STUFF

Leaking oil well in Gulf of Mex from boat crash shut down.

House of Commons committee says UK plans to build fleet of 10 nuke plants by '25 "ambitious" at best, "unrealistic" at worst. "And no contingency plans." Costs surging. (What about modular nukes?)

Peugeot Citroen plans to roll out Hybrid Air cars in '15 or '16. System recovers energy each time driver brakes or slows. Uses reversible hydraulic pump that compresses nitrogen gas in tank also containing hydraulic fluid. With accel, compressed gas pushes hyd fluid through gearbox to wheels. Also 1.2 liter standard engine. ~81MPG. May sell for $26K. Hope to compete with Prius. UPS has added vans with the tech. Others applying it to garbage trucks.

TX planners looking at 26 new reservoirs over next 50 yrs for $13.6B. Drought the concern.

EIA: energy use relative to GDP to decline steadily next 3 decades. Residential "energy intensity" alone projected to drop 27% by '40. (That's a little look ahead, A?)

Study: climate change vulnerability, rising food prices heightened Mideast instability.

Researchers use climate to predict malaria outbreaks 4 months ahead of time.

Record dryness shrinking Cal snowpack. Threatens water supplies this summer.

China's new "cabinet" to take energy policy reins.

Romania to scale back clean/renewable energy subsidies to curb power price gains. Raising el prices 10% in July or early '14. Subsidies accounting for 4%. They have ~1.6Gw installed wind, ~70Mw installed solar. Target 24% clean energy by '20. 1.7Gw clean energy in development this year.

Alto Devices new solar cell efficiency hit record 30.8%. Stacking 2 layers of semiconductors on top of each other. Layer of gallium arsenide, layer of indium gallium phosphide instead of 1 layer of gallium arsenide (28% efficiency with that in '11). 2Mw pilot production line in Cal. Plans shipments by yearend. Can gen el from indoor light. (Doesn't EMKR have record gallium arsenide efficiency?)

McCarthy to head EPA, Moniz DOE (MIT physicist).

Navy captain: Navy biofuels program could threaten world hunger, accelerate global warming, incite widespread instability/revolution, provide competitors/enemies with cheaper energy and reduce US econ to permanent recession.

Est. total amount of energy available to world begins to fall in '20. Peaks next 3-6 yrs. Supplies from clean/ren energy (including nuke and hydro) can't be delivered fast enough to make up for rates of fossil output decline.

Time running out to avert 3rd summer of drought in much of US high plains, west and southwest. Need heavy snows, rains.

Pemex plans to invest record $25B this year. (While govt threatens their monopoly. Huh.) Most into upstream - exploration, development.

Most Mex crude heavy, but their refineries process mostly light crude. US boosting light crude production while their refineries process mostly heavy crude. (Should they just trade oil?)

CNOOC barred from controlling Gulf of Mex oil fields in US terms on takeover of Nexen.

Petrobras output down 3.3% in Jan from Dec to 2Mb/d. Platform troubles, refinery maintenance.

Brazil consumption of gasoline up 12% in '12. Despite sluggy econ growth. Importing more fuels. Diesel use also up.

EIA:

1. US crude output up 14.6% in '12 to 6.5Mb/d, up 826K. Percent rise most since '40. Volume rise most since records began in 1900.

2. US crude imports down 5% in '12 to 15-yr low of 8.5Mb/d. 16% below '05 peak.

3. US oil demand down 2.1% to 16-yr low of 18.5Mb/d in '12. 400Kb/d decline in gasoline demand. (And now call back to office commute by Yahoo.)

4. US NG consumption up 4.4% in '12 to 25.5TCF, highest level on record. (I reported yesterday from readings that production is now in low 20's. So, someone's figures are suspect and I will try to keep getting us the true facts here. But may as well go with EIA.) Deliveries to power gen up 20.6% to 9.1TCF, record high (from '97 database start).

Proposed requirement US nuke plants add $20M devices to prevent radiation leaks attracted industry lobbying fury. Would require ~1/3 of reactors to install special filters on vents to prevent explosive buildup of gases. (Isn't it so reassuring that utilites care more about not spending money for nuke safety than caring about the public?)

Japan bracing for toxic smog from China. (When I was in Tokyo in '70, people walked the streets with gauze on their faces because of air pollution. One could look directly at the sun during midday. Of course, when we flew back to US midwest in '70, air pollution was almost as bad.) China smog exceeds 2x Japan's allowable limits.

Cal's Monterey Shale - LA to SF - may have more oil than Bakken and Eagle Ford. Will it get fracked?

India's oil product sales up 7.8% yoy in Jan. Led by gasoline, diesel consumption.

Algeria resumed some ops at In Amerias NG complex.

NET Mexico Pipeline plans to build pipeline system to deliver Eagle Ford shale gas to Tex Mex border.

NASA launched DC8 lab to conduct biofuels tests on emissions, engine performance, contrails. Using 50/50 blend JP8 with camelina oil. (Reported on camelina yesterday.)

SeQuential-Pacific offering B99 blends across Pacific NW at $4/gal at 30 retail outlets. 50/50 blend in winter. Comp collects waste cooking oil across region.

BFRE - Bluefire - halted work on $300M 19Mgal/y plant in Miss they started on in '09. (Another Obama contributor?)  Current focus on constructing cellulosic sugar facility with partner in S Korea.

Cal has more biofuels plants than any other state (let alone countries).

Brazil ethanol prices fell below value of sugar 1st time in 2 yrs. Govt announced rise in ethanol blending from 20% to 25% as of May 1.

Exxon to defend use of MTBE in NH lawsuit.

Experts seek motives behind China cyber security attacks on oil and gas monitoring programs. (Money?)

Enbridge declining to pay for studies on oil spills.

Chevron hit Australian shale gas market with $349M "farm-in". 810K acres in Cooper Basin. Up to 85TCF of NG. Petro China, Conoco there too. Australia current domestic NG usage ~1TCF/y.

Conn to auction service rights to ~800K el customers who haven't switched power suppliers.

Greenbriar (Canada) to sell Cal subdivision to buy 100Mw solar project in Puerto Rico. CEO modeling Greenbriar on Western Wind Energy formula. (Worked for that stock, A?)

Showa Shell, Ube to build, op 21 Mw solar plant in Japan. Online July '14. Solar Frontier thin-film panels.