STUFF

Africa Oil announced significant increase in Kenya, Ethiopia reserves.

We Energies to convert downtown Milwaukee coal plant to NG in '15 or '16. Downtown still uses steam from plant for winter heat. Those prices to rise 8%. Conversion cost $60-65M. Only We Energies coal plant without modern pollution controls.

Cal Tech professor led team that developed new toilet for Gates project. Flushes, sanitizes the water, produces H from the waste to create el.

Vestas cutting 1.4K more jobs, anticipating global decline in wind installs next year. Still considering 1.6K jobs in US. Increased competition from Nordex (Germ) and Goldwind (Chin).

Basel III intl banking standards take effect in Jan (go to '19). Suite of capital adequacy, leverage and liquidity (new to Basel regimes) requirements. Clean/renew E, with its heavy reliance on project finance, will be vulnerable to liquidity stds. Bonds a way to go, though, and could grow from $2B/y now to $18-40B by '20. US Fed to implement its own version of Basel III. And Dodd-Frank still being phased in.

Brazil utility to invest $225M to triple capacity of 78MW hydro plant. Online in '16.

Mass finalized strict regs on biomass plants. Reguires woody biomass plants to gen @ minimum 50% efficiency to get a half Ren En Cred, 60% efficiency for full cred. Previous requirement 25%. If applied nationally, almost half of plants wouldn't make it. Mass also requiring forest impact assessment every 5 yrs. And special category of biomass deemed to be advancing tech gets half cred with 40% efficicncy. Mass must reduce its GHG's 80% by '50 under '08 act.

New Delhi Center for Science and Environment says US is killing India's domestic solar industry. US Ex-Im Bank and Overseas Private Investment Corp using $30B fund set up by UN to help developing countries overcome climate change. India allows thin-film solar projects to use non-Indian parts, though. So US Ex-Im offering low-interest loans to developers that use US-made thin-film cells, panels. FSLR surely comes to mind. 30% of India solar industry facing closure.

Spain won't levy more taxes on solar or solar thermal. Aiming to prevent $30B of power system debt winding up on govt books. Exposure could reach >$60B in 4 yrs unless govt reduces subsidies. Their power system spends >$7B/y more than revs.

24 active ethanol plants in NB. Combined capacity >2B gal/y. Requires 700M bushels of corn/y. $5B invested. But, near 5M cattle finished/y there. Drought corn battle. Though it's most irrigated state in US. Corn supply should be OK there.

CEO of Absolute Fuel (TX), 1 of comps indicted for selling false RINs, used >$30M in revs to buy luxury goods from Jetstream to several homes and Patton tank.

Ethanol production fallen low enough to begin sucking up surplus. Expect higher ethanol prices. Production down 15% from record Dec high.

Agri-Source Fuels (FL) filed Chap 11. Owes $4M. Going to restructure. Jobs OK for now.

U of Missouri researchers got $5.4M DOE grant to research non-food biofuel feedstocks for 100M acres along Missouri, Mississippi Rivers.

Ukraine suspended biodiesel imports from Belarus until new policies in place to protect Ukraine producers.

Argentina filed complaint against Spain at WTO over biodiesel imports. EU, of course, has filed against Argentina.

EPA to open 30-day comment period on proposed RFS waiver put forward by governors of NC and Ark (chicken raisers need cheaper corn). GA, NM also have petitioned. EPA has until Nov 13 to decide.

Tata Motors (India) developing "Airpod" car that runs on compressed air. 5 years ago they bought rights to sell MDI's (Luxembourg) CA motor in India. 1 Euro gets 125 miles. Car gets up to 40MPH. Tank holds compressed air from service station or taken from air by el pump on board.

Shell awaits end of whale hunt season in Beaufort Sea before setting up drilling.

Nuke leak at Hanford.

Regulators OK'd spending plan for GA reactor.

Exxon began spill cleanup in Nigeria.

NRDC: Americans throw away almost half their food. I think a lot of that is restaurants.

China to invest $372B in E conservation, pollution control. No time span given. 5 years?

Record-high radioactivity in Fukushima-area fish.

Iran blasted for banning women from studying nuke physics, oil engineering.