STUFF

TOP STUFF

DOI intends to get permitting done by yearend for over 20 solar, wind, geothermal projects on fed lands.

LA and Burbank approved 20-yr agreement to buy 250Mw of solar power from Sempra US' proposed project outside Las Vegas.

1st large scale solar farms without subsidies seen ahead in Spain. Permits sought for 37.5Gw of projects. Probably only 1Gw are serious projects, may get built in '13, '14. Spain now has 4.2Gw of solar capacity, ~2.7% of total elgen. Total elgen capacity 100Gw. Solaria planning 150Mw farm for under $150M Euros. To sell the el for 5-6 Euro cents/Kw.

2 Taiwan solar cell makers merged to form world's 2nd largest cell maker. NSP now has near 2Gw capacity.

New Cal tax will bring in up to $550M/yr for efficiency and clean energy school projects. Voters approved closing of corporate tax loophole for out-of-state businesses.

Judge dismissed lawsuit over Cal trucking emissions.

Cal utilities benefiting from state's cap and trade system.

Expanding dust bowls worsening food prospects. 1 in N China, S Mongolia. Other south of Sahara. Caused by overgrazing. 40% of China is grassland. Cattle herds doubled to over 100M from '80 to '00. Sheep, goats went to 280M. US has comparable grazing capacity and has similar number of cattle, but only 9M sheep, goats. Desertification in S Sahara acute in Chad, Niger, Nigeria. Nigeria's number of sheep tripled to 36M from '90 to '10. Goats jumped to 56M.

OTHER STUFF

Norway boosting efforts to curb deforestation.

Atos, Bellore launched "My Car" - EV fleet powered by solar - in France.

IBM linking EV charging networks across Europe.

Duke got 2 $110M loans from N Am Development Bank to build 2 TX wind farms. 200Mw project to use Siemens turbines, provide the el to CPS Energy. 202Mw project to use Mitsubishi turbines, sell the el to Austin Energy.

Enbridge to invest ~$170M for 50% of 150Mw EDF EN wind project in Quebec. Enbridge's 2nd Quebec wind investment. Quebec's wind capacity target 4Gw by '15.

Vestas got order for 74Mw of 1.8Mw wind turbines in S Africa. 4Q13 delivery, farm online Feb '14.

Romanian unit of GDF Suez (France) investing $119M for 50Mw wind farm in Romania.

Fortum to invest 500M Euro in biofuel combined heat and power plant in Stockholm. Online in '16.

Cereplast (CERP) announced commercialization of algae bioplastics. Intro'd Biopropylene sooner than anticipated.

Viaspace (VSPC) tech approved for implementation on St Croix. Jan '14 start. 6Mw anaerobic generator will use the Giant King Grass feedstock.

Cuba opened 2nd biodiesel plant using jatropha feedstock. Plans 3 more plants using inedible feedstocks. Plans to provide 50% of energy needs with 4M tons of oil, gas.

Brit Geo Survey: 148TCF of shale gas in Britain. US has 500-1,000TCF of reserves.

Waste frack water treatment - 100B gal/yr - soon to be $9B industry.

Dominion, Caiman Energy forming $1.5B JV to provide midstream services to NG producers operating in Utica shale in OH, parts of PA.

Golden Spread El Coop (TX) chose GE combined-cycle NG-fired units for 3 new power plants. Build out '15-'17.

Com Ed (Chicago) el bills to rise $1/mo next yr. Will file for another rate update in May for '14.

Entergy Mississippi bills to rise ~5% in Jan. Residential rates will still be 16% lower than current national avg.

Underwater inspections at BP Gulf spill site failed to ID source of persistent sheen on surface.

Chevron signed deal to help YPF develop shale formation in Argentina. Believed to hold 3rd largest shale resources in world. Initial project cost $1B. Est. $15B may be needed for entire formation. Repsol (Spain) filed suit to stop the help for YPF. Deal won't be affected by Argentine embargo placed on all Chevron assets as part of Ecuador court case.

CNPC (China) may buy Exxon's stake in Iraq field.