Energy and Environment News Roundup – 1.29.15
A daily roundup of the most important energy and environment as well as climate news from around the world.
EMISSIONS
Asian air pollution may be changing U.S. weather patterns (via OnEarth)
Hearing on Inslee plan to charge polluters draws divided crowd (via Seattle Times)
A tax or a cap? Debating the path to carbon pricing in Oregon (via Portland Business Journal)
COAL
Federal coal program costing taxpayers and states more than $1 billion per year in lost royalties (via Climate Progress)
Swedish, U.S. universities divest from coal, Oxford “meets to discuss” (via CleanTechnica)
RENEWABLES
New report urges western governments to reconsider reliance on biofuels (via New York Times)
China connected 18.7GW of wind to the grid in 2014, says NEA (via Recharge)
Germany adds 4.75GW onshore wind, breaking 12-year record (via Recharge)
Lowering interest rates “could cut Indian solar cost by a third” (via PV Tech)
China’s wind energy output dropped in 2014 (via CleanTechnica)
U.S. wind power quadruples in 2014 as Texas leads installations (via Bloomberg)
GE, Siemens, Vestas dominate U.S. wind market in 2014 (via Recharge)
Walmart tops EPA’s on-site generation list (via Energy Manager Today)
Charting Hawaii’s spectacular solar growth (via Greentech Media)
CALSEIA issues California net metering update (via Solar Industry)
Minnesota: Where solar is about to take off (via Sustainable Business)
SolarWorld sees 6-8GW U.S. solar PV market over next decade (via Recharge)
First week of February is “Solar Education Week” (via Renewable Energy World)
Energy and Environment
NATURAL GAS
Scotland announces moratorium on fracking for shale gas (via The Guardian)
Kansas earthquakes likely tied to rise in fracking wastewater, say state geologists (via International Business Times)
CLIMATE
Climate models don’t over-predict warming, shows study (via Los Angeles Times)
British belief in climate change on the rise, finds research (via The Guardian)
House panel agrees to prioritize climate change (via The Hill)
TV networks now cover climate change, but they’re doing it wrong (via Grist)
OIL
EIA chief: Cheap oil won’t last forever (via Christian Science Monitor)
Shell shaves $15 billion off three-year spending plans (via Forbes)
Shell wants to resume Arctic drilling this year (via The Hill)
Chevron and BP in deal to search for oil deep beneath Gulf of Mexico (via New York Times)
Senate votes on fracking, endangered species pave way for Keystone XL passage (via Houston Chronicle)
TRANSPORTATION : Energy and Environment
Sales of electric trucks and buses expected to reach nearly 160,000 annually by 2023 (via Navigant Research)
Psychological barriers are holding back EV adoption (via CleanTechnica)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
UK energy use falls by 7.5 percent (via BusinessGreen)
Ikea sees green product sales soar 58% to over €1 billion (via BusinessGreen)
Finally, an energy issue everybody (mostly) likes (via National Journal)
ENERGY POLICY
China’s overseas investments, explained in 10 graphics (via WRI Insights)
Northrup Grumman cuts ties with ALEC (via National Journal)
OPINION : Energy and Environment
Is surging U.S. wind power headed off a cliff? (via Breaking Energy)
The solar-utility battle is getting ugly (via Greentech Media)
The best idea in a long time: Covering parking lots with solar panels (via Washington Post)
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