STUFF

US GAO says govt officials in charge of inspecting pipelines should be required to provide necessary data so that monitors can help improve response times. Automated valves would permit NG comps to turn off flow within minutes of incident.

Intense floods continue in Australia.

Project helping Candian farmers reduce fertilizer-related emissions.

New NG-fired power plant planned in S TX.

NY officials dismissing earthquake threat from shale gas drilling, fracking as they develop state rules. Seismologist says that's a bad idea.

OH Supreme Court ruled drilling permits can't be appealed.

OH may accept solidified drilling waste at landfills.

Construction done on DONG Energy's 2 6Mw Siemens direct-drive wind turbines offshore England. Project expected to start elgen in spring. 1st offshore test. 2 prototypes onshore in Denmark. Siemens contract to deliver 300 6Mw turbines to DONG '14-'17.

Greece installed over 900Mw of PV solar in '12. Total cap over 1.5Gw. Solar association says practically every bank in Greece now offers up to 100% financing for residential installs.

13.1Gw wind power installed in US in '12. Up 28%. ~60Gw total cap.

Blue Sun Energy (MO) has new deals with ARA, Chevron Lummis Global and expects to produce biofuels for military before year end.

Valero idled 3 of its 10 ethanol plants in Q4. High ethanol inventories, high corn prices. 34 plants in US idle as of Monday.

Brazil's ETH Bioenergia teaming with Denmark's Inbicon to R&D cellulosic ethanol. Results expected in '15. ETH investing $200M thru '16 with various partners to bring down production costs for cellulosic ethanol.

Flax Energy (Canada) set to receive approval for flax biodiesel soon. 1st in world. Their plant processes 46 tons flaxseed/day.

Caritas (Swiss), Green Fuels (UK) installed 3K liter/day used cooking oil biodiesel facility in Bali. Now oil disposed of in rivers or cleaned with chems for cooking.

Cline Shale play in W TX Permian Basin could dwarf all others being drilled in US. Marathon Oil, Devon, Chesapeake on it. Est. reserves 30B bls, 10x Eagle Ford.

Pakistani energy minister embezzled $850M, arrested in Abu Dhabi.

NRC proposal would add bigger guns, more guards at PA nuke plant to protect storage.

IKEA plugged in S FL rooftop solar PV system. Largest solar install in S FL.

Brazil wind developer Bioenergy to issue $125M of inflation-linked bonds to finance 380Mw of projects.

Clean/renewable energy capacity in US almost doubled '09-'12. Reduced CO2 emissions in '12 to lowest since '94. 85.7Gw total clean/ren cap. CO2 emissions down 13% from '07 high of 6.02 gigatons. US energy consumption fell 6.4% '07-'12.

First Solar (FSLR) bought 50Mw solar project in NM. Completion next year. El Paso Power to buy power.

Court maintaining freeze on Chevron's Argentina assets. Chev also may pay record $1M fine for Cal refinery fire.

MN Power switching to NG.

Oil spill creating 1K-barge traffic jam on Mississippi.

Sacramento announced new program to help finance energy saving upgrades for bldgs. No upfront costs for owners. Payback through property tax bills (PACE). Program to open with $22M.