Washington Post: America's First 'Clean Coal' Plant Is Now Operational

The first large scale U.S. “clean coal” facility was declared operational Tuesday -- by the large energy firm NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp.

Their Petra Nova project, not far outside of Houston, captured carbon dioxide from the process of coal combustion for the first time in September, and has now piped 100,000 tons of it from the plant to the West Ranch oil field 80 miles away, where the carbon dioxide is used to force additional oil from the ground. The companies say that the plant can capture over 90 percent of the carbon dioxide released from the equivalent of a 240-megawatt coal unit, which translates into 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide per day or over 1 million tons per year. They’re calling it “the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture system.”

Gizmodo: Trump Is Letting Go the People in Charge of Maintaining Our Nuclear Arsenal

Between the Trump transition team’s infighting, incompetence, and high-profile resignations, any decisions that signaled even a modicum of stability for the country would come as a relief at this point. Unfortunately, the nascent Trump administration isn’t inclined to calm anyone’s nerves. According to an official within the Department of Energy, the Trump transition team has declined to ask the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration and his deputy to temporarily stay in their roles after Trump takes office on January 20th.

The NNSA is the $12-billion-a-year agency that “maintains and enhances the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.” It’s unclear when the two officials will be replaced. Their offices will remain vacant until they are.

Teslarati: Tesla Completes 1,000-Mile Long Supercharger Corridor in Australia

Tesla Model S and Model X owners can now take an electrified journey from Melbourne to Brisbane using nothing but the company’s fast-charging Supercharger network. The California-based electric car maker has announced the arrival of three new charging stations in Knockrow, Heatherbrae and Coffs Harbour, creating a Supercharger corridor 1,000 miles long (1,600 kilometers) connecting two major Australian cities.

The new Supercharger stations in Heatherbrae and Knockrow are each equipped with six charging stalls, capable of replenishing 170 miles or 270 kilometers of range in as little as 30 minutes of charging time. The Coffs Harbour site is outfitted with two temporary Supercharger bays which Tesla says will eventually be replaced by a permanent location nearby, according to an email sent to Model S and Model X owners in Australia.

Renewable Energy Focus: Scotland Sets Two Wind Power Records

Analysis of data provided by WeatherEnergy found that wind turbines in Scotland generated power equivalent to all of the nation’s electricity needs for a record four straight days -- on 23, 24, 25 and 26 December.

Although wind turbines have previously generated more power than needed in a single day in Scotland, this is the first time that such has been recorded on consecutive days.

The same four-day period also saw a new record set for the most amount of wind-generated power in a single day -- on Christmas Eve -- with 74,042 MWh of electricity sent to the National Grid.

Bloomberg: SunEdison Said to Exit India With Sale of Projects to Greenko

Bankrupt clean-energy giant SunEdison Inc. is exiting its business in India by selling 1.7 gigawatts of wind and solar farms to Greenko Energies Pvt., according to two executives with direct knowledge of the transaction.

Greenko, backed by the sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi and Singapore, took over SunEdison sites in September that include ones with 440 megawatts of capacity already operating and another 1,200 megawatts of projects still under development, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The assets are valued at about $500 million, one of the people said.