Quote:

---

A large Southern California nuclear plant is out of commission indefinitely, and will remain so until there is an understanding of what caused problems at two of its generators and an effective plan to address the issues, the nation's top nuclear regulator said Friday.

Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, refused to give a timetable as to when the San Onofre nuclear plant could resume operation. He said only that his agency had "set some firm conditions" as to when that could happen.

"We won't make a decision (to approve the facility's restart) unless we're satisfied that public health and safety will be protected," Jaczko told reporters. "They have to demonstrate to us that they understand the causes, and ... that they have a plan to address them."

The power plant has been shut down since this winter, when a small amount of radioactive gas escaped from a steam generator during a water leak. At the time, federal regulators said there was no threat to public health, though they could not identify how much gas leaked or exactly why it had happened.

The water leak occurred in thousands of tubes that carry heated water from the reactor core through the plant's steam generators.

Leaks occur periodically in older units, but plant owner Southern California Edison replaced the four steam generators at San Onofre in 2010 and 2011 as part of a $680 million project. They are in units 2 and 3 of the nuclear facility; unit 1 went out of service in 1992.

Each of the 65-foot-tall, 640-ton generators -- built by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- are packed with thousands of narrow tubes that carry hot, pressurized water from the reactors. The heat produces steam in a separate loop that drives the plant's turbines and generators. More at

---

Quote:

---

Converting to renewables will take large amounts of land out of agriculture

---

Quote:

---

A new energy policy, which Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan began to outline this week, would emphasize solar and wind power.

---

Quote:

---

The share of electricity produced from renewable energy in Germany has increased from 6.3 percent of the national total in 2000 to over 20 percent in the first half of 2011. According to official figures, some 370,000 people in Germany were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, especially in small and medium sized companies. This is an increase of around 8 percent compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500).

---

Quote:

---

•Wind output increases by over half compared to 2010
•Contribution driven by bigger capacity and higher wind speeds
•Wind powers equivalent of nearly a fifth of the UK homes per year.

RenewableUK, the trade association for the wind, wave and tidal industry, has hailed the publication of new Government figures as a clear demonstration of the significant role wind power now plays in Britain's energy mix.

Wind power capacity increased by over a gigawatt in 2011, and output increased by over 5.3 terawatt-hours to 15.5TWh – equivalent to the annual demand of 4.7 million homes.

---

Quote:

---

Italy is the world’s sixth largest producer of wind power, with an installed nameplate capacity of 5814 MW in 2010.[1][2]:39

The energy from the 487 active plants accounts for the 19% of the renewable energy produced in Italy in 2010.[2]:38 The total energy produced in 2010 was 8,787 GWh, with an increase of 29% from the previous year.

---

Quote:

---

In China there now are six factories producing at least 2 MW/year each of monocrystalline, poly-crystalline and non-crystalline Photovoltaic cells. China has become a world leader in the manufacture of solar photovoltaic technology, with its six biggest solar companies having a combined value of over $ 15 billion. Around 820 megawatts of solar PV were produced in China in 2007, second only to Japan.[9].Suntech Power Holdings Co based in Jiangsu, is the world's third- biggest supplier of solar cells.

---

Quote:

---

Renewable energy in Spain represented 12.5% of total energy generation in 2009. Spain has set the target of generating 20% of its energy needs from renewable energy sources.

---

Quote:

---

A new energy policy, which Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan began to outline this week, would emphasize solar and wind power. n a speech this week, Kan mentioned several precise targets. By 2020, he said, solar power should cost one-third of what it does now. By 2030, it should be down to one-sixth. And in a decade or so, Japan should be receiving 20 percent of its total energy supply from renewable sources, more than doubling the current share. Kan also said that, by 2030, about 10 million buildings should have solar panels.

---

Quote:

---

About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables. Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 238,000 megawatts (MW) at the end of 2011,[3][4][5] and is widely used in Europe, Asia, and the United States.[6] At the end of 2011 the photovoltaic (PV) capacity worldwide was 67,000 MW, and PV power stations are popular in Germany and Italy.[7] Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.[8] The world's largest geothermal power installation is the Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugarcane, and ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel.[9] Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA. Wiki

---

Quote:

---

A new energy policy, which Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan began to outline this week, would emphasize solar and wind power. n a speech this week, Kan mentioned several precise targets. By 2020, he said, solar power should cost one-third of what it does now. By 2030, it should be down to one-sixth. And in a decade or so, Japan should be receiving 20 percent of its total energy supply from renewable sources, more than doubling the current share. Kan also said that, by 2030, about 10 million buildings should have solar panels.

---