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Nuclear energy's resilience was never more apparent than during the COP21 climate talks in Paris. It was there that a famed environmentalist and the one who has cautioned against the effects of global warming said that the carbon-free energy form should figure a lot more prominently into utility power generation. Read more: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2016/02/11/scientists-say-climate-change-should-propel-nuclear-energy-to-prominence/#ixzz40U6A0Uhv

The New York State Public Service Commission has approved a $7.6 billion clean-energy subsidy for the Ginna, FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 nuclear power plants as part of the state's move to more sustainable energy. Environmental groups protested the grants, saying the production and transport of nuclear fuel release a great deal of carbon into the air.

Geochemists from the UK developed a way to take dangerous nuclear waste and turn it into artificial diamonds. These diamonds can generate their own electric current. With a half-life of nearly 5,800 years, these potential diamond batteries could offer solutions to both waste and energy issues.

The French Government passed legislation to cut the country's energy consumption 50% by 2050, reduce nuclear power production to 50% of the energy mix, and increase renewable energy to 32% of total energy consumption by 2030. The law also requires the country to reduce its carbon emissions 40% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

For years, clean energy advocates have pointed towards hydroelectricity as an important alternative to gas, coal and nuclear power plants. But a new study suggests that the dams and reservoirs commonly associated with this clean energy source are actually pumping a significant amount of carbon emission into the air.

Revised government figures in Japan showed that greenhouse gas emissions were the second-highest on record for the year ended March 2014, with a total of 1.552 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The record emissions level was set in 2007 at 1.556 billion tons. Japan's 48 nuclear reactors provided 26% of the country's electricity in the past, but all have been shut down since September 2013

The Obama administration's rule leans heavily on renewable energy to meet its goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent by 2030, which is an increase of 2 percentage points from the draft it released in the summer of 2014. While states have two additional years until they must begin cutting emissions - 2022 instead of 2020 - they are expected to start devising ways to improve their environments, which will focus on shifting to cleaner burning fuels and away from carbon-heavy ones. "The trend we are on will get us there," says Rob Gramlich, senior vice president for government affairs at the American Wind Energy Association, in a phone interview. "As the nation moves from coal to gas, and as it adds more wind, solar and energy efficiency, we will reach that 32 percent target."

The Obama administration's Clean Power Plan rule will require states to begin cutting carbon emissions by 2022. "The trend we are on will get us there. As the nation moves from coal to gas, and as it adds more wind, solar and energy efficiency, we will reach that 32% target," said Rob Gramlich of the American Wind Energy Association. To comply, states can choose among options including boosting renewables, improving heat rates for coal-fired steam generators, and using more nuclear energy and lower-emitting natural gas. Forbes (8/4) 

France yesterday unveiled plans to reduce its carbon footprint by ceasing sales of gas and diesel vehicles by 2040 and then becoming carbon neutral by 2050, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said. France also plans to end coal-fired energy production by 2022, cut nuclear power use from 75% to 50% in eight years and halt imports of unsustainably grown palm oil and soy beans.

Clean power supplied almost all of Germany's power demand for the first time on Sunday, marking a milestone for Chancellor Angela Merkel's "Energiewende" policy to boost renewables while phasing out nuclear and fossil fuels. Solar and wind power peaked at 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, allowing renewables to supply 45.5 gigawatts as demand was 45.8 gigawatts, according to provisional data by Agora Energiewende, a research institute in Berlin. Power prices turned negative during several 15-minute periods yesterday, dropping as low as minus 50 euros ($57) a megawatt-hour, according to data from Epex Spot.