STUFF

Antarctica summer ice melt up 10x over last 1K yrs. Most in last several decades.

Group suing Cal over cap and trade program.

EU funding climate change resilience projects in Senegal.

Australia LNG exports spurring coal-seam NG production.

EIA: US oil shipments to China a "fluke".

Drillers backing out from Ohio amid flagging oil prospects.

Xcel Energy to build 3 new NG-fired power plants.

IEA: drive to clean up world's energy system has "stalled". Avg unit of energy produced today basically as dirty as 20 yrs ago. Carbon intensity 2.39 tons CO2 oil equivalent in '90. 2.37 in '10. 2/3 of GHG emissions come from power gen.

Clean energy investments worldwide down 22% 1Q13 to $40.6B. Lowest level in 4 yrs. US down 54%, Europe down 25%, China down 15%. Asia (sans India, China) up 47% to $10.1B. Asset finance for utility-scale projects down 34% to $19.3B. VC, private equity funds for clean E down 29% yoy to $1.3B. 1Qs typically year's lowest Q . High was 2Q11 with $77.5B. (How hot will it get for our grandkids? Great grandkids?)

LED comps' share prices down lately with cost cuts on equipment. (Will they get like solar comps' stock plunge?)

14 thin-film solar comps went bankrupt in '12.

NREL's latest national survey of B100 blend stock samples found 95% from '11-'12 met ASTM intl fuel quality specs.

67% of US algae producers plan to expand capacity this yr. Algae Biomass Org published new map of US algae industry (plants, projects, etc.). 95% of producers believe algae-based fuels may be competitive with fossil fuels as soon as '20.

Group at ND State U working out how to store beet juice long term for ethanol production. They're retaining over 99% of fermentable sugars at least 6 months at 73 Farenheit by evap, pH adjustments.

NexSteppe launched 1st sorghum hybrid products in US, Brazil. Provides scalable, reliable, sustainable feedstock for bio industries. High biomass hybrid grows to 20 ft in 4 months.

Ground prep begun on 20M gal/y sweet sorghum ethanol plant in FL. Tech from Brazil comp. To produce 25Mw elgen, 65K tons CO2 for liquification.

U of Bristol (UK) researchers made butanol breakthrough. Hope to replace ethanol with butanol

Argentina biodiesel industry running at 40-50% of production capacity because of EC anti-dumping investigation.

Brazil only able to secure 65% of 750M liters of biodiesel sought for B5 blend needs. (Maybe they can get together with Argentina.)

Lithuania president and PM teaming up to break up biofuel monopolies in country.

Biofuels Digest released latest database profiling 880 biofuels refineries around world.

Exxon deal with Qatar Petrol Intl to together eval, assess unconventional NG reserves in N Am and potential LNG opportunities around world.

China showing interest in Conoco's Kazakhstan oil field 8.4% stake. Field has est. 30B bls, largest oil discovery last 40 yrs. Eni, Exxon, Shell, Total, Inpex (JP) and Kazakh govt also there. Production expected to begin later this yr. India's state-owned oil comp made $5B bid. Kazakh has option to buy but has to decide before June.

China hoping to gain foothold in Arctic oil/gas development with free trade agreement with Iceland. They will also get Iceland fish, Iceland geothermal expertise.

MEMC, Petrobras plan 1.1Mw solar PV project in Brazil next to existing power plant. Sun Ed to build, supply panels.

Power Finance (India) plans to provide $8.1B in loans for elgen projects this year through Mar '14. Comp formed new unit to fund clean/renewable plants.

Japan plans 60Mwh battery storage to stabilize clean energy flow on Hokkaido. $204M. Online Mar '15. Hokkaido grid near limit to handle new clean energy intermittancy.

Europe Bank for Reconstruction, Development approved $85M finance to upgrade Montenegro grid as it plans el link with Italy across Adriatic. 1Gw undersea cable. Will stimulate investment in clean energy in Balkan.

Groups fighting Keystone XL say the pipeline would increase GHG emissions through '50 by 181 metric tons, equivalent of 51 coal-fired plants or 37.7M cars.

EDF's US unit buying remaining 49% stake in 161Mw TX wind project. Expects June start. 87 GE turbines. Adjacent to another EDF wind farm. Panhandle wind.

Walmart wants to improve sustainability of plastic toys. (How about improving their wages?)

NYC replacing all street lights with LEDs. '19 completion. Expected 35% reduction in el use, costs.

EV charging available at 300 Kroger stores soon. ECTY installs. $1.5M cost. AZ, CA, OR, WA, TX stores. $1-2/hr to charge.

Supreme Court ruled foreigners can't bring lawsuits in US courts against comps for human rights violations abroad. Shell case. (I guess they have to go to World Court. Good luck with that.)

Colorado tops list of most endangered US rivers.

Alaska rejected petition aimed at curbing coal strip mines.

Ratepayer advocate says Los Angeles plan to ditch coal-fired el will cost ratepayers $600M. (Not upfront, one hopes.)

Toyota reached 5M hybrids sold.

Onward and upward, pards.