Energy and Environment News Roundup – 9.16.14

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

COAL 

China bans coal with high ash or sulfur to fight smog (via Bloomberg)

GAO: More coal power plants to retire than previously thought (via The Hill)

Coal power shows zero growth in 2014, report shows (via Climate Central)

In mining country, “war on coal” hard to see (via Boston Globe)

Study: Black lung at historically high levels in Appalachia (via Charleston Daily Mail)

EMISSIONS 

Big corporations leading the way on climate change with carbon pricing (via the Guardian)

Study: Urban air pollution may affect brains of young children (via Yale e360)

RENEWABLES 

Global renewable energy capacity grows more than ever before (via Christian Science Monitor)

Yingli drops Q2 solar module manufacturing costs to less than 50 cents per watt (via Greentech Media)

India to up solar target fivefold to 15 gigawatts (via Bloomberg)

Musk solar strategy used as model for record investments (via Bloomberg)

Duke spends $500 million to expand North Carolina solar power (via Bloomberg)

DOE National Labs can also be regional economic hubs (via Energy Collective)

Block Island offshore wind farm receives final federal approval (via Breaking Energy)

New study reveals truth about wind turbines and bird deaths (via Inhabitat)

NATURAL GAS 

Nigeria to triple natural gas output for power supply (via Bloomberg)

Natural gas drilling is polluting water, but don’t blame fracking (via National Journal)

Fracking gives U.S. energy boom plenty of room to run (via Wall Street Journal)

Gas production blamed for rise in Colorado, New Mexico earthquakes (via Reuters)

North Dakota meets first benchmark to reduce flaring (via Bismarck Tribune)

CLIMATE 

NASA ranks August 2014 as warmest on record (via Climate Central)

Fixing climate change may add no costs, says report (via New York Times)

Coca Cola, Heinz, other major food companies warn climate change threatens businesses (via Climate Progress)

Ocean algae can evolve fast to tackle climate change, says study (via Reuters)

OIL 

OPEC expected to lower oil output target in November (via Reuters)

Russia says did not discuss coordination with OPEC on oil prices (via Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION 

Autonomous and connected car technologies may progressively curb emissions (via ClimateWire)

Morgan Stanley: Tesla stock up “for the wrong reasons?” (via Los Angeles Times)

GRID 

German clean-energy shift can do without storage, says study (via Bloomberg)

Homeowners to invest over $25 billion in generation and storage from 2014 to 2023 (via Navigant Research)

Capacity markets: Future of European demand response? (via Greentech Media)

Storing renewable energy in a thousand basements (via EnergyWire)

Stem banks $100 million for no-money-down energy storage (via Greentech Media)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

DOE pushing new energy efficiency rules for hotel heating and cooling (via The Hill)

ENVIRONMENT 

California drought threatens sushi, too (via Politico)

OPINION 

How fighting climate change could save the planet and rebuild the economy (via Washington Post)

China, the climate, and the fate of the planet (via Rolling Stone)

Preventing climate change and adapting to it are not morally equivalent (via Grist)

Has the great climate change migration already begun? (via The Guardian)

UN Climate Summit: What’s in it for cities? (via World Resources Institute)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 8.5.14

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

CLIMATE 

Glacier study reveals north-south divide in climate change (via The Australian)

Wildfire smoke proves worse for global warming (via Scientific American)

Preparing for climate disasters to get $100 million fund (via Bloomberg)

Toledo’s algae bloom in line with climate projections (via Climate Central)

COAL 

Beijing to ban coal use to curb pollution (via Sydney Morning Herald/Xinhua)

King Coal deposed in West, but reigns in East (via Energy Collective)

RENEWABLES 

India plans solar parks to host up to 20GW (via Bloomberg)

UK solar firms call for review of early end to subsidies (via The Guardian)

Japan may pull more solar project approvals behind schedule (via Bloomberg)

China said to consider policies to increase solar installations (via Bloomberg)

China said to add 10,000 tons to rare earths stockpiles (via Bloomberg)

Brazil’s hybrid revolution (via Recharge)

Nigeria energy minister back solar for rural communities (via RTCC)

France approves green energy law (via RTCC)

France announces $13.4 billion green energy plan (via CleanTechnica)

Morgan Stanley: Fixed charges on solar may cause grid defection “tipping point” (via Greentech Media)

Arizona Public Service’s new solar lease: More than meets the eye (via GreenBiz)

Renewable heating and cooling now mandated in Massachusetts (via Renewable Energy World)

Fees for distributed solar fire up advocates and utilities in Utah and Massachusetts (via Solar Industry)

NATURAL GAS 

Amid Ukraine crisis, will Europe frack? (via Christian Science Monitor)

Marcellus Region production continues growth (via U.S. EIA)

Pennsylvania drillers did not report half of spills that led to fines (via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Colorado deal would keep fracking off ballot (via Wall Street Journal)

Why Twitter should matter to fracking firms (via Environmental Leader)

EMISSIONS 

Fossil free indexes U.S. supports fossil fuel divestment (via CleanTechnica)

OIL 

Bakken Shale fuels North Dakota’s oil production growth (via U.S. EIA)

TRANSPORTATION 

EPRI, utilities, automakers partner on EV-smart grid integration (via Renew Grid)

Tesla trying to keep Model X demand low for now (via Autoblog Green)

Future power demand from electric cars sparks study (via Houston Chronicle)

When will electric cars compete in the mainstream market? (via Green Car Reports)

Elon Musk predicts price parity with gas-powered cars within 10 years (via ClimateWire)

GRID 

Why some utilities are warming up to microgrids (via Midwest Energy News)

California plans “road map” to make more energy storage a reality (via Greenwire)

$600 million transmission project splits Texas power industry (via EnergyWire)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Europeans prioritize energy efficiency measure as price fears rise (via BusinessGreen)

Colorado craft beer brewers model energy efficiency (via Energy Manager Today)

ENVIRONMENT 

Federal officials, lawmakers plan conservation fund promotion tour (via The Hill)

How invisible water sources could green the nation (via GreenBiz)

Five cities where the bacteria that contaminated Ohio’s water supply might strike next (via Climate Progress)

POLITICS 

President Obama is beginning to make climate hawk noises (via Grist)

House Energy Committee fight runs into money war (via Politico)

Colorado Democrats reach a deal on fracking (via Climate Progress)

OPINION 

How ALEC fronts for fossil fuels (via Huffington Post)

Is the sharing economy really green? (via Marc Gunther)

California, here we come (via Sightline Daily)

Greening or greenwashing? Illinois cities’ use of RECs shows challenges with local energy choice (via CleanTechnica)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 8.4.14

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

EMISSIONS 

U.S. presses India for greater carbon cuts (via BusinessGreen)

California and Mexico sign agreement to reduce emissions (via Green Car Congress)

A dozen states file suit against new EPA coal rules (via New York Times)

EPA hearings put Pittsburgh in crosshairs of climate war (via StateImpact Pennsylvania)

COAL 

Shipping rates drop as China hydropower cuts coal demand (via Bloomberg)

New coal dust rules take effect (via The Hill)

RENEWABLES 

U.S.-China solar fight lurches forward (via National Geographic)

Global biodiesel market to grow 8.1% annually from 2013-2018 (via Environmental Leader)

SunPower sees energy storage commercial market in Australia in 2015 (via Renew Economy)

Non-hydro renewables now routinely surpass U.S. hydropower generation (via US EIA)

Obama’s delay on renewable fuel puts producers in bind (via Bloomberg)

As small hydropower expands, so does caution on its impacts (via Yale e360)

SunPower plans new factory to gain share as demand surges (via Bloomberg)

NYSERDA opens data on thousands of solar projects (via Environmental leader)

New York utility proposes community solar, microgrids-as-a-service (via Greentech Media)

How much money will California solar customers save with net metering? (via Greentech Media)

Solar City achieves $201.5 million securitization (via CleanTechnica)

Ohio utilities take net metering fight to state Supreme Court (via Midwest Energy News)

NUCLEAR 

Tepco set to miss target for Fukushima radioactive water cleanup (via Bloomberg)

CLIMATE 

Wildfires, “biomass burning” bigger climate threats than previously thought (via International Business Times)

As oysters die in Pacific Northwest, climate policy goes on the stump (via New York Times)

Idaho shifts policy behavior in response to climate change (via Idaho Statesman)

Sen. Murray tells Dems to push fiscal impacts of climate change (via The Hill)

World’s top PR companies rule out working with climate deniers (via The Guardian)

Will fiction influence how we react to climate change? (via New York Times)

OIL 

Mexico lower house passes final oil bills, sends them to Senate (via Houston Chronicle)

Nigeria, Shell not cleaning oil pollution, report charges (via Houston Chronicle)

Big Oil companies pay just an 11.7% tax rate, finds report (via Climate Progress)

Comment period starts for oil-train rules (via The Hill)

Oil industry works on blowout preventers for deeper depths (via Houston Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION 

Tesla selling like gangbusters in China (via Autoblog Green)

Nissan Leaf hits 3,000 sales in July, Chevy Volt climbs over 2,000 (via Autoblog Green)

Tesla announces plan to boost production in 2015 (via Los Angeles Times)

Tesla breaks ground near Reno for battery Gigafactory (via Bloomberg)

Tesla, Panasonic reach Gigafactory investment deal (via Energy Manager Today)

Tesla says it plans to have Model X prototypes next week (via GigaOm)

NATURAL GAS 

Pennsylvania AG looking into claims state willfully ignores fracking-related health complaints (via Climate Progress)

ENVIRONMENT 

Setting rivers free: As dams are torn down, nature quickly recovers (via Christian Science Monitor)

Bee-killing neonictinoids found in Midwest rivers (via Wired Science)

Gov. Brown declares state of emergency over California wildfires (via Los Angeles Times)

California drought watering restrictions may leave trees high and dry (via Sacramento Bee)

14 big wildfires scorching California (via Los Angeles Times)

Farming practices and climate change at root of Lake Erie water pollution (via The Guardian)

OPINION 

What do U.S. sanctions mean for Exxon’s close friendship with Russia in the Arctic? (via National Journal)

Six eye-catchers in 2030 picture of world energy (via Bloomberg)

EPA’s climate change plan fills void as Congress does nothing (via Washington Post)

Replant after wildfire or let nature take over? (via Bloomberg/AP)

The really scary thing about those Siberian craters (via Climate Progress)

Is Illinois becoming the third coast of clean tech? (via Midwest Energy News)

How yieldcos are changing renewables investment paradigm (via Renew Economy)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 5.15.14

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

EMISSIONS 

Fossil-free investment portfolios soared 50% in 2013 (via RTCC)

Obama said to put personal push behind EPA emission rules (via Bloomberg)

ENERGY POLICY 

LNG, power demand driving shift in U.S. gas flow (via Houston Chronicle)

Overwhelming vote advances extenders bill, but hurdles remain (via E&E Daily)

Ohio’s manufacturers on both sides of debate over efficiency and renewables (via Plain-Dealer)

RENEWABLES 

Bangladesh leads the world in small solar power home installations (via Mashable)

Is 3,000MW of new Nigeria solar power a model to end energy poverty? (via CleanTechnica)

India may back solar duties after probe finds dumping (via Bloomberg)

Netherlands’ largest offshore wind farm powers forward (via BusinessGreen)

80% of British support renewable energy (via Renewable Energy World)

US biodiesel producers hit hard by policy uncertainty (via Biodiesel.org)

Senate debates wind tax credit extension (via Houston Chronicle)

CLIMATE 

Delays on climate change have cost us $8 trillion, says IEA (via New Scientist)

IPCC reports “diluted” under “political pressure” to protect fossil fuel interests (via The Guardian)

Warming shifting hurricane impacts away from tropics (via Climate Central)

Japan, Australia urge developing countries to do more on climate (via RTCC)

Kerry to warn of national security climate threats in speech (via The Hill)

Insurance company sues Illinois cities for climate damage (via ClimateWire)

Raging California wildfires fueled by unusually hot May weather (via Los Angeles Times)

OIL 

U.S. crude output advances to 28-year high on shale boom (via Bloomberg)

Expert: White House likely to lift oil export ban (via Houston Chronicle)

Investors pressuring oil industry over $1.1 trillion exposure to high-cost projects (via Forbes)

California’s thirst shapes debate over fracking (via New York Times)

TRANSPORTATION 

White House urges Congress to shore up depleted Highway Trust Fund (via Autoblog)

2015 Chevy Spark will have lighter, smaller battery (via Autoblog Green)

Elon Musk says yes to The Oatmeal’s $8 million request for Nikola Tesla museum (via Autoblog Green)

GRID 

National Grid to spend more in U.S. for storm protection (via Reuters)

Three U.S. grid facilities you should know about (via Energy.gov)

COAL 

Beginning of end for coal? Citi sees structural decline (via Renew Economy)

Coal missing boom as climate foes clean Asia’s backyard (via Bloomberg)

GREEN BUILDING 

Enviros bash industry-backed “green” building program (via Grist)

POLITICS 

Steyer targets Rubio, 2016 hopefuls on climate (via The Hill)

Scott Brown urged GOP senators to kill Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill (via Huffington Post)

OPINION 

The first climate tipping point has arrived: Will it be the last? (via Huffington Post)

The $4 trillion mistake: Climate action delayed is climate action denied (via Climate Progress)

Is the White House worried about a Republican president overturning Obama’s climate legacy? (via Bloomberg BNA)

Time to act on U.S. natural gas exports (via CNBC)

Florida already feeling effects of climate change (via Tampa Bay Times)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 5.8.14

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

CLIMATE 

Climate change making food crops less nutritious, finds research (via The Guardian)

Lloyd’s calls on insurers to take into account climate change risk (via The Guardian)

Americans start to feel effects of climate change (via Politico) 

The Southeast US has more billion-dollar disasters than the rest of US combined (via Climate Progress)

NATURAL GAS 

Industrial combined heat and power capacity will grow 30% annually through 2023 (via Navigant Research)

Is a boom in floating LNG facilities on the horizon? (via Houston Chronicle)

RENEWABLES 

Solar making big strides to power the developing world (via Renewable Energy World)

PwC: Biofuels funding future looks bright (via Environmental Leader)

France awards $5.6 billion offshore wind tender to GDF-led consortium (via Reuters)

JV plans 3GW solar PV project in Nigeria (via Recharge)

EIA says US solar surge continues (via Energy Manager Today)

Your tax dollars at work: $141 million to spark US offshore wind (via CleanTechnica)

First Solar Q1: Beats Street, raises guidance on strong utility growth (via Greentech Media)

Solar City eyes 1GW new capacity in 2015 (via Recharge)

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Energy and Environment News Roundup – 7.9.13

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

EMISSIONS 

China says it will not set carbon cap (via Renewable Energy World)

Blueprint for Russia’s carbon market should be ready by end of 2013 (via RTCC)

DOE fielding aircraft-based study of aerosols generated by wildfires in US (via Green Car Congress)

Colorado mulls oil and gas air pollution rules as residents erupt (via Denver Post)

Website tracks 20 Minnesota cities’ greenhouse gas emissions (via Star-Tribune)

COAL 

China’s reliance on coal reduces life expectancy 5.5 years (via The Guardian)

RENEWABLES 

Navigant: Solar price to reach grid parity worldwide in 2020 (via Energy Manager Today)

Future of UK offshore wind power in “serious doubt” (via The Guardian)

Germany to pull plug on solar subsidies by 2018 (via Phys.org)

Renewables rise to 15% in Australia as power demand and emissions fall (via Renew Economy)

India risks Spain’s solar slump with move to cut tariff (via Bloomberg)

Los Angeles kicks off second round of solar feed-in tariff (via CleanTechnica)

Georgia Power to buy output from 38MW solar project (via Renew Grid)

NUCLEAR 

Nearly half of Japanese cities near nuclear plants would allow resumption (via United Press International)

Japan moves closer to restarting its nuclear reactors (via The Guardian)

World’s first floating nuclear power plant to begin operating in Russia in 2016 (via Russia Times)

CLIMATE 

Climate change to spawn more and stronger hurricanes (via USA Today)

Pacific Island nations meet in Fiji to discuss 2015 climate adaptation strategy (via RTCC)

Nigeria kickstarts adaptation efforts to head off climate disasters (via Thompson-Reuters)

Stressed native UK trees on the march as climate change collapses seasons (via ClimateWire)

Climate change could spark small mammal invasion (via Scientific American)

Climate change might be enabling beetles’ rise against pine trees (via MPR News)

OIL 

US well sites in 2012 discharged more oil than Valdez (via EnergyWire)

Quebec disaster highlights risk of moving crude oil by rail (via Washington Post)

TRANSPORTATION 

ABB to build world’s largest network of EV fast-charging stations in Netherlands (via Green Car Congress)

Ethanol critics rev up efforts to repeal biofuel rules on gasoline (via Omaha World-Herald)

Tesla Motors to join Nasdaq 100 (via Bloomberg)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

Fracking ban halts first shale gas project in Spain (via Christian Science Monitor)

West Virginia natural gas well explosion kills at least five (via Reuters)

ENVIRONMENT 

Insurance companies given severe weather warning (via Climate Central)

Southwest US forests may never recover from megafires (via The Atlantic)

Hundreds evacuated as wildfire threatens Alaskan towns (via Anchorage Daily News)

KEYSTONE XL 

Obama’s Keystone approval could hinge on Canada’s climate measures (via Houston Chronicle)

State Department admits it doesn’t know exact Keystone XL route (via DeSmog Blog)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Energy efficiency saves Scottish homeowners £1 billion (via BusinessGreen)

DOE to toughen energy efficiency standards for new federal buildings (via The Hill)

World’s largest LED retrofit saves 80% for GM (via CleanTechnica)

GREEN BUSINESS 

Majority of EU citizens back green product labeling; 77% would pay premium (via BusinessGreen)

POLITICS 

Obama waves veto pen at House Energy Department spending bill (via The Hill)

Utility 2.0: Can political activism and microtargeting boost clean energy? (via Greentech Media)

“Nuclear option” decision arrives for Sen. Reid on Obama nominations (via The Hill)

OPINION 

Solar costs and grid prices on collision course (via CleanTechnica)

Google becomes a big energy player (via Houston Chronicle)

Survey: 76% of consumers don’t trust their utility (via Greentech Media)

Why France is the next big smart meter market (via Navigant Research)

Divestment: old tactic in new climate campaign (via New York Times)