Energy and Environment News Roundup – 8.20.13

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

OIL 

China oil imports to overtake US by 2017 (via Reuters)

GREEN BUSINESS 

India passes world’s first corporate responsibility law (via GreenBiz)

Green buildings could be half US construction and worth $248 billion by 2016 (via CleanTechnica)

Redirect, don’t divest: New guides for climate change investment (via GreenBiz)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

War over fracking comes to the English countryside (via Time)

Marcellus Shale gas production numbers surge (via StateImpact Pennsylvania)

Ohio fracking operations triggered 100 earthquakes in a year (via New Scientist)

Wyoming GOP lawmakers press for exemption from proposed fracking rule (via The Hill)

New York governor won’t join Obama to tour fracking hotbed sites (via Houston Chronicle/AP)

RENEWABLES 

Germany breaks monthly solar generation record, ~6.5 times more than US best (via CleanTechnica)

Wind supplied 47% of South Australia’s energy last week (via Renew Economy)

India plans “green energy corridor” to boost renewables capacity (via RTCC)

The solar industry’s new dirty secret (via Mother Jones)

A solar system is installed in the US every four minutes (via Greentech Media)

In Texas, oil is big but solar is cheap (via Climate Progress)

Arizona solar tariffs to replace net metering could create tax headaches (via Greentech Media)

Geothermal and solar put Oregon Tech on all-renewables course (via EarthTechling)

EMISSIONS 

Researchers find Europe’s forests moving toward carbon sink saturation point (via Phys.org)

EPA’s pending CO2 rules will need flexibility to deal with uneven state actions (via ClimateWire)

Greens press EPA to revoke “outdated” emissions exemption (via The Hill)

GAO to review how administration developed “social cost” of carbon (via The Hill)

Economics and politics in California: Cap and trade and trade exposure (via Energy Collective)

Researchers study how to accurately measure a city’s greenhouse gas emissions (via Phys.org)

KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS 

Nebraska trial could delay Keystone XL pipeline (via Washington Post)

Keystone XL foes to build barn in pipeline’s path (via Journal-Star/AP)

Proposal for Enbridge pipeline route surprises Minnesota landowners (via Duluth New Tribune)

ENERGY POLICY 

Electric utilities must evolve or die: Are they up to the task? (via Energy Collective)

With proposed rail expansion, Northwest confronts its clean image (via New York Times)

Capacity markets for Texas electricity: the real story (via Houston Chronicle)

NUCLEAR 

Fukushima springs another leak in battle with radiated water (via Houston Chronicle)

Troubled Nebraska nuclear plant making slow progress toward restarting (via Houston Chronicle/AP)

A nuclear reactor competitive with natural gas? (via MIT Technology Review)

ENVIRONMENT 

China, US, Qatar singled out on “Earth Overshoot Day” (via Phys.org)

More than half of India’s rivers too polluted to drink (via Bloomberg)

Indian farmers cope with climate change and falling water tables (via National Geographic)

To help the environment, watch sports at your neighborhood bar (via Think Progress)

US military moves toward lead-free ammunition (via Sustainable Business)

COAL 

Ohio environmental regulator: Coal industry forced his resignation (via Houston Chronicle/AP)

TRANSPORTATION 

Tesla Model S gets highest safety-test score ever awarded by NHTSA (via Green Car Reports)

POLITICS

Are climate deniers the new birthers in Obama’s playbook? (via Greenwire)

Democrats will soon have a big-fat fight over fracking (via Grist)

Coal foe named to FERC is latest Obama pick drawing ire (via Bloomberg)

OPINION 

Population plus climate: Why coastal cities will face increased risks from floods (via Time)

How a leaderless climate change movement can survive (via Mother Jones)

Harold Hamm on oil, climate change, and his divorce (via National Journal)

Earth’s environmental account moves into the red (via BusinessGreen)

Ethanol mandates creating an economic car-wreck (via Washington Post)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 6.5.13

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

EMISSIONS 

China sticks to carbon-intensity target, dismisses CO2 cap (via Bloomberg)

UK decarbonization target narrowly defeated in legislature (via The Guardian)

Congress hates carbon pricing – the rest of the world doesn’t (via Washington Post)

KEYSTONE XL 

Climate change and Keystone XL: the numbers behind the debate (via Energy Collective)

Scientists tell State Department key parts of Keystone review are “without merit” (via InsideClimate News)

API says State Department considering Keystone hearing in Washington, DC (via The Hill)

TransCanada digging up defective segments of new pipeline, angering landowners in Texas (via InsideClimate News)

RENEWABLES 

Renewable energy investments in Middle East and North Africa grew 40% in 2012 (via Recharge)

EU solar tariffs may spur short-term imports as deal is sought (via Bloomberg)

EU imposes provisional 11.8% tariffs on Chinese solar imports (via Greentech Media)

Mining-dependent Mongolia pushes renewables as climate change hits (via Reuters)

UK government considers plans to compensate homes near wind farms (via BusinessGreen)

Wine industry dragged into EU-China solar trade war (via BusinessGreen)

New hybrid wind-solar technology could change the future of renewables (via Phys.org)

Offshore wind projects to advance as US sets auction (via Bloomberg)

EPA tool determines viability of solar projects on contaminated sites (via The Good Human)

San Francisco, San Jose dominate ranking of clean tech cities (via San Jose Mercury News)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

Germany drops fracking law until after September’s election (via Reuters)

CLIMATE 

US Forest Service tells Congress climate change causing longer wildfire season (via The Guardian)

GRID 

The billion-dollar smart grid storm and summer spending surge (via Greentech Media)

As energy picture changes, Midwest grid operator considers a longer outlook (via Midwest Energy News)

California takes the lead in using batteries for grid storage (via Green Car Reports)

5MW energy storage system headlines Oregon smart grid project (via Renew Grid)

Siemens installing America’s first regenerative energy storage unit (via CleanTechnica)

OIL 

Large oil firms hit record US spending in 2012 as profits drop (via Houston Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION 

United Airlines planes to fly on advanced biofuel (via Houston Chronicle)

Tesla loses fight to set up its own dealers in Texas (via Autoblog)

ENVIRONMENT 

EPA says US water infrastructure needs $384 billion upgrade (via Los Angeles Times)

When will the Texas drought end? (via StateImpact Texas)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Walgreens building net zero energy store outside Chicago (via New York Times)

POLITICS 

GOP attacks landmark offshore wind power plan (via Houston Chronicle)

House panel erupts over Endangered Species Act debate (via The Hill)

Dim GOP enthusiasm for cap-and-trade bill in 2009 even dimmer now (via E&E Daily)

OPINION 

Imagining power utilities for the 21st century (via Grist)

Nuclear energy and my Greenpeace conundrum (via Energy Collective)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 3.5.13

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

OIL 

China ousts US as world’s main oil importer (via Mining.com)

US crude exports spur shale oil refineries (via Bloomberg)

Transocean chief disappointed with Gulf oil spill insurance ruling (via Houston Chronicle)

Non-jury trial may favor BP in Gulf oil spill case (via Alabama.com)

GRID 

Smart grid technology market will total $494 billion by 2020 (via Pike Research)

US transmission investment will peak at $14 billion in 2013 (via Greentech Media)

How much renewable energy can the grid handle? (via Greentech Media)

Wholesale power: bankruptcies and lessons (via Christian Science Monitor)

RENEWABLES 

EU to register Chinese solar panels, highlighting tariff threat (via Bloomberg)

Fast-tracking patent applications bolsters green tech market (via BusinessGreen)

Solar makers turn laser-like focus on boosting solar cell efficiency (via GigaOm)

US wind industry is still clinging onto tax credit (via Politico)

US inching closer to offshore wind (via United Press International)

MIT team outlines path to low-cost solar-to-storable fuels devices (via Green Car Congress)

Now on Kickstarter: a new kind of spinning energy storage device (via GigaOm)

Buffet’s renewables investment MidAmerican Energy a top portfolio company in 2012 (via SNL Energy)

California’s solar PV rebates nearly over: is this good news? (via Renewable Energy World)

University of Maine starts $1.5 million geothermal heating project (via Portland Press Herald)

KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS 

Environmental activists reeling as Keystone pipeline gains momentum (via The Hill)

Arguments over climate impacts rage in wake of State Department report (via Greenwire)

Enviros seize on State’s pipeline alternatives (via EnergyWire)

Eight figures that will define Keystone XL fight over the next 45 days (via National Journal)

Enbridge declines to pay for new studies on Michigan oil spill damage (via Detroit Free Press)

TransCanada shares rise on Keystone environmental report (via Reuters)

GREEN BUILDING/ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

UK launches green building hub for construction industry (via BusinessGreen)

Ireland launches energy efficiency fund (via Energy Collective)

St. Louis seeks to be model energy efficient city (via EarthTechling)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

Shale boom forces Kremlin to focus on Arctic (via Moscow Times)

Chemical industry surging on US natural gas (via Houston Chronicle)

Fracking goes to the Texas legislature (via StateImpact Texas)

CLIMATE 

Splits emerging in UN climate deal agreed in Doha (via RTCC)

Report blames climate change for extreme weather in Australia (via New York Times)

Spring may arrive five weeks earlier by 2100, study finds (via Climate Central)

Warmer climate to open new Arctic shipping routes by 2050 (via Reuters)

Global warming affects crop yields, but it's the water not the heat (via Phys.org)

Two-thirds of Americans now believe global warming is real (via Phys.org)

The coming climate exodus: what we’re doing to help wildlife’s new migration (via Yes! Magazine)

NUCLEAR 

Global nuclear capacity rises in 2012 after post-Fukushima drop (via Reuters)

Restart of Japanese nuclear reactors unlikely this year (via United Press International)

Areva plans first nuclear fuel shipment to Japan since Fukushima (via Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION 

2013 electric cars: rated range for each model, ultimate guide (via Green Car Reports)

Shell to push natural gas for trains, vehicles (via Houston Chronicle)

Zipcar says 72% of young Americans don’t care about owning a car (via Green Car Reports)

Tesla Motors delays filing of annual report (via San Jose Mercury News)

EMISSIONS 

Little unity over California’s cap-and-trade program (via Reuters)

Shell forecasts near-zero global emissions by 2100 (via Environmental Leader)

POLITICS 

Obama nominates Moniz as DOE chief, McCarthy as EPA head (via Platts)

Obama’s second-term cabinet to play bigger policy role (via Washington Post)

From “green dream team” to B team (via Politico)

McCarthy’s Republican history should smooth path to EPA (via Reuters)

Is fracking a bride to a clean-energy future? Ernest Moniz thinks so (via Washington Post)

Gina McCarthy for EPA could be Obama’s most significant nominee (via Washington Post)

America’s oil and gas billionaires (via Forbes)

Can climate-change denier Ken Cuccinelli win a swing state? (via National Journal)

OPINION 

China keeps making new green pledges (via Grist)

Climate change: the scary hidden stressor (via New York Times)

Arctic ice melt will bring frosty relations as nations navigate across North Pole (via The Independent)

Cabinet picks could take on climate policy (via New York Times)

Do Obama’s cabinet picks match his greener second-term talk? (via Christian Science Monitor)

Does Keystone XL report let Obama off the hook on climate pledge? (via Christian Science Monitor)

Tesla charging situation would benefit from more flexibility, less confrontation (via Autoblog Green)