Energy and Environment News Roundup – 9.10.13

A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.

GRID 

Uganda aims to double power grid in four years (via Reuters)

HVDC: Key to revolutionizing the renewable energy grid (via Renewable Energy World)

Microgrids: Sandy forced cities to rethink power supply (via Climate Central)

ENVIRONMENT 

Wastewater use to supplement world’s strained water supplies likely to increase (via ClimateWire)

Cost of battling massive Rim Wildfire hits $100 million (via Los Angeles Times)

New water plan could turn New Orleans into the next Amsterdam (via Climate Progress)

RENEWABLES 

Barclays predicts another 13GW of wind will be built in 2013 (via Facts of the Day)

Targeting ethanol mandates seen hurting cellulosic growth (via Bloomberg)

Clean energy firms’ stock market values increase 18% in 2013 (via CleanTechnica)

Community renewables “could soar in the UK” (via Recharge)

Army adds wind power to $7 billion renewable energy buy (via CleanTechnica)

US West’s rush to renewables moves to under-used states (via Reuters)

Renewable power falls as Texas wind underperforms (via Houston Chronicle)

Pattern Energy Group launches $320 million wind power IPO (via Houston Chronicle)

Solar Decathlon 2013: Meet the teams (via Energy.gov)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

EPA has $45 million for all-of-the-above energy efficiency strategy (via Autoblog Green)

Three things driving energy efficiency in buildings today (via Breaking Energy)

TRANSPORTATION 

Carmakers bearing down on EU emissions goals (via BusinessGreen)

Volkswagen electrifying all vehicle classes; 14 EV or hybrid models by 2014 (via Green Car Congress)

Virgin America falls below industry average on fuel performance standards (via The Guardian)

EMISSIONS 

FIFA to offset 2014 World Cup’s 2.7 million metric tons of CO2 emissions (via Environmental Leader)

Industry to EPA on climate regulations: Let’s talk (via The Hill)

RGGI Northeast carbon auction raises $102.5 million (via Environmental Leader)

CLIMATE 

A climate alarm, too muted for some (via New York Times)

As distant Pacific islands flood, a climate-driven exodus to US grows (via ClimateWire)

OIL 

IEA concerned about oil prices, rules out strategic stock release (via Reuters)

Global crude oil supply disruptions, strong demand support high oil prices (via US EIA)

OPEC sees well-supplied oil market, lower demand for its crude (via Bloomberg Businessweek)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

European, Asian LNG buyers team to push cheaper prices (via Reuters)

Gulf of Mexico natural gas well secured several weeks after blow out (via Houston Chronicle)

Chesapeake terminates 13,000 acres of drilling leases in New York State (via Reuters)

ENERGY POLICY 

Shaking pennies and fists against utility rate increases (via New York Times)

OPINION 

Why the Dutch are leading the way on sustainable business (via The Guardian)

Efficiency offers a glimmer of hope on energy in Washington (via Greentech Media)

Energy storage: From research to market (via Breaking Energy)

How green is a Tesla, really? (via Mother Jones)

What Australia’s election result means for carbon pricing (via Renew Economy)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 9.9.13

A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.

KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS 

Canada formally offers to limit emissions if US approves Keystone XL (via Climate Progress)

Keystone pipeline foe Steyer launches $1 million ad push (via The Hill)

Dilbit in Exxon’s Pegasus pipeline may have contributed to rupture (via InsideClimate News)

EMISSIONS 

US, China agree to work on phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (via Washington Post)

Abbott government begins process to repeal carbon tax (via ABC)

Regulatory scholars want feds to review carbon cost estimate (via The Hill)

EPA to hold conference calls with stakeholders on carbon standards for power plants (via Bloomberg BNA)

Trees write air pollution record in wood (via Scientific American)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Shaheen-Portman bill: 172,000 green jobs, huge energy efficiency gains (via CleanTechnica)

RENEWABLES 

Chinese solar cheaper to manufacture because of industry scale, not cheaper labor (via CleanTechnica)

Australian renewable energy industry braces for Abbott (via Recharge)

UK urged to back EU biofuels cap (via The Guardian)

Finland looks to ease wind permitting in developed areas (via Recharge)

Dutch set 4.4GW offshore wind goal (via Recharge)

China idles fewer wind farms as grid connections smoothed (via Bloomberg)

US solar will generate as much as today’s nuclear plants, or 20% of US power, by 2026 (via Facts of the Day)

Pilot program launched to make solar more economical for electric cooperatives (via Renew Grid)

Could US solar demand bring PV manufacturing back? (via Solar Industry Magazine)

US Navy triples funding for clean energy in Hawaii (via CleanTechnica)

Renewable energy entrepreneur is China’s latest billionaire (via Forbes)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

House to take aim at fracking regulations (via The Hill)

US Forest Service set to decide on fracking in George Washington National Forest (via Washington Post)

FracFocus straining under heavy use as BLM weighs disclosure regulation (via EnergyWire)

CLIMATE 

Arab Summer: Warming-fueled drought helped spark Syria’s civil war (via Climate Progress)

Poland outlines ambition for 2013 UN climate summit (via RTCC)

Scientists studying solar radiation management as a way to cool planet (via Washington Post)

Ice melting faster in Greenland and Antarctica, show leaked UN documents (via Bloomberg)

Bloomberg, Steyer to launch big climate push (via The Hill)

Drones find new purpose studying Arctic ice melt (via Climate Central)

ENERGY POLICY 

China looks west as it bolsters energy ties (via New York Times)

Surprising trends in summer energy use across US (via Inhabitat)

GREEN BUSINESS 

FIFA sets green goal for 2014 Brazil World Cup (via BusinessGreen)

AASHE updates college sustainability rating system (via Environmental Leader)

Executives want sustainable products, but will they walk the talk? (via GreenBiz)

Seeking investments that are profitable and green (via New York Times)

NUCLEAR 

South Korea nuclear issues, tower protests raise blackout risks (via Reuters)

Radiation levels spike at Fukushima disaster site (via CleanTechnica)

Study supports nuclear waste disposal near Great Lakes (via Midwest Energy News)

TRANSPORTATION 

Tesla worries about battery supply as it increases vehicle production (via New York Times)

Is $35,000 or less the threshold price for volume EVs? (via Green Car Reports)

US gasoline rises to $3.58 a gallon (via Houston Chronicle)

ENVIRONMENT 

X Prize unveils $2 million award to prevent ocean acidification (via USA Today)

Rim Fire is third-largest wildfire in California’s history (via NPR)

In South Florida, a polluted water bubble ready to burst (via New York Times)

OPINION 

3 big takeaways from the new global commitment to phase down HFCs (via WRI Insights)

The president and the pipeline (via New Yorker)

Net metering polices helping to spur solar growth (via Huffington Post)

How big business can save the climate (via Council on Foreign Relations)