Cleanup should be the responsibility of local municipalities says court
This week, lawyers for Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) argued that “radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO.” The utility was trying to defend itself in court proceedings after owners of a golf course near the crippled plant charged that they could not continue operations because of safety risks to employees. In November, grass samples on the course measured 235,000 Bq/kg of cesium; radioactive strontium was measured at 98 Bq/kg. The court rejected TEPCO’s claim, but said that cleanup should be the responsibility of local municipalities, not the utility. Lawyers are appealing the decision, but experts say that if the ruling stands, local governments may be bankrupted by decontamination costs.
More investment in renewable power sector
Renewable energy is surpassing fossil fuels for the first time in new power-plant investments, shaking off setbacks from the financial crisis and an impasse at the United Nations global warming talks.
Electricity from the wind, sun, waves and biomass drew $187 billion last year compared with $157 billion for natural gas, oil and coal, according to calculations by Bloomberg New Energy Finance using the latest data. Accelerating installations of solar- and wind-power plants led to lower equipment prices, making clean energy more competitive with coal.
CO2 emission jump
Worldwide carbon dioxide emissions jumped 5.9% last year, according to the Global Carbon Project. Yes, a record amount of CO2–500 million tons more than the year before–was loosed into the atmosphere in 2010. it “was almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution, and the largest percentage increase since 2003.” Total emissions—including fossil fuel combustion, cement production, deforestation and other land use emissions—reached 10 billion tonnes of carbon (36.7 billion tonnes of CO2) in 2010 for the first time.