STUFF

Sorry so late. More emails, phone calls than normal.

TOP STUFF

EPA temporarily suspended BP from govt contracts after oil spill deal. "Lack of biz integrity."

Canada imposing new GHG standards on cars.

MIT: fracking accounted for 3.6% of 6K gigagrams of methane emitted overall into atmos by NG ops in '10.

Floating LNG export terminal got DOE green light. Murkowski: "don't believe rumors about deal on Alaskan LNG exports."

OTHER STUFF

Almost 40% of Mex budget from oil revs. 1st 8 months of '12 Mex oil exports to US just above 1Mb/d. Last May, it fell below that, 1st time in 27 years. Mex probable net importer in 10 yrs. They import almost half of petrol products need. Pemex spent $26B in '11 buying US petrol products, $24B improving their refining infra spread over next 10 yrs.

Chinese mining firms investing $7.4B in S Am mining. Peru.

Washington State moving to protect shellfish from ocean acidification.

Obama signed law blocking EU av emissions directive.

Fed oil shale research emerging as a top GOP E plan.

Report: expanded use of enhanced oil recovery could help lead US to E independence.

Solar City (rooftop PV solar) - chaired by Musk - seeking up to $150M in IPO. Plan to sell 10M shares, Dec 11 as SCTY. Started biz in '06. Solar panel prices were 472% higher than now. They will have > 71M shares outstanding. Float will be 14%. Market value ~ $1B.

Hydro Tasmania wants to build 600Mw wind farm to transmit power via high-volt DC underwater cable to Australia. $2B project. Would be > 5% of Aussie '20 clean/ren target. 1 of best wind resources in world. If approved, '17 start, '19 finish. (AGL Energy's 420Mw wind farm in Victoria expected to be largest in S hemisphere in early '13.)

Clean/ren E aid from rich countries to poor hit $8B last year. $100B/yr promised by '20. Of $280B invested in clean/ren E last year, $165B was asset financing. > 2/3 came from local investing. ~$44B invested across borders. Of $192B invested in China since '04, $7.5B came from outside.

Hackers attacked UN nuclear agency's servers.

US drought boosting demand for ethanol tankers from Brazil to US east coast.

Lawrence Berkeley Lab leading intl team on pentose research. Danes, Thai researchers enjoined to ID plants high in lignin, hemicellulose - lignocellulosic biomass. They contain high levels of pentose sugars that can't easily ferment into fuels compared to plants with hexose sugars. Engineering plants with smaller quantities of xylon (the major non-cellulosic polysaccharide in secondary cell walls). Looking for contrib to biofuels production.

Resolute Forest Products (Can) planning wood pellet plant. '14 completion. To supply Ontario Power Gen with 45K metric tons/yr.

In Netherlands, 3 comps teaming up on biogas from sugarbeet factory project.

Total (FR) sold 20% stake in Nigerian offshore oil field to Sinopec for $2.5B. Total plans to dump up to $20B of assets through '14. Rough year for Total. North Sea gas leak, Yemen pipeline sabotage, Syria, flooding in Nigeria. Their eye on Angola, Uganda, Azerbaijan.

BP sold North Sea stake to Abu Dhabi National Energy for $1.1B. Brings BP's total asset disposal since '10 spill to $37B.

China calling for ramp up of fracking and pumping 6.5B cubic meters of NG out of shale by '15.

Qatar's solar industry hampered by dust, sand.

Sandy proved NY's oil supply infra needs overhaul.

POW-MIA flag flies over Bright Source E's solar plant under construction in Mojave. Project's super was Vietnam Marine.

A PA transit authority's plan to pioneer 1st-of-kind el buses ran into roadblock. Smith El Vehicles of KC pulled out. BARTA wants to test wireless charging system.

Post Sandy: utilities must improve communications during storms.