KJZZ: Arizona Solar Power Plant Pays $1.5 Million In Emissions Violation Fines

One of Arizona’s largest solar generating stations this week settled with Maricopa County Air Quality Department after dozens of emissions violations.

The Solana Generating Station in Gila Bend opened three years ago to produce electricity for Arizona Public Service and is privately owned by Arizona Solar One.

It's one of Arizona’s largest solar plants, and the county said between June 2014 and January of this year, it logged 21 regulation violations. And, Arizona Solar One will pay $1.5 million in fines.

MIT Technology Review: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Have Become Top Carbon Polluters

Transportation is likely to surpass the electricity sector in 2016 as the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, according to a new analysis of government data.

In 2008, the global financial crisis caused widespread declines in energy use. In the U.S., that coincided with the early stages of a large-scale shift away from coal toward cleaner-burning natural gas as a way to generate electricity. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector have continued to decline from their 2007 peak, even as the economy has resumed growing.

North American Windpower: Nordex Turns To Aviation Giant To Bring Drones To Wind

The Nordex Group has formed a partnership with Lufthansa Aerial Services for unmanned aircraft system inspections of wind turbines.

According to Nordex, an important part of the technology is being able to conduct close-up inspections of rotor blades without needing to use rope teams. With the aid of LAS, Nordex says it will be able to develop timely and specific service and repair instructions.

Furthermore, by collecting a large amount of data, the manufacturer can monitor the aging of the turbines and determine how often a blade must be inspected or serviced.

CCTV: China and Cuba Look to Further Renewable Energy Cooperation

China’s Premier Li Keqiang will fly to Havana on Saturday. His visit comes at a time when Cuba’s other major ally and trading partner, Venezuela, has domestic problems and has had to cut back its assistance, especially oil supplies.

This visit is expected to focus on boosting economic cooperation in areas ranging from finance to telecommunications and energy.

CCTV America’s Michael Voss looks at how the two countries are already co-operating in developing renewable energy supplies.

Bloomberg Brief: Trump Seen Shaving 11 Percent Off U.S. Gas Burn

The volume of natural gas burned by America’s power plants stands to fall by 11 percent should Donald Trump become the next president, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates.

Coal would fare better under a Trump administration at the expense of gas, the primary fuel for U.S. power generation, if the Republican follows through on a pledge to roll back environmental regulations, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Rob Barnett and Kit Konolige wrote in research published Thursday. Trump repeated a pledge to eliminate clean air rules proposed by President Barack Obama in a speech to gas producers in Pittsburgh Thursday.