Love it when things work out right for the good guys.

Petraeus Endorses Obama's Plans to Close GITMO, End Torture - Huffington Post - 26 May 09

"'I think, on balance, that those moves help [us],' said the chief of U.S. Central Command. 'In fact, I have long been on record as having testified and also in helping write doctrine for interrogation ( Read more... )

This time in Maryland which seems to be a key state in the "renaissance".

Opponents Saving Fire on Calvert Cliffs 3 - Maryland Daily Record - 19 May 09

"Stephen Thomas, a professor of energy policy at the University of Greenwich in London, said Tuesday in an interview at The Daily Record that banks may find these projects to be low-risk ( Read more... )

The first use of of a wind-electric system was in Scotland in the 1880s. I'd previously thought that the first wind-electric was built in Cleveland but Professor James Blyth beat electrical industrialist Charles Brush by a few months and at a far more modest cost. A nice item from The Minnesota Engineer on the state of the art in for wind- ( Read more... )

A quote to ponder found in the January 23, 1891 edition of "The Electrical Engineer" (p. 84). There was a James Watt anniversary being celebrated and they noted that Watt played futurist some time earlier with the following paragraph.

"Later on he prophesied that 'the time might come when tidal-power, river-power, waterfall-power, wind-power, and ( Read more... )

No one else is requiring billions in loan guarantees to get their projects going.

Chances Dim for Nuclear Plant - Houston Chronicle - 15 May 09

"Plans for a new nuclear power plant in Victoria are likely to be scrapped because the project isn’t expected to obtain necessary government-backed loans to help finance the facility, the CEO of the ( Read more... )

On-going beat continues in Finland. How can you have delays that aren't delays?

TVO: Welding problems will not cause further delays to completion of Olkiluoto III - Helsingin Sanomat

"STUK orders welding works to be suspended during ongoing investigation. STUK immediately demanded that Areva provide detailed plans on how to assess the cause of ( Read more... )

A player like GE could really move the ball in a serious way on storage technologies. Not unlike what they've done in other energy sectors recently. Coming next, hybrid locomotives.

GE Aims to Provide Energy Storage for Trains, Power Grid - Seeking Alpha - 12 May 09

"Sodium batteries haven't proliferated in the market - despite the clamor among ( Read more... )

"Surprise, surprise, surprise." - Gomer Pyle, USMC

Bless their pea-pickin' hearts. When the banks are being beat out in the "contribution" business, you know the congress critters are doing well for these 'constituents".

Nuclear Power Gets Boost From Top Campaign Cash Recipients - Washington Independent - 08 May 09

"Hoyer and Clyburn ranked ( Read more... )

Safe, inexpensive and reliable nuclear power at work. Hopefully it won't catch fire again anytime soon.

Tokyo Electric Quake-Hit Reactor Safe, Governor Says - Bloomberg - 07 May 09

"All seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant were shut after the 6.8-magnitude earthquake in July 2007 shook it more than assumed possible in its design, ( Read more... )

There's a whole lot less fooling around with this approach. Grow switchgrass or corn stover, burn it in a boiler, make electricity charge your batteries and go.

Bioelectricity Promises More 'Miles Per Acre" Than Ethanol - Science Daily - 08 May 09

"Researchers writing in the online edition of the journal Science on May 7 say the best bet is to ( Read more... )