Executive Order Promotes Industrial Energy Efficiency

President Obama on August 30 signed an Executive Order to facilitate investments in industrial energy efficiency that will strengthen U.S. manufacturing and help create jobs. These efforts to boost industrial energy efficiency, including combined heat and power systems, can save manufacturers as much as $100 billion in energy costs over the next decade. Such efficiency measures will reduce energy consumption and harmful emissions.

While manufacturing facilities have become more energy efficient over time, there is an opportunity to accelerate and expand on this trend with investments that reduce energy use through more efficient manufacturing technologies and processes, including expanding use of efficient, on-site heat and power generation, known as combined heat and power. The order also establishes a new national goal of 40 gigawatts of new combined heat and power capacity by 2020, a 50% increase from today.

This Executive Order builds on steps the administration has taken to scale up private sector investments in energy efficiency in our homes, buildings, and factories with efforts like the Better Buildings Initiative and investments upgrading homes around the United States.

In addition, the Executive Order directs the EPA and the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Agriculture to coordinate actions at the federal level while providing policy and technical assistance to states to promote investments in industrial energy efficiency. The Executive Order also directs agencies to foster a national dialogue through ongoing regional workshops to encourage the adoption of best practice policies and investment models. See the White House press release.

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President Obama State of the Union address promotes clean energy

President Obama calls for clean energy tax credits and a clean energy standard January 24 in his annual State of the Union address.
IMG credit: Pete Souza, White House

President Obama calls for clean energy tax credits and a clean energy standard January 24 in his annual State of the Union address. Said: "I go not away from the promise of clean energy", the President surrounded the issue of international competition, pledging not to "cede the wind or solar or battery industry after China or Germany because we refuse to the same commitment here." He announced also on two initiatives promote the deployment of clean energy technologies.

"I am directing my Government permit the development of clean energy on enough public land to 3 million households, making", President Obama said. "And I am proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us which energy in history make the world of's largest consumer of energy, one of the greatest obligations to clean - with the Navy enough capacity by a quarter of a million makes buying apartments a year."

President Obama stresses also the need for more energy efficiency, waste of energy proposes incentives to may update their homes to manufacturers in their factories to eliminate, and the company cut its energy costs by $100 billion over the next ten years. The President referred in addition series tax incentives, the domestic manufacturing clean energy technologies, including an extension of the advanced energy manufacturing tax credit would help. Find data sheets to the President on the website of the White House and the White House proposals on energy and production under the president's State of the Union address.

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Japan Prime Minister criticized safety regulator, says it promotes nuclear energy

Tokyo - Prime Minister of Japan on Sunday criticized the country's nuclear safety agency for allegedly trying to questions to support nuclear energy in public forums of plants.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the nuclear and Agency for industrial side of the industry was, rather than as a regular. He said that it stressed a cosy relationship and the deep-rooted problem which must be corrected tsunami and the nuclear crisis following on the 11 March.

"NISA that nuclear safety, to check the interest to the general public, provided support for the promoter represented." "It, if true was more than just a help," Kan said at an energy Symposium.

Kan's comment followed a report from the Government show that NISA allegedly tried to manipulate public opinion on town meeting on the promotion of nuclear energy.

Public support towards nuclear energy has moved since March disaster that crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant.

International atomic and Energy Agency has criticized Japan's murky nuclear regulation system, while NISA separate the Government recognized the need of the trade and industry Ministry, promoting nuclear energy.

In its report Friday to the Department of Commerce in the Chubu Electric Power Co. said, based in Central Japan, NISA asked the company had in fans, bring it in 2007 organized a public forum and let issues offset anti-nuclear views.

The report was part of the Ministry survey of Japanese nuclear power operator on their public forums in the last five years. Another operator, Shikoku electric power co., said that it had received a similar application from NISA.

Chubu said it encourages enterprise staff participate in the meeting, but not give them with questions as it considers it inappropriate.

Trade Minister Banri Kaieda apologized for NISA the question of planting and promised an independent probe.

The problem surfaced in early July, when another utility, Kyushu electric power co., acknowledged June to send mobilization of dozens of people in supporting comments to a public hearing on whether two of its nuclear reactors restart.

Currently Japan 35 54 reactors idle, cause power bottlenecks in the midst of heat wave. The Government has ordered that all reactors security checks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chornobyl.

Kan called for a long-term effort Friday to scale back Japan's nuclear energy directed policy Overtrhe four decades and to renewable energies.

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Japan promotes a wider evacuation of reactor area

TOKYO - developed new characters on Friday that parts crippled nuclear power station Fukushima Daiichi were so damaged and contaminated that it would be even more difficult to bring the plant under control soon.

At the same time, Japanese began officials who encourage people to evacuate a larger band of territory around the complex.

In an interview with a national audience at a press conference on Friday night, two weeks after the earthquake of magnitude 9.0 and the devastating tsunami, which it followed Prime Minister Naoto Kan dodged a reporter of the question whether the Government was ordering a complete evacuation, said officials were simply follows the recommendation of the Commission for Japan nuclear safety.

"The situation requires more caution," Mr Kan, heavy and tired looking, said the nation. "Our measures are designed to prevent, that the circumstances worse." The authorities said she would now help people leave wanted the range of 12 to 19 miles outside the plant, and that they now "voluntary evacuation" promotion, from the area.

These people indoors, had stay March 15 get, while to evacuate the facility had ordered within a 12-mile radius. The United States has to remain at least 50 miles recommended its citizens.

Mr Kan said "The State of the system is still very precarious,". "We work hard to ensure that it not be worse." "We must ensure that it no further deterioration."

In a new sign of the contamination problem that said nuclear and industrial Agency on Saturday a sample of sea water taken Friday from a monitoring station in the work the level showed the iodine-131 to 50 becquerel per cubic centimeter - 1,250 times of the permitted.

Drink a half litre of water would be tantamount to getting a 1 milliSievert dose, the Agency said, as the amount that a person obtains a year from natural sources.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, Deputy Director of the Agency, said that he expected the iodine quickly, dilute to minimize the impact on wildlife, General and noted that fishing activities in the area was suspended after the Quake and tsunami.

A sign of the possible deterioration of the plant itself came to the reactor workers, the attempted, an electric cable with a pump in a turbine connect no. 3. building next to the reactor were injured when she entered into water, which was found significantly more radioactive than normal be. On Friday, officials and experts offered conflicting explanations of what wrong gegangen-but stressed all greater damage to the reactor systems and more pollution had earlier indicated it as officials.

Two workers were when poured water over their boots and said to their feet and ankles, officials burned and exposed to radiation. A third worker was not the same exposure higher boots and suffering.

As the affected workers, many of those are subcontractors of Tokyo electric power, who are paid a small daily wage for hours of work in dangerous conditions risk of their lives. They are sometimes ill-equipped and trained for their job.

On the Saturday concentrated to the workers to try, the lighting reactor No. 2 central control room, an important step towards the restoration of unity cooling system restore. You were once again pump prepare units, the No. 1, no. 2 and no. 3 after days with salt water to fresh water.

Said the National Institute of radiological sciences, that the radioactivity of the water, the the three injured workers in joined had 10,000 times the level normally in the coolant water was seen in the work. It said that the amount of radiation that the workers were intended, to the water exposed to have two to six Sieverts was.

Eight times, the new 250 milliSievert is even two Sieverts annual exposure limit value for workers in total be set in the days following the disaster; the previous limit was 100. Tokyo Electric officials said that water had been found with an equally high radiation in the reactor No. 1 building, reported the associated press.

Skin demands from two to six of Sieverts j. Brenner, Director of the Center for radiological research at Columbia University caused severe burns, according to Dr. David. But if these cans reach the whole body and not only the skin "You are a very high risk of dying," he said.

Hiroko Tabuchi and David Jolly reported from Tokyo and Keith Bradsher from Hong Kong. Takeshi Takizawa from New York reporting helped Tokyo and Denise Grady.

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