The US has joined forces with the Czech Republic and signed an agreement for a joint civil nuclear co-operation centre in Prague.

It will facilitate joint programmes and support regional initiatives in the fields of nuclear energy and security and is part of the nations’ plans in expanding their energy collaboration.

The news follows US President Barack Obama’s “Prague Vision” set out in 2009 when he laid out a nuclear agenda, including his commitment to the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear power around the world. He called for a new framework for peaceful nuclear co-operation so countries that “play by the rules” can get access to nuclear energy to meet demand for low carbon electricity.

The US has pledged $500,000 (£319,476) in funding via contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Peaceful Uses Initiative for regional activities to be performed in collaboration with the Centre, including R&D workshops, seminars, training activities and academic exchanges.

Daniel Poneman, US Deputy Secretary of Energy said: “Given the breadth and depth of civil nuclear energy and nuclear security cooperation between our two countries, the United States and Czech Republic have agreed to jointly establish this Center in Prague and dedicate it to strengthening our collaboration in these areas.

“The Center will serve as a catalyst for our brightest scientists and researchers from our universities, national laboratories and private sectors to work together on advanced nuclear energy, nuclear security and non-proliferation technologies.”

The US and Czech Republic also signed a joint declaration expanding co-operation in civil nuclear energy research and development in 2010.

Sainsbury’s has announced it has achieved its target of sending none of its waste to landfill, three years after it set its goal.

The supermarket chain started sending all of its food waste to turn into power through anaerobic digestion in 2011 and claims that all its general waste is now recycled.

Sainsbury’s claims to be the UK’s largest retail user of anaerobic digestion, generating enough energy to power around 2,500 homes. The man in charge believes the landfill target is an important step in its journey.

Justin King, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive said: “We’re very proud of hitting our target for zero waste to landfill which we set three years ago. We know times are tough for many customers but they still rightly expect Sainsbury’s to lead the way on the things that will always matter to all of us including caring for our environment.”

The news follows the supermarket giant’s recent achievement of cutting water usage by 50%.

In its 20×20 Sustainability Plan, Sainsbury’s has aimed to cut operational carbon emissions by 30% compared to 2005 levels. It has teamed up with waste prevention agency WRAP to cut its carbon impact of household food waste.

It also set out plans last year to power 100 of its stores with underground renewable heat as part of its efforts to cut carbon emissions by 2020.

Find out the latest news on the energy market from Magali Hodgson, npower’s Product and Services Optimisation Manager, in this weekly update.

If you are blocked from seeing this video and would like your own download, please email geoff.curran@energylivenews.com.

Wholesale energy prices in Ireland fell 5% last month.

Irish power firm Bord Gais which has 640,000 gas users and supplies more than 300,000 electricity customers released the figures in a monthly price report yesterday.

The Bord Gáis Energy Index – the firm’s average price for oil, gas, electricity and coal – fell 5% while the UK average monthly day-ahead wholesale gas price was at an all-time high for the month of May. The index showed that prices were also down by 4% compared to the value of the index a year ago.

John Heffernan, power trader at Bord Gáis Energy said: “Falls in all four of the fuel commodities that make up the Bord Gáis Energy Index resulted in a 5% month-on-month drop in the May Index. Irish wholesale electricity prices fell 11% and the UK Day-ahead wholesale price also softened.”

He went on: “Despite this, at 66p a therm, the UK average monthly Day-ahead wholesale gas price was at an all-time high for the month of May. The reasons for this were planned and unplanned Norwegian field maintenance, unseasonably cold weather and an aggressive push to refill storage stocks.”

In the oil market, the report notes month-on-month Brent crude prices fell $2 to $100. As for coal, the benchmark European contract price stood at $90.25 per metric tonne at the end of May and is “unlikely to fall much further” as it may trigger cuts to more expensive supply, according to the Index.

It’s worth noting the wholesale prices are distinct from the retail prices and Bord Gais told ELN it usually buys its energy on forward markets.

An island in eastern Indonesia is on its way to being powered solely by renewable energy sources, thanks to a $1 million (£0.65m) loan.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will provide technical assistance to increase renewable energy access in the island of Sumba.

The ‘Iconic Island’ initiative, started by international development organisation Hivos, aims to help the island generate 100% of its energy from renewables as currently only two small grids, powered by diesel generators, irregularly supply about a quarter of the Sumba population with electricity.

The project is believed to have received wide support from stakeholders, marked with the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2011.

Dadan Kusdiana, Director of Bio-energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said: “ADB’s support provides an important milestone to the continuous effort of different stakeholders who thus far have already made some progress… We specifically expect the resulting projects to be commercially sustainable and attract independent funding, making Sumba an example for similar projects in other parts of Indonesia and beyond.”

The ADB also recently provided two loans for Papua New Guinea to increase energy supply in the nation and $30 million (£19.25m) for clean energy projects in India.

Located in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, the island of Sumba has a population of over 600,000 people.

The “first” grid-connected offshore floating wind turbine in the US has officially been launched.

Called the VolturnUS (pictured), the 65-foot tall turbine has a total capacity of 6MW and was deployed in the Penobscot River off the coast of Castine in the northeastern state of Maine.

The project was funded by the US Department of Energy, which provided $12 million (£7.84m) over five years.

The University of Maine, which led the project, said in a statement: “It is the first floating turbine of its kind in the world, using advanced material systems with a unique floating hull and tower design. The programme goal is to reduce the cost of offshore wind to compete with other forms of electricity generation with no subsidies.”

Maine currently has 156GW of offshore wind capacity and plans to deploy 5GW by 2030, which is expected to attract $20 billion (£13.07bn) of private investment to the state.

Earlier this year the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) picked a designer to make a prototype of a floating offshore wind farm in the UK.

The future looks uncertain for a Finnish coal plant after its owner said it is considering partially or fully closing it among a number of options.

The news suggests a difficult time for generators in Europe hit by changing power prices and EU pollution laws.

The Inkoo power plant on the south coast of Finland has already closed one of its four units and now Fortum wants to assess its “future alternatives”, starting negotiations including talks with its 90 employees in two weeks.

In a statement, Fortum blamed the power plant’s “weak” profitability, falling demand for coal condensing power in the Nordic electricity market “as a result of the economic recession” and the drop in the wholesale price for electricity. It also said the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) will “further burden” the Inkoo power plant’s profitability.

Matti Ruotsala, Executive Vice President for Fortum’s Power Division said: “The profitability of our Inkoo power plant has remained poor. The electricity market has developed in such a way that it will most likely not be possible to profitably operate a 1970s-era condensing power plant like Inkoo in the future.”

More than a third (43%) of the British public said they would support Government subsidy for the construction of new nuclear power plants in the UK.

That is in comparison to only 28% who said they would not, according to a new poll of more than 2,000 people. It also revealed almost half (46%) of those questioned support the construction of new nuclear power stations in the country while 29% said they do not.

Almost three quarters (70%) said they support new nuclear build because it ensures a secure supply of electricity, 55% because nuclear is low carbon, half (50%) said nuclear is reliable and new plants provide jobs while 43% supported it because they believe it is cheaper than other forms of electricity generation.

Dr Tim Fox, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which commissioned the report said: “For years now Government has been reluctant to offer nuclear power developers an overt subsidy, partly out of fear of the public back-lash. These poll results show that these fears could be unwarranted.

“The future of the UK new nuclear build programme is currently on a knife-edge. Without an agreed guaranteed commercially attractive long-term price for the electricity from new nuclear plants (the ‘strike price’) and a suitable source of investment finance, there can be no progress on building new UK reactors.”

Mr Fox added the UK Government needs to provide “more leadership” new nuclear build.

He said: “These poll results suggest that the public want Government to take decisive action to support nuclear power. All low-carbon generating technologies require a high initial capital investment but have low operating costs Therefore if the Government is to encourage carbon reductions, developers need incentives which may appear as a subsidy at the start but, if structured correctly, could prove to be a good investment for the Government in the long run.”

Out of those people who do not support new nuclear build, the vast majority (73%) said it was because nuclear power is dangerous while 70% said it was because of issues related to nuclear waste and less than a quarter said cost was an issue.

Last week Energy Minister Michael Fallon hailed the Horizon nuclear project, claiming it would boost investment and jobs in the country.

South Korea has suspended operations at two of its nuclear reactors over the use of “fake documents”, reports claim.

The nation’s Nuclear Safety and Security Commission is said to have halted operations to replace “unauthorised equipment” that was supplied using safety certificates that had been fabricated.

The news follows a series of nuclear shutdowns in the past and two reactors suspended last year amid similar reports.

The affected reactors are believed to be in Kori, around 320 km southeast of Seoul and in Wolsong, around 280km from the capital, each with a maximum capacity of 1,000MW. One is currently undergoing maintenance whilst the other, a new reactor, won’t operate until its parts – such as control cables – are replaced. The control cable is used to send electronic signals to a reactor’s control system in the event of an accident.

South Korea currently has 23 nuclear reactors, which supply around a third of its electricity needs.

Earlier this month ELN reported South Korea could have the “world’s highest” carbon prices whilst late last year the International Energy Agency (IEA) called for the nation to reform its gas and electricity market.

You may be putting your running shoes on to keep fit but it may be doing more harm to the environment than you may think.

According to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a new pair of typical running shoes generates 30 pounds of carbon emissions, equivalent to keeping a 100-watt light bulb switched on for one week.

Their research revealed more than two thirds of the carbon impact came from manufacturing plants and only a small portion from extracting raw materials. A significant proportion of the world’s shoe manufacturers are in China, where coal is the dominant source of electricity. It is also used to generate steam or run other processes in the plant itself.

A typical pair of running shoes comprises of 65 discrete parts requiring more than 360 processing steps to assemble, from sewing and cutting to moulding, foaming and heating. The researchers found that for these small, light components such processes are energy intensive – and therefore carbon intensive – compared to the energy that goes into making shoe materials like polyester.

Randolph Kirchain, Principal Research Scientist in MIT’s Materials Systems Laboratory said the research could help shoe designers identify ways to improve designs and reduce shoes’ carbon footprint. He added the findings could also help industries assess the carbon impact of similar consumer products more efficiently.

“Understanding environmental footprint is resource intensive. The key is, you need to put your analytical effort into the areas that matter. In general, we found that if you have a product that has a relatively high number of parts and process steps and that is relatively light [weight], then you want to make sure you don’t overlook manufacturing,” he said.

Nearly 25 billion shoes were purchased around the world in 2010, the majority of them manufactured in China and other developing countries.