News Roundup
News Roundup for September 19
OVER EASY
New Easy-Bake
The phase-out of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs has prompted a major design change for a popular children’s toy. Engineers at Pawtucket, R.I.-based Fuzion Design have spent two years developing the new Hasbro Easy-Bake Oven. They’ve replaced the bulb with a conventional heating element. The redesign is the 11th redo of the mini-cooker since its debut in 1963. “This gave us a reason to do it completely differently,” said Michelle Paolino, vice president of global brand strategy for the toymaker. “We wanted it to look more like a real appliance, not a plastic toy.”
GULF SPILL
Poor management decisions, key missteps and a faulty cement job led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Those were among the findings by the U.S. Coast Guard Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement. The more than 500-page report on the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon tragedy is considered one of the most exhaustive ever conducted by the agency. The findings were released Sept. 14. The explosion of the drilling rig led to the deaths of 11 workers and dumped an estimated five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
CANADIAN CONNECTION
Two planned hydroelectric projects in the northern reaches of Atlantic Canada could become major sources of summer electricity for New England. Nalcor Energy wants to build two new hydropower facilities on the Lower Churchill River in Labrador. The proposed Muskrat Falls and Gull Island projects would add more than 3,000 megawatts of capacity to the 5,428 megawatts produced by the existing Churchill Falls facility. Transmission projects related to the plan have drawn the interests of Govs. Peter Shumlin, D-Vt., and Lincoln Chafee, I-R.I. Peak electricity demand in Canada occurs during the winter, while New England is a summer peaking region.
MOJAVE SOLAR
The U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a $1.2 billion loan guarantee for the development of the Mojave Solar Project. The 250-megawatt capacity field, planned for California’s San Bernardino County, is expected to create as many as 900 construction and permanent jobs. The DOE has issued nearly $40 billion in loans, guarantees and conditional commitments in support of more than 40 clean energy projects across the United States.
—Based on news and wire reports
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