Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire: Sustainable energy

Showing posts with label Sustainable energy. Show all posts

Friday, December 10, 2010

Obama Administration May Allow Nuclear Into Clean Energy Policy SustainableBusiness.com News

The Obama Administration indicated it is willing to include nuclear power--and possibly "clean" coal--in a policy definition of clean energy. It's a compromise that could bring Republicans to the table to draft comprehensive energy legislation.
Renewable energy advocates and environmentalists have long opposed the inclusion of nuclear power generation and so-called clean coal technologies with renewable resoureces like wind, solar and geothermal.
In the past, Republican lawmakers at the state level have attempted to make nuclear and clean coal elligible technologies to meet Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) requirements.
At a conference on nuclear power in Washington D.C. this week, Energy Secretary Steven Chu endorsed that very idea. He said a broader definition recognizes the political reality that different regions have different energy preferences.
Read New York Times coverage at the link below.
Website: www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/12/08/08climatewire-the-administration-explores-a-clean-energy-s-54861.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/21572

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

White House open to nukes as 'clean energy' Read more:

The Obama administration may consider caving to GOP demands to include nuclear and some coal production in a “clean energy standard,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday.
A national "clean" or "renewable" energy standard would require utilities to purchase a percentage of their electricity from nonfossil fuel sources and is seen as one of the administration's few options for a broad energy policy after the death of the cap-and-trade bill.More at:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46080.html#ixzz17Xd4gved

Chu Urges Congress to Look to Nuclear Power Energy secretary says Congress should consider nuclear power in clean energy mandate

The Obama administration's energy chief asked Congress on Tuesday to consider nuclear power and other nonrenewable sources in a mandate for utilities to use more clean energy, which could attract Republicans who have opposed focusing exclusively on renewable energy like wind.
Efforts to pass the "renewable electricity standard" requirement have stalled in Congress, in part because of regional resistance. Opponents in the Southeast, for example, argue that their region lacks renewable sources such as abundant levels of wind.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said his call was an acknowledgment of those differences.
"There's all sorts of other forms of clean energy," Chu told reporters. "Some states would favor something in terms of clean energy like nuclear." More at:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12331684&tqkw=&tqshow=

Monday, October 25, 2010

Changes in energy R&D needed to combat climate change

A new assessment of future scenarios that limit the extent of global warming cautions that unless current imbalances in R&D portfolios for the development of new, efficient, and clean energy technologies are redressed, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets are unlikely to be met, or met only at considerable costs.More at: http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-energy-combat-climate.html

Friday, October 15, 2010

World Bank energy chief aims to speed clean power

(Reuters) - Even before he became the World Bank's clean energy chief, Daniel Kammen had a lustrous list of accomplishments: professor of energy, public policy and nuclear engineering at the University of California-Berkeley, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory and Energy and Climate Fellow for the Western Hemisphere.
So why take on the formidable dual tasks of seeing that the world's poor get better access to energy while curbing the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change?
"We need to make a clean energy transition and we need to do it in a way that is inclusive and supportive of the poor, and not for the wealthy first and the poor second," Kammen told the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit on Tuesday. More at: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69B68520101012

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Saudi Arabia Holds Talks With Companies on Building Nuclear Energy City

Saudi Arabia seeks foreign expertise in nuclear, renewable project
Saudi Arabia has spoken with North American, European and Asian companies in its plan to develop a nuclear and green-energy city, said Khalid al-Sulaiman, vice president for renewable energy. "We have engaged the expertise and thinking of 14 of the best architectural and design houses," he said in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg (10/4) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-04/saudi-arabia-holds-talks-with-companies-on-building-nuclear-energy-city.html

Friday, September 17, 2010

NRG Energy to Acquire Green Mountain Energy in $350 Million Transaction

NRG Energy Aiming to Expand Renewable Energy Customers

NRG Energy has agreed to buy Green Mountain Energy for $350 million to add customers willing to pay premium prices for renewable energy, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. NRG said it would fund the purchase with cash on hand. The Dallas Morning News quoted NRG CEO David Crane as saying: "Increasingly NRG, with our expanding portfolio of wind, solar and biomass initiatives, working with and through Green Mountain, is poised to become the clean energy provider of choice for Americans who want to make a difference for the environment."

NRG intends to run Green Mountain Energy as a stand-alone company with NRG, Smart Energy News reported. NRG said it expected the deal to be completed by mid-November.

Bloomberg Businessweek, Dallas (Texas) Morning News Texas Energy & Environment blog, Fox Business, Smart Energy News, Sept. 16.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Report: U.S. Senate's Inaction on Climate/Energy Bill Costing U.S. 1.9 Million Jobs, Including 600,000 in 10 States With Worst Unemployment Topping 10 Percent

With U.S. Falling Behind by Over $200 Million a Day in Clean Energy Investments, China is Clear Winner Due to Senate's Failure; More Than Half a Million Jobs Forfeited in 10 States With 10 Percent Unemployment or Higher; Analysis Highlights Impact of Senate's Failure on 20 States: AR, CA, FL, IL, IN, MA, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, and VA.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- China and other leading nations have gained more than $11 billion in job-creating clean-energy investments – with the U.S. losing an estimated $208 million every day – since the U.S. Senate abandoned comprehensive clean energy legislation in late July, according to a new analysis from Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance, American Businesses for Clean Energy and We Can Lead.
The analysis shows that, if left unremedied, the Senate's failure to act will cost the United States 1.9 million jobs – including 600,000 in the 10 states with joblessness in excess of 10 percent. The report documents that, in the nearly two months since the Senate failed to act, clean energy investments already have started shifting away from the United States to China and other nations.
More at link.