STUFF

Austrian comp Fronius - solar inverter maker - to build new plant in IN. They will get $9.5M from stimulus funds.

China  to build 4 new hydro dams - 43GW total - for $62B on tributary of Yangtze. 2 likely online in 2 yrs.

EPA planning case studies on NG drilling (fracking) effects on drinking water in PA, TX, CO, ND and LA. One report seen that most groundwater reservoirs are several hundred feet above fracking operations.

G20 Ag ministers to create info system for global grain flows, reserves. They also said there's not enough evidence to link biofuels to food price volatility. Gotta love government denial.

White House a no-show for hearing on DOE loan guarantees. Congress subcommittee taking it up. Probable focus on Solyndra. They got a $535M loan guarantee in early '09. Since, they've layed off folks and withdrew their IPO. One of their large investors was an Obama campaign fund bundler. Export-Import Bank also funded $10M to them for project financing. OMB unresponsive to Congress about it all.

WY lawmakers supporting NG-to-gasoline facility.

Ft. Calhoun nuke plant north of Omaha fighting off the flood.

US coal exports surged in Q1.

High silver prices slimming solar maker profits.

Bank of America to finance deploy of up to $2.6B commercial/industrial rooftop solar installs across US. Partnering with DOE, Prologis, NRG Energy. BOA also has committed to 15% GHG redux by '15 and a $55M financing program for E efficiency in older bldgs.

Think (Norwegian EV builder) declared bankruptcy. 2-seater EV for $34k. Right. Came down from $40k. Couldn't find capital to continue. HEV to take a $35M charge on their investment. Mitsubishi will have a $28k EV hitting showrooms soon. Nissan's at $32k. Think's car goes back to Ford project in '90's.

US operating utility PV capacity 419MW. Germany may have installed that much in May alone. Total US contracted capacity, though, 8.6GW. Most online by '14, 1GW expected online this year.

1kcf of NG converted to el yields 457 miles in an EV, while only 224 miles in an NGV. Because utility generators much more efficient than car-sized. One '06 study found NGV's less efficient than any other propulsion.

Happy motoring, pards.