Energy and Environment News Roundup – 3.25.14
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
COAL
Netherlands to stop funding overseas coal power plants (via RTCC)
EPA’s coal ash rule still not done (via Politico)
Supreme Court declines to hear Arch Coal mining permit case against EPA (via Reuters)
Coal ash pods: How power companies get a “bypass” on pollution regulations (via National Geographic)
EPA joins North Carolina in probe of coal ash spill (via The Hill)
RENEWABLES
Japan approves 2014-2015 renewable energy FiT rates (via Recharge)
Italy, Spain, Germany hit commercial solar grid parity in 2013 (via CleanTechnica)
India may see slow growth in new solar capacity additions (via Panchabuta)
Developers register 12GW potential Brazil wind projects for June auction (via Recharge)
Kenya’s 300MW Lake Turkana wind farm to break ground in June (via Renewables Biz)
Solar PV industry targets 100GW annual deployment in 2018 (via Solar Industry)
Mercom Capital forecasts 46GW new solar in 2014 (via Solar Industry)
Greenwood Biosar completes Panama’s first utility-scale solar power plant (via CleanTechnica)
Morgan Stanley: Going off grid nears tipping point (via Renew Economy)
FERC issues license for tidal energy pilot project in Pacific Northwest (via Renew Grid)
Feds clearing path for Pacific wave energy test (via Houston Chronicle)
Cape Wind update: A big legal victory and another legal challenge (via Greentech Media)
Maryland seeks global offshore wind role (via Recharge)
Koch-funded groups fuel assault on Kansas clean energy law (via Climate Progress)
New Jersey’s offshore wind goals up in the air after project rejection (Renewable Energy World)
KEYSTONE XL
Southern leg of Keystone XL pipeline reaches capacity ahead of schedule (via The Oklahoman)
Not building Keystone XL will leave a billion barrels of bitumen in the ground (via Energy Collective)
EMISSIONS
New study reveals workings of China’s pilot emissions cap-and-trade systems (via Triple Pundit)
China’s Hubei province to launch carbon market on April 2 (via Reuters)
China’s Shenzen says carbon market had 10% surplus in first year (via Reuters)
As listener and saleswoman, EPA chief takes to the road for climate rules (via New York Times)
States aren’t shying away from regulating carbon emissions from power plants (via Bloomberg BNA)
NATURAL GAS
DOE approves natural gas export terminal (via The Hill)
North Dakota gas flaring doubles, pumping CO2 into air (via Climate Central)
CLIMATE
UN official: Countries on track to reach 2015 global climate treaty (via The Hill)
EU delays 2030 climate package decision until October (via RTCC)
WMO: Global warming not stopped, will go on for centuries (via Reuters)
Climate change could leave another 50 million people facing hunger by 2050 (via The Guardian)
UN says 13 of 14 hottest years on record occurred since 2000 (via BusinessGreen)
Weather extremes “consistent” with manmade climate change, says UN (via Agence France-Presse)
OIL
Houston Channel closed as 24 vessels skim 4,000-barrel oil spill (via Bloomberg)
Galveston Bay oil spill will take economic, ecological toll (via Texas Tribune)
TRANSPORTATION
VW chairman says component cost decreases keep him confident of EV success (via Autoblog Green)
How four states are trying to woo Tesla Motors’ gigafactory (via Autoblog Green)
Ford: Baby boomers leading trend to compact utility vehicles (via Green Car Congress)
GRID
FERC Order 1000 has its day in court (via Renewable Energy World)
Southwest Power Pool launches wholesale energy marketplace (via Energy Manager Today)
Car companies take expertise in battery power beyond the garage (via New York Times)
ENVIRONMENT
WHO links 7 million premature deaths annually to air pollution; 12.5% total global deaths (via Green Car Congress)
China says polluting industry still growing too fast (via Reuters)
China aims to launch national pollution permit market within three years (via Reuters)
Brazil desperately seeking solutions to worst drought in decades (via The Guardian)
Water scarcity drives US communities toward smarter use, recycling (via Bloomberg)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
By 2020, LEDs may rival incandescent bulbs in cost without rebates (via Greentech Media)
LBNL calculates “cost of saved energy” from efficiency programs (via Energy Manager Today)
Opower sets IPO price range at $17-19, could raise $110 million (via GigaOm)
POLITICS
Green groups spend $5 million to defend three Democrats (via Wall Street Journal)
Mary Landrieu is paying – and getting paid big – for her global warming stance (via National Journal)
OPINION
“War on coal” isn’t the real reason your utility rates will rise (via Triple Pundit)
Why you shouldn’t applaud Exxon’s decision to disclose climate risks (via Climate Progress)
Galveston oil spill: Does US oil boom mean more spills? (via Christian Science Monitor)
Steven Chu solves utility companies’ death spiral (via Forbes)
Maybe transit isn’t surging after all (via Atlantic Cities)
Watts the mystery? The energy units that power our lives. (via Smart Planet)