Energy and Environment News Roundup – 10.20.14

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

CLIMATE 

EU climate chief says energy, climate deal next week “feasible” (via Reuters)

When island nations drown, who owns their seas? (via Boston Globe)

Some cities try to stem the flood in South Florida (via USA Today)

Climate change takes center stage on Instagram (via Climate Central)

NATURAL GAS 

Russia, Ukraine reach tentative gas deal in tough Milan talks (via Reuters)

Tracers developed for tracking frack fluids (via Environmental Leader)

RENEWABLES 

A multibillion-dollar opportunity – service for China’s wind farms (via Bloomberg)

UK wind industry sets new generation record with 24% power share (via BusinessGreen)

UK green investment bank’s wind fund raise “going well” (via Bloomberg)

Labor is most variable cost for solar, wind projects (via Energy Manager Today)

New biofuels facility converts plant waste to ethanol, is 90% cleaner than gasoline (via Huffington Post/AP)

New software modeling tool a wind industry boon (via Renewable Energy World)

Solar EPC firms must adapt to industry changes via new business models (via Solar Industry)

For taller wind turbines, Iowa engineer looks to concrete (via Midwest Energy News)

Another blow to Ohio’s solar industry as PUCO nixes in-state sourcing rule (via Columbus Business First)

COAL 

Study links mountaintop removal dust to cancer (via Charleston Gazette)

EMISSIONS 

Fossil fuel divestment: climate change activists aim at Australia’s banks (via The Guardian)

Renewables, not shale, biggest driver in US emissions cuts: study (via BusinessGreen)

EPA moves to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals (via The Hill)

OIL 

Saudi August oil exports fall to lowest level in three years (via Reuters)

Deeper oil slump seen as “disaster” risk for Australian LNG (via Bloomberg)

Fracking to make U.S. an “energy superpower” (via Saudi Gazette)

Despite slumping prices, no end in sight for U.S. oil production boom (via New York Times)

North Dakota aims to reduce natural gas flaring (via US EIA)

Murky waters: Chicagoans worry petcoke moving to barges (via Midwest Energy News)

TRANSPORTATION 

The coming era of long-range electric cars (via Plugin Cars)

CARB’s next meeting could dramatically change the EV landscape (via Autoblog Green)

GM expands zero-waste agenda worldwide (via TriplePundit)

Ford edges closer to “growing” its own car parts (via TriplePundit)

GRID 

Lawyers to debate $590 million Houston transmission project (via Houston Chronicle)

ENVIRONMENT 

The Chinese people care more about the environment than Americans (via Grist)

EPA finds little benefit to pesticide linked to bee declines (via The Hill)

GM, Dow, others launch zero-waste initiative (via Environmental Leader)

POLITICS 

Brazil’s Rouseff on the offensive a week from runoff vote (via Reuters)

Fossil fuel lobby spent $213 million last year on U.S., EU politicians (via DeSmog Blog)

How to get Republicans to stop using the “I’m not a scientist” dodge (via Grist)

First wind, now gas: Texas tax breaks face scrutiny (via Texas Tribune)

OPINION 

Are tumbling oil prices food or bad news for the world economy? (via The Economist)

Political capital needed for clean energy finance to flourish (via Clean Energy Finance Forum)

Is EPA too conservative in its clean energy projections under new carbon rules? (via Greentech Media)

LEDs are a bright idea whose time has come (via Climate Central)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 3.4.13

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

ENERGY POLICY 

China atop renewable energy ranks as shale gas changes the game (via CleanTechnica)

Analyst says US renewable energy policy superior to Europe’s (via Renew Grid)

The rising energy policy power of America’s tribes (via Recharge)

Obama to tap McCarthy to lead EPA, Moniz for Energy secretary (via The Hill)

Natural gas challenges coal as king of the energy hill in Ohio (via Los Angeles Times)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

Japan to build LNG terminal for US shale gas imports (via Pakistan Business Recorder)

New research says natural gas boom still has a few decades left in it (via StateImpact Texas)

Pennsylvania fracking health study will decide New York, shape policy around US (via Facts of the Day)

Bakken Shale’s top producer wants to snuff out natural gas flaring (via Midwest Energy News/EnergyWire)

Natural gas leaks come under scrutiny, raise questions on climate impact (via Washington Post)

A snapshot of drilling on a national park’s margins (via New York Times)

RENEWABLES 

Solar stunner: unsubsidized “grid parity has been reached in India” and Italy, with more countries coming in 2014 (via Climate Progress)

Green investors take fright at German bid to cap power prices (via Reuters)

Ontario grid to see significant boost in renewable energy integration (via Renew Grid)

Three percent of US electricity could come from river hydropower (via CleanTechnica)

California city wants to require solar on every home (via Greentech Media)

Solar struggles to shine in deregulated Texas electricity market (via StateImpact Texas)

Minnesota’s Goodhue wind project faces blowback (via Finance & Commerce)

KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS 

State Dept: denying Keystone XL would not slow oil sands development (via Forbes)

Railroads emerge as alternative to pipeline for moving Canada’s oil sands (via Washington Post)

Keystone XL pipeline report slammed by activists and scientists (via The Guardian)

New Obama Administration report on Keystone XL pipeline has enviros worried (via Mother Jones)

CLIMATE 

China carbon tax may spur US climate debate (via Bloomberg)

Australian climate on “steroids” after hottest summer (via Phys.org)

UK businesses urged to prepare for more extreme weather (via BusinessGreen)

Climate change science poised to enter nation’s classrooms (via InsideClimate News)

How NASA scientists are turning LA into one big climate-change lab (via Atlantic Cities)

ENVIRONMENT 

Critic of unbridled growth tipped as new China environmental minister (via Reuters)

Asian and African dust influences western US rain and snowfall – study (via ClimateWire)

Chemical spill in China underlines environmental concerns (via New York Times)

Court ruling keeps polar bear as threatened species (via The Hill)

EPA funding reductions have kneecapped environmental enforcement (via National Journal)

OIL 

Standard & Poors warns oil firms could soon face credit downgrades (via BusinessGreen)

Transocean, Halliburton say their Gulf spill tabs should be BP’s burden (via Houston Chronicle)

BP wins appeal on Gulf oil spill insurance claim (via Houston Chronicle)

TRANSPORTATION 

Honda to reuse rare earths from old batteries for new hybrid vehicle batteries (via Green Car Congress)

Automakers work to achieve zero-waste goals (via New York Times)

The part of Amtrak that people use makes money – the rest doesn’t (via Slate)

Oregon proposes 1.5-cent-per-mile tax for EVs, 55+ mpg cars (via Autoblog Green)

GRID 

How ARPA-E is working to create the 21st century smart grid (via Greentech Media)

Will drones soon help utilities repair the grid? (via Renew Grid)

Texas electric supply will be “very tight,” says grid operator (via Houston Chronicle)

NUCLEAR 

Report casts doubt on Britain’s nuclear electricity strategy (via New York Times)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Green building movement takes hold worldwide (via Sustainable Business)

US homes show greatest seasonal variation in electricity use (via US EIA)

Nearly 30 percent of US homes have ditched incandescent light bulbs (via Greentech Media)

POLITICS 

McCarthy: seasoned regulator primed for climate fight (via Politico)

Gov. Jerry Brown works to spread California’s green doctrine (via Los Angeles Times)

ARPA-E director worries the agency could “get lost” in fiscal talks (via Greentech Media)

OPINION 

Coal is history, or is it? (via Forbes)

What’s on the chopping block in energy and environment policy? (via National Journal)

Stop comparing early hybrid sales to early EV sales (via Plugin Cars)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 1.25.13

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

CLIMATE 

Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science (via The Independent)

Kerry says global climate change is threat to US (via Washington Post)

Obama’s inaugural speech rallies campus climate divestment campaign (via Buzzfeed)

How climate change could wipe out the Western Forests (via The Atlantic)

Explained in 90 seconds: it’s cold – that doesn’t mean global warming is fake (via Mother Jones)

EMISSIONS 

Japan to announce lower greenhouse gas reduction targets by November (via Bloomberg)

Norwegian Sea can hold 100 years of Norway’s CO2 emissions (via Reuters)

EU carbon price crashes to record low (via The Guardian)

Tokyo’s cap-and-trade cuts CO2 23% in second year (via Environmental Leader)

Federal court won’t review decision that struck down EPA pollution rule (via The Hill)

RENEWABLES 

China “finalizing renewables quote” (via Recharge)

What the president’s focus on climate change means for cleantech (via GreenBiz)

Crowd-funded solar projects top $1 million in US (via Treehugger)

Wind tax credit has appeal for red states, too (via Politico)

Arizona regulators slash home solar incentive, kill commercial plan (via Arizona Daily Star)

KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS 

How much will tar sands oil add to global warming? (via Scientific American)

After Nebraska setback, greens regroup on Keystone XL (via Mother Jones)

From John Kerry, cautious words on Keystone XL (via The Hill)

John Kerry says he’ll control Keystone XL review as Secretary of State (via InsideClimate News)

Enbridge says Eastern US Gulf Coast next big market for Canadian oil (via InsideClimate News/Reuters)

GRID 

Global smart grid spending rose to $13.9 billion driven by China (via Bloomberg)

Nearly 70 percent of electric meters in Europe will be smart by 2020 (via Pike Research)

Oak Park, Illinois test drives a blackout-proof, solar-powered smart grid (via Grist)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

Ukraine signs landmark $10 billion shale gas deal with Shell (via Reuters)

110 lawmakers urge exports of US natural gas (via Houston Chronicle)

Do we have enough water to frack our way to energy independence? (via Huffington Post)

California sued for allegedly failing to regulate fracking (via Bloomberg)

TRANSPORTATION 

Number of ChAdeMO EV charging stations in US jumped tenfold in 2012 (via Autoblog Green)

UK could roll out 122,000 EV chargers under EU plan (via BusinessGreen)

Are vehicle miles travelled (VMT) fees the key to federal transportation woes? (via Sustainable Cities Collective)

Will Texas be next to tax electric vehicles? (via Autoblog Green)

With new battery hub, Chicago seeks to lead nation on electric vehicles (via Midwest Energy News)

GREEN BUSINESS 

McDonald’s, Unilever, Pepsi, Adidas make sustainability news at Davos (via GreenBiz)

Should oil firms make a list of the world’s most sustainable companies? (via GreenBiz)

Unilever reveals half of its factories send ‘zero waste’ to landfills (via BusinessGreen)

Oregon tops US in new clean jobs index (via Sustainable Business Oregon)

COAL 

Governors at odds over Northwest export terminal proposals (via Greenwire)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Does increased energy efficiency just spark us to use more? (via Scientific American)

Washington DC once again leads America in LEED certifications (via CleanTechnica)

Energy efficiency in the Northeast US: Massachusetts leads, New Jersey lags (via Energy Manager Today)

ENERGY INDUSTRY 

Energy industry fueled by strong M&A activity (via Houston Chronicle)

Texas regulatory commission that oversees drilling is being overhauled, even in name (via New York Times/Texas Tribune)

OPINION 

How the “Kochtopus” stifled green debate (via The Independent)

Obama’s second chance on Keystone XL (via Washington Post)

From words to deeds: how to push Obama toward climate action (via Grist)

Memo to DC: think long-term on clean energy (via Earth Techling)

The Keystone XL objections wither away (via Wall Street Journal)

US Northeast faces stark choice on climate pollution (via New York Times)

An economic tale of two shale booms: Pennsylvania is not North Dakota (via Facts of the Day)

POLITICS 

Would a White House green team help on climate? (via Politico)

Democrats form Congressional task force to fight climate change (via Bloomberg)

White House official details Obama plans for climate change, clean energy (via SNL Energy)

White House official: corporate tax reform should boost green energy (via The Hill)

Obama climate push to tie environment, jobs (via Reuters)