NRC OVERSIGHT HAS FAILED AT SAN ONOFRE This letter was sent to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, with a copy to The Orange County Register: Dear Chairman, We were stunned to learn recently that for nearly three decades, the San Onofre nuclear reactors have been operating with inherently flawed backup emergency diesel generators, …
Continue reading “Update on San Onofre Nuclear Plant – backup emergency generators also flawed”
Here’s how they did it, and how we can too This is what can happen when citizens and government agree that it’s worth spending a bit more for clean, carbon-free power: German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity – equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity – through the …
Continue reading “Last weekend, half of Germany was running on solar power”
Unlike much of the rest of the economy, the solar industry is growing rapidly. New solar installations in California jumped by 21 percent last year. An increasing amount of that growth is from “solar leasing.” What’s commonly called “solar leasing” is now the most popular way for homeowners to install solar electricity. A solar company …
Continue reading “Solar Industry booming with 21% growth – Solar Leasing now has waitlists”
Liquid Metal Battery Corporation, an MIT spin out that’s developing new technologies for electricity storage, has raised $15 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, Total and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The technology behind the company was developed by Dr. Donald Sadoway (his famous TED Talk), a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was …
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“The same wind that used to pump water for cattle is now turning giant wind turbines to power cities and homes.” “The blades only turn about 18 RPM, not nearly fast enough to create electricity, so the rotor shaft spins a series of gears that increase the rotation up to 1800 RPM. At that speed …
Continue reading “Energy 101: Wind turbines, how those slow moving blades create electricity”
100% of Minnesota’s electricity generation needs can be met by wind and solar sources combined with improvements to the state’s electric grid system and energy efficiency policies, according to a report released today. Renewable Minnesota: Aanalysis of a 100% renewable-energy based electricity system for Minnesota Researched and written by Dr. Arjun Makhijani and Christina Mills …
Continue reading “Myth = 100% of our energy cannot come form renewable sources”
Transportation, not electricity, is the source of oil’s importance: since the 1970s, the U.S. has weaned its power sector off of oil. Today only one percent of U.S. electricity is generated from oil and only one percent of U.S. oil demand is due to electricity generation. Thus expansion of electricity generation from solar, wind, nuclear, …
Continue reading “Oil fact – 99% of U.S. electricity generation does NOT come from oil”
Governor Brown joined with the California Public Utilities Commission today to announce a $120 million dollar settlement with NRG Energy Inc. that will fund the construction of a statewide network of charging stations for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), including at least 200 public fast-charging stations and another 10,000 plug-in units at 1,000 locations across the state. …
Two utilities announced the planned closure of nine coal plants in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, bringing total retirements (executed and planned) since January 2010 past the 100 mark to 106. A combination of high domestic coal prices, low natural gas prices, new air quality regulations, coordinated activist pressure, and cost-competitive renewables are making …
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Energy Secretary, Steven Chu January 10, 2012 Re: Year in Review Dear Colleagues, As we enter the New Year and move forward with our efforts…(it’s) important to take a moment to reflect on the progress we have made. Across the complex, our workforce is reducing nuclear dangers, expanding the boundaries of science and innovation, …
Continue reading “11 awesome achievements by the Department of Energy in 2011”