Three Mile Island Alert

Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as a clean way to generate electricity, but expensive compared with other alternatives to oil, like nuclear power. No longer. In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower than the rising projected costs of new nuclear plants, according to a paper published this month.

“Solar photovoltaics have joined the ranks of lower-cost alternatives to new nuclear plants,” John O. Blackburn, a professor of economics at Duke University, in North Carolina, and Sam Cunningham, a graduate student, wrote in the paper, “Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover.”

This crossover occurred at 16 cents per kilowatt hour, they said.

NRC urged to move quickly on safety issue

From the Rutland Herald:

The New England Coalition, a nuclear physicist and his activist son want the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to lower the peak temperature of Vermont Yankee’s nuclear fuel cladding, saying data and studies show that the margin of safety in the event of a loss of coolant accident is down to 30 seconds.

The NRC earlier in spring had already agreed to consider the matter raised by Mark Leyse of New York City, but in a review track that will take years, not months. The New England Coalition wants the margin of safety increased immediately.

Leyse and Raymond Shadis, senior technical adviser to the coalition, say Vermont Yankee’s peak cladding temperature of 1,960 degrees Fahrenheit only gives the plant operators 30 seconds to react during a loss-of-coolant incident scenario. They have petitioned to have Entergy Nuclear, the owner of Vermont Yankee, lower the peak temperature to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit, if not lower. Vermont Yankee already operates with a lower temperature than the standard 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit set for most nuclear reactors.

Energy waste the size of Japan

From RenewableEnergyWorld.com:

Here is a startling fact: US power plants waste more energy than many countries use, including advanced economies like that of Japan. The wasted energy is in the form of heat thrown off when power plants produce electricity.

This is one of the points being brought to light by the International District Energy Association (IDEA), as it promotes new federal incentives for heat efficiency.

While the US is focusing on cleaning up its electricity supply, it tends to ignore heat energy, even though it represents 31% of the energy we use, particularly to heat and cool buildings, warm water, and manufacture products.

Congress has oil on its hands

Dear ME,

The Gulf spill is the largest environmental disaster in American history, but Congress has done NOTHING to pass a clean energy climate bill.

Heck, the Senate can’t even pass an oil spill responsebill. So how exactly does this happen? While there’s no one single answer to that question, one that needs to receive a lot more attention is the huge amount of money the fossil fuel industry throws around in Washington.

During this session of Congress alone, oil and coal companies have spent almost $15,000,000 on direct political contributions to our elected officials. And you can’t say that they don’t get their money’s worth. Their investment buys weak environmental regulations, giant subsidies for their companies and a national energy policy that keeps us dependent on dirty energy even in the face of disasters like the BP tragedy in the Gulf.

Enough. If we ever want to stop the flow of oil we’ve got to stop the flow of dirty money into Congress. That starts right now with YOU in your community and with yourmember of Congress. Download our “Dirty Energy Money” toolkit today and find out exactly how.

Here’s what we’re going to do: Members of Congress are currently home on break untilSeptember 9th. It’s the perfect time to pay a visit and ask them about the dirty energy money they’ve taken. Our friends over at Oil Change International have collected data on each and every member of Congress, including yours, and how much dirty money they’ve received. We’re asking activists like you to take that information and use it in a personal delivery to your Representative asking them to donate all that dirty money toGulf Coast recovery efforts.

It’s as simple as that. With the BP Deepwater disaster fresh in the public’s mind and the elections right around the corner, there’s never been a better time. In the toolkit you’ll find everything you need for your delivery and we’ll be here to help. Don’t wait,download the to toolkit today.

Cleaning up Congress starts with your Representative. It doesn’t matter how little or how much they have taken, it’s all part of the $15,000,000 and it’s all part of the problem.

Sincerely,

Ben Kroetz
Greenpeace Online Organizer

Type:

News

By webEditor at Tue, 08/17/2010 - 17:23