Spain insists on energy saving, not nuclear plants | Industries | Industrials, Materials & Utilities | Reuters
Spain insists on energy saving, not nuclear plants
MADRID, Jan 21(Reuters) – Spain on Wednesday reaffirmed its policy of not commissioning new nuclear power plants a day after its biggest utility unveiled plans to build them in Britain, while repeating pledges to boost renewables and save energy.
“There will be no new nuclear plants,” Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian told journalists …………………
Sebastian noted that Spanish energy consumption per head was 20 percent above the European average.
“Saving 20 percent would be the equivalent of doubling the number of nuclear power plants. It seems easier and cheaper to me,” he said.
“Furthermore, it (saving) is immediate, whereas nuclear plants take 15 years. There is no controversy, no waste or security problems, nothing,” he added.
IAEA to look into Israel’s suspected uranium use
IAEA to look into Israel’s suspected uranium use THE JORDAN TIMES January 21st, 2009,
The UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it would look into a claim by Vienna-based Arab ambassadors that Israel may have used ammunition containing depleted uranium in Gaza attacks.
The IAEA said the request was made in a letter addressed to Director General Mohammad Al Baradei and was delivered by the Saudi Arabia ambassador on Monday on behalf of Arab diplomats.
“We are circulating the letter to member states and will investigate the matter to the extent of our ability,” IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said…………………………
The IAEA has in the past contributed to studies on depleted uranium traces from ammunition in the Balkans which found it was highly unlikely that a reported increase in cancer risks there could be linked to the traces.
Depleted uranium is used in weapons because it can more easily penetrate tanks and armour due to its density and other physical properties. It also has civilian uses in medical equipment and is used in radiation shields.
The Israeli ambassador to the IAEA, Israel Michaeli, declined to comment…………………………….The US and NATO have used uranium-depleted rounds in Bosnia and Iraq. According to the World Health Organisation, the weapons are lightly radioactive. Researchers have suspected depleted uranium may be behind a range of chronic symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War. Some of the symptoms include memory and thinking problems, debilitating fatigue, severe muscle and joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches and rashes.
Miranda blog People power lifts solar hopes – Weekly Times Now
People power lifts solar hopes Weekly Times Now 21 Jan 09
GOING solar? You’d be mad not to by June 30 if your home is grid-connected. An $8000 rebate for households with income less than $100,000 ends then.
From July 1, the rebate is open to all-comers, regardless of income, and it changes to $7500 and all in renewable energy certificates, or RECs as they’re known.
In rural areas, voluntary groups are spending hours organising bulk-buy deals on solar panels for houses.
The rebates are fab and the work these unpaid enthusiasts are doing is nothing short of astounding.
Groups from Mildura to Murchison, Ballarat to Portland and Castlemaine to Strathfieldsaye have called public meetings and negotiated with solar-system buyers, installers, electricians and contractors to come up with various packages to encourage householders to install power-generating, solar and photovoltaic panels on their roofs.
The Murchison Goes Solar mob has settled on a bulk-buy scheme that means eligible households outlay a mere $100 deposit. No big upfront payments are required, even though the standard one kilowatt system costs more than $11,000.
Miranda blog People power lifts solar hopes – Weekly Times Now
Green Left – AUSTRALIA: Peace walk for Aboriginal rights
Peace walk for Aboriginal rights Green Left Peter Robson17 January 2009 Aboriginal activists launched a “peace walk” on January 9 from Sydney to the steps of Parliament House in Canberra in protest against the continuation of the NT intervention and the mining of nuclear materials on Aboriginal land — policies that they label “Rudd’s betrayal of Aboriginal people”.“Sovereign Aboriginal people have a right to self determination, to be empowered to make decisions affecting their country and communities. Rudd is continuing Howard’s paternalism,” said Uncle Dootch Kennedy, from the Sandon Point Aboriginal Tent Embassy according to Sydney Indymedia on January 9.“We demand the UN Declaration on Rights for Indigenous Peoples be adopted and implemented as a binding blueprint for Indigenous policy development”, he said. The Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor stands on Kennedy’s ancestral lands……………………………..They are also condemning Australia’s role in the nuclear-fuel cycle and the failure of the Rudd Labor government to endorse the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights — a promise that the ALP had made in the lead-up to the last federal election………………….. For more information about the Aboriginal Peace Walk call Darren 0412 826 043 or Inge 0418 345 686.
Green Left – AUSTRALIA: Peace walk for Aboriginal rights
Tags: indigenous
The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia’s leading newspaper.
Carbon capture put to the test in NSW * * Email * Printer friendly version * Normal font * Large fontBen Cubby Environment ReporterJanuary 15, 2009 NSW is about to find out whether it will be able to capture greenhouse gas emissions from its coal-fired power stations and store them underground.
Drilling began on Monday to see if the rock 800 metres under the Central Coast can handle having thousands of tonnes of liquefied carbon dioxide pumped into it each week.
It is yet to be proved that carbon capture and storage, in which carbon dioxide fumes from power stations are compressed and cooled on-site before being buried, will work on a large scale in Australia. Most environmental groups and some in the coal industry think it will not become effective in time to help slow climate change………………………..
Environmentalists say the expense of carbon capture and storage would take money away from the development of renewable energy.
“The coal industry is trying to create the appearance that it is doing something about climate change, but all they are really doing is fighting tooth and nail to keep themselves in business,” a Greenpeace spokesman said.
Forget nuclear power, let’s go solar
Forget nuclear power, let’s go solar tampabay.com J
Linda Lowe, Brandon
anuary 10, 2009 Meeting Florida’s energy needs – “………………..there are alternatives to building a new nuclear plant. Nuclear is an overpriced, outmoded option to produce electricity. Yes, the carbon emissions, the primary cause of global warming, are minimized, but the costs of construction and disposal of nuclear waste are too great……………….Through the use of solar feed-in tariffs, businesses and residential customers are actually paid a premium for the excess electricity they produce and sell back to the utility. In this way, the high price of solar for these early adopters is mitigated and banks are more willing to finance the investment.
The cost to do this is spread among all customers: $2.50 per customer per month in Germany, and about 40 cents per customer per month in Gainesville. That sure beats the surcharge of $11.42 per 1,000 kilowatt hours Progress Energy is going to be charging in advance for building a nuclear plant.
Solar power would provide jobs and eliminate the conundrum of what to do with the nuclear waste…………………It’s time to take the new nuclear plant off the table and study the economic viability of solar power with feed-in tariffs.
Forget nuclear power, let’s go solar – St. Petersburg Times
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive
Entergy: Yankee leaked radioactive water:
Entergy: Yankee leaked radioactive water
Rutland Herald By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff – Published: January 8, 2009
BRATTLEBORO — A valve leaking radioactive water inside Vermont Yankee’s reactor building was undergoing emergency repairs Wednesday, Entergy Nuclear said…………………News of the leak prompted a longtime Vermont Yankee critic to say the leak was just the latest in a long line of leaks at the 37-year-old reactor and another indication that Entergy and the NRC was not managing the aging problems at the plant.
“Sounds like another Bondo and duct-tape job,” said Raymond Shadis, senior technical adviser to the New England Coalition, who noted that nuclear power plants had thousands of valves.
“They’ve had many problems at Vermont Yankee with leaky valves,” said Shadis, noting the portion of the system that sprung a leak in the reactor building wasn’t in the crucial safety systems at the plant.
But Shadis said that any leak at a nuclear plant was cause for concern.
“It’s an indication of a declining, deteriorating situation,” he said.
Entergy: Yankee leaked radioactive water: Rutland Herald Online
Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive
Obama Calls for Doubling Renewable Energy in Three Years
Obama Calls for Doubling Renewable Energy in Three Years
GreenTech Media 8 Jan 09 President-elect Barack Obama called for doubling the nation’s renewable energy production in three years in a Thursday speech asking Congress to support his economic stimulus plan. He also wants funding for energy efficiency improvements to federal buildings and millions of homes.by: Jeff St. JohnBullet Arrow January 8, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday called for doubling the nation’s renewable energy production over the next three years, setting a timeline to one green piece of his economic stimulus plan.Obama also called for funding to modernize the nation’s electricity grid and make 75 percent of all federal buildings and up to 2 million American homes more energy efficient.
“In the process, we will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced – jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain,” Obama said Thursday in a speech at George Mason University.
Greentech Media | Obama Calls for Doubling Renewable Energy in Three Years
Tags: renewables
No New Coal or Nuclear Plants!
No New Coal or Nuclear Plants!
gather.com by Ethan G.January 05, 2009 “……………………Advocates for clean coal and nuclear always say that we need to invest in those technologies, however risky, because it’s the American way to solve large-scale technological challenges. Yet somehow they never seem to advocate this vision for the far cleaner and more certain alternatives of wind and solar power.Instead, solar and wind advocates are laughed off as foggy headed idealists and those alternative energies are dismissed as too far from ready. What these skeptics—often lobbyists for the coal, oil, and nuclear industries—fail to account for is the interaction between various kinds of alternative energy and systems that deliver them. If built right, the whole will greatly enhance the sum of the parts.
In fact solar and wind, with appropriate stimulus to encourage their growth, are ready to go a great way toward solving our energy problems. To maximize their potential will take major new investment in the electrical grid, both to move alternative energy to where it’s most needed, and to create a “smart” grid that can deliver the energy at the best times.
Solar and wind are often criticized as having an intermittency problem—they can’t be counted on all the time and we don’t have good storage systems. Yet solar thermal systems don’t have this problem: they store the energy they generate.True wind and the more familiar photovoltaic solar do have an intermittency problem; yet for these sources the “smart” grid will allow us to use energy far more efficiently. Computer systems will charge more when energy is less available, allowing people to do, say, laundry and dishes, when excess energy is available.
The development of electric cars promises even more out of alternative energy. People will plug in their cars at night, and the “smart” grid will deliver energy as available. The automobiles will act as a kind of widespread storage system. In cases where electrical energy is not available, these cars would then use old-fashioned gasoline. Still, overall, our dependence on foreign oil would be greatly reduced.
The Promise of Wind : Embracing America’s Fastest-Growing Form of Renewable Energy (By Joe Provey)
The Promise of WindEmbracing America’s Fastest-Growing Form of Renewable Energy Emagazine.com By Joe Provey 6 Jan 09 “……………………..
Big Possibilities
Power production aside, wind is one of the most environmentally friendly energy sources. Estimates by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) show that wind currently generates as much electricity as nearly 30 million tons of coal or 90 million barrels of oil. In 2008, wind displaced about 34 million tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking 5.8 million vehicles off the road. In 20 years, if we reach the industry goal of supplying 20% of our national energy from wind, it will be the equivalent of taking 140 million vehicles off the road. Unlike oil, wind will not pollute our waterways or contaminate our national wildlife refuges. Unlike coal, it doesn’t release mercury into the air or leave permanent, ugly scars across the landscape. And unlike nuclear, there is no spent fuel to bury or protect from terrorist threats.
In addition to the obvious environmental benefits, there are other compelling arguments for promoting wind power. First, the resource is huge. “There’s something like 600 gigawatts of wind that can be developed in the U.S.,” says Jim Walker of Enxco, a company that develops wind farms in North America. That’s about 60% of our current electricity consumption, according to the Energy Information Administration.
And the cost is already competitive with gas. Says Walker, “Wind energy can be developed for under 10 cents per kilowatt hour, about the same as gas.” This assumes the continuation of production tax credits that contribute about two cents for each kilowatt-hour produced.
Perhaps most impressive is that wind is one of the few energy sources that can be brought online quickly. Says Walker, “You can build a 400-million-dollar, 200-MW wind plant in nine months. And you know exactly what it’s going to cost.” You can’t say that for a nuclear plant or even one of the newer coal plants that are designed to capture pollutants.
The build-out of wind has some important economic fringe benefits, too, including a lot of new jobs.
The Promise of Wind : Embracing America’s Fastest-Growing Form of Renewable Energy (By Joe Provey)
Why Obama’s green jobs plan might work
Why Obama’s green jobs plan might work
Los Angeles Times Marla Dickerson 4 Jan 09Some states — including Michigan — already see renewable energy as their future: It’s the only sector that appears to be making room for more employees despite the recession.
Why Obama’s green jobs plan might work – Los Angeles Times
Tags: renewab;\les
Study on wind energy shows job potential
Study on wind energy shows job potential
NTV Nebraska TV Associated Press – January 1, 2009 8:15 AM ETLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A study of the potential for wind energy in Nebraska shows a jump in jobs if new wind farms are developed.The report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory says construction of wind farms could create 20,600 to 36,500 short-term construction jobs between 2011 and 2020, and up to another 4,000 long-term operations and maintenance jobs.And the report suggests that Nebraska’s economy could grow $7.8 billion to $14.1 billion over the next 40 years if infrastructure for 7,800 megawatts of wind power is built.The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a division of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Tags: renewables
Wasting Our Watts – TIME
Wasting Our Watts TIME By Michael Grunwald Wednesday, Dec. 31,2008 This may sound too good to be true, but the U.S. has a renewable-energy resource that is perfectly clean, remarkably cheap, surprisingly abundant and immediately available. It has astounding potential to reduce the carbon emissions that threaten our planet, the dependence on foreign oil that threatens our security and the energy costs that threaten our wallets. Unlike coal and petroleum, it doesn’t pollute; unlike solar and wind, it doesn’t depend on the weather; unlike ethanol, it doesn’t accelerate deforestation or inflate food prices; unlike nuclear plants, it doesn’t raise uncomfortable questions about meltdowns or terrorist attacks or radioactive-waste storage, and it doesn’t take a decade to build. It isn’t what-if like hydrogen, clean coal and tidal power; it’s already proven to be workable, scalable and cost-effective. And we don’t need to import it.
This miracle juice goes by the distinctly boring name of energy efficiency, and it’s often ignored in the hubbub over alternative fuels, the nuclear renaissance, T. Boone Pickens and the green-tech economy. Clearly, it needs an agent. But it’s a simple concept: wasting less energy. Or more precisely, consuming less energy to get the same amount of heat for your shower, light for your office and power for your factory. It turns out to be much less expensive, destructive and time-intensive to reduce demand through efficiency than to increase supply through new drilling or new power plants. A nationwide push to save “negawatts” instead of building more megawatts could help reverse our unsustainable increases in energy-hogging and carbon-spewing while creating a slew of jobs and saving a load of cash………………………………A McKinsey study found that a global effort to boost efficiency with existing technologies could have “spectacular results,” eliminating more than 20% of world energy demand by 2020.
The Goldilocks Problem – Renewable Energy
The Goldilocks Problem
RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLD by Tam Hunt, Community Environmental Council December 30, 2008 “…………….Regarding the goldilocks problem of renewable energy, it’s important to be aware of the costs and feasibility of the various market segments. I divide the renewable energy market into three segments: small-scale (one megawatt (MW) and less); medium-scale (one to twenty MW); and large-scale (above 20 MW)………..
The advantage of small-scale renewables like rooftop solar photovoltaics is that they can be built relatively quickly due to fewer permitting hurdles. They also take advantage of rooftops or parking lots, so don’t require disturbing large amounts of land. Even though there are still permitting problems in many jurisdictions, conditions have improved remarkably in recent years. At the same time, the general public has become more tolerant of seeing solar panels on rooftops. And installers have become more adept at installing small installations tastefully.
The primary downside to small-scale renewables is that they are often still relatively expensive. It also requires a lot of small-scale renewables to add up to a large-scale impact in terms of climate change mitigation or energy independence……………………So what should policymakers do? Which size is “just right”? Again, we need all the renewable energy we can get – and quickly. So while the answer does depend on many facts specific to each case, the complete answer is that no size is just right — we need them all. But we should also keep in mind that there are tradeoffs for each market segment.
The Goldilocks Problem – Renewable Energy World
Tags: renewables
The Press Association: Rise in renewable energy sources
Rise in renewable energy sources
PRESS ASSOCIATION 23 Dec 08 A fifth of the electricity used in Scotland in 2007 came from renewable sources, official figures reveal.Statistics published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change show that 20.1% of electricity used in 2007 came from green sources – up from 16.9% the previous year.Energy minister Jim Mather claimed the figures show Scotland’s renewable power potential is being turned into reality and said the country is on track to exceed its target of having 31% of electricity demand met by renewables by 2011.
The Press Association: Rise in renewable energy sources
Tags: renewables
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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