Energy Update

With waste-to-energy technology taking a front seat in the effort to deal with municipal waste in growing regions, some question whether these processing facilities aren’t doing more harm to the environment than good. Researchers at the University of Buffalo are planning to address that concern with what it says will be one of the most comprehensive and quantitative comparisons between municipal waste combustion and landfilling.

2018 should be the year that Southeast Asian solar hits its stride. That was the clear headline from the 35th ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Ministers on Energy Meeting: “ASEAN calls for energy investment.”

Kenya will introduce a royalty for geothermal-power producers under a proposed new law. Fees will be levied at a rate of 1 percent to 2.5 percent of revenue generated from the energy source within the first decade of a geothermal license being issued, according to the draft Energy Bill presented to lawmakers Wednesday. The levy will then climb to between 2 percent and 5 percent, the bill states.

Scientists have observed that the electricity sector contributes to 35 percent of the carbon emissions in the U.S. every year. And as climate news piles up, there is a growing movement among ordinary people to do something.