In this edition, attention on gas in U.S. utilities may return to coal as natgas prices rise from Reuters and Bloomberg’s
Shale Takeovers Looming as Texas Discounted in Australia. And in the political arena: Social Media Campaign Calls Out Presidential Candidates’ Silence On Global Warming, says Ecosystem Marketplace. The Hill delivers Environmentalists get vocal on Obama, Romney silence on climate change and NPR runs a video highlighting New Groups Make a Conservative Argument on Climate Change.
Quote of the Day:
“The silence of Gov. Romney and President Obama on climate change is deafening.”
–Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth Action, in The Hill’s “Environmentalists get vocal on Obama, Romney silence on climate change”
Lead Stories
California May Issue More Refiner Carbon Permits, Nichols Says
Bloomberg
California may consider issuing more free carbon permits to oil refiners after the first auction of allowances in November, Mary Nichols, the state air chief, said at a conference today in San Francisco.
http://jlne.ws/Pbhqlc
Factbox: Carbon trading schemes around the world
Reuters
Carbon trading schemes are emerging all over the world as governments try to meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the fight against climate change.
http://jlne.ws/SH0Dg8
U.S. utilities may return to coal as natgas prices rise
Reuters
The recent rise in U.S. natural gas prices and decline in coal prices is set to put a dent in demand for natural gas as some utilities resume using more coal to generate electricity.
http://jlne.ws/QK11FW
Shale Takeovers Looming as Texas Discounted in Australia
Bloomberg
Buyers seeking a piece of North America’s shale boom can find it in Australia. Australian companies exploring for oil and natural gas that’s trapped in shale rock in the U.S. and Canada are valued at a median of 11 times their reserves, a 23 percent discount to their counterparts that are listed on stock exchanges in North America, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The valuation gap — driven by Australian investors who are more than 8,000 miles (12,800 kilometers) from the companies’ wells in Texas and Oklahoma — may lure acquirers, said RBS Morgans Ltd.
http://jlne.ws/Qhh3GI
EU wind capacity hits 100 gigawatt mark: industry
Reuters
Installed EU wind capacity has reached the 100 gigawatt mark – the equivalent of power generated from 39 nuclear plants or a train of coal stretching from Buenos Aires to Brussels – but financial risk threatens growth, industry body EWEA said.
http://jlne.ws/PK2HQO
The Question Day 1: What is the Most Difficult Issue Facing the Solar Industry?
Renewable Energy World
It’s been a year of both continued expansion and mounting challenges for the global solar industry. RenewableEnergyWorld asked solar industry executives to share their thoughts and insights on one burning question: What has proven to be the most difficult issue facing the solar industry during the past year and what are some key strategies to ensure long-term growth?
http://jlne.ws/QiAJtK
National Grid: UK could be free of energy imports by 2020s
Business Green
The UK could shed its dependence on energy imports by the early 2020s if it meets its carbon and renewable energy targets as planned, according to National Grid’s scenario planning.
http://jlne.ws/QizgDH
A Bipartisan Vote Against European Air Fines
The New York Times Green blog
Approved unanimously on Saturday before Congress adjourned for a fall campaign hiatus, the Senate bill drew relatively little attention. It was the “European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011,” the latest attempt to exempt American airlines from paying fees imposed by the European Union to cover the greenhouse gases their planes emit while flying to and from European airports.
http://jlne.ws/QK1sQE
Social Media Campaign Calls Out Presidential Candidates’ Silence On Global Warming
Ecosystem Marketplace
As the first debates approach, President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have remained virtually silent on the most urgent global threat to the American dream: fossil-fueled climate change.
http://jlne.ws/OZaAVI
Environmentalists get vocal on Obama, Romney silence on climate change
The Hill’s E2 Wire
A handful of environmental groups are amplifying calls Thursday for President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney to speak up on climate change after a summer of devastating drought, fires, storms and heat.
http://jlne.ws/SH886S
New Groups Make a Conservative Argument on Climate Change
NPR
One topic you don’t hear much about from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is climate change. Like so much else, it’s become politically divisive, with polls showing Republicans far less likely to believe in it or support policies to address it. But two new groups aim to work from within, using conservative arguments to win over skeptics.
http://jlne.ws/SU6DNo
Q. and A.: Farming for an Uncertain Future
The New York Times green blog
Nearly 40 years ago, while teaching environmental studies at California State University in Sacramento, Wes Jackson began reflecting that something about the country’s agricultural practices wasn’t quite right. Soon that instinct grew into a powerful itch.
http://jlne.ws/Q6ZJpn
Events
Carbon Forum North America
October 1-2, 2012
Washington, DC
http://jlne.ws/zDe43B
Sustainability Summit – Innovation Challenge
October 9, 2012
New York
http://jlne.ws/wKbX7U
EMA 2012 Fall Meeting
**Keynote speaker is Richard Sandor
October 24 – October 26, 2012
Santa Monica, CA
http://jlne.ws/NIFCwM
Carbon
New Zealand Says Energy Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fell in 2011
Bloomberg
New Zealand’s energy industry reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 1.9 percent in 2011, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said in an e- mailed statement. The reduction was largely driven by a 10 percent fall in emissions from electricity generation as the use of renewable energy increased, the government department said.
http://jlne.ws/NUbhxS
Nichols Says Rail ‘Legitimate’ Use of Some Carbon Revenue
Bloomberg
The construction of a high-speed rail line connecting California’s biggest cities would be a “legitimate” use of some revenue generated from the state’s auctions of carbon allowances, the state’s air chief said.
http://jlne.ws/Q5QHc4
EU Says Can’t Provide Clarity on 2013 Carbon Sales Volume Yet
Bloomberg
The European Union can’t yet provide clarity on the exact volumes of carbon permits to be auctioned in 2013, according to Peter Zapfel, emissions coordinator at the European Commission.
http://jlne.ws/S4hhXk
Crimson Bioenergy Ltd. Announces Contract with Pacific Carbon Trust
Press Release
Crimson Bioenergy Ltd. (TSXV: CSN) is pleased to announce that the Company, through its 100% owned subsidiary, CSQ Environmental Technologies Ltd. (“CSQ”), has signed a contract with Pacific Carbon Trust (“PCT”) for the afforestation of non-productive farmland near Fort St. John, BC to develop a permanent mixed-wood forest. Under the contract PCT will purchase up to 56,000 of the greenhouse gas offsets expected to result from the project over a 10-year period beginning in 2013.
http://jlne.ws/QzYiSc
Natural Gas/Coal
Russia wants China to prepay for gas to fund pipe
Reuters
Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) wants China to pay up front for gas to meet 40 percent of the costs of building the pipeline, Russia’s energy minister said on Thursday, after the company reported progress in talks with Beijing.
http://jlne.ws/Rn6sgo
Pollutants linked to ‘fracking’ found in Wyoming groundwater
The Hill’s E2 Wire
Chemicals linked to hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” have been found again in the groundwater of a town in Wyoming that has become a flashpoint in the debate over the drilling practice.
http://jlne.ws/QA0EAs
Power
JinkoSolar to Help CJIC Develop Kenya’s Largest Solar Plant
Bloomberg
JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS), a Chinese solar panel maker, will help China Jiangxi Corp. for International Economic & Technical Cooperation, or CJIC, develop a 50-megawatt solar park in Kenya.
http://jlne.ws/Q5QrKb
First Solar names executive to help grow in China
Reuters
First Solar Inc appointed Bruce Yung as managing director of business development for China as the largest U.S. solar panel maker looks to expand in the country.
http://jlne.ws/UxPnig
TEXT-Fitch says Polish utilities capex plans to be adjusted
Reuters
Fitch Ratings believes that Polish utilities will adjust their long-term capex plans in response to the worsened market conditions for conventional power generation. The agency anticipates that the project pipeline for new generation capacity will be subject to postponements or cuts to avoid the risk of overcapacity by the end of the decade and to address a worsened return expectation of some planned projects. Fitch believes that utilities may re-allocate some of the planned capex from conventional generation to power distribution or renewables given the lower risk profile of the latter two segments.
http://jlne.ws/PK33GY
KenGen invites bids for 560MW geothermal plants
Reuters
Kenya’s main electricity producer, KenGen, has invited parties to submit bids for the development of 560 MW geothermal power plants, the company said on Thursday.
http://jlne.ws/TKXkG9
Statkraft to build two additional wind farms in Sweden
Press Release
Statkraft has decided to build the Björkhöjden and Ögonfägnaden wind farms in Sweden. The work will start immediately, which means that Statkraft will have four major wind farms under development in cooperation with SCA in mid/northern Sweden. Statkraft’s investment budget for the two most recent projects is about NOK 5.2 billion. http://jlne.ws/V4fj8f
Google’s Shout Out to a Wind Energy Deal with Utility
Renewable Energy World
Google has made it a corporate mission to embrace renewable energy, and on Wednesday the company said it’s signed its first clean power contract with a utility to buy wind energy to run its data center in Oklahoma.
http://jlne.ws/TL3plR
Va. aims to clear way for offshore wind projects
AP
Virginia is seeking to survey a vast expanse of the ocean floor and document wind, waves and wildlife offshore to smooth the way for development of wind turbines by energy companies.
http://jlne.ws/Q735bX
RECs
India Renewable Energy Credit Demand Slumps in September
Bloomberg
Demand for renewable-energy credits in India declined this month because of a supply glut and concern regulators may not enforce clean-energy targets on utilities.
http://jlne.ws/V4oWUG
CleanTech
Dems push White House for update on energy efficiency program
The Hill’s E2 Wire
Democratic leadership on the House Energy and Commerce Committee wants an update from the Obama administration on a congressionally mandated energy efficiency program for data centers that has not yet been implemented.
http://jlne.ws/VSOVxG
GE, Duke Energy to help cleantech startups reach commercial scale
GreenBiz.com
Sometimes money alone isn’t enough to help a startup succeed. That’s why an executive behind General Electric’s Ecomagination division — a model for corporate investment in clean energy technology — is founding a new investment firm that aims to link promising startups with big businesses that can help them scale.
http://jlne.ws/V4nNwn
Water
Itron in Smart Meter Pact With Manas, Turkish Water Utility
Bloomberg
Itron Inc. (ITRI), a smart-meter provider, and Manas Energy Management Inc. said they were awarded a supply and installation contract with a regional water utility in Turkey to help cut costs and reduce water loss.
http://jlne.ws/S4icqI
Reports
The Hidden Costs of Electricity: Comparing the Hidden Costs of Power Generation Fuels (Posted Sept. 19, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/PCt372
CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report (Posted Sept. 11, 2012)
Carbon Disclosure Project
Beyond the bluster: Why wind power is an effective technology (Posted Aug. 30, 2012)
IPPR
http://jlne.ws/UeZB9b
Carbon Tax Revenue and the Budget Deficit: A Win-Win Solution? (Posted Aug. 27, 2012)
MIT
http://jlne.ws/Ri3So8
The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability (Posted Aug. 21, 2012)
Ceres
http://jlne.ws/ONwe8M
EPA REGULATIONS AND ELECTRICITY (Posted Aug. 16, 2012)
GAO
http://jlne.ws/NHwlos
European Power & Renewables Deals: Quarterly M&A outlook (Posted August 15, 2012)
Pricewaterhousecoopers
http://jlne.ws/TFZjaV
Advancing Technology for America’s Transportation Future (Posted August 6, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/MA2U6I
Benchmarking Air Emissions Of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States (Posted July 31, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/QbRr0J
Per capita CO2 emissions in China reached European level (July 18, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/NAjBQQ
The Interim Regulation of Voluntary Greenhouse Gases Emission Trading in China (Posted July 10, 2012)
The Climate Group
http://jlne.ws/Mhv62s
Measure for Management: C40 Cities (July 9, 2012)
Carbon Disclosure Project
http://jlne.ws/L9LC37
