Energy policy

California faces major decision on dams
California already has upward of 1,000 dams that provide water supply, flood control, and hydropower, but California growing water shortages; last month Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger insisted he would not sign off on any major overhaul of the water system without money for new dams and reservoirs
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Rolls-Royce, EDF to construct four nuclear reactors in U.K.
The civil nuclear market is worth around £30 billion a year globally and is expected to grow to £50 billion a year in fifteen years’ time, more than 70 percent of which will relate to the build and support of new facilities
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ITER fusion project will start with hydrogen
The ITER experiments will start in 2018 — but will be literally lighter, using hydrogen rather than heavier tritium and deuterium; the tritium and deuterium experiments will have to wait until 2026
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More modest version of nuclear fusion power project to start
Nuclear fusion reactor to built in southern France by an international consortium; operation will begin in 2018
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Nuclear power may be considered for carbon credits
Te 2001 Kyoto protocol excluded nuclear power from clean energy technology schemes; now, more and more countries appear to support the idea that developing countries should be given carbon credits if they build nuclear power stations; carbon credits could cut the capital cost of building new nuclear stations by up to 40 percent
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Opposition growing to LNG project near Baltimore
Virginia-based gas company AES wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern Baltimore County; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission placed 169 conditions, mostly related to safety and environment, on its approval of the project; residents in the neighboring communities say the company is far from meeting these conditions
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More than 950 billion barrels of crude have been extracted since 1850
How much crude oils has been extracted around the world since 1850, the year the first commercial oil-wells were sunk in? Until now, experts calculated that number to be 944 billion barrels; new study suggests a figure that is 35 percent higher than that
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Radioactive spills in Scotland
U.K. Ministry of Defense reveals a series of serious radioactive leaks in 2004, 2007, and 2008 into the Firth of Clyde
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Aussie company receives $250 million to prove wave power concept
Investec Bank gives West Perth-based energy developer Carnegie Corporation $250 million to demonstrate the viability of its wave technology
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Russia to build new-generation nuclear icebreaker by 2015
Russia is locked in legal dispute with four other countries over rights to the mineral-rich areas in an under the North pole — areas which are slowly becoming accessible as a result of global warming; to make sure it gains ready access, Russia invests a new generation of nuclear ice breakers
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Space-based solar power coming to California
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), California’s largest utility company, will purchase from Solaren 200 megawatts of electricity when Solaren’s system is in place, which is expected to be 2016
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Aussies inaugurate carbon capture institute
Australia is the world’s fourth largest producer of hard coal, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says that Australia has a national and shared global responsibility to establish the workability of carbon capture and storage technology at a commercial scale
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Eleven sites on final list for new U.K. nuclear power station sit
The government published the list of eleven sites which could be potential hosts to new nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom
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Luvata to supply oxygen-free copper to nuclear fusion project
Finnish company awarded a contract to provide 13,000 km oxygen-free copper (Cu-OFE) strand to the ITER project; the superconducting cables must withstand heat treatment of at least 100 hours at 650 degrees centigrade
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FLIR: stimulus makes company an even more attractive investment
FLIR’s thermal technology is used in both defense and energy conservation applications; the stimulus package-related large investments in energy efficiency and continued robust defense and homeland security budgets combine to make the company an attractive target for investors
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