PVTech: Energy Storage Included in Major Indian PV Tender
Energy storage is to be included in India’s state-run solar energy tenders for the first time under plans to help smoother integration of renewables into the grid.
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a state-owned entity helping to drive the India's National Solar Mission, will float a tender for PV capacity within the 750 MW Ananthapurama Solar Park in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh including energy storage capacity, a SECI spokesperson has confirmed to PV Tech.
The company representative said the project is still in a “nascent state,” so he was unable to provide detail on the capacity or duration of battery energy storage being tendered, and said it would not apply to all 750 MW of solar within the park.
Slate: Can You Be an Environmentalist Without Embracing Nuclear Energy?
Thirty-nine years after the meltdown at Three Mile Island and almost five years post-Fukushima, nuclear power seems to be emerging from its long funk as a promising alternative to the carbon economy. Innovative new designs are changing the landscape of nuclear power and have the potential to redefine affordable, emission-free, and carbon-free clean energy. So why is it still a hotly contested issue?
Will proliferation of nuclear energy be among the solutions the world seeks, or will our long memory of the fallout from first- and second-generation reactors prevent us from embracing the promise of clean energy that new models provide?
Rolling Stone: The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power
After decades of false starts, solar power in America is finally poised for its breakthrough moment. The price of solar panels has dropped by more than 80 percent since President Obama took office, and the industry is beginning to compete with coal and natural gas on economics alone.
But the birth of Big Solar poses a grave threat to those who profit from burning fossil fuels. And investor-owned utilities, together with Koch-brothers-funded front groups like American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are mounting a fierce, rear-guard resistance at the state level -- pushing rate hikes and punishing fees for homeowners who turn to solar power. Their efforts have darkened green-energy prospects in could-be solar superpowers like Arizona and Nevada. But nowhere has the solar industry been more eclipsed than in Florida.
New York Times: Science Teachers’ Grasp of Climate Change Is Found Lacking
Most science teachers in the United States spend some time on climate change in their courses, but their insufficient grasp of the science as well as political factors “may hinder effective teaching,” according to a nationwide survey of the profession.
The survey, described in the current issue of the journal Science, found that teachers spent little time on the topic -- just one to two hours on average over an academic year.
“It’s clearly not enough time to really provide students with a good scientific understanding,” said Eric Plutzer, the lead author of the paper and a professor of political science at Pennsylvania State University.
SNL: 'Bit of Brightness' Cuts Through Coal Industry Negativity With CO2 Rule Stay
The U.S. coal industry, lately struck with bad news nearly every day, was handed a rare victory from the nation's highest court Feb. 9 when a panel of judges stayed the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan -- though relief could be far from guaranteed.
The coal industry and its supporters celebrated the move with statements soon after the U.S. Supreme Court order staying the president's policy to address power sector carbon dioxide emissions. Murray Energy Corp., a leader in litigation against the U.S. EPA on behalf of the coal sector, called the ruling an indication the Supreme Court would ultimately overturn the Clean Power Plan. American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity President and CEO Mike Duncan agreed, saying his group is confident the regulation will be rejected.