A Nuclear Giant Moves Into Wind.—reliability high.
"Exelon, a nuclear giant that recently backed away from building new nuclear plants, is moving into wind. The company announced today that it was buying John Deere Renewables, which has 735 megawatts in operation and 230 megawatts in 'advanced stages of development' in Michigan. ... The purchase will instantly make Exelon one of the nation’s largest wind operators." From New York Times Green blog.

Expanding the Market for Clean Energy in Rural India.—reliability high.
"As India struggles to provide cleaner and more reliable sources of energy to its rural poor, a growing number of innovative small companies, like SBA Hydro, are selling clean energy products and services directly to India’s rural ‘Base of the Pyramid’ (BoP) population. These new technologies include solar-based home electricity systems and lanterns, energy efficient cookstoves and decentralized electricity services generated from micro hydro and biomass gasifiers. However, most of these companies remain small and face considerable challenges penetrating the market because of poor rural distribution and retail networks." Article gives examples of some projects. See WRI site.

Companies, Industries, Markets and Supply Chains

Rechargeable Car Battery Glut to Worsen Price War at Samsung, Panasonic.—reliability high.
"Lithium-ion battery prices may tumble 19 percent in 2010, the biggest drop in five years, said Hideo Takeshita, an analyst at the Institute of Information Technology Ltd. in Tokyo. Shiro Mikoshiba, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc., said the worsening oversupply may push prices down as much as 25 percent. The price drops highlight how battery makers in Japan and South Korea, accounting for 75 percent of global production, may be sacrificing profit for market share as automobiles with no gas tanks are projected to help triple sales of lithium-ion cells in six years." More about li-ion battery markets. From Bloomberg.