Energy and Environment News Roundup – 3.8.13
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
CLIMATE
Recent global heat spike unlike anything in 11,000 years (via Time/AP)
Report says insurers still ignoring climate change (via Mother Jones)
BusinessGreen guide to climate risk management (via BusinessGreen)
Canadian Arctic may lose 20% of glaciers by 2100, shows study (via Bloomberg)
US Forest Service may let more fires burn (via Time/AP)
COAL
Burning coal costs the EU €43 billion a year in health costs (via RTCC)
As coal industry declines, what will happen to all those retired miners? (via Washington Post)
ENVIRONMENT
UN says governments falling short in drought fight (via Phys.org)
US drought intensifies in Texas and Florida (via Climate Central)
RENEWABLES
50 percent price gap between European and Chinese solar modules (via Greentech Media)
China drives record solar growth to become world’s biggest market (via Bloomberg)
London Array becomes world’s biggest offshore wind farm (via Recharge)
Energy project developers see solar as easier than wind (via Greentech Media)
Greece installed 300MW of solar PV in January 2013 (via CleanTechnica)
US ethanol makers eye pros and cons of corn alternatives (via Reuters)
Radical wind concept promises energy storage (via EarthTechling)
Other people’s money: how crowdfunding lowers the cost of solar energy (via RMI Outlet)
Solar batteries could be utilities’ next headache (via Reuters)
Is South Dakota “open for business” for wind developers? (via Midwest Energy News)
KEYSTONE XL/TAR SANDS
Oil sands, Keystone XL, and the new politics of fossil fuel infrastructure (via Energy Collective)
US lawmakers draft bill to speed decision on Keystone pipeline (via Reuters)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans Keystone XL pipeline hearing (via The Hill)
TRANSPORTATION
Beijing to reveal plan for electric vehicle boost (via BusinessGreen)
Two largest global EV charging networks join forces (via Pike Research)
Rethinking the lead acid battery with chip and disk drive machines (via GigaOm)
Dreamliner battery fire more serious than first thought (via Christian Science Monitor/AP)
US new vehicle fuel economy in February ties record high (via Green Car Congress)
EPA considers changes to plug-in hybrid testing process (via Autoblog Green)
NATURAL GAS/FRACKING
US shale gas exports will shake up global market (via CNBC)
US shale boom hurts Europe’s climate goals, says energy executive (via Houston Chronicle)
Illinois fracking deal could be the national model (via Huffington Post/AP)
In Texas, water use for fracking stirs concerns (via Texas Tribune)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Energy efficiency presents UK industrial sector with £2.2 opportunity (via BusinessGreen)
How UC Irvine redefines efficiency in laboratories (via GreenBiz)
ENERGY POLICY
The key decision that can make or break an energy project (via Greentech Media)
Interior Department nominee Jewell pledges “certainty” to oil, gas drillers (via Reuters)
OIL
Five energy challenges for Venezuela’s oil after Chavez (via Christian Science Monitor)
Exxon to invest $190 billion in upstream oil projects over five years (via Wall Street Journal)
BP faces escalating spill payouts after court ruling (via Reuters)
BP, Transocean officials botched tests, testifies witness (via Bloomberg)
Republicans point to falling oil production on federal lands (via Wall Street Journal)
EMISSIONS
40x35: a zero-carbon energy target for the world’s largest economies (via Climate Progress)
Developing nations must reduce emissions by half by 2020, study says (via WRI Insights)
EU court rejects Polish challenge to CO2 emissions system (via Phys.org)
GRID
Demand response in the US electricity market (via Energy Collective)
What exactly are self-healing power grids? (via EarthTechling)
Summer demand may raise heat on Texas grid (via Houston Chronicle)
NUCLEAR
Japan’s economic troubles spur a return to nuclear power (via MIT Technology Review)
Two years after Fukushima, Japan’s nuclear lobby bounces back (via Reuters)
US nuclear plant inspections need to improve, says report (via Reuters)
Looming federal budget cuts add to problems at Hanford nuclear site (via New York Times)
GREEN BUSINESS
Shareholders file first-ever “carbon-bubble” resolutions (via InsideClimate News)
How GM earns $1 billion recycling (via Treehugger)