BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:09 PM

It seems that one of their main problems is an unbelieveable grid where one part of the country has one kind of voltage and the other side has a different kind so they can not transfer from one side to another.

They are sitting on a goldmine of tidal power and wind power..and I believe geothermal power...and have land that can not be used for farming now but could have wind I would think on a seacoast.

Anyway, it seems that upgrading the grid as well as getting local power to local needs would be very important business.

I know why the grid developed how it did..different companies with different designs..but what if any was the incentive for keeping it that way over the years in a pretty prosperous industrial country dependent on electricity...some have suggested then you need nuclear power so was it done on purpose? mg

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 03:59 PM

The BBC article is misleading. Kan wants to reduce dependence on nuclear energy, and wants 20 percent in the 2020s.
As a result of this policy, dependence on fossil fuels will increase temporarily.
He said nothing about ending nuclear energy, only reducing dependence.
Japan Times, Wed. July 13. "Kan plan set to end nuclear goals" (of reaching 53 percent by 2030.

In another article, Softbank Corp. is proposing solar plants on idle farmland.

The lead article in today's Japan Times says GE proposed alterations to their original plans for Fukushima reactors, but TEPCO would not permit any changes in the original plans.

In the meantime, the opposition may turn out Kan in forthcoming elections.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:54 AM

Kan promises a nuclear-free future:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14137186

but without providing any concrete suggestions as to how.

That has to be the least convincing poltical promise since Thatcher's "the NHS is safe in our hands".

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 10 Jul 11 - 03:08 PM

Good to hear that the recent 7.1 earthquake caused no major damage. The Japanese deserve some good luck. But they shouldn't count on it.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jul 11 - 01:43 PM

Q... heheheheee.

Scandalous re the e!

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Jul 11 - 01:18 PM

Oh well, Gnu, we all need a bath sometime.

No damage from the offshore earthquake and only a 10 centimeter' 'tsunami'.

Dirty Tricks
A whistle-blower within the company exposed phony emails sent by the Kyushu Electric Power Company that supported restarting their nuclear power stations. The emails purported to be from local residents.
Japan Times, Sunday July 10.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 10 Jul 11 - 10:15 AM

I was just thinkin... where I sit is elevation 32m and there's a pretty clear run straight right at me at "the Bend" in the river which is very wide at the mouth and narrows toward the bend. We have a tidal bore (used to have before the causeway silted up the river... now it's paltry). If we had a tsunami like they had, I'd get wet.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 10 Jul 11 - 03:28 AM

No tsunami this time thank God, but I wonder what further structural damage may have been caused to the sites:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-14096707

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 09 Jul 11 - 06:34 AM

Well, if you turn on power stations that are still churning out nuclear pollution, the lights are gonna go out anyway aren't they?

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 05:33 PM

Well, they are in a tough situation on more than one front in the shutdowns. The shareholders, the public AND the industries that need power. Ya can't just turn off the lights can ya?

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 03:23 PM

The Japanese Cabinet has approved a bill to enable the central government to remove and dispose of debris on behalf of afflicted municipalities upon their request. 148 municipalities in nine prefectures will be eligible for government help in clealing the estimated 21.8 million tons of debris, which interferes with reconstruction and is a breeding ground for pests.
Environmental Minister Eda said the government will "uphold the fundamental principle that it is the municipalities job to handle waste disposal, [but] financial assistance will be given through tax allocations to ease their burden."

"Two now-former Kyushu Epectric Power Co. executives .... were involved in a ploy to have employees solicit supportive public comments during an industry-sponsored event pushing for the restart of two of the utility's reactors...."

"Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized to his cabinet... for his sudden order to conduct "stress tests" on all nuclear power plants in Japan." Further items in the article indicate that the order has caused confusion, as some members of the cabinet are not in agreement.

Extracted from three articles in Japan Times, July 8, 2011.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 11:44 AM

Another awkward moment. We keep saying things like the Japanese should be well prepared to deal with disaster in terms of technical requirements, logistics, supplies, and communications. And they keep failing to make passing grades for any of the above.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 06:23 AM

Total confusion of testing:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14075758

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 08:16 PM

I missed this June 21 update from NIRS, a map which indicates that radiation has spread well beyond the evacuation zone, at a level which should be of concern to the public: click here for report!

"A new version of the map we posted Friday of radiation readings in Japan sheds more light on the vast contamination of the northern part of the country and new evidence that the government's response has been woefully inadequate. The map is here. (Warning, this is a very large—15mb—pdf file; not recommended for slow connections).

For perspective, a radiation level of about 0.19 MicroSieverts/hour is roughly equivalent to the maximum allowable radiation exposure level (1 MilliSievert/year or 100 Millirems/year (note 0.19 actually comes out to 166 mrem/year) for the United States. Until March 2011, that was also the allowable exposure level in Japan."

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 01:56 PM

Much confusion in BBC and other reports about the state of reactors in Japan.
Argument about "restart" - 19 of the reactors are in full swing, unaffected by any stop order. Article in China Post, as reported by BBCnews online.

As I noted in my last post, two plants in "test" mode are operating full tilt and supplying electricity to the national grid. As long as they don't make status requests, the government cannot stop them.

The pressure of Japanese industry will insure general startup soon.

Scientists in Japan are worried about Hamaoaka plant, whose operator has agreed to a temporary shutdown in order to make improvements to its ability to withstand quakes. It sits on a major fault line.
guardian.co.uk, 9 May 2011.
Checking reports, the plant, operated by Chubu Electric, has not yet shut down. Charley may have found a better report.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 07:39 AM

"It's only a test!"

"Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go...."

Have a nice day!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 06:35 AM

Nuclear tests criticised:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14058940

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 07:46 PM

Sticking to the subject, two stories in the Japan Times Wednesday.

1. Unsanctioned Reactors Running on Test Mode. Story from Bloomberg.
"Kansai Electric Power Co. and Hokkaido Electric Power Co. are operating two nuclear reactors without approval...."
"A reactor at Kepco's Ohi nuclear plant is operating at full capacity without the final go-ahead from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, ... said a spokesman from the Osaka-based utility.
"The same applies for a reactor at Hokkaido Electric's Tomari plant, spokesman Hisatoshi Kibayashi said."
"... It's unusual the reactors are running for four months on a tst basis, but there is nothing illegal about it," said Tomohiro Sawada, an assistant director at NISA's nuclear power inspection division."
... "The approvals for the Ohi and Tomari reactors haven't been granted because Kepco and Hokkaido Electric have yet to submit requests to NIsa, .... Both reactors are supplying power to the electricity grid."

Makes one wonder what regulatory power the government has.

2. TEPCO pledges 300,000 yen more to each evacuee. ... "The payment follows the first provisional compensation payment, in which Tepco gave up to one million yen to each household within 30 km of the radiation-leaking plant....
People who did not evacuate but were in areas where residents were asked to stay indoors will be paid 100,000 yen each. ...
The total amount of additional compensation will reach up to 48 million yen.

There are stories that the company may go into bankruptcy.

The paper also has more on the inspections being required on food and farm items from Shizuoka Prefecture after green tea leaves imported to France were found to be double the EU limit for radioactive caesium.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 03:51 PM

Meanwhile in the Mediterranean:

Jellyfish at Hadera, Israel

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 07:02 AM

Japan to hold stress tests:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14040354

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 05 Jul 11 - 07:32 AM

Just the kind of shot in the foot this effort needs.

If the impact weren't so tragic this unfolding story would make a fine comic opera, and may well inspire several mediocre ones.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 05 Jul 11 - 03:13 AM

Minister in charge of tsunami clean-up quits after only one week:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14024206

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 08:19 PM

Q-

As I recall, Units 5 and 6 were shut down for re-fueling and maintenance. So there should be no fuel in their cores. The worry would be with regard to the continued cooling of their spent fuel pools.

As I've vented several times before, the 6 spent fuel pools and the 7th common spent fuel pool are what ups the ante for a nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima-1. The engineers on-site should appreciate that danger. The general public assumes that "spent nuclear fuel" is harmless.

I think that recycling the filtered but still contaminated coolant makes more sense than adding fresh water to the mix. One assumes that the more heavily contaminated water will be filtered again. It would also be nice if their Areva decontamination plant would stay on-line. One wonders what they'll do with the highly radioactive filters, other than dump them into the Pacific.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 07:08 PM

An article in The Wall Street Journal (Asia) says Tepco has resumed using contaminated water to cool the reactors.
This is better than contaminating fresh seawater, but each time the water is recycled, is more radioactivity added?
It is not clear that the Areva decontamination system is 100 percent effective, or only partially effective, in removing contaminants as they are cycled through.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 07:00 PM

Another report here- http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n253640

It says that when the cooling operation is halted, the temperature is expected to rise 2.5 C. per hour.
"The company [Tepco] says that if the replacement work finishes during the night and the cooling system is restarted, the water temperature will not exceed 100 degrees, the level needed to keep the reactor in a state of cold shutdown."
"The No. 5 reactor was hit by a pump failure on May 29th, when a delay in recovery briefly sent the water temperature to 94.8 degrees."

In other words, "cold shutdown" must be maintained by a constant flow of water!

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 06:46 PM

Charley, I'm confused as well, but that is the story in the Japan Times, Reactor 5 at Fukushima 1.

So- What do they mean by cold shutdown?
Did the quake/tsunami damage the rod containment so that water must constantly be added to keep the rods cool?
I dunno!

A report 04.04.11 said stability at 5-6 under threat. Listening to the youtube coverage of the broadcast of that date- youtube.com/watch?v=W7uGvW8xvY, they were worried about flooding at 5-6, but is is hard to understand the brief cuts by the spokesmen.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 04:41 PM

Thanks for the updates!

I'll be quite happy if this thread can be gracefully retired but that may be a few hundred years from now.

Q-

Is that reactor Unit 5 at Fukushima-1? I thought Units 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 04:01 PM

Why? Did _______ pick them?

Hose rip interrupts water flow to No. 5 reactor at Fukushima, for 3 1/2 hours. Seems to be the only incident today.
"If it hadn't been fixed, the reactor would have reached boiling point about 22hours later... That would cause all its water to ewvaporate, exposing the rods and causing another core meltdown."
"On May 29, unit 5 nearly started boiling after a seawater pump broke overnight and its replacement was delayed until daylight."
Japan Times, Sunday, July 3.

Being an independent newspaper, I prefer the Japan Times to NHK, a government-run source.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 03:37 PM

Ohhhh... it will remain "active"... wash your grapes from Calleeforneeahh and your cherries from Washington really well.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Ebbie
Date: 03 Jul 11 - 03:02 PM

I hope this thread remains active.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jul 11 - 02:55 PM

staff writer.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jul 11 - 02:52 PM

"The long road to recovery remains stuck at square one, with the government unable to decide how to handle the rubble and radioactive debris that still plagues much of the region, not to mention the radioactive waste that is being found far outside of Fukushima."

"Hot spots are spreading, schools just hide dangerous soil."

In a usual understatement, Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said last month- "This is an issue that calls for a certain amount of thorough examination."
"According to the ministry, any radioactive waste measuring 8,000 becquerels of caesium per killogram can be managed by disposal sites, but separately from other garbage and only if the facility is equipped with special filters."
"...officials settled on 8000 becquerels because that level is deemed safe for the people directly involver with handling the waste." This waste will be buried in waste dumps. "Where the burial facility will be located remains undecided."

Outsife Fukushima Prefecture, "a sludge plant in Koto Ward, Tokyo, had a level of radioactivity of about 170,000 becquerels per kilogram." "A group of local mothers argue that the area is now a radioactivity hot spot."

Friday, July 1, 2011, Japan Times- "Radioactive Debris Dilemma Unresolved, Growing Worse." Jun Hongo, stall writer.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 02 Jul 11 - 01:10 PM

The stream of info at NHK is drying up. Only a trickle now. Spent fuel pool at #3 is at 40C. 1 $ 4 pools cooling systems to be operating in a month... water injection continues.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Jul 11 - 10:02 AM

Shifting focus to Taiwan and the impact of the Fukushima-1 disaster on that country's nuclear energy policy:

INTERPRESS SERVICE: TAIWAN Opposition Urges Nuclear Phase-out By 2025 (Dennis Engbarth)

"The nuclear power issue is warming up to be a major issue in the coming presidential and national legislative election in January. My story outlines the position of Tsai Ing-wen, who is the presidential candidate for the centrist and Taiwan - centric Democratic Progressive Party, which grew out of the struggle against the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) and which is now back as an elected (right-wing) ruling party. Since the KMT created Taiwan`s three nuclear power plants during the authoritarian period (and of course didnt bother to ask the people whether they wanted the risk) and is pouring funds into the completion of the fourth nuclear power plant, the battle lines are pretty clearly drawn. During its eight years in power from May 2000-May 2008, the DPP initially tried to halt construction of the fourth plant but was blocked by the legislature, which was still (and remains) KMT controlled.

The KMT and its incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou (a Harvard University law PHD and ex spy on students) are rather scared of the nuclear power issue given what has happened in Germany, Italy etc and the revitalization of Taiwan`s nuclear power and environmental movement. At a civic forum on the issue in Taipei last weekend, Environmental Protection Administration Minister Shen Chih-hung said that the issue should be decided mainly through ``professional commissions`` and should NOT become an election issue, which of course means that it is already an election issue that is hurting the KMT, especially among independent voters.

Last weeks forum on on nuclear power and Taiwan`s energy policy had the most ever discussion of alternatives I`ve seen. Besides a long presentation by Tsai on her policy proposal (which environmentalists see as rather too moderate but certainly preferable to the KMT`s ``full speed ahead`` (of course, the KMT premier insists that N4 will only be loaded and started if it is 100 percent safe....) and by the German unofficial diplomatic rep her and a rep from the Japan Green Party, there were very detailed presentations on clean coal with carbon storage, solar, wind, dispersed and intelligent power systems (the system now run by the state-power Taiwan Power Co is very centralized and dumb and very unfriendly to renewables or cogen as Taipower doesn`t want to buy back excessive power for its grid)."

I should mention that the reporter Dennis Engbarth is an old friend of mine from my days in East Lansing, Michigan in the 1970's.

And so it goes!
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 07:10 PM

Onward!

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 04:53 PM

E-mails from British Government officials leaked to the Guardian (newspaper) reveal how government contacted Nuclear Industry two days after earthquake in order to devise a joint PR campaign downplaying the disaster.

Article

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 02:26 PM

It is now expected that the Las Conchas fire will miss Los Alamos and the inhabitants will be able to return soon.

Summer vacation season brings tourists and attendants to the musical and other events although most are wintertime events.
Guitarist Sandy Hoffman in concert July 21, Los Pinguos (Argentina) in August, etc. The very unusual Farmer's Market (Northern New Mexico specialities) in full swing.
The Science Museum has activities for the whole family.

Contaminated soil? Not in the townsite. A lovely small city.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 01:47 PM

Earthquake? Flood? Fire? ... the angels pour out yet another vial of apocalypse over a nuclear power station...

Scottish nuclear power station shut down by jellyfish

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 11:01 PM

About the only really worry is if the radioactive soil on site becomes airborne when the fire storm rolls over it and it becomes mobilized in the plume.

The safety precautions taken by the staff in recent years should protect the thousands of drums of low-level radioactive waste from the fire.

I'm not convinced that the lab buildings themselves are invulnerable to a fire storm.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 09:12 PM

Links to maps showing Las Conchas fire extent and location of Los Alamos here:
New Mexico Fire Info

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 09:02 PM

The latest, most accurate information is available from the Laboratory itself.
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Research into medicine, vaccines, genetics, ocean and air circulation, the environment, global security and other subjects are all part of the programs at the Laboratory. More laboratory space and personnel are devoted to these subjects than to nuclear research.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 08:43 PM

Los Alamos is about 7300 feet, in the pine-piñon elevation, with some cottonwoods for variety. It is on mesas of a large plateau. I remember when it only was a private boys school, some of my friends went there for high school level, and I was unhappy that my family couldn't afford to send me there. The area is great for camping, there are pre-historic ruins nearby, and the great Valle Grande, a collapsed caldera, also is nearby, now a preserve with much wildlife.

The government moved in, built the labs, and it has grown to a town of about 23,000. Many people commute from nearby towns.
The citizens living there are middle class, many with advanced degrees, and as a result theatre, music, dance and art are part of the recreational activities and festivals are well-attended by people from Santa Fe and the entire region.

I see no threat to nuclear materials, most of which are stored below ground level. Ten years ago, another forest fire went into the townsite. It is a research and engineering facility, no nuclear reactor is there.

See http://visit.losalamos.com/home.htm for a visitor guide and calender of events.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jack Campin
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 08:16 PM

BBC coverage of the Los Alamos fire:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13937781

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: gnu
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 06:48 PM

Soooo... wildfires are treatenting fuel storage at Los Alamos? Just saw it on tape from the news last night. WTF?

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 08:32 PM

France is steaming ahead with approval of the next generation of nuclear power plants. This new generation of plants will be much safer than the oh so safe nuclear power plants of the previous generation which were so safe that nothing could go wrong and the energy produced was too cheap to meter.

Comme ci, comme ca.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 01:40 PM

Residents of Fukushima Prefecture are beginning to receive radiation checks (esp. thyroid).
Japan Times, Tuesday, June 28.

BBC News this morning says cleaning of contaminated water stalled again.

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: SINSULL
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 11:51 AM

But the plant owners wouldn't lie, Charley...

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 08:10 AM

Update:

"Water from the Missouri River that normally aids in cooling the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station has now become its worst enemy, as a levee helping to protect electrical transformers at the Nebraska facility has collapsed, forcing workers to switch to emergency generators.

Flood waters reached containment buildings and transformers Sunday, forcing the shutdown of electrical power at the plant."

The plant owners claim there is no danger to the public, since the plant was shut down for refueling last April. But one does worry about how well the back-up cooling pumps are functioning to continue to cool the spent fuel pool.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 09:22 AM

A reasonable plan given the unreasonable costs of relying upon nuclear energy in an earthquake/tsunami zone.

So, what is the current thinking along the coast of California, other than "It can't happen here!"

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Japan Nuclear plant disaster, 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 08:24 AM

Hamaoka plant gets emergency aid for alternative energy:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13899346