Reuters: Nuclear Capacity Set to Grow by 45 Percent by 2035

Global nuclear power generation capacity could increase by more than 45 percent in the next 20 years, but the pace of growth will still fall short of what is needed to curb climate change, an industry organization report showed this week.

The World Nuclear Association Nuclear Fuel report forecasts global nuclear capacity will grow to 552 gigawatts-equivalent (GWe) by 2035 from 379 GWe currently, as many countries build new plants as a lower-carbon option and for energy security.

The International Energy Agency has estimated that nuclear capacity needs to reach 660 GWe in 2030 and more than 900 GWe by 2050 to help keep a rise in global temperatures within 2°C this century, a threshold scientists say should avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The Press Enterprise: Biden Puts Spotlight on Solar

When Vice President Joe Biden speaks at an international solar energy conference in Anaheim on Wednesday, Sept. 16, expect the audience of solar industry insiders to be both appreciative and anxious.

As part of its efforts to curb climate change, the Obama administration has fueled a solar-energy boom. It has provided billions of dollars in loan guarantees and opened up vast expanses of federal lands for glistening arrays of solar panels.

Yet solar developers big and small now face financial uncertainties as the sun sets on a 30 percent tax credit for completed alternative energy projects, said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Bloomberg View: Saudis Are Winning the War on Shale

If you believe all the recent stories about how Saudi Arabia is losing the price war it started against U.S. tight oil producers last year, the new Oil Market Report from the International Energy Agency offers a reality check. The Saudis are winning, though they're paying a heavy price for it.

The narrative about U.S. shale's resilience in the face of the Saudi decision to drive up production, prices be damned, centers on the American industry's ability to cut costs and use innovative technology to repel the brute force onslaught. There is a kind of David versus Goliath charm to this story, but the data don't bear it out.

New York Magazine: The Republican Plot to Destroy an International Climate Agreement

Humanity’s response to the threat of climate change, like just about every good thing humanity has ever done, is happening later than it should have. But the signs are everywhere that it is happening. My story in the magazine describes how political pressure and technological innovation are feeding into each other, producing a virtuous cycle of affordable green energy and stronger willpower to reduce emissions.

The outlier in this story is the Republican Party, which stands apart from nearly the entire world, with the exception of petro-kingdoms like Saudi Arabia. Perhaps the most striking thing about the GOP’s strident opposition to international action is how little an impact world progress has had upon its policy stance. The willingness of the rest of the world to act rapidly to reduce emissions has merely redoubled the party’s commitment to destroy any cooperative structure to reduce emissions.

Dawn: World's Largest Solar Park to Light Up Pakistan's Future

Some 400,000 solar panels, spread over 200 hectares of flat desert, glare defiantly at the sun at what is known as the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Power Park in Cholistan Desert, Punjab, named after Pakistan’s founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The 100 MW photovoltaic solar farm was built by Chinese company Xinjiang SunOasis in just three months, and started selling electricity to the national grid in August.

This is the first energy project under the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a key part of China’s ‘new silk road,’ linking the port at Gwadar in southern Pakistan with Kashgar in China’s western region of Xinjiang.