Energy and Environment News Roundup – 3.27.14
A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.
OIL
Spain’s oil deposits and fracking trigger energy gold rush (via The Guardian)
US now producing 10% of world’s crude oil (via The Hill)
New York State seeks more data on crude oil rail operations (via New York Times)
Battle begins over plan to send oil trains through California cities (via Climate Progress)
UTILITIES
UK’s big six utilities face competition probe (via Bloomberg)
FERC orders gas and electricity suppliers to work together (via Reuters)
RENEWABLES
Citigroup says “Age of Renewables” has begun (via Renew Economy)
Global solar deployment edged out wind in 2013 (via Solar Industry)
New wind power blows UK green electricity to record levels (via BusinessGreen)
Renewable energy starts 2014 off strong in US (via Renew Grid)
Study finds wind power cost competitive with natural gas in US (via Phys.org)
New US wind power installations plummet 93% in 2013 (via Houston Chronicle)
US solar market grappling with impact of federal tax credit expiration (via Greentech Media)
Kansas Senate approves bill ending renewable energy standards (via Kansas City Star)
Solar turf wars: NRG Energy buys roof diagnostics, Sunrun allies with Sungevity (via Greentech Media)
Watch how fast wind farms spread across the US (via Climate Central)
CLIMATE
New UN IPCC report is cautious on making climate predictions (via Yale e360)
No pause in global sea level rise (via Scientific American)
Disasters led to $45 billion in global insurance losses in 2013 (via ABC News/AP)
Report says climate change is world’s “gravest security threat” (via RTCC)
Top scientists say global warming caused record Australian heatwave (via The Telegraph)
2013: Extreme weather, extreme damage in US (via Center for American Progress)
Obama talks climate change in new Showtime documentary (via Huffington Post)
NATURAL GAS
Trade deal would ease US natural gas exports to Europe (via Reuters)
Fracking’s earthquake risks push states to collaborate (via Bloomberg)
Keystone XL battle plan may not fit enviros’ fight against LNG exports (via E&E Daily)
ENVIRONMENT
China’s rivers at the brink of collapse (via Huffington Post)
Big challenges for reclamation of ravaged tar sands lands (via Yale e360)
House GOP wants to make it nearly impossible for Obama to create new national monuments (via National Journal)
USGBC wants all students educated on sustainability by 2040 (via GreenBiz)
Poll: Californians cutting water use amid drought (via San Francisco Chronicle)
COAL
Poll finds support for more coal ash regulation in North Carolina (via News Observer)
TRANSPORTATION
Modern diesels pollute over 20% less than those from 10 years ago (via Autoblog)
100% drop-in aviation biofuels “closer” to reality (via Renewable Energy World)
US high-speed rail gets a boost with 32-train order for Siemens (via CleanTechnica)
GRID
Germany’s $2.8 billion transmission link with Norway threatened (via Bloomberg)
OPINION
New Zealand’s “Kyoto forests” sow the seeds for a massive emissions surge (via The Guardian)
Have we reached the clean energy tipping point? (via GreenBiz)
Is a super El Nino coming to shatter extreme weather and global temperature records? (via Climate Progress)
Here’s why British Columbia’s carbon tax is so popular and effective (via Grist)
How the US natural gas boom just caused more US coal exports (via Climate Progress)
Why Nest’s valuation is higher than Opower’s: Hardware, consumers, homes (via GigaOm)