Energy and Environment News Roundup – 12.19.14
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
CLIMATE
Climate change could cut global food production 18% by 2050 (via BusinessGreen)
Major coral bleaching in Pacific may become worst die-off in 20 years (via The Guardian)
NASA satellite sends back most detailed view yet of CO2 (via Climate Central)
Much of coastal U.S. will see over 30 days of flooding due to sea level rise, projects NOAA (via Huffington Post)
White House floats new climate guidelines for energy, infrastructure development (via National Journal)
RENEWABLES
China solar exports may face increase in EU duties (via Bloomberg)
Japan’s new FiT rules draw criticism from Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (via PV Tech)
India’s biggest wind company plans to enter solar market (via Greentech Media)
This new finance policy tweak boosts India solar energy (via CleanTechnica)
BNDES approves $222 million in loans for Brazil ethanol plant (via Bloomberg)
EBRD backs Polish wind farm with €23.8 million (via Bloomberg)
South Africa fights blackouts with concentrating solar power (via TriplePundit)
GE ships first Brazil wind turbine nacelle under tough local-content rules (via Recharge News)
U.S power sector employment declines, except for renewable electricity generators (via U.S EIA)
U.S. solar-plus-storage market to surpass $1 billion by 2018 (via Greentech Media)
EIA expects 2014 U.S. wind installations to total less than 5GW (via Recharge)
New money coming home: Investors likely to continue backing residential solar in 2015 (via Solar Industry Magazine)
U.S. could easily power itself 100x over with just solar power (via Treehugger)
Businesses get solar at no upfront cost, encourage customers and employees to invest (via Treehugger)
Duke prepares South Carolina distributed solar program (via Renewable Energy World)
Coalition plans push to expand Minnesota’s renewable energy standard in 2015 (via Star-Tribune)
Illinois solar gets closer to game time (via Renewable Energy World)
COAL
U.S. EPA set to issue long-anticipated rules for coal ash disposal (via Reuters)
Coal ash waste about to be federally regulated for the first time (via Climate Progress)
EMISSIONS
Polluting is getting expensive again in Europe: Carbon & climate (via Bloomberg)
The National Hockey League is going carbon neutral (via National Journal)
OIL
Bankers see $1 trillion in investments stranded in the oil fields (via Bloomberg)
Oil price bloodbath to spark energy sector buying spree (via Reuters)
Nebraska Supreme Court decision on Keystone XL punted to 2015 (via The Hill)
Oil crunch could cost Texas 128,000 jobs, says Fed model (via Houston Chronicle)
TRANSPORTATION
U.S. gasoline drops below $2.50 in U.S. for first time in 2009 (via Bloomberg)
Tax breaks for EV charging, natural gas cars back through end of 2014 (via Green Car Reports)
Analyst slashes Tesla sales forecast 40% due to fuel prices (via Autoblog)
2016 Chevy Volt to add on-demand regenerative braking (via Green Car Reports)
ENERGY POLICY
German energy use sinks to lowest level since reunification (via BusinessGreen)
U.S. power sector needs $2.1 trillion in investment by 2035, says EIA (via Greentech Media)
EBay just became the latest tech company to leave conservative group ALEC (via Climate Progress)
GRID
Smart thermostat programs roll on in Texas, Arizona, Maryland (via Greentech Media)
Alaska leads the world in microgrid deployments (via Navigant Research)
NATURAL GAS
The state of shale (via Phys.org)
Here's the grassroots political story behind the New York fracking ban (via Washington Post)
ENVIRONMENT
Companies pay $9.7 million in EPA enforcement actions (via Environmental Leader)
OPINION
The top five energy and climate stories of 2014 (via Forbes)
Global biofuels industry: A promising future (via Navigant Research)
Three ways renewables could benefit from low oil prices (via Forbes)
Will coal plant retirements and fracking threaten electric reliability? (via Navigant Research)
The surprising link between what makes us happy and what saves energy (via Washington Post)
Solyndra? Solyndra! The legacy of government loan guarantees beyond politics (via Greentech Media)
Six lessons learned from the front lines of the climate fight (via Huffington Post)
Solar tariffs: Throttling America’s biggest job creation machine (via Renewable Energy World)
How Denmark and Texas became wind energy kings (via StateImpact Texas)