Five Energy Stories Worth Reading Today (6/05/12)

Here are five recommended reads for today (6/05/12)

1. Technology Review asks, “Can Fracking Be Cleaned Up?” The answer: “The International Energy Agency says yes, but it will take tougher regulations that force producers to apply the latest technologies.”
2. According to Renewable Energy World, the “looming deadline” for an extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind power in the United States is a “Major Focus at Windpower 2012,” being held this week in Atlanta.
3. EnergyBoom reports, “Konarka Technologies, a developer of thin-film solar panels, has filed for bankruptcy and will begin to liquidate its assets immediately…in 2003, shortly after he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, [Mitt] Romney doled out a $1.5 million clean energy subsidy for Konarka.”
4. According to CleanTechies, “Economics, politics, grid constraints, and a fair amount of luck have set in motion an awkward relationship between the natural gas and cleantech industries that could be characterized as “frenemies with benefits.””
5. Reuters reports, “Solar power firms are betting that the nuclear crisis in Japan will become a game-changer for renewable energy in the world’s third largest economy, with new foreign entrants such as Canadian Solar looking to go toe-to-toe there with some of the biggest utilities in Asia.”