QUICK NEWS, 3-29: NUKED SUSHI; NEW ENERGY BRINGING MICHIGAN JOBS; FIRST SOLAR’S $300 MIL MANUFACTORY; MARYLAND PUSHES OCEAN WIND PRICE

NUKED SUSHI
Marine Life Faces Threat From Runoff
Elisabeth Rosenthal and William J. Broad, March 28, 2011 (NY Times)

"The announcement by Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy that high levels of radioactive cesium have been detected in seawater near the crippled nuclear reactors raises the prospect that radiation could enter the food chain.

"Cesium 137 levels were 20 times the normal level about 1,000 feet from the effluent at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. That is far less than the level of the other main radioactive isotope spilling from the plant, iodine 131…[which] was found in concentrations of more than 1,150 times the maximum allowable for a seawater sample a mile north of the plant…[C]esium 137 poses the greater long-term danger to the marine food chain."

The problem has steadily gotten bigger with no relief in sight. Welcome to the age of nuclear energy. (click to enlarge)

"Iodine 131 degrades relatively fast, becoming half as potent every eight days. So the radioactive risk can be combated by banning fishing and the consumption of seafood for a period of time, as the Japanese have already done…Cesium 137, on the other hand, has a half-life of 30 years. Worse still, it is absorbed by marine plants, which are eaten by fish and — like mercury — tends to become concentrated as it moves up the food chain…

"The exact source of the cesium 137 is unclear, although some scientists have speculated that the seawater dumped on the overheating reactors to cool them picked up radiation and then washed back out to sea…[H]ighly radioactive water in several tunnels is threatening to overflow and may also contain cesium 137."

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"Even so, the ocean has remarkable power to dilute radioactive effluents, because of its sheer volume and depth. And the ocean is already slightly radioactive…[because for] eons, elements like uranium have washed into it from rivers…[and] humans have dumped radioactive materials…including dozens of nuclear warheads and reactors that are slowly decaying, as well as many thousands of barrels of radioactive waste…In October 1993, a Russian ship dumped hundreds of tons of low-level nuclear waste into the Sea of Japan…[creating tension] between Tokyo and Moscow.

"Oceanographers have monitored the areas around the dumps for dangerous levels of radioactivity but typically find little of consequence because of the sea’s powers of dilution. Even so, in 1994 most countries gave up the longstanding practice of dumping radioactive materials into the sea."


NEW ENERGY BRINGING MICHIGAN JOBS
Clean Energy Creates Manufacturing Job Growth in Michigan; New Study Finds 121 Solar Energy Companies and 120 Wind Power Companies Working in Michigan
March 22, 2011 (Environmental Law and Policy Center)

"The Environmental Law and Policy Center’s new Michigan’s solar and wind energy supply chain study finds that 121 Michigan companies are engaged in the solar industry and 120 Michigan companies are part of the wind energy supply chain…[Together they] provide over 10,000 jobs in Michigan. The state’s manufacturers and research and development institutions benefit from policies that encourage growth in the clean energy sector…

"…[The Solar and Wind Industry Supply Chain in Michigan] profiles the wide variety of Michigan businesses…The state is home to huge manufacturers like Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor, as well as over 100 small businesses such as Walker Miller Energy Services and Hot Watt Solar that serve a growing base of residential and commercial clients…[all of which] are looking forward to sound policies that will support the domestic market for clean energy."

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[Jerrod Erpelding, spokesman for Dow Corning:] “Dow Corning and Hemlock Semiconductor are investing billions of dollars right here in Michigan to research, develop and manufacture materials critical to the solar and wind energy industries…Our goal is to help alternative energy become an economically viable, sustainable energy option globally. Michigan is well positioned to play a major role in alternative energy with the assets and expertise already residing here.”

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[Blaire H. Miller, EVP of URV USA, LLC:] “URV USA will build the first major clean-tech foundry in the US in more than 40 years, securing domestic capacity for very heavy wind turbine components as well as other industrial iron castings. We have begun shipping top quality finished components to major US OEMs and look forward to developing the new industry materials standard in collaboration with the US Dept. of Energy, State of Michigan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Michigan Technological University…”

"The report notes that strong public policies are key to growing any industry, and the wind and solar industries are no exception. Strengthening the Michigan renewable energy standard and enacting the proposed federal renewable energy standard would help grow the local economy by increasing Michigan’s export opportunities for renewable energy as well as manufactured wind and solar components and professional services."


FIRST SOLAR’S $300 MIL MANUFACTORY
First Solar to Build Solar Module Factory in Mesa, Arizona; New Factory Will Create 600 Jobs Annual Production of More Than 250MW
March 17, 2011 (First Solar)

"First Solar, Inc…will build its new U.S. manufacturing center in Mesa, Ariz…[and] invest about $300 million in the factory, which will create approximately 600 jobs and will include four manufacturing lines with a capacity to produce more than 250 megawatts (MW) of advanced thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules per year…[I]n combination with First Solar’s recently expanded facility in Perrysburg, Ohio, [this] will increase First Solar’s U.S. production capacity to more than 500MW per year.

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"Construction will begin in the second quarter of 2011 and is expected to last a year, creating an average of 400-500 construction jobs. Module shipments are scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2012. The facility is located on a 135-acre site that was previously home to a General Motors vehicle testing facility and is designed to accommodate future expansion. The facility will include a 3MW rooftop solar installation as well as an extensive ground-mounted PV testing facility. The factory will utilize First Solar’s continuous manufacturing process which transforms a sheet of glass into a complete solar module in less than 2.5 hours, which contributes to the industry-leading energy payback time and low carbon footprint of systems utilizing First Solar’s thin-film modules…"

"…First Solar also is currently building two utility-scale PV projects in Arizona, the 290MW Agua Caliente project in Yuma County for NRG Energy and the 17MW Paloma Solar Plant in Gila Bend for APS, which are expected to create more than 500 construction jobs. First Solar’s North American project pipeline includes more than 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of projects expected to create approximately 2,000 construction jobs and drive $6 billion of infrastructure investment over three years.

"Like all of its PV modules, the entire production output of the Mesa factory will be part of First Solar’s comprehensive, prefunded solar module collection and recycling program, the first of its kind in the industry. Anyone wishing to dispose of First Solar modules can request collection at any time, at no additional cost, and First Solar will pick up the modules and recycle up to 90% (by mass) of the material for use in new products…"


MARYLAND PUSHES OCEAN WIND PRICE
O'Malley Introduces Amendments To Offshore Wind Bill
24 March 2011 (North American Windpower)

"Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md., has introduced new amendments to the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2011 that will limit the Public Service Commission's (PSC) ability to approve projects to only those projects with pricing impacts on Maryland families of less than $2 per month.

"The bill would require that public utilities purchase between 400 MW to 600 MW of power from offshore wind generation facilities in federal waters adjacent to the PJM Control Area for a period of 25 years."

A great energy asset (click to enlarge)

"…PSC currently directs the utilities to procure approximately 25% of [residential ratepayers] power at a time, in two-year contracts, making [them] vulnerable to periodic [market price] increases…"

A great and affordable energy asset (click to enlarge)

"…[Other amendments] would require the developer of the project to pass along any savings from federal tax incentives to ratepayers…[and] require the PSC to consider, as a criterion of choosing the project, a developer's plan to include minority- and women-owned businesses as well as small businesses in the development and distribution of offshore wind energy.

"Offshore wind could create more than 20 direct jobs per annual megawatt, including jobs in manufacturing, engineering and skilled labor…A 500 MW wind generation facility in the waters off of the Delmarva coast could generate as many as 2,000 manufacturing and construction jobs during the five-year development period, with an additional 400 permanent jobs once the turbines are spinning."