How the Right-Wing's Infamous ALEC Is Attacking Renewable Energy Initiatives
An ALEC-backed bill, the "Electricity Freedom Act," calls for the nullification of any given state's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards.
January 15, 2013 |


Renewable energy is under attack in the Tar Heel State. That's the word from Greenpeace USA's Connor Gibson today in a report that implicates King Coal powerhouse, Duke Energy and the fossil fuel industry at-large.

The vehicle Duke Energy is utilizing for this attack is one whose profile has grown in infamy in recent years: the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

ALEC is described as a " corporate bill mill" by its critics. It's earned such a description because it passes " model bills" written by corporate lobbyists and to boot, the lobbyists typically do so behind closed doors at ALEC's annual meetings.

The ALEC-Duke Alernative Energy Attack

Gibson puts it bluntly in his exposé, explaning that North Carolina Republican Rep. Mike Hager "says he is confident that he has the votes needed to weaken or undo his state's [renewable] energy requirements during his second term."

Hager is a former Duke employee, where he ...

http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-right-wings-infamous-alec-attacking-renewable-energy-initiatives

We don't need nuclear power to meet climate goals and keep the lights on
It would be a folly to think that there is no hope of tackling climate change without nuclear power
by Natalie Bennett, the leader of the UK Green party, and Caroline Lucas, the UK's first green MP

is there really no hope of tackling climate change without nuclear power? This is certainly what the nuclear industry wants us all to think. But analysis using the government's figures shows that we don't need nuclear power to meet climate goals and keep the lights on.

Renewable energies, together with combined heat and power, energy efficiency, smart grids, demand management and interconnection, are the building blocks of an alternative energy future. The path we take is a matter of political choice, not technological inevitability.

As for coal, the emissions performance standard in the energy bill should rule out all new unabated coal, although it needs strengthening to ensure the operation of any fossil fuel plant is compatible with the decarbonisation of the power sector by 2030.

Importantly, we also need to stop subsidising the fossil fuel industry. Coal, oil and gas have enjoyed decades of support that the renewables sector can only dream of.

And with the energy bill set to deliver a backdoor subsidy for nuclear...

Will Boeing’s 787 Battery Issues Ground Electric Vehicles, Too?
Ryan Matley
Consultant
February 4, 2013

Boeing has made big news in recent weeks, but for all the wrong reasons. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded Boeing’s flagship airplane, the fuel-efficient, next generation 787 Dreamliner. The problem isn’t its innovative carbon fiber construction, but rather a less heralded technologic leap: lithium ion batteries. In the span of one week a battery caught fire while a plane was at the gate in Boston and another forced an emergency landing and evacuation in Japan when it overheated. This marks the first grounding of an airplane type since the DC-10 in 1979.

Inevitably, news stories appeared connecting the 787’s battery troubles to past laptop battery fires and electric vehicles (EVs), reflexively highlighting the 2011 Chevy Volt fire that occurred following crash testing.

...Unlike electronics and aerospace batteries, electric vehicles do not use LiCoO2 chemistry, specifically because of its safety concerns. (Some 2,500 early Tesla Roadsters used LiCoO2 batteries designed with multiple safeguards, but the company has since switched to batteries with more stable chemistries.) Automakers have intentionally traded less energy density for better safety and lower cost (cobalt is expensive). Most electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids on the road use a lithium-manganese-spinel (LiMn2O4) chemistry. Some are adding a nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry developed at Argonne National Lab to increase energy density.

...Does more stable lithium ion chemistry combined with the robust design of automotive batteries mean a 787-style battery meltdown will never occur in an EV? Of course not. The precise reason that lithium-ion batteries are used—their high energy density—increases the odds of a sudden energy release (aka fire). But that doesn’t mean electric vehicles are any less safe than internal combustion vehicles. For the last one hundred years cars have been carrying around gasoline, which has more than twice the energy density of lithium ion. Automakers have been able to minimize, but not eliminate (see the Ford Pinto) the risk of fire due to fuel leaks. In fact, I might prefer the on-road safety record of current automotive lithium-ion batteries, which have had zero reported fires in over 500 million miles driven. By comparison, gasoline vehicles have averaged nearly 65,000 vehicle fires that caused 300 fatalities per year between 2008 and 2010.

US shifting to a decentralised power system says FERC boss
14/12/2012
By Dr. Heather Johnstone Chief Editor

The US is moving away from an electricity generation system based on large, centralised power stations to a distributed generation or decentralised energy model.

...Solar photovoltaics (PV) is expected to play an important role in the “rapid expansion” of the US’ distributed generation sector, says Wellinghoff, as more and more households and businesses explore the feasibility of rooftops installations.

...Wellinghoff also believes that with the continuing low gas price in the US, on-site natural gas-fired cogeneration systems – both turbine and engine-based – will attract increasing interest by driving down energy costs compared to the traditional centralised generation system.

A key factor now driving this move, according to Wellinghoff, is the seeming prevalence of natural disasters hitting the US, including most recently Hurricane Sandy.

Wellinghoff concluded that ...

Though Obamacare Pays Less, Providers Flock To 'Bundled' Medicare Payments
Bruce Japsen

The Obama administration says more than 500 hospitals and related health care organizations have agreed to be paid "bundled payments" as part of a three-year initiative to lower costs and improve quality in the Medicare program for seniors. In yet another blow to traditional fee-for-service medicine where doctors and hospitals are paid for each service provided for each patient’s illness or course of treatment, the Obama administration says more than 500 hospitals and related health care organizations have agreed to be paid “bundled payments” as part of a three-year initiative.

The payment method, which means medical-care providers will receive somewhat less money for an “episode of care,” is an initiative under the Affordable Care Act that will be tested over the next three years to see if bundling payments can lower the costs of the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly. Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hopes the more than 500 organizations that will soon begin participating in the effort will provide more coordinated medical care for seniors.

“This is huge and this is historic,” Jonathan Blum, a deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said of the large number of providers participating in the bundled payment initiative. “This is a huge scale.”

The program works by bundling Medicare payments for services seniors would receive during an “episode of care” such as a surgical procedure that would put them in a hospital. The bundled payments encourage “hospitals, physicians, post-acute facilities, and other providers as applicable to work together to improve health outcomes and lower costs,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid said in a statement.

Medical care providers in turn agree to...