Energy and Environment News Roundup – 12.29.14

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

CLIMATE

Greenland ice loss outpaces climate models (via RTCC)

Pope Francis expected to instruct one billion Catholics to act on climate change (via Climate Progress)

Hedegaard: Credibility of UN climate process hangs on Paris talks (via The Guardian)

Almost 7,000 UK properties to be sacrificed to rising seas (via The Guardian)

2014 may be Anchorage, Alaska’s first year ever with no below-zero temperatures (via Huffington Post)

ENERGY POLICY

UK, Germany, Australia all see energy and emissions drop in 2014 (via Treehugger)

China forms $32 billion energy company to help clean up Beijing (via Bloomberg)

RENEWABLES

Hanwha subsidiaries merging into world’s largest solar cell manufacturer (via CleanTechnica)

Spain “has to install up to 6.5GW of wind by 2020” (via Recharge News)

Scotland’s solar capacity climbs 32 percent in 2014 (via BusinessGreen)

Raizen to invest $927 million in sugarcane cellulosic ethanol plants in Brazil by 2024 (via Green Car Congress)

Distributed renewables will reduce utility revenues up to $124 billion a year by 2025 (via CleanTechnica)

OIL

Canadian oil surge to U.S. Gulf puts Mexico on defensive (via Bloomberg)

India refiners boom amid global oil bust as investors eye risks (via Bloomberg)

Race to build on Columbia River could block Pacific oil route (via New York Times)

Residents along Kinder Morgan pipeline from Ohio to Gulf concerned about use (via Houston Chronicle/AP)

As oil prices fall, Alaska governor halts project spending (via Houston Chronicle/AP)

TRANSPORTATION

China’s Shenzen caps new car plates to control smog, congestion (via Bloomberg)

Germany plans EV motorway charging station expansion (via Reuters)

Tesla Roadster 3.0 prototype announced with 400-mile possibilities (via Autoblog)

Report: Millennials own fewer cars, seek other ways to travel (via Green Car Reports)

Hawaii #2 behind California in EV registrations per 1,000 vehicles (via Inside EVs)

EMISSIONS

UK government unveils £35 million fund to curb air pollution (via BusinessGreen)

Curbing fugitive methane costs little, buys time on climate change (via The Hill)

Washington State offers ambitious cap-and-trade plan (via Climate Central)

GRID

This year’s key developments in distributed energy and utility disruption (via Greentech Media)

Smart thermostat programs roll on in Texas, Arizona, and Maryland (via Energy Collective)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Stronger energy codes don’t limit construction, says SEEA (via Energy Manager Today)

Energy efficient buildings could save Chicago $77 million (via Energy Manager Today)

OPINION

2015: A year for carbon pricing, peer pressure, and Paris (via RTCC)

New York takes the wrong approach to fracking (via Washington Post)

The biggest winter energy myth: That you need to idle your car before driving (via Washington Post)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 3.4.14

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

EMISSIONS 

EU ETS auction cuts to breathe new life into carbon markets (via Bloomberg New Energy Finance)

EPA strikes back at sulfur emissions (via National Journal)

ENERGY POLICY 

Proposed Congressional bill would revive US rare earths industry (via Navigant Research)

Green groups take aim at US energy exports as Keystone XL attack broadens (via Reuters)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Energy efficiency creates 387% return on investment in US Southeast (via CleanTechnica)

Opower files for $100 million US IPO (via Bloomberg New Energy Finance)

RENEWABLES 

Africa takes first steps toward renewables revolution (via Renewable Energy World)

Five lessons US offshore wind must learn from Europe (via Renewable Energy World)

Top 10 metro US areas winning the solar race (via Smart Planet)

Wind power’s big empty space down south (via EarthTechling)

In Virginia politics, renewable energy dwarfed by big utility (via Virginian-Pilot)

KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS 

Study says Keystone XL would have much larger impact than State Department suggests  (via Huffington Post)

Great Lakes oil pipeline raise spills fear amid debate over Keystone XL (via The Guardian)

CLIMATE 

EU releases proposals for UN 2015 climate deal (via RTCC)

European support for climate change action “not dented by financial crash” (via The Guardian)

Australia’s climate forecast: Hot days, higher fire risk, more severe droughts (via The Guardian)

Netherlands to upgrade flood defenses to cope with climate change (via RTCC)

OIL 

China’s national oil company licensed to seek Arctic oil (via China Daily)

Domestic crude oil drives a cautious US refining revival (via New York Times)

Crude oil export battle flares with dueling reports (via National Journal)

US court rejects BP appeal over Gulf spill losses (via Reuters)

TRANSPORTATION 

New US fuel standards aim to cut asthma, heart attacks (via Reuters)

Nissan Leaf sales up again in February, Chevy Volt dips deeper (via Autoblog Green)

Tesla’s battery factory threatens the auto, utility, and building controls market (via Greentech Media)

ENVIRONMENT 

Government shutdown cost national parks 8 million lost visitors in 2013 (via Climate Progress)

Harsh winter causing large die-off of invasive insects (via Yale e360)

Study says Americans use twice as much water as they think (via Los Angeles Times)

North Carolina cites five more power plants in massive coal ash spill (via The Guardian)

NATURAL GAS 

Russia-Ukraine conflict spills beyond borders into natural gas markets (via Forbes)

Investment report: Marcellus growth not peaking any time soon (via Houston Chronicle)

GRID 

Are utility concerns about aging infrastructure overblown? (via Midwest Energy News)

Install a building battery, save the grid? (via GreenBiz)

How will Tesla’s “gigafactory” affect the grid? (via EnergyWire)

OPINION 

Vladimir Putin won’t threaten Europe’s gas – for now (via Politico)

Can Congress pass energy efficiency legislation? (via National Journal)

What Opower’s IPO filing tells us about the company (via Greentech Media)

Just another solar deal, or the future? (via EarthTechling)