STUFF

LG Group (Korea) to invest >$6.7B in solar, EV batts, LEDs and water treatment by '15. Panasonic, Hitachi also with new green plans.

Needham said downgrade HSOL. Shares now at lifetime low. SPWRA lowering financial guidance for '11. NGLPF facing financial trouble after encountering problems at their only operating plant. Shades of Solyndra.

Republicans yelling over last-minute DOE guarantees. EIA objects to 19 KY mining permits. Coal ash from '08 TN spill halfway cleaned. Huge ozone hole has appeared over Arctic for first time. Tuvalu Islands in Pacific out of aquifer water. Last coal-burning steamship in Great Lakes seeking Clean Water Act exemption. May be the same exemption Delta Queen wanted to continue plying Mississippi-Ohio Rivers.

TX drought could last until '20: TX climatologist. $5.2B damage to ag so far this year. Fed's outlook brighter: ends in December.

Chevron testing solar. Using Bright Source Energy solar-mirrors to boiler to pump steam into oil reservoirs in Calif. Could beat out using NG to get the steam.

Does rise of CO2  in atmos cause "fertilization effect" in flora, fauna and ag? Conventional science saying it makes forests more vulnerable to insects (which we are seeing), fires (seeing), and other problems (to be seen). I ask what effects are there on humans? And then, fertilization effect is short-lived w/out additional nutrient inputs, i.e. N. And the N needs microbes in soil.

Iraq to reach 3mb/d production by yearend from current 2.9.

Gazprom trying to get private Turk NG suppliers and cut off state pipeline operators.

"I just want my life back" Hayward's move into Kurdish Iraq is leading speculation over entry of other oil majors.

Russian oil production increased 1.23% so far this year, exports down 2.13%.

Shell's Singapore 500kb/d refinery fire impacting Asian gasoline market.

ENI undertaking repairs on its Obama-Brass pipeline in Nigeria after damage from sabotage. Exxon ship offshore Nigeria attacked, hostage taken.

Phillipine govt likely to convert Bataan nuke plant to coal.

Possible rare earth metals/minerals mega deposit on AK's Prince of Wales Island.

Silicon in solar ~6 grams/w.

FSLR trying its hand at 1-axis tracking after acquiring Ray Trackers.

Turks sent seismic ship to do their own NG exploring off Cyprus and got buzzed by Israeli fighters.

OPEC production might have increased 75kb/d in Sept to 30.05mb/d (highest since Nov '08).

Ecuador on track to launch largest smart grid in Latin America w/ GE.

Trace amounts of Plutonium found 28 miles from Fukushima.

Enviro/Native groups filed lawsuit challenging Shell's offshore drilling in Beaufort Sea.

Exxon to build 2 new tankers in Philly yard to carry North Slope oil to US west coast anticipating the pipeline shutdown.

"Wrangler" pipeline proposed to take Cushing OK oil to TX refineries.

N. Sea NG production down 25% in Q2.

Switzerland move toward shutdown of their 5 nuke reactors by '34. Well, that's a way away.

Iran's crude production fell in Aug. for 2nd consecutive month.

Ukraine's state-run energy firm and Exxon signed on to developing shale gas deposits. Europe's 4th-largest reserves (42TCF) behind Poland, France, Norway.

Chevron expects to start work on Venezuela project by yearend. Helmerich & Payne lawsuit over '10 takeover of 11 drilling rigs there.

Chevron also to go ahead with $29B LNG project in W. Australia.

Brazil has quadrupled gasoline imports because of ethonal shortages.