nuclear-news

Today marks the 100 years of the Easter Rising, which proclaimed the Irish Republic, and ultimately culminated in the Republic of Ireland. Opting out of Empire gave Ireland the chance to be nuclear free. If Ireland had not liberated itself from the yoke of the British Empire then almost certainly all or most of the UK’s nuclear facilities, nuclear waste, and nuclear subs would be located in Ireland because the UK government has generally tried to distance these facilities from London. Freedom has not, however, been able to protect Ireland from pollution of the Irish sea by the UK’s nuclear facilities and nuclear subs. On the Irish Sea, Sellafield “raises the question of how a country can try to protect it self against invading pollution from a neighboring state…” http://www1.american.edu/ted/SELLA.HTM


http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1999/act/23/section/18/enacted/en/html

It is easy to guess the areas where the UK would have put its nuclear facilities and…

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…

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…