Energy and Environment News Roundup – 4.15.13

A daily roundup of the most important energy, environment, and climate news from around the world.

CLIMATE 

NOAA: Arctic summers to be nearly ice-free earlier than predicted (via The Hill)

Antarctic summer ice melt accelerating – report (via RTCC)

US, China vow to boost climate efforts amid “increasing” dangers (via The Hill)

Kerry pushes US climate ambition in Japan (via RTCC)

As flood threats rise, federal reform to diversify insurance risk sinks (via ClimateWire)

EMISSIONS 

Cutting specific pollutants would slow sea level rise, research says (via Phys.org)

Europe braces for verdict on climate chief’s carbon plan (via Bloomberg)

EPA will delay rule limiting carbon emissions at new power plants (via New York Times)

KEYSTONE XL 

Keystone XL pipeline to take center stage in US House this week (via Bloomberg BNA)

RENEWABLES 

Clean energy investment falls 22% in Q1 as subsidy cuts stall projects (via Bloomberg)

EU on track to meet 2020 wind, renewables targets, but current policies alone insufficient (via Greentech Media)

Brazil plans three renewable energy tenders in 2013 (via Recharge)

Wind hits record levels in Portugal, California (via Sustainable Business)

Arizona utility picks up solar installation pace (via Greentech Media)

Rooftop solar vs. utilities: the San Antonio episode (via Grist)

COAL 

Coal’s long goodbye (via Navigant Research)

Report: federal “clean coal” power project faces uncertain future (via The Hill)

GRID 

Steady, substantial growth expected for global energy storage market (via AOL Energy)

Smart homes, smart cities markets to double by 2017 (via CleanTechnica)

Aged US national power grid vulnerable to spring storm outages (via Phys.org)

Where’s my microgrid? (via Greentech Media)

NUCLEAR 

US rethinks how to respond to nuclear disaster (via New York Times)

TRANSPORTATION 

Expert: unsafe lithium-ion batteries mean EV sales predictions were off by “more than a factor of 10” (via Autoblog Green)

Study: fast charging will reduce electric car prices (via Plugin Cars)

OIL 

Ethiopian oil plays could contain billions of barrels, but challenges abound (via Houston Chronicle)

Lags in fracking regulations: independent analysis reveals risks to California water resources (via Phys.org) 

Exxon to remove damaged part of Arkansas oil pipeline on Monday (via Reuters)

Peak oil isn’t dead: an interview with Chris Nelder (via Washington Post)

OPINION 

How companies and weather may sway public opinion on climate (via GreenBiz)

What’s at stake for energy, environment policy in Obama’s budget? (via National Journal)

Solar grows up – now what? (via Grist)

The fossil fuel resistance (via Rolling Stone)

Why solar’s big March really wasn’t impressive (via EarthTechling)