At G8, Japan turns toward the sun

"Japan has cancelled plans to expand nuclear capacity and opted instead to focus on renewable energy, most notably solar power.

Japan's got an energy equation to solve. Its plans to get half its power from nuclear are off the table now. Experts predicted Japan would use natural gas to pick up the slack.

But the new Sunrise Plan says: no. Japan will meet its expanding energy needs with solar, wind and energy efficiency. Marketplace

Germany nuclear phase out could boost renewable renaissance!

As reported by the New York Times, Germany's state environment ministers have voted to shut down Germany's 7 oldest atomic reactors. The ultimate decision now rests with Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet, on June 6th. Germany's 7 oldest reactors were shut down as a precaution after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe began. Merkel's Conservative Party has suffered electoral defeats in state elections to the Green Party, a direct result of popular concern about radioactive risks, and decades of anti-nuclear organizing in Germany. Already a world leader in wind and solar PV power, as well as energy efficiency, these sectors could be boosted even more by a permanent shut down of Germany's 7 oldest atomic reactors. The Green Party of Germany is calling for complete nuclear phaseout early in the next decade.

IKEA to install 5 MW-e of solar PV panels in eastern U.S.

The Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA plans to install 22,000 solar photovoltaic panels, enough to generate 5 megawatts of electricity (enough to power over 500 households) at several of its stores as well as its U.S. headquarters. The beneficiary sites include near Cincinnati, Ohio, Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Just up the road from Beyond Nuclear's office, in College Park, Maryland, the local IKEA store will also install solar PV. Beyond Nuclear and its environmental allies in northwest Ohio have argued that solar PV -- in combination with energy storage technologies such as compressed air -- could replace the 908 MW of electricity generated by the dangerous Davis-Besse atomic reactor near Toledo. Solar PV panel materials inventer, Dr. Al Compaan, an emeritus professor of Physics, and former head of the department, at the University of Toledo, serves as the environmental coalition's expert witness. IKEA's plan to install solar PV in Cincinnati bolsters our argument that solar PV could replace Davis-Besse in Ohio.

Investigative journalist Stephen Colbert proves wind power IS dangerous!

Two months ago, just 12 days into the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report scooped an exclusive: wind turbines ARE as dangerous as atomic reactors, especially when they rob banks at gunpoint. Thus, congressional supporters of nuclear power are right, we shouldn't overreact the the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe...

(Oh) Yes We Can (afford renewables)!

Taxpayers in The United States will pay $107.3 billion for Proposed Afghanistan war spending for FY2011. For the same amount of money, the following could be provided:

• 24.3 million Households with Renewable Electricity - Solar Photovoltaic for One Year
• 64.8 million Households with Renewable Electricity-Wind Power for One Year

Taxpayers in The United States will pay $553.0 billion for Proposed Department of Defense Budget for FY2012. For the same amount of money, the following could be provided:

• 125.2 million Households with Renewable Electricity - Solar Photovoltaic for One Year
• 334.0 million Households with Renewable Electricity-Wind Power for One Year

Taxpayers in The United States will pay $65.1 billion for Proposed Iraq war spending for FY2011. For the same amount of money, the following could be provided:

• 14.7 million Households with Renewable Electricity - Solar Photovoltaic for One Year
• 39.3 million Households with Renewable Electricity-Wind Power for One Year

Courtesy of the National Priorities Project