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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Spanish 19.9 megawatt concentrating solar power plant Torresol has used molten salt energy storage to become the first solar plant to generate power on a 24 hour basis (thanks to particularly good weather).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Its salt tank is generally good for 15 hours of energy production in the absence of the sun.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The heat storage allows Torresol approximately to triple its power production over time.
</font><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/07/05/260438/solar-can-be-baseload-spanish-csp-plant-with-storage-produces-electricity-for-24-hours-straight/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/07/05/260438/solar-can-be-baseload-spanish-csp-plant-with-storage-produces-electricity-for-24-hours-straight/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>World investment in renewable energy last year was $211 billion, an increase of 32% over the previous year and 540% over 2004.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The largest investments were in wind energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>As for the greatest growth, investment in small-scale solar doubled last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110707/bs_afp/energyenvironmentrenewablesinvestment"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110707/bs_afp/energyenvironmentrenewablesinvestment</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Renewable energy in the US now supplies 11.7% of our power, more than nuclear energy and 77% as much as domestic oil production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/07/eia-report-renewables-surpass-nuclear-output?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-July6-2011"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/07/eia-report-renewables-surpass-nuclear-output?cmpid=WNL-Wednesday-July6-2011</font></a></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></o:p></p>
<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Local news: the Jacksonville <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Florida Times-Union</i> has taken a strong editorial position on the need for action on climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2011-07-07/story/climate-change-get-practical-about-issue"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2011-07-07/story/climate-change-get-practical-about-issue</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The support for action comes as 6 of the 11 FL Regional Councils, at least 2 of the water management districts, and many of the state’s cities are engaged in serious planning for climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Jacksonville has yet to conduct a carbon inventory or do serious formal planning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Times-Union</i> position will lend aid to those who wish to better Jacksonville’s efforts.</font></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A Stanford poll finds that a denier stance on climate does not help a candidate with Republican voters and greatly hampers the candidate with Democrats and independents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/wooing-voters-or-not-with-a-climate-pitch/?partner=rss&emc=rss"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/wooing-voters-or-not-with-a-climate-pitch/?partner=rss&emc=rss</font></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="3" face="Calibri">
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Africa has been considered primarily as a victim of climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>But the wrong kind of development could render Africa a serious contributor to the problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A meeting of 30 African energy and foreign affairs ministers was advised that as the region develops, it needs to do so renewably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The head of the IPCC said that he saw great potential in hydro, solar, and wind power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The ministers responded enthusiastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_africa_renewable_energy"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_africa_renewable_energy</font></a></p>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A couple of years ago I reported on Hyperion, which holds a license Los Alamos National Lab for a liquid metal cooled modular nuclear power unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><a href="http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/</font></a>
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<p style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">They are still waiting for licensure from the government, and still intend to produce their unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Lately Stephen Chu has added his support to the modular project in general, calling it the “new nuclear option.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1765445/mini-nukes-rolling-to-a-power-plant-near-you"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.fastcompany.com/1765445/mini-nukes-rolling-to-a-power-plant-near-you</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>While they are still years from production, and while the UCS may have safety issues to bring forward, they promise a resilient post-carbon power supply in combination with distributed renewables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Water usage, waste production, and liability issues are all said to be rendered manageable by the new modular designs.</font></font></p>
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