Energy and Environment News Roundup – 1.29.13
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
TAR SANDS/KEYSTONE XL
Settlement with TransCanada curtails protesters’ acts of civil disobedience (via Greenwire)
GRID
China tests a small smart electric grid (via MIT Technology Review)
Inspector General: DOE mismanaged ARRA smart grid funds (via Renew Grid)
EMISSIONS
EU carbon price drop deemed “wake-up call” (via United Press International)
“Off the scale” smog envelops Beijing again (via Phys.org)
Scotland sets 2030 power sector decarbonization goal (via Recharge)
RENEWABLES
PwC: renewables M&A activity falls in 2012 (via BusinessGreen)
Solar growth moves to China, Middle East, and India as Europe cuts subsidies (via ClimateWire)
UK solar boom predicted to double installations in 2013 (via Bloomberg)
Taiwan starts offshore wind push (via Recharge)
Suzlon chief predicts “flat” wind turbine market in 2013 (via Bloomberg)
Can fossil-fuel tax benefits boost the renewable energy industry? (via Midwest Energy News)
Solar net metering equals net benefits in California and Vermont (via CleanTechnica)
ERCOT report shows Texas wind and solar power hold their own against natural gas (via EarthTechling)
ENVIRONMENT
Over $8 billion invested in watersheds globally in 2011 (via Mongabay)
Projected US water use likely to increase as climate warms (via Phys.org)
Message from Mexico: US is polluting water it may someday need to drink (via ProPublica)
Species on the move present a conservation challenge (via Climate Change)
Drought worsening in Midwest and Plains states, despite Winter weather (via Huffington Post/Reuters)
OIL
OPEC sees oil markets well supplied, no price collapse in 2013 (via Bloomberg)
US review delays closing of big Chinese oil deal (via The Hill)
TRANSPORTATION
Has “peak car” already happened, making automakers mobility companies? (via Autoblog Green)
Three automakers combine forces on fuel-cell cars (via New York Times)
Electric cars and the power grid: how are they coming together? (via Forbes)
Lower EV prices will not blow up the market (via Pike Research)
EV drivers now have quick-charge coverage from Washington to California (via CleanTechnica)
Colorado county mandates plug-in vehicle wiring for new homes (via Plugin Cars)
CLIMATE
USGS-NOAA: climate change impacts to US coasts threaten public health, safety, economy (via Phys.org)
Cities lead over feds on climate change adaptation (via Sustainable Business)
Scientist publishes first climate change textbook for college students (via Phys.org)
Is it Spring or is it Winter? Wild rollercoaster of US temperatures (via Weather Underground)
An unusual weather turn even for the Midwest: 8 degrees quickly becomes 74 (via New York Times)
NASA retirees appeal to own lack of climate authority (via Skeptical Science)
NATURAL GAS/FRACKING
Shell, Kinder Morgan to jointly export LNG from the US (via Reuters)
Gas royalty checks total $1.2 billion in Pennsylvania (via Facts of the Day)
RARE EARTHS
Rare earths mining boom poses toxic risks (via Treehugger)
COAL
Canadian carbon project aims to prove clean coal works (via Reuters)
US coal industry sees progress ahead in Congress, Courts (via Politico)
GREEN BUILDING
America’s most conservative green community (via The Atlantic)
Washington DC requires privately owned buildings measure energy, water use (via Sustainable Business)
GREEN BUSINESS
Unlocking sustainability’s hidden value (via GreenBiz)
POLITICS
What it looks like when Obama’s passion spurs him to defy political odds (via Grist)
Climate change action now helps win elections: poll (via Discovery News)
Moderate Dem Senator Heitkamp bucks party orthodoxy, aims to exemplify “all of the above” (via E&E Daily)
A chat with Sierra Club’s Michael Brune about civil disobedience (via Grist)