Energy and Environment News Roundup – 1.27.14
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
NATURAL GAS/FRACKING
Natural gas market heats up as temperatures fall (via New York Times)
Deep freeze exposes challenges for gas-dependent PJM Interconnection (via Greenwire)
Chevron, Shell seek new LEED-like certification for shale gas (via GreenBiz)
Ohio state EPA fast tracks fracking permits, raising concerns (via Columbus Dispatch)
EMISSIONS
Emissions trading in China: First reports from the field (via World Resources Institute)
World Bank chief backs fossil fuel divestment drive (via RTCC)
China’s air pollution prompts creative, sometimes wacky solutions (via Washington Post)
China’s Guandong to cut oil, coal use to slow emissions growth (via Reuters)
California air pollution drops over the past decade (via Daily Democrat)
RENEWABLES
China says U.S. should stop new dumping probe on solar products (via Chicago Tribune)
Global leaders agree to cut tariffs on clean energy goods (via The Hill)
The budding Latin America solar market: 5 key takeaways (via Greentech Media)
China installed more solar panels in 2013 than any country ever has (via Quartz)
UK won’t meet renewable energy target beyond 2020 (via Climate Central)
Scottish offshore wind spending fell 55% in 2013 (via Recharge)
UK’s biggest solar farm exceeds expectations (via Bloomberg)
Waste-to-energy market to reach $28.57 billion in 2016 (via Environmental Leader)
UK government launches £100,000 community energy competition (via BusinessGreen)
Forget intermittency: NREL says wind energy can boost grid reliability (via CleanTechnica)
Cost of solar 2 to 100 times lower than you think (via CleanTechnica)
New England’s governors ask for more clean energy capacity from ISO-NE (via Renew Grid)
Solar surges, wind wanes in 2013 U.S. installs (via EarthTechling)
In the Midwest, farmers leading the way on solar power (via Midwest Energy News)
OIL
Lawmakers demand stricter oil train regulations (via The Hill)
92,000 oil train tankers are not puncture resistant (via Facts of the Day)
North Dakota recorded 300 oil spills in two years without notifying public (via The Guardian/AP)
TRANSPORTATION
EV charging costs, and one way to control them (via EarthTechling)
California Governor Brown remains ready for one million EVs (via Autoblog Green)
New Jersey Honda dealer first in U.S. to use no net electricity (via Green Car Reports)
Rough patch for Uber’s challenge to taxis (via New York Times)
TAR SANDS/KEYSTONE XL
Keystone XL pipeline decision on collision course with midterm elections (via Wall Street Journal)
Reading John Kerry’s mind on the Keystone XL pipeline (via InsideClimate News)
CLIMATE
Climate change brings new risks to Greenland (via Climate Central)
Hundreds of homes face more flooding in south of England (via The Guardian)
COAL
How the coal industry impoverishes West Virginia (via The Nation)
Report: Future dim for Connecticut’s last coal-fired power plant (via New Haven Register)
GRID
Survey: Only 32% of utilities know what kind of data analytics they use (via Greentech Media)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
When will consumers realize the 60-cent light bulb wasn’t a bargain? (via ClimateWire)
Philadelphia to be national model for green infrastructure (via TriplePundit)
OPINION
Cambridge University: Fracking firms “should pay £6 billion a year tax to compensate for climate change” (via The Guardian)
Getting carbon out of your portfolio is tricky (via AP)
Telling sugarcane ethanol’s sustainability story (via Energy Collective)
What’s the state of Obama’s energy and climate agenda? (via National Journal)
The good, the bad, and the ugly of natural gas (via National Journal)
The difference between organizing and policy analysis (via Slate)