Japan firms to standardize electric car rechargers.
Reuters 16 Mar
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Politics
Other NewsMidwest electric utilities push Senate climate bill Co-authors for More Allocations.Greenwire 16 Mar EditorialsGreening the DWP.The mayor's plan, correctly, is for clean, renewable energy. So why the lack of transparency? Los Angeles Times 17 Mar America needs national debate on nuclear power.Nuclear power needs to be back on the table – but a solution to waste storage must be found before new construction begins, and the revival of the industry must be proven cost effective. San Jose Mercury News 16 Mar Repealing AB 32 would be a disaster for California.It's bad enough that state leaders who claim to represent the interests of Californians are backing an attempt to suspend the state's landmark global warming law. Now, we've learned that a signature-gathering campaign for the effort is being financed by two Texas oil companies. San Jose Mercury News 15 Mar The natural gas story.If the questions about impact on water supplies can be answered satisfactorily, and we believe they can, let's use it effectively to create jobs, lessen dependence on foreign energy, cut our defense costs, change our balance-of-payments picture for the better and make our air cleaner. Houston Chronicle 14 Mar Enviros play dirty on coal, natural gas.They don't discuss the subject too openly outside their own circles, but environmentalists make crystal clear on their Web sites that they want to stop all coal-based power production in this country. Washington DC Examiner 14 Mar Chortling at Chu.Our secretary of energy pushes bio-refineries and windmills to oil executives at an energy conference as the administration announces a three-year offshore drilling ban. This is a policy for economic suicide. Investors Business Daily 13 Mar Cap and tax.The chosen solution for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, a combination of energy taxes and carbon controls, is politically inexpedient. That means that the Senate's Green Three will have to buy the votes they need, sweetening the deal with special favors and parochial giveaways. National Public Radio 12 Mar Unconventional gas: This changes everything.Natural gas is becoming less like oil and more like coal, which is a good thing. Economist 12 Mar OpinionA complete car rethink.William Mitchell and the MIT Media Lab take on one of urban America’s hidden foes: the car. Metropolis Magazine 17 Mar We climate scientists are not ecofanatics.IPCC climatologists from Benin rub shoulders with scientists from the West, and from Saudi Arabia and other petrol-states for whom belief in global warming is against their immediate interests. London Times 15 Mar The bad, the good and the possible.We believe that it is possible to industrialize in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Thanhnien News 15 Mar Making (non)sense out of energy subsidies.Supporters of fossil fuel and nuclear argue that wind, solar, and others in the renewable family are welfare bums that can't stand on their own. Advocates for renewables fire back that fossils and nuclear have been supping at Uncle Sam's table for years. Daily Green 15 Mar Taxpayer-subsidized manure digesters stimulate factory farm pollution.At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled plans to promote manure digesters as a way to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. Madison Capital Times 14 Mar Nuclear is safe, efficient way to meet energy needs.Savings from using nuclear energy are likely to increase significantly as the cost of burning fossil fuels, especially coal, rises due to government controls on carbon dioxide emissions. Myrtle Beach Sun News 14 Mar We must take full advantage of Marcellus Shale.It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale that underlies large parts of New York State and Pennsylvania. Buffalo News 14 Mar Wind turbines: 'Eco-friendly' - but not to eagles.The same hills that provide lift for soaring birds offer heavily subsidised profits for wind farm developers. London Daily Telegraph 14 Mar |
Toxic waste weighs on revival of nuclear industry.
Curtis Gregory Perry/flickr
Reviving the U.S. nuclear industry could get hung up on the political minefield of how to handle the security, legal and environmental risks posed by a growing mountain of radioactive waste. Reuters 17 Mar High-speed rail gains traction in Spain.
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The shift to high-speed rail has environmental, political and economic benefits for Spain. But passengers are not necessarily thinking green. New York Times 17 Mar 'Energy bonanza' to power 750,000 homes.Scotland has taken a world-leading role in the emerging multi-billion-pound marine energy industry by approving ten projects with the potential to power almost a third of the country's homes. Edinburgh Scotsman 17 Mar Algae's solar electrons hijacked to steal power.An international gang of biologists has carried out an audacious heist, stealing valuable electrons from photosynthesising algae. The power grab could open a route to more efficient exploitation of photosynthesis to power machines. New Scientist 17 Mar Ritter urges lawmakers to back coal plant bill.Gov. Bill Ritter urged lawmakers to back a framework for retiring or retrofitting coal-fired power plants along the Front Range, arguing it would likely be cheaper in the long run than reacting to a series of expected new emission rules from the federal government. Associated Press 17 Mar Underwater cable an alternative to electrical towers.Generating 20 percent of America’s electricity with wind would require up to 22,000 miles of new high-voltage transmission lines, so utility companies have found an alternative to the huge towers and unsightly tree-cutting that traditional lines require: underwater lines. New York Times 17 Mar All renewables: How realistic is it?Europe can meet 100 percent of its power supply from renewable sources by 2050 if countries work together and massively invest in grids and storage, experts and politicians say. United Press International 17 Mar Utility regulators want Yucca open.An organization of state utility regulators on Tuesday joined a number of states in challenging the Department of Energy's plan to drop a site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., from consideration as a repository for high-level radioactive waste. Wall Street Journal 17 Mar Misgivings over minerals boom.The coal industry in the Hunter is booming again, thanks to higher prices and expanding port capacity. But is it too good to be true? When this minerals boom deflates, what damage will have been caused to the environment and the health of local populations? Sydney Morning Herald 17 Mar Coming soon: Oil-less economic growth.The world may soon achieve something long dreamed of by governments and policymakers: higher economic growth without using more oil. Reuters 17 Mar Wyoming's crash program to develop 'green' coal.In the summer of 2008, Wyoming's governor, Dave Freudenthal, went to California for meetings with state officials and utility executives. What he brought was, quite literally, a burning question. ClimateWire 17 Mar Arch Coal bids $86 million on Otter Creek.Coal-mining giant Arch Coal Inc. on Tuesday offered to pay nearly $86 million for the right to develop state-owned coal in southeastern Montana’s Otter Creek Valley, the latest development in a decade-old tug-of-war over developing the Otter Creek coal. Helena Independent Record 17 Mar Indian farmers battle against nuclear plant.A robust people's movement against a major nuclear power project has built up in a cluster of small villages on India's picturesque Konkan coast. BBC 17 Mar Renewable energy strong despite recession.A devastating recession slowed but did not stop the clean energy industry's growth in 2009, a report issued Tuesday found. San Francisco Chronicle 17 Mar Let nature electric bill help pay.There is a tiny but growing movement among Indiana and Kentucky homeowners, farmers and schools to plug wind and solar panel systems into the power grid - conserving energy, while also saving money by selling the excess energy back to the utility. Louisville Courier-Journal 17 Mar Africa’s largest wind project advances.Kenya’s Lake Turkana Wind Power project - set to become Africa’s largest wind farm - looks to be back on track after securing financing through a new shareholding structure. New York Times 17 Mar Offshore wind a boon to the shipping industry.With ocean-going trade slackening amid the global recession, shipping companies and shipyard operators in Europe are finding the offshore wind industry to be a welcome ally in weathering the bad times. New York Times 17 Mar Czechs seek to temper solar investment boom.The Czech Republic does not spring to mind as one of Europe's hot spots, yet an over-used subsidy scheme has created a bonanza for solar power that has ignited fears of a spike in energy prices and grid instability. Reuters 17 Mar Hydrokinetic power developers face technical and regulatory hurtles in bid to tap tides.The quest to turn the motion of the world's waterways into a significant source of energy may still be in its nascent stage, but several tidal power projects are making headway. Scientific American 17 Mar Crystals + sound + water = clean hydrogen fuel.Every drop of water is stuffed with the greenest of fuels, hydrogen, but getting it out is a challenge. A new material raises the prospect of doing so using noise pollution – from major roads, for example. New Scientist 17 Mar Home charging for electric vehicles.By the end of the year, at least five plug-in cars are expected to be on the market. And as electric vehicles roll out, their owners will be wiring their homes to accommodate wall-mounted boxes that can recharge an electric vehicles battery. New York Times 17 Mar Tide power projects offer Scots a green energy dream.For those despairing over longer-term prospects for Scotland's economy, the Scottish Government's go-ahead yesterday for wave and tidal energy projects will come as a desperately-needed tonic. Edinburgh Scotsman 17 Mar Marine energy projects approved for Scotland.The seabed off the north coast of Scotland could be transformed into the "Saudi Arabia of marine energy" after seven power firms were awarded contracts for a landmark project designed to harness the area's potential for tidal energy. London Independent 17 Mar Marine tidal power generating clean electricity.The waters of Strangford Lough run cold, fast and deep, but the experimental technology being tested in Northern Ireland is being promoted as one of the ways to reduce the UK's carbon emissions. BBC 17 Mar Ten sites named in £4bn UK marine energy project.The heavy Atlantic swell and some of the world's strongest tides are to be harnessed by a breakthrough scheme to generate clean marine energy off northern Scotland, with predictions it will rival the output of a nuclear power station. London Guardian 17 Mar Senate climate bill authors court industry group to pre-empt ad war .Sens. John Kerry , Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham say they are writing a business-friendly global warming and energy measure, and they are taking their case to the biggest umbrella group of them all: the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth, or AEEG. ClimateWire 17 Mar Governors prod Washington on renewable energy.Anxious over lack of progress on a new energy bill, a group of 29 state governors has sent the White House and Congress a list of renewable energy recommendations, seeking support for wind and solar projects. Christian Science Monitor 17 Mar Governors push for renewable energy.Governors across the nation want more electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar and bio-mass - and they’re calling on Congress to make it happen. Environment Report 17 Mar Delaware energy: Governors push wind proposals.A group of 29 governors, including Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, is calling on Congress to extend renewable energy incentives and require every U.S. electric utility to buy one-10th of its energy from renewable sources by 2012. Wilmington News Journal 17 Mar Oilsands on the defensive after double attack.The latest public relations salvo against the oilsands industry is part of an ongoing battle by British environmentalists and ethical-investment advocates to discourage multinational petroleum companies from increasing their stakes in the contentious Canadian energy source. Canwest News Service 16 Mar |