European utilities look to get their nuclear power game on; Congress passes a farm bill loaded with alternative fuel incentives; and let’s melt down that junker computer of yours and pour it into your gas tank. It’s a lazy cup off coffee and the Sunday edition of The Daily Five:

Chain Reaction: Why British Energy is the Nuclear Prize: Despite brutal — and still rising — estimated startup costs, the 21st century nuclear power derby is underway. In the UK, a handful of European companies are chomping at the bit to acquire Britain’s largest power company, British Energy. Why the rush? In part, because Britain’s alternative energy program is in a shambles. But the real prize is BE’s real estate at Hinkley Point and Sizewell — by far, the best sited locations for big nuclear power plants. (WSJ.com)

Veto-Proof Farm Bill Boosts Cellulosic Biofuels: Eight months behind schedule, the U.S. Congress finally passed the 2007 Farm Bill. By pretty much anyone’s estimate, the massive bill is loaded with pork for projects seeming unrelated to farming. But at least some of that pork boost alternative fuel programs: a $1.01 per gallon production tax credit for cellulosic biofuel; another $320 million in loan guarantees to build celluosic biofuel refineries; and $70 million for new energy crop research. It passed by a veto-proof margin. (Earth2Tech)

Improved ion mobility is key to new hydrogen storage compound: Another big announcement of an advance in energy storage — but this time, it’s fuel cells, not lithium ion batteries. A scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology has discovered a new class of crystalline materials which can hold hydrogen for later release. The new technology hold the promise of smaller portable fuel cells for electronics and automotive use. (Eureka Alert)

Nanowires May Boost Solar Cell Efficiency, Engineers Say: Nanotech has reached into solar panel construction. University of California, San Diego, researchers have found that solar cells peppered with indium phosphide could significantly boost their efficiency. The design improves the number of electrons which make it from a cell’s light-gathering surface to an electrode. (Science Daily)

Could Old Computers Fuel Your Car?: E-waste — old, unwanted electronic gear — is a big environmental problem. But scientists in Romania and Turkey have been cooking up ways to dissolve useful materials from computers, including some which might be suitable for automotive fuel. It’s still in the “what if” stage, but perhaps we’ve just found a use for that junker 333 MHz Pentium sitting in your closet. (Environmental Graffiti)

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