STUFF

DOE moving forward with plans to provide ~$167M for NRG Energy's planned TX carbon capture project.

KLM's NYC/Amsterdam biofuel-powered roundtrip flights started Friday. Biofuels from Sky NRG. 25-week pilot program.

Study: India coal-fired power leads to 115K premature deaths/yr. $4.6B cost (Health care costs, I presume.) ... Study: Europe bears heavy health care costs due to coal power plants.

Norway govt fund stopped supporting 23 palm oil comps ... NY's pension fund leading change against palm oil practices.

Study: climate change could make tropical forests more resilient ... climate change could help fishing industry in some Pacific Island nations. If they can adapt. (Fish or people?)

UN meeting sought to help countries form proactive drought policies.

1/5th of Canada glacier mass may disappear by 2100. World's 3rd biggest store of ice after Antarctica and Greenland.

ND locals debating need for climate change study.

More precise device now can assess methane leaks at NG sites.

N Sea Brent pipeline partially back to pumping after 5-day closure. 100Kb/d.

OPEC expected to increase shipments by ~420Kb/d in March. More refineries come off maintenance, demand increase.

OECD: oil prices could rise to $150-270/bl by '20.

US NG prices up over $3.60. Up 50 cents last 2 months.

Large backlog of wells in Marcellus Shale already drilled but not yet brought into production: Barclay's.

Baghdad voted to give Kurds $650M for oil shipped through north pipeline in last 3 yrs. Kurds want $3.5B. Some of that owed to oil producing comps. Baghdad put military HQ in Kurd province in treaty violation. Believed pushed by Iran to get fighters, supplies across border to Syria.

India about to halt all Iran oil imports. Inability to get insurance on cargoes.

Gazprom to market Israeli's LNG. 20-yr contract with Trading Switzerland, Lorant LNG. (Why did US lose out on that contract? Especially with our "special relationship" with Israel? Probably because we haven't been developing US LNG industry.)

May take 4 years to fix groundwater flooding into damaged Fukushima reactors, delaying removal of melted uranium fuel.

India's coal imports down 11% in Feb to 12.6M metric tons. They project, though, 52% of their power gen in '30 to be from coal plants. 57% now.

PJM Interconnection in US has over $5B in grid improvements on tap. Massive power plant retirements, fuel switching to NG, clean/ren energy to meet state requirements.

S Sudan building $40-50M 100km road to Ethiopia to get crude to coast and cut dependence on N Sudan pipes.

Egypt committed to $17B extension of oil pipe from Iraq through Jordan to Egypt. ($17B may be total cost of pipe.) .... Apache said recent success in Egypt giving them confidence to plan for over 200 wells this year. (Despite the country falling apart.)

Study: '70-'10 increase in vehicle distance travelled in US coupled with decrease in occupants combined to undercut advances in fuel economies.

Ireland earmarked $45M seed capital for new energy efficiency fund meant to help cut their energy use 20%.

Vietnam comp sending 2K workers, engineers to Russian Fed, Japan for 2-3 yrs training in nuke power construction/operation. 2 nuke plants planned. Russia comp to provide fuel, process spent fuel rods. Plants online in '19, construction start by '15. Plants to be on S China Sea. (Typhoons, tsunamis vulnerability. I hope they assess, prepare.)

Iran encouraging Shiite uprising in Saudi Arabia. (What can be said about that?)

Nottingham Trent U research: Libya could gen 5x the energy from solar than they now produce from oil. UK's avg solar radiation under 1/2 of Libya's. If Libya used just .1% of its landmass (88% desert) it could produce energy equivalent of near 7Mb/d of oil. (They now produce 1-2Mb/d.)

NREL completing new test facility to model how utilities can make increased use of clean/renewable energy without hurting reliability.

Oregon Energy Dept re-eval of $30M tax credits to wind farm.

Japan recommending cutting solar subsidies 10% as equipment prices fall. May revive carbon trading discussion after election.

LIME sold ESCO biz to POWR. $1.9M cash, $9.9M liabilities, $6.3M assets. Net $5.5M. Doesn't mean much to POWR and LIME redoing books.

Walmart beating their emissions goals a year early.

Devon quit EPA gas group amid methane data dispute.

Propane leak in OH revealing lack of regs.

Pig carcasses in China river.

Bahamas to allow offshore oil exploration.