STUFF

TOP STUFF

US hit with 90% of world's climate disaster costs in '12.

Study strengthened link between El Nino and climate change.

Court ordering EPA to try again in soot standards implementation.

NRC: San Onofre secrets to stay private. (Can that be good?)

NSA program to protect el grids exists.

PA banning electronic waste from landfills.

Mauritania banned plastic bags.

Bolivia's 1st lithium plant online.

DOE awarded over $10M to 5 projects to develop new techs to convert biomass into advanced biofuels, bioproducts.

Despite cuts to solar subsidies in Germany, developers added record 7.2Gw in '12 through Nov. More than double govt target. 62% over '11. 8Gw expected for year.

Turkey signed $12B deal with UAE to help develop Turkey's coal reserves. Basin in south Turkey est. at 4.4B tons reserves, ~40% their entire reserves. Could fuel up to 8.2Gw of coal power plants. (Great news, A?) Turkey looking to reduce NG imports (from Iran) by $1.2B/yr. Tradeoffs.

OTHER STUFF

BYD to supply 110Mw of solar to S Africa for 2 projects.

Abengoa (Spain) creating US subsid for solar thermal development.

Solarworld (Germany) sees EU imposing dumping duties on Chinese solars by May or June.

Hawaii about to see 50% reduction in state's solar tax credits. They ship in diesel for generators and have high sun, wind and geothermal resources. Go figure.

Bank of Am investing in EDF (France) 100Mw wind farm in Kansas. GE turbines. Great Plains Energy's KC Power & Light buying the power.

Hyundai has 5.85Mw permanent magnet synchronous generator for offshore wind turbines. Product life extended to 25 yrs from 20. Plans to commercialize by '14.

Admin gauging interest in wind power development offshore NY. NYPA proposing 350-700Mw project south of Long Island. Backed by Long Island Power Auth and Con Ed.

Fisker claiming $33M loss from Sandy - 340 EV's damaged. Insurer denying claim.

Near 4 yrs after expected completion, Savannah River's nuke waste processing plant 65% finished. Original cost $440M now $1.3B. Salt-waste processing. Likely plant opening in '18. That's govt working for us.

3 new Duke power plants began serving NC at yearend. Combined investment near $3.65B. Invested near $6B in new plants since '07. Retired ~6.8Gw of old coal elgen capacity. Invested another $7.5B in plant upgrades to reduce emissions. SO2 down 74%, nitrogen oxides down 57% since '05. 825Mw state-of-art coal plant removes 99% of SO2, 90% of Noxides, 90% of mercury. 920Mw NG combined-cycle plant. 620Mw NG-fired plant. Construction underway on 625Mw NG combined-cycle plant online by yearend. Duke over $100B in assets.

KY Utilities spending $57M to upgrade coal-fired plant as part of EPA settlement. $300K penalty over sulfuric acid mist emissions. Upgrade to reduce mist by over 2/3. KU also agreed to spend $500K to replace coal-fired boiler with geothermal system at an elementary school.