STUFF

Solar World to shut down CA plant  and several aging German lines. Solon (GM) also closing US manufacturing ops. Solar World, tho, still has OR plant. Opened in '07 with $400M and 500MW/y of capacity.

EU Commission wants to block their members from making bilateral deals that cede too much power to oil/gas exporters. Russia, of course, completing their gas pipeline to Europe across the Baltic to bypass Ukraine.

Sunoco pulling out of refinery biz.

Under a new plan, DOE to delegate to FERC authority under '05 Energy Policy Act (yes, Virginia, we do have an energy policy) to designate corridors where powerline congestion most severe.

DOE, DOI to invest $17M next 3 yrs into 16 projects to develop better hydropower tech.

"I want my life back" Hayward's Vallares to merge with Turkey's Genel Energy in $2.1B deal to gain oil fields in Iraq's Kurd region. Remember the kurds and weigh? Or is it way? Remember the USA getting rid of Hussein and giving blood and treasure for the present Iraq? And who gets the oil deals. Huh. Well, London was in on the war too. That's true. Genel produces 41kb/d now, projections are 90k by '13. Proven reserves of 356M bls should rise quickly. Cost of finding, developing N. Iraq oil $2-4/bl. Once more. $2-4/bl.

Greece proposing an aggressive expansion of solar power gen from present 206MW to 2.2GW by '20. Hope to attract $28B in investment. Want to export the power. 300 sunny days/yr - 50% more than in Germany, whose solar power gen is 80x Greece's. Sounds reasonable.

Grain waste at world's biggest malt whiskey distiller in Scotland - Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, etc. - to be converted into energy with $9.7M project, latest of several renewable E projects including a $105M plant. Dad liked Scotch, God bless 'm.

Chevron announced a new discovery at the deepwater GOM prospect that was left idled after BP's spill. Ops resumed this March (despite Republican candidates' assertions that Obama has shut down the US oil industry). About 1,700 feet deeper than BP's spill well.

And so we go, pards. Onward, upward and wiser. Happier trails.