Energy and Environment News Roundup – 4.3.13

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

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Berkeley Lab researchers release guide to financing energy upgrades for K-12 school districts (via Phys.org)

California to set energy efficiency standards for video game consoles (via Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles includes cool roofs in building code (via Sustainable Business)

OIL 

Arkansas attorney general plans investigation into oil spill (via AP)

At oil spill cleanup in Arkansas, Exxon running the show, not feds (via InsideClimate News)

Dolphin deaths still high after Gulf oil spill, says NWF (via Houston Chronicle)

Mishaps shouldn’t impede energy expansion, oil industry economist says (via Houston Chronicle)

RENEWABLES 

Solar PV industry now operating as net energy producer (via EarthTechling)

The drought is drying up all our ethanol (via Mother Jones)

Utilities challenge net metering as solar power expands in California (via ClimateWire)

BP puts wind farm business up for sale (via Reuters)

Citigroup blows by Santander as greenest bank on wind power push (via Bloomberg)

CLIMATE 

World Bank plans to take lead in climate challenge (via RTCC)

Climate change making extreme events worse in Australia (via The Guardian)

Geoengineering schemes need global sign-off, researchers say (via The Guardian)

Public trusts scientists on climate change, says poll (via RTCC)

NASA’s most famous climate scientist is retiring – here’s a look back at his work (via Washington Post)

ENERGY POLICY 

Sequester looms over DOE’s energy labs (via Politico)

Poll: two-thirds back Keystone pipeline, global warming belief trends upward (via The Hill)

House Natural Resources Committee democrats launch “EVIZ” iPad app (via Climate Progress)

TRANSPORTATION 

Emissions rules put alternative-fuel vehicles in a bind (via New York Times)

US Parks Service launches clean transportation initiative (via Green Car Reports)

Tesla announces lease option for Model S starting at $1,500/month (via Autoblog Green)

Nissan Leaf has best sales month ever with 2,236 sold, Chevy Volt steady at 1,478 (via Autoblog Green)

Tesla, Fisker, and what could have been: a tale of two electric car startups (via GigaOm)

GRID 

Demand response payments increase significantly in PJM (via Greentech Media)

ComEd says smart grid efforts created 2,400 jobs in 2012 (via Renew Grid)

Northeast Utilities still can’t reveal “new route” for Northern Pass (via CLF Scoop)

COAL 

Oregon environmental coalition gives notice on coal dust lawsuit (via New York Times)

OPINION 

For energy tech, the boring stuff (business model innovation) will be key (via GigaOm)

Is the Internet too hot for data centers to handle? (via Scientific American)

8 myths about wind energy (via Renewable Energy World)

Expensive batteries are holding back electric cars – can that change? (via Washington Post)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 4.2.13

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

CLIMATE 

By 2050 much of the Arctic could be green (via Mongabay)

South East Asia food basket facing “shocking” future (via RTCC)

US dominated global disaster losses in 2012: Swiss Re (via Climate Central)

Climate hawks go on offense, but impact uncertain (via InsideClimate News)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

European industry flocks to US to take advantage of cheaper natgas (via Washington Post)

Rumors of a cheap-energy jobs boom from natgas remain just that (via New York Times)

Federal government wants to track PA oil and gas production more closely (via StateImpact Pennsylvania)

Fracking wastewater disposal wells mapped in Texas (via StateImpact Texas)

Illinois proposes fracking tax lower than most states (via Chicago Tribune)

RENEWABLES 

Solar PV demand in emerging Asian countries expected to boom through 2017 (via Solar Industry)

Offshore wind power: huge potential goes largely untapped (via EarthTechling)

Shared renewables could supercharge California’s clean energy economy (via CleanTechnica)

What’s wrong with Pennsylvania solar? (via Greentech Media)

OIL 

Three years after Gulf spill, BP faces big week in court (via Houston Chronicle)

Exxon developing evacuation plan for Pegasus oil pipeline spill (via Bloomberg Businessweek)

TRANSPORTATION 

Hybrid sales up 32% this year, could hit 8% of market by 2020 (via Autoblog Green)

A longer life for lithium-sulfur batteries (via Phys.org)

Tesla’s stock soars over 20% on profit, sales news (via GigaOm)

Tesla cancels lowest-range version of Model S (via New York Times)

ENVIRONMENT 

Air pollution linked to 1.2 million premature deaths in China (via New York Times)

Poll: nearly half say US government too lax on environment (via The Hill)

Texas deploys “rainy day fund” to start long-term fight against drought (via ClimateWire)

ENERGY POLICY 

Japanese cabinet proposes energy sector overhauls (via New York Times)

Citigroup: renewables will triumph and natural gas will help (via Grist)

America gets a D+ in energy infrastructure (via Greentech Media)

COAL 

How Ontario is putting an end to coal-burning power plants (via Yale e360)

Coal opponents say Washington State terminal has derailed (via Seattle Weekly)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

Could energy benchmarking rules be useless? (via Greentech Media)

Energy Trust of Oregon saves 71% of 2012 electricity target in Q4 (via Energy Manager Today)

GREEN BUSINESS 

US book industry using 24% recycled paper on average (via Mongbay)

EMISSIONS 

“Global” carbon market goes truly global (via CleanTechnica)

Carbon emissions declined 1.4% in Europe in 2012 (via Bloomberg)

Greenhouse gas emissions from farmland underestimated (via Phys.org)

Soils in newly forested areas store substantial carbon (via Phys.org)

Supreme Court rejects challenge to EPA air pollution rule from oil lobby (via Reuters)

GRID 

More than 400 microgrid projects under development worldwide (via Navigant Research)

Texas grid expansion to double wind capacity, deliver to major cities (via Sustainable Business)

POLITICS 

Bucking administration turnover trend, Sutley may stay at CEQ (via Greenwire)

NASA climate scientist James Hansen to leave government for advocacy work (via The Hill)

OPINION 

Germany’s solar-power success: too much of a good thing? (via Grist)

Seven things you learn driving the length of the Keystone XL pipeline (via Washington Post)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 4.1.13

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

TAR SANDS/KEYSTONE XL 

Federal agencies asked to delay Keystone over pipeline safety issues (via InsideClimate News)

Exxon Mobil pipeline leaks “a few thousand” barrels of crude oil in Arkansas (via Washington Post)

Exxon confirms ruptured Arkansas pipeline carried Canadian dilbit (via InsideClimate News)

Exxon to excavate Pegasus crude pipeline to find cause of leak (via Houston Chronicle)

EMISSIONS 

Countries in Asia cutting carbon faster than Europe (via Climate Central)

Enviro groups want Supreme Court to review power plant air pollution ruling (via The Hill)

Northeast US states fight carbon emissions with renewables (via EarthTechling)

RENEWABLES 

Japan approves 10% solar feed-in tariff cut (via Recharge News)

Solar roof highways: India’s road to new power? (via EarthTechling)

Current solar module efficiency nowhere near its potential (via CleanTechnica)

America’s biggest utility power provider gets into the distributed-energy game (via Grist)

States cooling to renewable energy (via Wall Street Journal)

New York spends $47 million for 76 large on-site solar projects (via Energy Manager Today)

Solar investments to yield millions for local school children (via Greentech Media)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

Israel taps large offshore natural gas field (via New York Times)

Saudi Arabia’s shale gas challenge (via Asharq Al-Awsat)

As fracking proliferates in Texas, so do disposal wells (via Texas Tribune)

Ed Rendell’s plea for New York fracking fails to disclose industry ties (via ProPublica)

TRANSPORTATION 

EPA proposes Tier 3 standards for gasoline sulfur content and vehicle emissions (via Green Car Congress)

Opponents attack EPA proposal requiring cleaner fuel, cars in US (via Washington Post)

Automakers unwrap hybrids to meet tough fuel standards (via Detroit News)

As potential investors back away, Fisker retains bankruptcy law firm (via Los Angeles Times)

Tesla Motors reaches profitability on brisk Model S sales (via San Jose Mercury News)

Consumer electronics are driving battery advances (via Plugin Cars)

CLIMATE 

Europe to be battered by Sandy-style superstorms (via New Scientist)

A glorious winter, but Alps face warmer world and huge changes (via The Guardian)

Study: global warming means seas freeze more off Antarctica (via Scientific American)

Nature’s thermometers say spring is springing earlier by 3 days per decade (via Weather Underground)

COAL 

With Illinois coal hot, environmentalists demand reforms to mine permit system (via Midwest Energy News)

ENVIRONMENT 

Cost of environmental damage in China growing rapidly amid industrialization (via New York Times)

China’s exploitation of Latin American natural resources raises concern (via The Guardian)

Haiti to plant millions of trees, double forest coverage by 2016 (via Inhabitat)

Mystery malady kills more bees, heightening worry on farms (via New York Times)

GRID 

Global microgrid market will pass $40 billion in annual revenue by 2020 (via Navigant Research)

National power panel set up for better grid supervision in India (via Panchabuta)

Distributed energy: driving the ghosts out of the machine (via Grist)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY 

A “China Dream” – more efficient than the American one (via Midwest Energy News)

Red states use 55% more energy, produce 80% more carbon emissions (via Sustainable Business)

USDA offers funding for rural energy efficiency projects (via Energy Manager Today)

Study says mandatory energy benchmarking not worth the cost (via Environmental Leader)

OPINION 

How the US oil, gas boom could shake up global order (via NBC News)

Amid austerity, how can Washington spur new energy technologies? (via National Journal)

Salazar’s legacy: win some, lose some (via Houston Chronicle)

Will driverless cars solve our energy problems or just create new ones? (via Washington Post)

Is the US economy getting more energy efficient or not? (via Greentech Media)

Bill McKibben’s lesson for business in the age of climate change (via GreenBiz)

Exxon oil spill in Arkansas seeps into Keystone debate (via Globe and Mail)

Energy and Environment News Roundup – 1.11.13

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

CLIMATE 

Heat, flood, or icy cold, extreme weather rages worldwide (via New York Times)

Australia braces for more blistering heat after record busting spell (via Washington Post)

COAL 

Ontario to be coal-free by 2013 (via Ontario Ministry of Energy)

GREEN BUSINESS 

Fossil fuel divestment campaign spreads to America’s churches (via InsideClimate News)

Investment community calls for predictable climate policy (via GreenBiz)

RENEWABLES 

Deutsche Bank predicts global solar market will rise 22 percent in 2013 (via Bloomberg)

Global clean energy investment falls for first time (via BusinessGreen)

Chile approves 3.1GW of solar PV projects (via Renewable Energy World)

US wind industry awaits tax guidance on PTC rule (via Politico)

New York Governor announces $1 billion green bank and $1.5 billion solar program (via Climate Progress)

California solar program hits 1GW-installed milestone (via EarthTechling)

NREL and Stanford team up on peel-and-stick solar cells (via Renewable Energy World)

EMISSIONS 

IRENA: shale gas boom can complement renewables to cut coal (via Bloomberg)

EPA cites Shell Arctic drilling rigs for air emissions violations (via Los Angeles Times)

Do you live near one of the nation’s dirtiest power plants? (via Huffington Post)

TRANSPORTATION 

Global auto exec survey expects internal-combustion engine dominance but with downsizing and PHEV investment (via Green Car Congress)

In lawsuit against Energy Department, firms claim cronyism in “green car” loan program (via Washington Post)

Nearly 1 million natural gas trucks and buses will be sold worldwide from 2012-2019 (via Pike Research)

New EV charging station connects to smart meters (via Renew Grid)

Fuel cell vehicles could be a $1.8 billion market in 2030 (via Environmental Leader)

How to read a plug-in hybrid’s mileage sticker (via Mapawatt)

NATURAL GAS/FRACKING 

US manufacturers lobby against “unfettered” natural gas exports (via Houston Chronicle)

California announces preliminary hydraulic fracturing regulations (via AOL Energy)

USGS finds no contamination from fracking in two Arkansas counties (via Reuters)

RARE EARTHS 

DOE plunks $120 million into rare earths research hub (via AOL Energy)

Molycorp lowers 2013 outlook, shares plunge (via Reuters)

OIL 

Support grows for more offshore drilling oversight by US (via Houston Chronicle)

BP oil spill settlement payments exceed $1 billion mark (via Houston Chronicle)

Rep. Markey: Shell may have moved Kulluk Arctic drilling rig to avoid taxes (via Reuters)

ENVIRONMENT 

Drought-damaged US states face poor outlook as dry weather persists (via The Guardian)

Native Canadians could block natural resource development (via Reuters)

Beetlemania: insects are gobbling up 1,000-year-old trees (via Mother Jones)

GRID 

ERCOT says Texas electric transmission capacity will fall short of demand (via Houston Chronicle)

OPINION 

If you aren’t alarmed about climate, you aren’t paying attention (via Grist)

Why is General Electric backing down from its plug-in pledge? (via Plugin Cars)

New York State’s clean tech challenge to California (via Forbes)

OTHER NEWS 

An additional listing of clean energy and climate news is posted at Climate Progress