STUFF

TOP STUFF

Sandy price tag now $71B.

UN warning science doesn't have adequate handle on melting Arctic permafrost that releases CO2, methane. Calling for new monitoring efforts, formal assessment of feedback loop.

EU hedging on whether it will renew climate funding that runs out at end of year. Weekend of torrential rains in SW Brit caused devastating flooding.

US solar industry may soon face shortage of skilled labor. NREL forecasts 75% of US solar market will attain grid parity by '15. '09-'12 DOE and DOL invested $60M in workforce development. Funds running out.

Norway comp to start burning thorium fuel in govt conventional test reactor. Help from Westinghouse. Thor Energy to deploy mix of solid thorium and plutonium. Experts believe thorium advantages most pronounced in molten salt or pebble bed reactors, not conventional. This reactor cooled by "heavy water". Probably 5 years to see results.

New techs to change world. 1: waste thermal energy-to-el using "rectenna". IR thermal radiation collected, converted into el. U of S FL. Combo of high freq antenna and tunnel diode. Can even take IR directly from sun (over 50% of all sun's energy). 2: also from USF, new nanophosphor-based electroluminescence that creates light with wavelength exactly matching wavelength required by photosynth to grow crops indoors.

UK to unveil plan to spend billions on new NG power plants. And UK utilities got license for 1st nuke plant in 20 years.

Ming Yang Wind Power (MY) to team with China Development Bank and Reliance Power (India) to raise up to $3B finance for new projects in India.

OTHER STUFF

MO appeals court upheld PSC's clean/ren E rules. Reversed lower court. Concerns impact of clean/ren power mandate on el rates. MO voters approved state's RES by 2-to-1 in '08. Requires for-profit utilities to reach 15% clean/ren power by '22. But el rates can't rise > 1% from what they would be otherwise.

Vancouver combining asphalt and plastic to create "recycled" sidewalks. City's pledged to become world's greenest by '20.

Study: heavy-duty trucking sector could pay off efficiency upgrades in 18 months.

Walter LNG Services plan to fill barges with LNG to ferry around US coast, Caribbean. Waiting on DOE approval.

Canada report: shifting subsidies from oil sands to clean E would generate more jobs.

Installs of small wind turbines growing fast in Italy since '08 intro of FITs. End of '11, total small wind elgen 13Mw, 2% of 6.7Gw total wind gen cap. Small wind installs doubled each year '08-'11. Up to 10Mw may be installed in '12. > 90% < 80Kw. 70% installed in south. Installing > 2x as much small wind as US (relative to population). In N Am, only Nova Scotia, Vermont have effective FITs for small wind. Small wind in Italy now near 50% more expensive than most expensive solar PV per Kwh.

Mass regulators approved Cape Wind power contract.

Ceres, Syngenta signed major deal to stimulate sweet sorghum biofuel feedstock adoption for Brazil's 400+ ethanol mills. Collab on small-scale trials and larger demo-scale field evals this season. Sorghum can extend eth production season up to 2 months. Can be grown on fallow sugarcane land, processed with same equipment, requires less water.

U of Toledo researchers looking at ways to make algae biofuel production econ viable. Saying it's ~3 yrs away. Using wastewater streams, farm run-off.

Shell-Cosan JV in Brazil to begin production of commercial-scale cellulosic eth in '14. $90M investment for 10.6M gal/yr cap.

Petrobras expects to begin eth production in Mozambique as soon as '14. Construction of $20M distillery set to begin early '13. 20M liter/yr cap. Molasses feedstock.

Vietnam cassava-based eth plants cut production on falling demand. Even though E5 cheaper than 92 octane gas at pump. 90% of E5 now exported. Cassava market price now half of previous prices. Farmers devastated.

India govt boosting eth price 22% to 59 cents/liter from current mandated price. Price based on landed price for eth imports. No current domestic benchmark price.

Global synthetic and bio-based biodegradable plastics market $2.3B in '11. Est. $7.8B in '18.

Mideast witnessing $32.7B of fresh investment in clean/ren E in '12. 97 projects.

Russia proposing to develop nuke power in Kyrgzstan, Tajikistan. They lack fossil fuels. Plenty of hydro, but when they use it in winter, downstream countries are flooded.

Sauds to begin work on 1st-ever major solar project after start of year. Part of $109B plan for 41Gw by '32. Also plans of $100B for 17 nuke plants next 20 yrs.

Pemex found new oil deposit onshore. Potential 500M bls. Production starts within month.

1st-ever anaerobic digestion biomethane-to-grid plant in UK installed in SW England.40K tons of biomass/yr. Maize, grass, potato waste.

MSFT, Fuel Cell Energy to debut sewage-powered data center.

Growth from bacteria, fungus killing coral reefs in a Hawaiian bay.

Pine beetle infestations not only causing tree deaths in Canada forests, also causing temps to rise.

ESA's $2.6B budget cut could end plans for mission to pinpoint nature, structure of carbon sinks that slow rise of GHG's in atmos.

Bipartisan group urging Obama to form energy council.