permit, however. Many federal, state and local approvals are still needed. [NJ.com]

World:

¶ Australian credit finance group FlexiGroup has made a landmark issue of green Asset Backed Securities, a type of bond, raising $50 million to refinance residential rooftop solar systems in Australia. The issue brings rooftop solar into the mainstream bond market in Australia for the first time. [RenewEconomy]

Rooftop solar systems

¶ The end of the internal combustion engine may be in sight. The Austrian Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is working on a study that would mean an end to conventional cars sales by 2020. India, Norway, and the Netherlands have plans to end sales by 2025. [Renewables International]

¶ Global solar installations are expected to reach 66.7 GW in 2016, thanks to strong growth in China, the US, Japan, and India, according to Mercom. According to the Solar Market Update, China, the United States, Japan, and India will make up the year’s top four solar markets. [CleanTechnica]

¶ ITM Power will provide a 1.5-MW electrolyzer for the BIG HIT (Building Innovative Green Hydrogen systems in an Isolated Territory) on Orkney Islands, Scotland. A €5-million grant for the project came from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. [SeeNews Renewables]

Source: ITM Power License: All Rights Reserved.

¶ Laos aims to use Monsoon Wind Power, ASEAN’s largest wind farm, as an exemplary prototype. At 600-MW capacity, it will be the largest wind farm in ASEAN. The site covers two districts in southern Laos, Dak Cheung in Sekong province and Sanxay in Attapeu province. [The Nation]

¶ The International Solar Alliance has reiterated its desire to mobilize $1 trillion in investments to improve solar assets. Launched by India and France at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, the International Solar Alliance is made up of governments from 25 countries. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Siemens has received an order for the supply, installation and commissioning of 60 direct-drive offshore wind turbines, each with a capacity of 6 MW. The Arkona offshore wind farm is set to be in service by 2019 with a capacity sufficient to supply up to 400,000 German households. [Renewable Energy Focus]

Offshore wind farm. Photo by El Pollock. CC BY-SA 2.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ A change in the electric power matrix will allow Cuba to increase its own energy production from 4% to 24 % of the total by 2030, said an expert from the Cuban Energy and Mining Ministry on Wednesday. Cuba should have capacity to generate 7,245 GW in the year 2030. [Prensa Latina]

¶ Siemens has received an order for 714 MW worth of wind turbines for the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm. The order is for 102 of its 7 MW turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 154 meters, for the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm being developed off the British east coast. [CleanTechnica]

US:

¶ The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released its monthly Energy Infrastructure Update yesterday, April 27. In the first quarter of this year, 98.6% of all new electric capacity additions in the US have been renewable. This does not include small solar power additions. [Green Energy Times]

Wind turbine in Hull, Massachusetts. Photo by Fish Cop, placed in the public domain by the author. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Mississippi Power, Silicon Ranch Corporation, local officials from Hattiesburg and Forrest County, and the Area Development Partnership, held a groundbreaking ceremony for the state’s largest solar farm. The 50-MW facility will supply power for about 6,500 homes. [Consumer Electronics Net]

¶ With solar power to equal the output of the Seabrook nuclear plant, along with sufficient efficiency programs and demand response, New England should have more than enough electricity resources to meet demand this summer, even during a heat wave, according to ISO New England. [Concord Monitor]

Rooftop solar panels are an increasingly large part of New England’s power grid. Associated Press

¶ Maine’s Governor Paul LePage vetoed a landmark solar energy bill Wednesday, after failed attempts by Democratic leadership to reach a compromise during extensive negotiations. Solar advocates now plan to press lawmakers to override the veto when they reconvene Friday. [Press Herald]

¶ The Vermont House gave unanimous approval to S230, a bill that aims to give towns a say over where renewable energy projects are sited. While some Vermonters hoped the Legislature would let towns make siting decisions, the bill involves local, regional and state planners. [Vermont Biz]

Two windmills stand above a farm in Sheldon. VBM photo.

¶ Utilities are laying out cash to influence politicians. Ten spent more than $250 million total on political expenditures over a five-year period beginning in 2011, according to a report from the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute and the Sustainable Investments Institute. [Greentech Media]

Opinion:

¶ “Coal for water: crisis incoming”• The world’s rapidly dwindling freshwater resources could be further depleted if plans for hundreds of new coal power plants worldwide go ahead, threatening severe drought and competition, according to a new Greenpeace International report. [The Phuket News]

The Great Water Grab: How the coal industry
is deepening the global water crisis.

¶ “Mikhail Gorbachev: 30 years after Chernobyl, time to phase out nuclear power” • At 85, committed environmentalist Mikhail Gorbachev still campaigns to bring the failed nuclear experiment to an end, while encouraging a clean, efficient and renewable global energy economy. [The Ecologist]

¶ “Digitalization: Where are the German digital utilities?” • In Germany, a lot has been written about two energy megatrends of our time, liberalization of energy markets and decentralization of the energy landscape. What we think has been neglected is a third megatrend: digitalization. [EurActiv]

Biogas unit in Next Kraftwerke’s Power Plant. (Next Kraftwerke)

World:

¶ IKEA UK unveiled Solar Shops, its in-store offering to sell residential solar installations, partnering with Solarcentury. IKEA also released the results of its own survey which showed 33% of all UK homeowners would like to invest in solar panels, largely to cut their electricity bills. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Venezuela’s government has imposed a two-day working week for public sector workers as a temporary measure to help it overcome a serious energy crisis. Venezuela is in the middle of a major drought, which has dramatically reduced water levels at its main hydroelectric dam. [BBC]

Electricity Minister Luis Motta looks at the massive Guri Dam, virtually dry because of the drought. Reuters photo.

¶ Leclanché has secured a $28.9 million order for a 53 MWh battery system to be installed in Ontario. The company was founded in 1909, and began making energy storage modules for renewables in 2011. In 1987, it produced lead-acid batteries. Today, it focuses on lithium batteries. [CleanTechnica]

¶ For the upcoming Australian election, Labor is proposing two emissions trading schemes, one for big industrial polluters and one other consumers, in a climate policy that trumps the Coalition’s ambition but minimizes the hit on household power bills. Details are yet to be determined. [The Guardian]

The 9KW capacity solar system on Montague island.  Photo by Binarysequence. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ According to China’s National Energy Administration, the first quarter of 2016 saw the country’s solar industry add 7.14 GW in capacity, bringing its total solar capacity to 50.3 GW. China’s solar capacity includes 43.29 GW of ground-mounted solar PVs, and 7.03 GW of distributed solar PVs. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Central banks might accomplish what anti-nuclear activists have not, forcing operators to decommission almost 150 nuclear plants now sitting in limbo across the globe. In the past, many operators waited to allow growth in the cleanup funds. But the funds have been shrinking. [Taipei Times]

¶ Employment opportunities in Australia’s energy industry have collapsed in recent years. But while oil and coal jobs continue to decline, data from Indeed, the world’s largest jobs site, suggests solar is staging a massive comeback. Solar jobs are up 34% in the last quarter. [Business Insider Australia]

The transition from carbon-based job openings
to solar is a global trend.

¶ Hokuriku Electric Power Co may be forced to decommission a reactor at its Shika nuclear power plant because a geological fault line beneath the building was assessed as active. A panel of five experts on active faults issued its report to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on April 27. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ When a sudden change in state policy seemed to block the solar ambitions of Minster, Ohio, the village wasn’t put off. Instead, it decided to look into battery storage. A 7-MW battery will allow the village to defer transmission and distribution costs, improve power quality, and shave peak demand. [CleanTechnica]

Minster, Ohio. USDA via Flickr (CC BY 2.0 license)

¶ The Senate passed a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that restores funding for wind energy research and development to $95.4 million, the same level as in FY16. The initial draft contained a $15.4 million cut. [KTVZ]

¶ An effort to bring renewable energy to Western Alaska has been recognized by the federal government. The Ocean Renewable Power Company was named the 2016 Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters for its ability to bring hydropower to the Bristol Bay village of Igiugig. [KTOO]

The power system on station in Kvichak River.
(Photo courtesy of ORPC)

¶ Some of the sunniest states in the country maintain policies that block rooftop-solar development, a report from the Center for Biological Diversity says. Ten states have over 35% of the potential in the contiguous United States, but less than 3% of the installed capacity. [Center for Biological Diversity]

Science and Technology:

¶ In wave power systems, the challenge has been to design a machine that can withstand the brutal power of the ocean, and to find a gap in the market in the face of plummeting costs of other renewables. Carnegie may have found the answer with its CETO wave energy projects. [Power Technology]

Carnegie’s CETO wave energy

¶ Hydrogen fuel is a tremendous alternative to fossil fuels when it comes to powering both consumer and commercial applications. You may have read about them: cars, forklifts, refrigerated trucks, aircrafts, and now even personal electronics such as laptops and cell phones. [Huffington Post]

World:

¶ Ukraine is holding commemorations to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. The UN-backed Chernobyl Forum estimated up to 9,000 people could eventually die from radiation exposure, although Greenpeace claims the figure could be as high as 93,000. [BBC]

Candles were lit at a ceremony in Slavutych, a town built
to re-house workers who lived near the nuclear plant.

¶ The Saudi cabinet approved sweeping economic reforms to move the country away from its dependence on oil profits. Just over 70% of revenues came from oil last year, but falling prices hurt. Part of the plan is to sell shares in state-owned oil giant Aramco to create a sovereign wealth fund. [BBC]

¶ Mitsubishi Motors Corp, which acknowledged last week that it had intentionally lied about fuel economy data for some of its models, said an internal investigation found such tampering dated back to 1991. President Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters the probe was still ongoing. [Asahi Shimbun]

¶ Germany already leads Europe’s nascent power-to-gas industry and insiders are expecting policies that will give it further support. Energy storage insiders expect German policymakers to reward power-to-gas (P2G) adoption as a logical next step to the country’s leadership in the field. [Solarplaza]

P2G System. Audi image

¶ Mumbai bus transportation authority BEST has announced plans to convert all CNG and diesel-powered buses into electric buses. Due to increasing population pressure and lack of space to expand city infrastructure, promoting public transport is the only option for many Indian cities. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia plans to generate 9.5 GW of electricity from renewable energy by 2030, it said on Monday as it approved its Vision 2030 reform plan. The plan, a package of economic and social policies is designed to free the kingdom from dependence on oil exports. [Al-Arabiya]

¶ A South African solar power plant set a new African record for continuous supply of electricity. During its first month of commercial operation, the 50-MW Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power plant produced electricity for a continuous period of 161 hours, over six days. [Gulf Digital News]

The Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power plant.

¶ The French President has promised to begin the shutdown of the aging Fessenheim nuclear power plant, because of environmental and safety concerns. Fessenheim, near the German and Swiss borders, houses two 920-MW reactors and has been running since 1978. [RT]

¶ EDF has again pushed back the date for making a decision on the 3,200-MW Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project. The decision at this point will not be made earlier than September, according to French media reports. [Nuclear Street – Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers]

US:

¶ RES Distributed, which develops and operates wind, solar, transmission, and energy storage projects, announced an agreement with Pedernales Electric Cooperative to develop, construct, and manage a 15-MW distributed portfolio of PV projects in Texas Hill Country. [Your Renewable News]

Applied Materials 24.8-kW solar array in Austin, Texas. Photo by Larry D Moore. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Massachusetts officials have approved over $1 million in funding to support upgrades to hydroelectric facilities in Orange, Ware, and West Springfield in a bid to increase the state’s clean energy generation by around 1.2 million kWh per year. [International Water Power and Dam Construction]

¶ Construction is set to begin on the 180-MW Bloom Wind Farm in Ford County, Kansas, about 20 miles south of Dodge City. It will consist of 42 turbines with blade sweeps of 492 feet. Overall the farm will sit on 15,000 acres of privately-owned land. [Dodge City Daily Globe]

¶ Ecoplexus Inc, a developer of solar PV systems, announced it has commissioned six solar PV projects, totaling 54 MW in North Carolina. The six projects, reaching $79 million in project value, represent the completion of Ecoplexus’ second and third portfolios in the state. [pv magazine]

Opinion:

¶ “Nuclear power’s economic meltdown 30 years after Chernobyl” The catastrophe at Chernobyl seemed to confirm the worst expectations of the environmental movement. Thirty years later, the nuclear industry is facing a meltdown of a different kind: an economic meltdown. [swissinfo.ch]

Thirty years after the Soviet nuclear disaster, traces of radioactive elements from Chernobyl are still being registered in Switzerland.

Science and Technology:

¶ An extensive new scientific analysis published in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy & Environment says that proved conventional oil reserves as detailed in industry sources are likely “overstated” by half. The author is a former chief economist at Royal Dutch/Shell Group. [Middle East Eye]

World:

¶ A survey found communities across New South Wales support wind farms. Of the 2000 people surveyed in a study commissioned by the State Government, 81% said they supported wind farms in the state and 91% supported the use of renewables to generate electricity. [Clarence Valley Daily Examiner]

The Acciona wind farm near Gunning, New South Wales.

¶ Italian investors have signed a pact to install 1,000 MW of solar power capacity in Iran’s Qazvin province at a total cost of $1.5 billion (€1.3 billion). The memorandum of understanding outlines a plan to build 100 solar parks of 10 MW each over a period of 10 years. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ The Minerals Council of Australia launched a pro-uranium social media campaign on Wednesday. By that afternoon the twitter hashtag #untappedpotential was trending but ‒ as an AAP piece picked up by SBS and others noted ‒ contributors were overwhelmingly critical. [SBS]

A view of the construction site of the Belarusian nuclear power plant 180 km from Minsk, Belarus, 2016. (AAP-EPA / Tatyana Zenkovich

¶ Indian utility Tata Power has decided to increase the share of its renewable energy output to 30-40% by 2025, up from its earlier target of 20%, a top company official has said. Currently, the private sector utility has an operational capacity of 9,156 MW, of which 14.7% is renewable. [Business Standard]

¶ The Turks and Caicos Islands has one of the highest reported greenhouse gas emissions in the Caribbean due to its reliance on fossil fuels. Almost all of its abundant renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind power, remain untapped, leaving it dependent on oil. [Turks and Caicos Weekly News]

¶ India’s Union power ministry estimates India’s electricity demand in the 2017-22 period to be 20% less than what was originally estimated, thanks to new energy efficiency targets and power-saving devices. Estimates demand in 2022 have been reduced from 298 GW to 239 GW. [Livemint]

Indian transmission lines. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

¶ Shares in French energy giant EDF plunged more than 5% Monday after the state said it would lead a €4-billion capital increase as the company tries to tackle a huge debt pile. The power company’s debt woes weigh on its €23-billion ($26 billion) nuclear project at Hinkley Point. [Bangkok Post]

US:

¶ New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced that the amount of solar power installed across the city has tripled since the beginning of 2014. Now, he has launched Solarize NYC, a new citywide program designed to further increase access to solar through community group purchasing campaigns over the next nine years. [Solar Industry]

Brooklyn Bridge

¶ Wells Fargo has announced an integrated strategy to address global social, economic and environmental challenges. The company made new commitments in home and small business lending, community investment, operational efficiency, and corporate philanthropy through 2020. [Justmeans]

Science and Technology:

¶ Operating entirely on solar power and batteries in a flight from Hawaii, Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Mountain View, California, on April 23, just before midnight. The plane had taken off on April 21, resuming a journey that had stalled on the island of Oahu for almost 10 months. [CNN]

Solar Impulse 2 flew holding patterns for some hours
above San Francisco before landing.

¶ Li-ion batteries are on the verge of surpassing lead-acid batteries in terms of lifecycle costs. They already surpass them in all performance metrics, and cost trends strongly suggest that, even on an energy basis, Li-ion will reach cost parity with lead-acid in fewer than 5 years. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ With a target to have solar capacity of 100 GW operating by March 2022, the Indian government announced nearer-term annual targets. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy plans to add 15 GW and 16 GW of solar capacity in the financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19, respectively. [CleanTechnica]

India One Solar Thermal Power Plant. Photo by Bkwcreator.
CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Jeremy Buckingham, a member of the New South Wales parliament’s upper house, lit the surface of the Condamine River with a barbecue lighter to demonstrate the dangers of fracking. He posted a video on his Facebook page on Friday. By Sunday it had 2.2 million views. [The Guardian]

¶ Pakistan’s Ministry of Water and Power announced a load-shedding plan for urban and rural areas. It is stated that power cuts of six hours a day will be applicable to residential and commercial consumers in urban areas, 8 hours in rural areas and no load-shedding for industry. [Business Recorder]

¶ The isolated Canary island of El Hierro is aiming for energy independence using wind and hydro power in a setup that could provide a model for other islands, and then electric cars and organic farms. Pumped storage, storing power from the wind, is being used instead of diesel power. [Taipei Times]

El Heirro wind farm. AFP photo

¶ Daimler AG has begun shipping Mercedes-Benz stationary energy storage units for use in power grids powered by PVs or for recharging electric vehicles. The lithium-ion batteries powering the stationary battery storage units are installed together with a PV system. [IHS Electronics360]

¶ An Australian technology company has won a grant to expand its plans. The technology involves laying out a large array of mirrors that tracks the sun throughout the day and creates a concentrated light beam onto a highly efficient solar PV receiver sitting on top of a central tower. [Sydney Morning Herald]

John Lasich, CTO at RayGen, stands in front of mirrors for concentrating solar power. Photo: Joe Armao

¶ All the radar systems, lighthouses, barracks, ports and airfields that China has set up on its newly built island chain in the South China Sea require tremendous amounts of electricity, which is hard to come by on islands. China may have a solution: floating nuclear-power plants. [The Seattle Times]

US:

¶ Iowa now gets more than 31.3% of its electricity from wind, more than any other state. Iowa is pushing to increase the share of wind generation to 40% within the next five years. This would have lasting economic impacts beyond job growth, the Energy Department reported. [Lima Ohio]

Wind farm in Iowa. Photo by Tony Webster.
 CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ A coalition of industry stakeholders developed programs to promote the concept of “community storage” in utilities across the US. The programs would let utilities aggregate behind-the-meter resources like water heaters, electric vehicles and batteries, to provide services to the grid. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Legoland Florida Resort and Tampa Electric are partnering on a 2-MW solar energy project that will produce electricity – and shade – for visitors at the vacation destination. Tampa Electric will install a canopy of solar panels over the resort’s preferred parking lot. [Orlando Attractions Magazine]

Legoland Florida is building a new solar energy system
in their parking lot.

¶ A coalition of environmental and community groups is challenging the federal government’s decision to extend operations at the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant for 25 years. In a lawsuit, they say the approval lacked an assessment of clean alternatives. [Summit County Citizens Voice]

Opinion:

¶ “We Could Be Witnessing the Death of the Fossil Fuel Industry – Will It Take the Rest of the Economy Down With It?” • In just two decades, the total value of the energy being produced via fossil fuel extraction has plummeted by more than half. Now $3 trillion of debt is at risk. [AlterNet]

Crude. Photo Credit: Pixabay

World:

¶ Alberta could create more than 145,000 jobs by investing more heavily in renewable energy, energy efficiency and public transit, a report by three environmental organizations says. The move would boost employment when oil prices have dropped, and it would reduce carbon emissions. [Edmonton Sun]

¶ More than 170 nations attended the signing ceremony of the Paris Climate Agreement at the UN. For the Agreement to enter into full force, at least 55 nations comprising 55% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions must ratify it. [Forests News, Center for International Forestry Research]

Signing the Paris Agreement is a critical step toward saving the environment. Mokhammad Edliadi CIFOR

¶ A report from the Institute for Sustainable Futures in Sydney says a rapid transition to a 100% renewable energy system can save Australia money – with avoided fuel costs to quickly offset the extra capital expenditure of building wind, solar and other renewable energy installations. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The city of Lismore in the north of New South Wales has called for tenders for a “floating solar plant” that will be community funded, and located on top of one of the settling ponds in its sewage treatment plant. The tender for the 99.9-kW project went out on Wednesday. [CleanTechnica]

Floating solar in Jamestown, South Australia

¶ The Hinkley Point C nuclear plant has been hit by more delays. EDF, the French energy company promoting the £18-billion reactor scheme, said there would be no final investment decision at least till the summer. Greenpeace said the project is “coming to a grinding halt.” [The Guardian]

¶ Good Energy’s “green gas” tariff was launched yesterday. It will include 6% biomethane, produced in the UK from organic matter including manure and even sewage. The move makes it the latest supplier to offer green gas produced from the 300 or so anaerobic digesters around the UK. [The Guardian]

From cow pat to biogas at the anaerobic digestion plant at Wyke Farms in Somerset. Photograph: John Morley

¶ Dozens of Australian scientists have penned a letter to express major concern for the Great Barrier Reef, which is undergoing its worst coral bleaching in history. The letter signed by 56 scientists urged the government to make phasing out fossil fuels and coal a major priority to save the reef. [Daily Mail]

¶ Construction of wind farms on the platforms in the Caspian Sea will save about 200,000 cubic meters of gas per year, the head of Azerbaijan’s State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources, told reporters. The 200-MW wind farm will be built on the platforms in the Caspian Sea. [Trend News Agency]

Offshore wind farm

¶ Greenpeace and UK green energy supplier Ecotricity Group Ltd have warned the UK, France and Electricite de France that any further state aid for the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant could be illegal. In a letter, the two say they are prepared to challenge in court any further state funding for the much-delayed project. [SeeNews Renewables]

US:

¶ The Brooklyn Microgrid will operate as a backup option during storms, cyber attacks and other disruptions. But in the long term the infrastructure being installed could set participants on a path to fully owning the electricity their community generates, giving them their own power. [Scientific American]

Lawrence Orsini, founder LO3, which is installing the Brooklyn Microgrid project. Credit: Image courtesy of Sasha Santiago

¶ The United States solar sector has apparently now installed over 1 million installations across the country, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. “It took us 40 years to get to 1 million installations, and it will take us only two years to get to 2 million,” a spokesman said. [CleanTechnica]

¶ There’s some great news out of the Energy Information Administration: carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector – our country’s largest source of the pollution that’s driving climate change – fell significantly in 2015, to their lowest levels since 1993. [Natural Resources Defense Council]

Opinion:

¶ “Earth Day: We’re not as doomed as you think” • There are plenty of reasons to be scared about the future: melting glaciers, intensifying heat waves, vanishing rainforests, falling temperature records, bleached out coral, and kids in China don’t know the sky is blue. But it’s not the full picture. [CNN]

Landscape deforested for tea cultivation in Malaysia.
Photo by Myloismylife – Loke Seng Hon.
CC BY-SA 3.o unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ “New Evidence Of Challenge For Nuclear Power Industry” • GE-Hitachi to exit laser enrichment program. Pilgrim nuclear plant to cease operations. Serious earthquakes in Japan rattling the nuclear industry. US Nuclear power struggling to compete with solar and wind. [Seeking Alpha]

¶ “Germany’s Energiewende goes global” • As world leaders ratify the Paris climate agreement, many look to Germany’s energy transition as a model for reducing emissions. Even without a storage solution, Germany has managed to get 33% of its electricity with renewables. [Deutsche Welle]

Offshore wind in the North Sea off the coast of Belgium. Photo by Hans Hillewaert. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

Science and Technology:

¶ How much could you reduce reliance on grid power by installing solar plus a battery? Energy Matters’ new user-friendly solar + battery calculator provides an estimate. Other online solar + storage calculators already available, but they can be complicated to use and difficult to interpret. [Energy Matters]

World:

¶ South Africa’s PV industry is still small but it’s growing at an exponential rate with 159 MW already installed, up from just 35 MW a year before. As the price of PVs continues to fall and the price of electricity pushes ever upward, more people will look to rooftop PV as an alternative. [Daily Maverick]

Photo by ZME Science.

¶ A dozen British companies will be paid to use electricity under a scheme National Grid will launch to balance the system in summer, when output is high from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. National Grid said 12 companies have won contracts for the scheme. [Reuters]

¶ The Paris Climate Agreement will be signed today. Signing the accord is not the same as “joining” it. For it to become law, at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of global emissions have to formally join it by ratifying or approving it within their national governments. [Los Angeles Times]

Smoke curls from a chimney at a factory in Ahmadabad, India.
(Ajit Solanki / Associated Press)

¶ The EU weakened proposals for environmental protections after receiving a letter from a top BP executive which warned of an exodus of the oil industry from Europe if they were pushed. The plant regulations eventually advanced were for a weaker pollution regime than China’s. [edie.net]

US:

¶ The US Fish and Wildlife Service issued a draft environmental impact statement for the first phase of the Power Company of Wyoming’s 3-GW Chokecherry Sierra Madre wind farm in Rawlins, Wyoming. The agency is evaluating the impact of an eagle take permit for a 500-turbine project. [reNews]

Power Company of Wyoming image

¶ Political conservatives were once thought to be anti-solar, but some conservative groups are now advocating for solar. Rather than focusing on environmental benefits, however, their talking points emphasize energy security, freedom from monopolies and free-market principles. [Solar Industry]

¶ DC Solar Freedom has entered into an agreement with California State University, Northridge to provide solar energy products at its Northridge campus, at no cost to the University. The first-of-its-kind initiative by DC Solar Freedom aims to empower innovative uses for solar. [CSUN Today]

DC Solar charging stations give students the opportunity to charge devices when needed. Photo courtesy Austin Eriksson.

¶ SunEdison, once the fastest-growing US renewable energy company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a short-lived but unsustainable binge of debt-fueled acquisitions. The company said it had assets of $20.7 billion and liabilities of $16.1 billion as of September 30. [Yahoo News]

¶ US developer Invenergy is increasing the size of its proposed Bull Run wind farm in New York State by 50% to 449 MW. The company originally planned to build a 300 MW wind farm in Clinton County, located in the northeast corner of the state near the border with Canada. [reNews]

Invenergy image

¶ A yet-to-be-introduced bill would extend a freeze on Ohio’s renewable-energy requirements for an additional three years. It would extend a current two-year delay in phasing in state targets for use of solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy by Ohio power companies. [Akron Legal News]

¶ A study on the impact large-scale hydro and wind power imports could have on the Massachusetts energy market predicts significant savings for consumers, challenging the narrative put forward by critics the governor’s energy bill that hydropower would be a costly alternative. [Worcester Telegram]

Opinion:

¶ Inflexible baseload power is just what we don’t need • Amory Lovins is absolutely right. It is time to recognize that inflexible baseload power is a dinosaur and a fallacy. We are quickly moving to a more democratic system involving small-scale generators and thousands of individuals. [Financial Times]

Baseload power plant. National Park Service photo.
Public domain. Wikimedia Commons.

Science and Technology:

¶ The wireless electric vehicle charging technology company Momentum Dynamics will deliver a 200-kW wireless charging system for the municipal bus market by the end of the year, going by recent comments made by company reps. Even higher-powered systems may be coming. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Vestas Wind Systems A/S will partner with the Technical University of Denmark to test the technical feasibility of a multi-rotor turbine. A demonstration unit with four refurbished V29-225 kW nacelles mounted on a support structure is being installed at a site in Denmark. [SeeNews Renewables]

Illustration of the multi-rotor concept demonstration turbine. Source: Vestas (www.vestas.com).

World:

¶ A tidal power site off the Isle of Wight has been given the green light. Perpetuus has been given the go-ahead from the Marine Management Organisation to place turbines off the south coast of the Island. The turbines are expected to generate enough power for 25% of Island homes. [Isle of Wight Radio]

¶ Global wind power installations will nearly double in the next five years as prices continue to fall and countries develop renewable energy to comply with emissions reduction targets, according to research published in Global Wind Energy Council flagship publication. [edie.net]

UK National Grid data revealed that 2015 was a
record-breaking year for wind energy generation

¶ The German government asked Belgium to shutter two nuclear reactors citing security concerns. The German Environment Minister said that this was an unprecedented request, but it reflects serious concerns. German authorities are not satisfied the two reactors are safe. [New Europe]

¶ The joint venture between private equity firm Actis and Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power has ordered 93 turbines from Senvion for two wind projects in Chile totalling 300 MW. The two orders are for 50 of Senvion’s 3.4M114 turbines and 43 units of the 3.0M122 model. [SeeNews Renewables]

Senvion’s 3.4M104 turbine. Source: Senvion SE 2014.
License: All rights reserved.

US:

¶ Work on the controversial Northeast Energy Direct pipeline has been suspended by energy giant Kinder Morgan. A company statement blamed the suspension on “inadequate capacity commitments from prospective customers.” The project’s cost was estimated at $3.3 billion. [The Recorder]

¶ When world leaders gather in New York on Friday to sign the Paris climate accord, they will do so against a changing backdrop. As the cost of wind and solar power has plummeted, the solid consensus against alternative energy in the US Republican Party has begun to crack. [Bloomberg]

A wind farm in Marshalltown, Iowa.
Photographer: Timothy Fadek/Bloomberg

¶ The Senate passed a far-reaching energy bill Wednesday that reflects significant changes in US oil and natural gas production and boosts alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power. The Senate’s first ambitious energy bill in nearly a decade passed 85-12. [Farmington Daily Times]

¶ San Francisco just took a big step toward its goal of powering the city with 100% renewable electricity by 2025 with the passage of a bill that will require new residential and commercial buildings to include rooftop solar, either solar electric or solar water heating. [Treehugger]

San Francisco. CC BY 2.0 Germán Poo-Caamaño

¶ Over half of all Americans are exposed to unhealthy levels of either ozone or particulate pollution, putting them at risk for premature death and other serious health effects, including lung cancer, asthma attacks and developmental harm, according to the American Lung Association. [InsideClimate News]

¶ New York’s Con Edison is now generating over 100 MW of renewable energy for customers in New York City and Westchester County. Customers have completed 8,415 PV systems atop houses, condos, skyscrapers and warehouses, generating a total of 105.4 MW, enough for 16,000 homes. [PV-Tech]

New York. Source: Flickr/Glenn Wedin.

¶ An appeals court Wednesday overturned a decision by Gov. Rick Scott and the state Cabinet that could have helped clear the way for Florida Power & Light to add two nuclear reactors in Miami-Dade County. The ruling sent the case back to the siting board for further review. [WWSB ABC 7]

Opinion:

¶ Renewable energy versus nuclear: dispelling the myths • All of the world’s electricity needs can be supplied by renewables. But the first hurdle is to refute the deliberately misleading myths designed to promote the politically powerful but ultimately doomed nuclear industry. [The Ecologist]

Large wind and solar farms are ready technology. Photo: Brookhaven National Laboratory via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND)

Science and Technology:

¶ Siemens AG is building a plant near Oxford, England, that makes ammonia by electrolysis instead of through the traditional reaction fed by fossil fuels. If fed by idled renewable power plants, the process would make emissions-free fertilizer used by farmers everywhere. [Bloomberg]

¶ Researchers at Lappeenranta University of Technology in Finland examined new methods of extracting lithium from natural brine sources. They found that the new methods allow for an increase in the purity of the recovered lithium solution all the way up to 99.9%. [CleanTechnica]

Lithium in Paraffin – Public Domain

World:

¶ Mitsubishi Motors admitted falsifying fuel economy test data for more than 600,000 vehicles. The data involved 157,000 of its own brand light passenger cars and 468,000 vehicles produced for Nissan. The problem was uncovered after Nissan pointed out inconsistencies in emissions data. [BBC]

¶ Victoria network operator Ausnet Services is to take part of a Melbourne suburb completely off grid, powered only with rooftop solar and battery storage, in a first-of-its kind trial in Australia. The planned trial highlights mini-grids as a cost-effective alternative. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The UAE just took another step in its shift to renewable electricity. Ninety thousand solar panels, capable of generating between 30 and 40 MW, will be installed on 19 rooftops in Dubai’s Jebel Ali free zone buildings, parking sheds, and the surrounding parking areas. [CleanTechnica]

Sun setting over downtown Dubai. Taken from Festival City by the_dead_pixel via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

¶ India added close to 3,019 MW of grid-connected solar capacity in 2015-16, which is well above its target of 2,000 MW. India’s total solar power generation capacity touched 6,763 MW as of March 31, 2016, according to the latest update on progress on clean energy initiatives. [Moneycontrol.com]

¶ Solar power generation is now cheaper than coal power generation, India’s energy minister Piyush Goyal said. The latest auction of solar energy capacity in India achieved a record low price of ₹4.34/kWh (7¢/kWh). Goyal predicted a surge in solar energy in the near future. [The Inquisitr]

¶ Bladt Industries has loaded out the offshore substation for the 288-MW Sandbank offshore wind farm in the German North Sea. The substation and its jacket foundation are in Aalborg on the barge AMT Commander, ready to sail to the construction site some 90 km west of the island of Sylt. [reNews]

Sandbank substation. Bladt Industries photo

¶ The UK’s energy secretary has admitted for the first time that the lights would stay on if new nuclear reactors at Hinkley were cancelled or delayed. She said previously that new gas and nuclear power would be “central to our energy-secure future.” Now she is talking about alternatives. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ Six New York State electric utilities and three leading solar development companies have formed a “Solar Progress Partnership” to encourage more solar development across the state, while ensuring that adequate funding is available to maintain a resilient grid. [Marketwired]

Two workers installing PVs near Poughkeepsie, NY. Photo by Lucas Braun. CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Exelon Generation and Renewable Energy Systems announced today the development of a 10-MW battery storage facility in Clinton County, Ohio. Construction will begin during the second quarter of 2016, with the system expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. [SYS-CON Media]

¶ A partnership of the Navy, TVA and local utilities and agencies announced plans to build Tennessee’s largest solar-generating facility costing over $100 million at a 400-acre site in Millington. The 580,000 PV panels will be on tracking mounts and power about 7,500 homes. [Memphis Commercial Appeal]

A 400-acre solar array will be built in Millington. (file / The Commercial Appeal)

¶ A nonprofit that installed solar panels on a church will appeal a decision by regulators saying it couldn’t charge for electricity. The nonprofit North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network billed the congregation about half of the retail price. [Richmond County Daily Journal]

¶ The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co LLC, celebrated opening its Green Energy Facility in Freetown, Massachusetts, on April 15. The facility will convert inedible food from its New England stores into energy that will help power the company’s distribution center. [Renewable Energy from Waste]

World:

¶ To avoid reduced values of existing renewable production, Norway does not plan to introduce new targets under its green certificate program, which will be ended by 2021. Norway’s green certificates scheme is operated jointly with Sweden and was introduced in 2012. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in Norway. Author: John Christian Fjellestad.
License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

¶ An Enel subsidiary has started building the Cristalândia wind farm in Brazil. It will have a capacity of 90 MW and should go into service in the second half of 2017. It will be able to generate more than 350 GWh per year, enough to meet the needs of 170,000 Brazilian households. [Your Renewable News]

¶ A plan to transform Australia’s energy use to 100% renewables was published by GetUp! and SolarCitizens on Tuesday after a modelling study commissioned by the groups suggested such a transition was technically feasible and would be cheaper than the status quo. [The Guardian]

A “homegrown power plan” can employ fossil fuels industry workers. Photograph: Bloomberg / via Getty Images

¶ Australia’s Coalition government has kicked off its informal re-election campaign by repeating its desire to build a massive coal-fired power station in north Queensland, only this time it proposes to use climate funds to help pay for the project, confirming a continuation of Abbott policies. [RenewEconomy]

¶ Philippine President Benigno Aquino III led the ceremonial switch-on of the 59-MW San Carlos Sun power plant in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental. The plant started delivering energy to the Visayas grid on March 9. It delivers more than 80 GWh per year, enough for 27,600 homes. [CNN Philippines]

Negros power plant

¶ The lower house of the Dutch parliament passed a motion that would ban the sales of non-electric cars by 2025. The motion still needs to pass the Senate to become binding, but if it does, it would mean that anyone in the country looking to buy a new car would have to buy electric. [ThinkProgress]

¶ Work on the 500-kW Kirkthorpe hydro project in Yorkshire has kicked-off after developer Barn Energy secured the green light from local planners. The £5.3-million run of river project on the River Calder is expected to be completed later this year on lands owned by Wakefield Council. [reNews]

Kirkthorpe hydro project. Barn Energy image

US:

¶ The Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law says it can show the petroleum industry has been obscuring data on climate change for seventy years. By combing through documents, it traced the industry’s coordinated deception back to a 1946 meeting in Los Angeles. [CleanTechnica]

¶ A 1.25-MWh Aquion aqueous hybrid-ion battery has just been commissioned to support a 16-MW Puerto Rican solar power installation. The 16-MW solar power plant is located in Salinas, and the Aquion battery will generate 100% of the electricity used to operate it at night. [CleanTechnica]

Aquion battery. Image credit Aquion

¶ In its monthly report, the EIA says US energy production hit a record, equivalent to 91% of total consumption. Liquid and gas fuels production increased, while coal declined 10%. The shift goes on, for generation of electricity, from fossil fuels to solar and wind. [Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide]

¶ Georgia Power is before the state’s Public Service Commission to defend its latest Integrated Resource Plan. The plan must be approved every third year by the commission in a months-long review process. The company said it bought land to explore building a nuclear power plant. [WABE 90.1 FM]

Georgia Power said it bought land in Stewart County to explore building a nuclear power plant there. Bob Edme / Associated Press

¶ Tennessee Valley Authority has awarded Nashville-based renewable energy provider Silicon Ranch Corporation a power-purchase agreement for a 53-MW solar project in Tennessee. The solar array will be the largest in the state and will provide power to for the next 20 years. [The Chattanoogan]

¶ Exelon Corporation announced that its Clinton nuclear power plant will operate for at least another year after it cleared a recent power capacity auction. A Clinton power station spokesperson says the plant hasn’t been profitable for several years because of falling energy prices. [Peoria Public Radio]

Opinion:

¶ From talk to action: Signs of progress since the Paris climate talks • In December, 196 countries adopted the historic Paris Agreement on climate change. Since then, concrete steps have been made and examples of substantial progress that took place in 2015 are now coming to light. [GreenBiz]

Concrete results of the COP21 Paris are materializing.

Science and Technology:

¶ Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a fuel cell that can generate electricity from urine. Urine passes through the device, prompting a reaction within the bacteria which generates electricity which can then be stored or used to power electrical devices. [Bath Chronicle]

¶ The world can wean itself from fossil fuels in as few as ten years, with effort. Europe moved from wood to coal in Europe in 96 to 160 years, electricity took 47 to 69 years to become mainstream. But Ontario completed a shift away from coal between 2003 and 2014. [International Business Times]

Fossil fuels still generate a majority of the world’s electricity.
Reuters / Romeo Ranoco

World:

¶ A meeting of the world’s leading oil exporters to discuss capping production has ended without agreement. Members wanted a deal that would freeze output and help stem the plunge in crude prices over the past 18 months, but they concluded that they need more time to consult. [BBC]

¶ Earlier this year, Oslo Airport Gardermoen became the world’s first airport to offer renewable jet fuel refined by Neste in its hydrant system. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced that it will launch a series of flights with a fuel blend consisting of Neste Renewable Jet Fuel. [Benzinga]

KLM image bank photo

¶ E.ON will be partnering with IBC Solar for the rollout of its new “Aura” solar PV + energy storage product. The all-in-one smart energy package, Aura, will feature a Solarwatt energy storage system, a smart energy management app, and a tailored electricity tariff. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Costa Rica got 97.14% of it electricity from renewable sources in the first quarter of the year, according to the Central Nacional de Control de Energia (National Energy Control Centre). Hydro electric produced 65.2%, followed by wind with 15.6% and geothermal with 13.7% [Q Costa Rica News]

Santa Ana, Costa-Rica Wind Turbines. Photo sites.psu.edu

¶ Kenya plans to prioritize the construction of electricity transmission lines that will help in scaling up generation of renewable energy. Additional transmission lines will be constructed to produce 1,646 MW of geothermal and 630 MW of wind power in the next five years. [Coastweek]

¶ Japan’s Cabinet Office has announced a draft strategy for energy innovation. It set a goal of doubling conversion efficiency and lowering power generation cost of next-generation power to ¥7/kWh or lower to promote innovative greenhouse gas emissions reductions. [Japan Today]

¶ UK energy efficiency and renewable energy firm Anesco Ltd has completed a 4.2-MW solar farm in Derbyshire at a former coal disposal point. The solar facility, managed by Anesco, is expected to generate enough power per year to meet the needs of around 1,200 local homes. [SeeNews Renewables]

Oxcroft Solar Farm. Original image owned by Anesco

¶ New Delhi-based renewables developer Orange Renewable sealed a power purchase agreement with Solar Energy Corp of India Ltd for a 100-MW solar project. Orange Renewable will get an average power tariff of ₹4.43 ($0.066, €0.059) per kWh for a 25-year period. [SeeNews Renewables]

US:

¶ As the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant continues to decommission, so too does the process of notifying nearby communities in case of an emergency. The long-standing emergency planning zone will shrink on April 19, at which time it will end at the plant’s boundary. [Vermont Public Radio]

Vermont Yankee. Photo by Toby Talbot / AP File

¶ US renewables developer SunEdison Inc has been preparing to file for bankruptcy protection. An unnamed source informed the Reuters news agency about this development, but pointed out that the timing of the bankruptcy filing had not been finalized. [SeeNews Renewables]

Science and Technology:

¶ Greenland’s massive ice sheet has started its annual summer melt earlier than ever before, according to stunned scientists who said they had to recheck their calculations before releasing the results. The previous earliest dates were all later by weeks, in May. [CNN]

Franz Josef Fjord, glacier, Greenland. Jerzy Strzelecki.
CC BY-SA 3.0 unported. Wikimedia Commons 

World:

¶ The latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency show that Poland is on course to increase the proportion of power it generates from renewable energy from 7% in 2010 to nearly 38% by 2030. Poland benefits from a very favorable natural wind resources. [Maritime Journal]

¶ Germany’s economic affairs ministry proposed a 2.5 GW annual gap on new subsidized onshore wind power capacity, which is likely to slow down wind power expansion. Germany has a target to increase onshore wind capacity 2.4 Gw to 2.6 GW annually, but growth was 3.5 GW last year. [ICIS]

Windpark Sintfeld Sauerland Ost. Photo by Teta. CC-BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ Most families should come out slightly ahead next year under Alberta’s proposed carbon tax, more if they cut back on their fossil fuel use. The tax starts at $20 per tonne of greenhouse gas produced in 2017 and rises to $30 in 2018, and applies to both consumers and big industry. [St. Albert Gazette]

¶ Ghana has recently added to its solar plant portfolio with a new 20-MW plant developed by Beijing Xiaocheng Company. This is the first large-scale project of its kind in Ghana, and aligns itself with government incentives to increase the renewable energy output to 10% by 2020. [PV-Tech]

The PV plant will feed 20 MW of clean energy into the national grid. Source: Flickr – Magahrebia

¶ Rising production of the dry fuel may lead India to completely stop thermal coal imports in the coming 2-3 years, resulting in annual savings of ₹40,000 crore ($6012 million), Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal said on Friday. [indiatvnews.com]

¶ Japan is working out what to do with the tons and tons of water being used to cool the melted-down nuclear reactors. The water still has tritium in it after other substances such as cesium and strontium are removed. Japan says it will begin dumping the tanks this year. [Digital Journal]

US:

¶ With the development of fracking, the former backwater of Williston, North Dakota was transformed into the unofficial capital of the energy renaissance. Its economic growth was staggering. Now, many workers have packed their bags and gone home. Williston has become a ghost town. [BBC]

Many of those who came here to work in North Dakota’s oil industry have now gone home.

¶ According to pv-magazine, a study by EuPD Research shows only 34% of US PV installers offer storage solutions to customers. The report said that about 26% of these installers who are not offering storage right now hope to offer storage options in their portfolios this year. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The Ohio Supreme Court confirmed a site permit granted to EverPower Wind Holdings for the Buckeye 2 wind project. A 5-2 decision upholds approval granted in 2013 by the Ohio Power Siting Board. The permit is for building up to 56 turbines on 13,500 acres in Champagne County. [reNews]

EverPower’s Mustang Hills wind farm (EverPower)

¶ Fifteen years after blackouts swept the state, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission judge has found that a division of Shell Oil engaged in fraud and market manipulation during California’s energy crisis. The tentative decision holds Shell and Iberdrola liable for $1.1 billion. [SFGate]

¶ The renewable portfolio standards that many states have enacted are responsible for 60 percent of the growth in non-hydro renewable energy generation, according to a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Most has come from wind, but solar energy is gaining traction. [Greentech Media]

Opinion:

¶ Even Walker Can’t Stop Wisconsin Wind Energy • Amidst all the great news for windpower, Wisconsin has been notoriously late to the US wind energy party, despite its prime location in the wind-rich Upper Midwest. However, it looks like Wisconsin is on the cusp of a great change. [CleanTechnica]

US wind energy employment. MISO Energy image

World:

¶ Panama’s president inaugurated the 215-MW Laudato Si wind farm in the city of Penonome. A local subsidiary of power generation company InterEnergy Holdings, was responsible for the project. The 86-turbine park could supply energy to over 125,000 households. [SeeNews Renewables]

¶ In March, 2016, around 60% of all automotive registrations in Norway were for electric or hybrid vehicles, the most recent figures from Dinside Motor say. There were 13,875 registrations in all. Of these, 2595 were EVs, 2042 were plug-in hybrids, and 3396 were conventional hybrids. [CleanTechnica]

Norwegian EVs. Image by ChrisHamby (some rights reserved)

¶ Australia should gradually shut down all coal-fired power plants by 2035 and put a “realistic” price on carbon to avoid severe economic shocks, a new report says. The Climate Institute report found delaying a move to clean energy would cause sudden job loss and drive up electricity costs. [9news.com.au]

¶ Plans for a 472-mile (760 km) electricity cable between the UK and Denmark have gone out to public consultation. If approved, the €2-billion ($2.25-billion) “Viking Link,” from Bicker Fen, Lincolnshire to Revsing, would enable import and export of power with mainland Europe. [BBC News]

The project would see a converter station built at Bicker in Lincolnshire. Geograph / Richard Humphrey

¶ Solar equipment producer JinkoSolar has won rights to develop and build three solar PV projects totaling 188 MW in Mexico, under the country’s first electricity auction. The Mexican Government plans to invest $14 billion to add renewable power capacity of 6 GW between 2015 and 2018. [Power Technology]

¶ Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 3.1% to three-year lows in the fiscal year ending March 2015, due to reduced demand and growing use of renewables, revised government figures show. It is first decline since the Fukushima Disaster closed nuclear power plants. [Thomson Reuters Foundation]

Solar panels in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. Reuters / Issei Kato

US:

¶ MidAmerican Energy Company, based in Des Moines, announced plans to spend $3.6 billion on a wind turbine operation that would generate enough energy to power about 800,000 Iowa homes. Officials called the effort the largest economic development project in state history. [The Daily Nonpareil]

¶ New zoning proposed by the Planning and Development Department in South Portland, Maine, could encourage the use of solar power across the city. Systems that generate 20 kW or less, and meet other standards outlined in the ordinance, would be “permitted anywhere.” [The Forecaster]

¶ FirstEnergy officials announced today that the utility company will offer a limited number of its customers the option to buy 100% wind energy-generated power at the same price as its standard power. The program highlights FirstEnergy’s environmental achievements. [cleveland.com]

Wind turbines in Kansas. (AP file photo)

¶ Entergy will refuel its 728-MW Pilgrim nuclear reactor in 2017 and shut it down on May 31, 2019. Entergy had been considering shutting the unit as early as the spring of 2017, because the unit is losing about $40 million annually, but it has power contracts through May 31, 2019. [Platts]

¶ Local officials have given the go ahead for NextEra Energy Resources’ 150-MW Brady 2 wind project in North Dakota, where GE turbines will be the star of the show. NextEra proposes to install 174 GE turbines in total. with 80-meter hub heights. The estimated cost of Brady 2 is $243 million. [reNews]

World:

¶ According to RenewEconomy, the Greens want to have “… South Australia source 100% of its electricity needs from clean energy by 2030.” Such a clean energy achievement will generate 1,000 jobs and include a SolarReserve 100-MW solar tower and storage plant near Port Augusta. [CleanTechnica]

South Australian windpower. Image via Shutterstock

¶ Quebec has a plan to increase the overall output of renewable energy 25%, pushing the total amount to 60.9% by 2030 from its current 46.6%. The plan is meant to significantly alter Quebec’s energy profile. Hydro-Quebec is looking at opportunities to provide power to New York and New England. [Platts]

¶ A wine production plant in the South Africa’s Western Cape has commissioned a rooftop solar plant that will provide up to half the energy needed to make 3-million liters of wine a month. The 2‚600 solar panels cover four roofs at Douglas Green Bellingham in Wellington. [Times LIVE]

The company won the 2011 UK Drinks Business Green Award for supply chain and logistics. Image by Terra Firma Solutions

¶ The UK’s solar panels have generated more electricity than coal in a full day for the first time ever, Carbon Brief analysis shows. On Saturday 9 April, solar generated 29 GWh of electricity, 4% of the total used that day. Coal generated 21 GWh, which was 3% of demand. [Carbon Brief]

¶ The Australian Renewable Energy Agency said a 1.1-MWh residential battery storage trial it supported is now up and running in Western Australia. The system, which was installed in two shipping containers in a suburb, will store power from over 100 rooftop solar PV systems. [SeeNews Renewables]

Rooftop solar array. Featured Image: Ralf Gosch/Shutterstock.com

¶ Five years after the Fukushima Disaster began, the Japanese nuclear industry and government are struggling to revive the country’s nuclear power plants. Much of the public remains wary, and only a handful of the 43 operable reactors have implemented the new safety regulations. [The Straits Times]

US:

¶ One of America’s largest owners and operators of renewable energy projects, ConEdison Development, has jointed CPS Energy in dedicating the Alamo 5 dual-axis solar farm in Texas. Alamo 5 is a 95 MW-AC, dual-axis solar installation that will deliver power to San Antonio. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

ConEdison Development joins CPS to dedicate
Alamo 5 solar farm in Texas

¶ Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private sector coal miner, announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its entire industry is reeling from low production and demand, and facing an upsurge in both gas and renewable energy electricity generation. [CleanTechnica]

¶ The University of Guam and University of Alaska Fairbanks announced a broad partnership for climate change and energy generation. This took place at a collaborative energy workshop at the 7th Regional Island Sustainability Conference at the Lotte Hotel Guam in Tumon. [The Guam Daily Post]

Wind turbine in Toksook Bay, Alaska.
Photo by energy.gov. Public domain. Wikimedia Commons.

¶ The clean energy sector in Rhode Island is supporting nearly 14,000 jobs this year, a 40% increase over 2015 levels, according to a state report. About 84% of clean energy jobs are in energy efficiency, while about 14% of jobs are in renewable energy. Transportation has about 1.8%. [The Providence Journal]

¶ US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said that the Navy expects its major vendors to report on greenhouse gas emissions and work to lower them. The US Military is the world’s single largest user of fossil fuels, and the Navy is responsible for about a third of its use of fossil fuel. [The Maritime Executive]

¶ The small modular nuclear reactors being evaluated for the Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge, Tennessee, could provide an emissions-free fuel source, but it could be a decade or so before they start operating. And that’s assuming all goes according to plan, officials said Tuesday. [Oak Ridge Today]

Opinion:

¶ Powerhive is delivering prepaid solar microgrids to rural
villages • The next clean energy step for the developing world might be solar-powered microgrids, such as those Powerhive is developing. These systems can deliver clean energy to remote villages of as few as 200 people. [Treehugger]

Microgrid construction © Powerhive

¶ Obama says wind power cheaper in Texas than power from ‘dirty fossil fuels’ • Rallying Texas Democrats, President Obama said that wind is a better bargain in Texas than traditional oil and gas. Come again? Wind power sure has sizzle, but is this true? The answer is “mostly yes.” [Houston Chronicle]

World:

¶ In a recent piece published on its website, consultancy firm Bridge to India posited that the question of whether the India solar market is “running on fumes.” The firm believes that “many developers seem to be bidding for project first and planning to raise capital later.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ Energy storage manufacturer for solar, Sunvault Energy, is involved in a project to construct and maintain Canada’s first “self-sustainable community”, with technologies including solar, energy storage and biomass, alongside what will be British Columbia’s largest PV park. [PV-Tech]

SDC has already started work on the 200-home community in Kelowna, BC. Image: stantoncady / Flickr

¶ Argentina aims for $5 billion in investments in renewable energy by 2018 to reduce its energy deficit, as hopes for near-term increased output from the Vaca Muerta shale field fade. A new law mandates an increased share of renewable energy from its current 1.8% to 8% of consumption. [agprofessional.com]

¶ The project of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant is dead, says the author of the project, Lithuania’s former energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas. He said it would not be an economically beneficial project at the moment. The future situation on the electricity market is not clear. [The Baltic Course]

¶ The UK is to get a network of hydrogen stations that can produce fuel on site, following a partnership between industrial gas supplier BOC and clean fuel company ITM Power. ITM’s technology uses surplus renewable energy to separate hydrogen from water via electrolysis. [Fleet World]

ITM Power has technology which can produce hydrogen on site, using renewable energy and water

US:

¶ Wondering how prepared your state is for upcoming changes in climate? If you’re in Texas, you might be in for trouble. This week, Climate Central unveiled the first-ever national analysis of state-level preparedness for climate change-driven, weather-related threats. [CleanTechnica]

¶ According to a new ‘Data Bite’ from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, production of US coal is currently running 30% below the same period a year earlier, reflecting “an historic shift in both the coal industry and the electric power sector it serves.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ Colorado wind power is rising with 1,880 huge turbines erected across the prairie. It has reached the point where the wind turbines generated 67% of Xcel Energy’s Colorado-made electricity one morning in November and 54% for two 24-hour periods in October, feats that are unmatched. [The Denver Post]

Giant Vestas wind turbine blades take a train ride. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

¶ Duke Energy joined with Walt Disney World Resort and Reedy Creek Improvement District to develop a 5-MW solar facility on 22 acres near Epcot, across from Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort. The facility will be made of 48,000 solar panels and operated by Duke Energy. [Fox 35 Orlando]

¶ The Town Board of North Salem, New York, has opted to make the renewable energy option the default plan for residents and small business. The customers will have a fixed-rate of $0.07085/kWh for 100% renewable power, or can opt-out and go with a variable rate for utility power. [TAPinto.net]

¶ A noteworthy trend of the past year was growing demand for wind energy from major corporations. The trend goes beyond high-tech firms such as Google, Facebook and Amazon Web Services, to such traditional companies as Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart. [Midland Reporter-Telegram]

Wind turbines in West Texas.

¶ American wind power supported a record 88,000 jobs at the start of 2016, an increase of 20% in a year, according to a US Wind Industry Annual Market Report. Strong job growth coincided with wind ranking number one as America’s leading source of new generating capacity. [AltEnergyMag]

¶ The unicameral Nebraska legislature moved LB 824 to its third and final debate and vote by passing it as amended in a 32 to 8 vote and preventing a filibuster by its opponents. The bill will allow developers to more easily build in the wind-rich state and export the electricity to other states. [Utility Dive]

Science and Technology:

¶ Solar energy panels that can also generate power from raindrops have been designed, offering a possible solution for homeowners in the UK to invest in renewable energy. The all-weather solar panels that can create electricity from light on sunny days and rain on cloudy days. [Telegraph.co.uk]

Solar panels can save up to £135 a year in energy bills.

¶ January 2016 was the most anomalously hot month on record, going by NASA’s temperature figures. Now it appears that February 2016 already beat the record, with an anomaly (over the pre-industrial average) of somewhere between 1.15° C and 1.4° C during the month. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Solar power has the potential to generate about 40% of America’s energy, yet the technology still has limitations. One is weather. Clouds and rain diminish solar cell efficiency, a problem for places that are more overcast than sunny. But new research could change that. [Inhabitat]

Clouds and solar panels. Image via Wikimedia Commons

World:

¶ Despite the strong bias that most Germans have for German-made cars, it appears that the Tesla Model 3 unveiling has made quite an impact. A new poll from the German car magazine Autobild found that 66% of those queried said that they would consider buying a Model 3. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Origin Energy, one of country’s big three utilities, says Australia could be a market leader in solar-powered electric vehicles, given the right incentives and policies that could encourage the uptake of renewable energy and force the closure of the most polluting brown coal power stations. [CleanTechnica]

Solar car port

¶ Technology giant Google announced it will help renewables grow in Asia. It will provide seed funding to the Center for Resource Solutions to start rolling out renewable energy certification programs across the continent. The program will begin work in Taiwan. [Energy Live News – Energy Made Easy]

¶ Expect some sparks to fly in Australia’s electricity market. Australia has 7000 MW of oversupply in the wholesale electricity market and needs another 5500 MW of new renewable energy generation to achieve its 2020 renewable energy target. This is going to cause enormous oversupply. [The Australian]

¶ Project partners Atkins and Pilot Offshore have filed to build a 48-MW floating wind demonstrator off the coast of Aberdeenshire. The project will feature eight 6-MW turbines semi-submersible floating foundations. Kincardine will be built in waters between 60 and 80 meters deep. [reNews]

Principle Power’s Windfloat design (Principle Power)

¶ A TEPCO senior official admitted to knowing the criteria to assess reactor meltdowns at onset of the Fukushima nuclear accident. It took the company two months to make the declaration and another five years to “discover” the operational manual that told it when to declare a meltdown. [Asahi Shimbun]

US:

¶ Earlier this year, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released a new estimate of rooftop solar potential, updating the 2008 energy atlas, Energy Self-Reliant States. New maps show much more potential to get our electricity from solar on nearby buildings than we thought. [CleanTechnica]

Changes attributable to more accurate roof surveys

¶ A report released by the White House warns that climate change is a growing threat to public health, and extreme heat will kill around 27,000 US residents per year by 2100. A science adviser commenting on it said extreme heat waves will make outdoor work periodically “impossible.” [CleanTechnica]

¶ Lawmakers will soon get a report on whether Vermont should purchase a series of hydroelectric dams along the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers. In the meantime, they’re discovering that the next owners of the dams will be under heavy pressure to address a range of environmental concerns. [Valley News]

Opinion:

¶ The Mystery of Wind Energy in Texas • Texas politicians fiercely deny the scientific validity of climate change and the state is home to the headquarters of such companies as Exxon Mobile and ConocoPhillips. But Texas leads the US in installed wind capacity. How did this paradox occur? [Law Street Media]

Wind turbines on prairie, courtesy of Theodore Scott, via Flickr

¶ 10 things you probably didn’t know about the renewables revolution • With new figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency revealing that renewables grew at record pace in 2015, edie digs deep into the data to bring you 10 surprising statistics about green energy. [edie.net]

World:

¶ UK electricity customers are coming together to take control of how they use and pay for power. Energy Local clubs, set up as community benefit societies or community interest companies, aim to reduce bills for consumers and connect them with locally owned renewable generators. [Co-operative News]

Whalley Community Hydro, in Lancashire

¶ The Israeli government has unanimously approved a plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency. The plan is part of the effort to meet the commitment Israel made at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. [Globes]

¶ Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon won an order for 50 wind turbines totaling 105 MW from Indian clean power producer Greenko Group Plc. The contract is the first between the two companies. The turbines are for a wind park in Andhra Pradesh. [SeeNews Renewables]

Suzlon turbines. Author: Janusz Sobolewski. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic.

¶ A climate change policy that could be both effective, and potentially supported by both major Australian political parties, has been proposed by the Grattan Institute. It appears in a report that tries to find a pragmatic solution to the decade of toxic political debates on the issue. [The Guardian]

US:

¶ US Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin of the Federal District Court in Eugene, Oregon, ruled Friday against the motion to dismiss brought by the fossil fuel industry and federal government. Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein call the case the “most important lawsuit on the planet right now.” [EcoWatch]

The youth plaintiffs after the hearing on March 9 in Eugene, Oregon. Photo credit: Our Children’s Trust

¶ The German renewable energy firm Juwi is now working to build three utility-scale solar energy projects in Colorado, according to recent reports. They are being developed through a US-based subsidiary. The three solar PV projects will have a total capacity of around 90 MW. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Consumers Energy is closing seven old coal-burning plants with widespread approval. A Michigan Environmental Council report said the nine oldest coal plants in Michigan resulted in health care costs and damages of over $1.5 billion annually for Michigan residents. [The Daily Telegram]

Consumers Energy’s JR Whiting Generating Plant. Tom Hawley / The Monroe News via AP

¶ Scientists have detected that radiation from the 2011 Japan nuclear disaster has spread to shores off of North America. According to the study, cesium-134 was identified off the Oregon, Washington and California coasts, as well as offshore from Canada’s Vancouver Island. [Daily Star Gazette]

Opinion:

¶ The “Careful, Thoughtful” Approach to Indian Point Is to Close
It • Given the facts, the careful, thoughtful approach to Indian Point is to close it. Last month, 227 of the 832 bolts holding the inner walls of the reactor core together were found to be missing or damaged. But a list of problems goes on. [AlterNet]

Indian Point nuclear plant. Photo by mandritoiu / Shutterstock

Science and Technology:

¶ University of Washington researchers have developed technology that enables sensors and small electronics to be entirely powered wirelessly from TV, radio, cell phone, and Wi-Fi signals. The miniature devices don’t require a battery or any wiring because energy in the signals. [OilPrice.com]

World:

¶ Many African countries are facing energy crises. Since the mid-1990s, external finance to Africa’s power sector has averaged only around $600 million per year. But countries are increasingly able to supply power in an environmentally and economically sound fashion. [The Worldfolio]

The unfinished Tokwe Mukosi dam in Zimbabwe

¶ The Philippines has 18 biomass power plants on grids, with a combined capacity of 241 MW, enough to energize more than 300,000 homes. They are fueled mainly by bagasse and rice husk. This capacity does not include 166 MW from private firms for their own consumption. [InterAksyon]

¶ Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar has installed 9,000 solar systems out of 17,670 planned across 940 villages in rural Morocco. Each solar home system has a capacity of 290 watts. This and other initiatives will bring power to 99% of rural Morocco by the end of 2017. [Utilities-ME.com]

¶ Australia agreed to join with the rest of the world to limit global warming to 2° C. Since signing the agreement, Australia has re-approved one of the world’s largest coal mines, opened a new research center for the fossil fuel industry, and cut funding for renewable energy. [New Matilda]

Australian protestors. Image: Flickr, James Ennis.

¶ The Carbon Disclosure Project ranked the Australian capital city of Canberra as a global climate change leader. It placed the city among the top ten in the world for quality and completeness of environmental risk reporting, showing it’s commitment on climate change. [The Marshalltown]

¶ Saudi developer ACWA Power plans to invest $10 billion to $12 billion in Egypt in the next five years, its chairman said. The company will invest in the Egyptian power generation sector at both renewable and traditional levels, adding approximately 10,000 MW. [Zawya]

US:

¶ Southern California’s reliance on natural gas has grown much more clear. Utilities are warning of possible blackouts this summer after the massive Aliso Canyon methane leak took the region’s largest gas storage field offline. Blackouts underscore the true meaning of fossil fuel dependence. [OCRegister]

Crews working to stop the natural gas leak in Aliso Canyon in December. Musgrove / AP

¶ The Vermont Public Service Board is currently revising the net metering program. The PSB must design a revised program with input from impacted parties and the public. But the proposed revisions may make net metering much more difficult in Vermont. [Green Energy Times]

¶ A report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory says states with renewable portfolio standards have been highly successful at meeting their targets, with a handful of states setting higher targets within the past year while adding an average of 1.3% to customer bills. [Midwest Energy News]

Wind turbines in Minnesota

¶ New renewable energy standards in Massachusetts are adding to the problems of Maine’s logging industry, which is already threatened by the collapse of the biomass market and recent closure of pulp and paper mills. Maine Governor Paul LePage is asking Massachusetts to reconsider. [Valley News]

Opinion:

¶ ‘There’s no more land’ • A football field sized amount of land, on average, falls into the Gulf each hour. Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, was once about the size of Manhattan. Now, it’s about a third of Central Park. The coastal island has lost 98% of its land since 1955. [CNN]

Ghost trees have fallen victim to salt water intrusion. Photo by William Widmer / Redux for CNN

¶ Counting food miles can trim emissions • It is important for consumers to remember the food they choose will have an impact on the environment. Food consumption makes up 41% of a person’s eco-footprint. It can be reduced by well-informed eco-friendly decisions. [Central Western Daily]

¶ Can ‘pay as you glow’ solve Malawi’s power crisis? • In Nigeria, according to the Afrobarometer survey, 96% of the population are connected to the electrical grid, but only 18% can expect the service to work most of the time. Further south in the continent the picture is often worse. [BBC]

This canal feeds a small-scale hydro scheme in the village of Bondo, Malawi that powers 250 homes.

World:

¶ Data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency shows global renewable energy generation capacity increased by 152 GW in 2015, up 8.3%. The agency says global renewable energy capacity reached 1,985 GW. The figure includes hydro greater than 10 MW in size. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Prince Harry teamed up with a Bristol-based renewables company to help rebuild and provide power to a school in Nepal, which had been destroyed in an earthquake. Teams from Bristol-based Your Group and Bath Science Park joined Team Rubicon on the mission. [South West Business]

Prince Harry working in Nepal

¶ French energy minister Ségolène Royal said postponing the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project is still a possibility. She said the project must not be allowed to drain funds away from planned investments in renewable energy to bring France towards its 40% green power target. [The Ecologist]

¶ An announcement by CECEP Wind Power Corporation and Goldwind that White Rock Wind Farm in New South Wales is proceeding is a cause for optimism, the Clean Energy Council says. It is evidence of returning stability in Australia’s renewable energy industry. [Renewable Energy Magazine]

White Rock wind farm construction encourages optimism in Australian wind sector says CEC

US:

¶ The Army will help the Air Force reach its goals for renewable energy. The two signed an agreement that will enable the Air Force to accelerate toward its goal of 25% clean energy by 2025 by tapping into the Army’s experience with private sector financing for onsite solar installations. [CleanTechnica]

¶ Analysis by Vote Solar and the US Solar Energy Industries Association shows that inaction on net metering caps and the Solar Renewable Energy Credit program in Massachusetts has halted construction on more than 500 separate solar projects valued at a total of $617 million. [CleanTechnica]

¶ This month, San Diego will release the first outline on how it will switch entirely to clean electricity by 2035. Backers include Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who said the aim is “ambitious” but “achievable.” Others say it’s impossible to accomplish by 2035. [Environment & Energy Publishing]

Can San Diego go green by 2035? The jury is still out. Photo courtesy of the General Services Administration.

¶ It could cost New York state over $3.6 billion through 2030 to reach ambitious clean energy goals Governor Andrew Cuomo backs, but reductions in greenhouse gases would create benefits worth more than $8 billion, according to a Public Service Commission study. [Albany Times Union]

¶ Enel Green Power North America and Tradewind Energy of Lenexa announced the $613 million Cimarron Bend project, to be built in Kansas. At 400 MW, it will be the largest wind farm Enel has built, and it will be the second largest wind farm in Kansas. [Lawrence Journal World]

¶ Texas’ lead in cheap wind power, near historically low natural gas prices, mild weather, and slow growth in electricity demand, can work to the detriment of power companies. The combination weighed down wholesale power prices, spells trouble for Texas’ coal and nuclear plants. [Houston Chronicle]

Carbon dioxide from the WA Parish power plant will be captured and used to enhance production in oil fields. (NRG Energy photo)

¶ The North Carolina Pork Council asked the state’s Court of Appeals to reverse a ruling that biogas created from swine waste in Missouri and Oklahoma can count as North Carolina-based renewable energy credits. The ruling leaves NC less able to deal with its own waste. [Charlotte Business Journal]

¶ Work has started in earnest on six solar farms in Malheur County, Oregon, which are expected to generate a combined 50 MW. The project contractor is Swinerton Renewable Energy, based in San Diego, which already has four of the sites in various early stages of construction. [Ontario Argus Observer]