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Affordable solar energy racing ahead in Californian homes and businesses

This list shows undeniable solar growth in a diverse range of cities, debunking the common misconception that solar is only for the wealthy,” notes Stephen Torres, founder and managing director of PV
Solar Report. “Key to this diversification is third-party-owned solar, which makes solar affordable for a wider range of homeowners.”

California Residential Solar Market Has Grown 80% So Far This Year http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.10611 27 June 2012 Thirteen cities helped the California residential solar market grow 80% so far this year, according to a new report from SunRun.

According to the report, the top cities reflect solar adoption in median-income communities rather than in the wealthiest areas of the state.

The high-growth cities were evaluated by percent growth through May 31 as compared to the same time frame last year. While solar adoption continues to surge in traditional solar hot beds like Fresno and Bakersfield, new solar leaders like Santa Clarita, Castaic and Palmdale are also leading the charge.

The top California cities for home solar installations were as follows:  Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | decentralised, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear reactor No.1 cleanup stalled by lethal levels of radiation

Fukushima radiation at record high RECORD amounts of radiation have been detected at the Fukushima nuclear reactor, further hampering clean-up operations. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/fukushima-radiation-at-record-high/story-fn6s850w-1226410635366  28 June 12  TEPCO, the operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, took samples from the basement of reactor number 1 after lowering a camera and surveying instruments through a drain hole in the basement ceiling.

Radiation levels above radioactive water in the basement reached up to 10,300 millisievert an hour, a dose that would kill humans within a short time after making them sick within minutes. The annual allowed dose for workers at the stricken site would be reached in only 20 seconds.

“Workers cannot enter the site and we must use robots for the demolition,” said TEPCO.

The Fukushima operator said that radiation levels were 10 times higher than those recorded at the plant’s two other crippled reactors, number two and three. This was due to the poor state of the nuclear fuel in the reactor compared to that in the two others.

The meltdown at the core of three of Fukushima’s six reactors occurred after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and ensuing massive tsunami shut off the power supply and cooling system.

Demolition of the three reactors as well as the plant’s number 4 unit is expected to take 40 years and will need the use of new technologies.

June 28, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Golden farewell for Fukushima nuclear plant directors and auditors as they leave for other lucrative jobs

VIDEO :  . http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-06-27/tepco-directors-quit-with-golden-parachute/968572    TEPCO directors quit with ‘golden parachute’, Radio Australia  28 June 2012, Directors and auditors at the Japanese operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant have used the company’s annual general meeting to resign. In theory, the TEPCO directors and auditors are doing so to take responsibility for last year’s disaster, but the ABC can confirm nearly half of those who have resigned will take up lucrative posts with other TEPCO group companies.

Some of the executives are also facing the biggest lawsuit in Japanese history – a $67 billion compensation claim from shareholders for what they describe as unforgivable negligence. Outside the company’s meeting on Wednesday, activists – most of them middle-aged women – handed out anti-nuclear leaflets to shareholders making their way in.

Among them was Yui Kimura, who bought TEPCO shares so she could attend and vote at meetings. She is one of 42 shareholders suing 27 company directors for failing to heed repeated warnings about the threat of a giant tsunami.
She is fighting for TEPCO to pay compensation for those affected by the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns.
About 100,000 Fukushima residents still cannot return home……

June 28, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, Fukushima 2012, Japan | Leave a comment

Climate change: global sea level rise is uneven: USA’s East coast to cop it big

US East Coast a ‘hot spot’ for sea level rise: study http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/65757 by Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent 26-Jun-12 Sea levels from Cape Hatteras to Cape Cod are rising at a faster pace
than anywhere on Earth, making coastal cities and wetlands in this densely-populated U.S. corridor possibly more vulnerable to flooding and damage, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Climate change is causing higher sea levels around the world, as land-based glaciers like those on Greenland melt and slide into the oceans and as warming ocean water expands.

But seas don’t rise at the same rate, and for 600 miles along the U.S. Atlantic coast, the water is rising more rapidly than elsewhere on the globe, USGS scientists reported on Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change. In this “hot spot” of rising sea levels, variations in ocean currents and sea water temperature and salinity push oceans upward along the
coastline, the scientists said.

It could have an impact on some of the biggest urban areas along and near the East Coast, including Boston, Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, especially when storm surges push water inland. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Japanese seafood products banned in South Korea, due to radiation risks

South Korea Bans Imports of 35 Japanese Seafood Products VOA, June 27th, 2012 South Korea has placed a temporary import ban on 35 Japanese seafood products because of fears of lingering radiation contamination from last year’s devastating nuclear disaster.

Seoul’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries says the ban is a temporary measure meant to protect South Korean citizens from products originating from the waters near the Fukushima nuclear power plant…….. The items banned Wednesday by South Korea include several types of flatfish, clams and sea urchins, products that are already prohibited from sale in Japan. With the latest move, Seoul now prohibits a total of 64 Japanese seafood items from entering South Korea. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/06/27/south-korea-bans-imports-of-35-japanese-seafood-products/

June 28, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans, South Korea | 1 Comment

Corporate disinformation about renewable energy

Renewable Energy Versus Industry Groups in Michigan SustainableBusiness.com News   http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/23825  By Stephen Lacey, 28 June 12, Michigan is becoming the new ground zero in a disinformation campaign against renewable energy.

In an effort to expand the state’s renewable energy targets, a coalition of environmental groups and local businesses is gathering signatures for a November ballot initiative that would increase Michigan’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 25% by 2025.

But that’s not sitting well with large power companies and the Chamber of Commerce.

Yesterday, a group backed by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and two of the state’s largest utilities dubbed “Clean Affordable Renewable Energy for Michigan Coalition,” (CARE) rolled out a campaign to stop the ballot initiative before it truly begins.

The group’s messaging, which contradicts real-world experience with renewable energy deployment in Michigan and surrounding states, is typical for the heel-dragging, climate change-denying Chamber of Commerce. Even with the overwhelming positive economic evidence and the diverse range of businesses supporting an increase in renewable energy in the state, the Chamber and its utility allies say they’re ready to put up a big fight.

They’re not fighting with much evidence on their side. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Thorium nuclear reactors not possible for decades to come

India needs to wait for few decades to use thorium in reactor DNA, , Jun 27, 2012, Bhubaneswar PTI Describing India as self-reliant in nuclear technology, Atomic Energy Commission on Wednesday said the country has to wait for a few more decades to use thorium as the base for nuclear reactors.

“Using thorium as the base for reactors will take time. We have to wait a few decades to make it possible,” Atomic Energy Commission Chairman R K Sinha said….. Replying a question on the possible use of thorium as the base for the nuclear reactors, he said the country needs to wait…..

June 28, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, India, Uranium | Leave a comment

North Carolina’s water faces danger from Virginia uranium mining

Virginia uranium mining ‘would be a huge mistake’ for NC HENDERSON, N.C.WRAL News : Beau Minnick, 27 June 12, — As Virginia considers lifting a 30-year-old ban on uranium mining, some North Carolina residents have been crossing the border to share their concerns about the possible environmental effects on this state.

Lifting the ban, which has been in place since 1982, would allow a Chatham, Va., company to tap into the nation’s largest undeveloped resource of uranium. The question is how that could impact Kerr Lake and surrounding bodies of water, which straddle both states. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

Poland delays nuclear power project – stuck on lack of finance

American-Japanese group GE Hitachi , France’s Areva and Westinghouse, a U.S unit of Japan’s Toshiba , have all signalled interest in supplying technology for the project that has already faced a number of bureacratic delays.

Poland’s PGE delays nuclear tender PGE will not launch tender as planned in Q2  Still working on financing model for project. Investment estimated to be worth $8.79-14.65 bln WARSAW, June 27 (Reuters) – PGE has delayed launching the technology supplier tender for Poland’s first nuclear power plant as it works out how it will finance the multi-billion dollar project, PGE’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

PGE chief Krzysztof Kilian did not say when the tender, previously scheduled for the second quarter of 2012, would move forward. The cost to build the first reactors is estimated at 30 billion to 50 billion zlotys ($8.79-14.65 billion). We will not launch the tender in June (as previously planned),……. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, marketing, politics | Leave a comment

Nuclear Regulatory Commission clears Gregory Jaczko of any wrongdoing

 Inquiry on Nuclear Chief Finds No Rules Were Broken NYT, By MATTHEW L. WALD, 27 June 12,  On the eve of the resignation of Gregory B. Jaczko, the chairman of
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the commission’s inspector general has issued a report that clears him of some of the charges against him.

Dr. Jaczko did not exceed his authority last year in directing his agency’s response to the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in Japan, despite his colleagues’ irritation over his management style, the office of the inspector general, Hubert Bell, said on Tuesday.

He did not make any unilateral decisions that affected companies that hold Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses, the report said….

The report was not immediately made public. The New York Times obtained a copy of the eight-page summary from a Congressional aide. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Japan’s utilities meetings: shareholders demand end to nuclear power

Utility shareholders meet / Nuclear power decried; TEPCO’s de facto nationalization OK’d The Yomiuri Shimbun, 28 June 12 De facto nationalization of Tokyo Electric Power Co., which will receive a capital injection of 1 trillion yen in public funds, was approved at its regular general shareholders meeting Wednesday in Tokyo.

TEPCO and eight other power utilities that own nuclear power plants held their annual shareholders meetings across the nation on the day, with shareholders demanding the companies ensure management transparency and give up nuclear power. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan’s TEPCO nationalised, will restart another nuclear power plant

Tepco’s New Chief Sees No Plan B To Revive Profitability Bloomberg, By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada – Jun 27, 2012 Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501), owner of the crippled Fukushima reactors, is committed to restarting another nuclear plant next year that is the world’s largest and itself was damaged in a 2007 earthquake.

Bringing the Kashiwazaki Kariwa power station online, even though it sets up the state-controlled utility for further conflicts with a nuclear-weary public, is part of “Plan A,” President Naomi Hirose, 59, said in an interview. The plan refers to a 10-year business
reconstruction that handed control of the power company known as Tepco to Japan’s government. Continue reading →

June 28, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, politics | Leave a comment