Supposedly nuclear power plants are extremely clean – and certainly they don’t directly produce a “carbon” footprint, in the way that fossil fuels do. However, a few years ago we had Stanford Univ Professor Mark Jacobsen speak at the Electric Auto Association (Silicon Valley Chapter) about a study he wrote…
Search online for information on Pacific Ocean radiation from Fukushima, and the search results fill up with fear filled claims the Ocean is burning up from the radiation, and we’re all about to die. On Tuesday, initial results were announced by an effort organized by the Woods Hole Institute showing…
Officials in Japan are beginning to suggest the unthinkable at the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant: releasing stored radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. On Tuesday, the China Post reported that a Japanese government panel studying the problem of radioactive water at Fukushima have agreed to postpone the problem of…
The trouble-prone water decontamination system at TEPCO’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant sprang a hydrochloric acid leak and had to be shut down on Sunday. The acid is used to neutralize alkaline water used in decontaminating the radioactive water that cools the damaged nuclear reactor piles. While only a tiny…
Energy efficiency programs got a shot in the arm today with an open letter to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) calling on California’s utility companies to “aim higher in their efforts to help customers save energy.” Utility companies have made impressive gains…
The continuing nuclear accident disaster at TEPCO’s Fukushima power plant has many people worried about radioactive contamination in the ocean and fish. The Physicians for Civil Defense noted on Tuesday there isn’t enough radiation monitoring equipment in the U.S. to properly measure what’s going on. And in the absence of…
A $45 million package of Department of Energy grants supporting advanced vehicle technologies included $22.5 million for advanced battery research, and another $8 million for power electronics research. The grants aim to cut battery size and weight in half, allow semiconductors to operate more efficiently and at higher temperature, give greater durability, reliability, and lower…
Radioactive water leaks at TEPCO’s Fukushima nuclear power plant are not as bad as the press is reporting, said TEPCO on Sunday. Over the weekend TEPCO discovered a leak of radioactive water, at a lethal radiation level, from a storage tank, over which TEPCO says news reports blew the danger…
Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) could diversify its supply chain by signing up a new battery cell maker. Tesla Motors is talking with Samsung SDI to supply battery cells, according to a report in the Korean Herald. This would diversify a critical component in Tesla’s supply chain, and potentially give the company a much-needed boost…
The US Energy Department announced on Thursday seventeen new projects, for $16 million total investment, to capture energy from waves, tides and currents. The goal is to increase America’s renewable energy portfolio, increase the power production and reliability of wave and tidal devices, and help gather valuable data on how…
It probably doesn’t matter to most people what their car weighs. Some people geek out on things like this, and for example claim that the Tesla Model S is really heavy because it weighs about 5,000 lbs. And when you’re told a number like that, it sounds heavy, but then…
TEPCO reported on Sunday that highly toxic levels of radioactive tritium and cesium are leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the crippled Fukushima no. 1 power plant. Amid rising concerns about radiation leaks at the site, and a declaration of Emergency by Japans Nuclear Regulatory Agency, TEPCO drilled a new…
General Atomics announced on Tuesday development of a small nuclear modular reactor that they claim is the most advanced high-performance reactor in the world. The company has submitted a proposal to the US Dept. of Energy to bring the reactor design to the market. Their design offers a use for…
Semiconductor maker Cree announced on Monday a ground-breaking new LED replacement for streetlights. The newly unveiled XSPR LED Residential Street Light series brings the advantages of LED lighting to municipal street-lights, while being priced low enough that cost savings from lower electricity bills pays for its purchase within a year.…
Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority has said, on Monday, there is a new emergency at the Fukushima nuclear plant, thanks to a build-up of radioactive ground-water. Highly radioactive water has leaked into the ocean after an underground barrier was breached, the water is rising towards the surface, and is exceeding legal…
