STUFF

GE buying Lufkin for $3.3B. $1.3B '12 revs. To near double GE's unit.

Mayor of Lancaster, Cal wants city to be 1st to produce more el from solar than it uses.

Obama budget includes $200M for energy efficiency programs at state level.

Fed appeals court to review panel's ruling giving group of coastal landowners permission to sue comps over allegations their GHG emissions contributed to Katrina.

Mexico agreed to send water north as TX drought deepens.

Cal gov approved cap-and-trade link with Quebec.

Foundation granted $25M to climate fight in Midwest. (Stealthy news. Who to whom how much for what not reported. And I don't subscribe to service.)

Carbon pollution makes for tougher, bigger crabs.

Judge ruled BLM didn't properly consider fracking in issuing Monterey Shale leases in Cal. (You realize how big that could be?)

S Sudan resuming oil production.

Solar PV demand in "emerging" Asia, Central Asia to grow 28%/yr pace '13-'17 to 3Gw demand by '17, ~5% of global total. Potential to reach 5Gw. 723Mw in '12. Thailand seen leading SE Asia. Indonesia FITs should make it 2nd, expected to issue 150Mw tender soon.

Uttar Pradesh opened up bidding for 200Mw of solar. Target 500Mw installed by '17.

Japan finalized 10% reduction in solar FIT.

Malay comp wants to build 20-30 biomass plants next 5-10 yrs. 1st 2 plants proposed for Cambodia (up to 10Mw), Congo (3-5Mw). Projected cost 1st 2 ~$22M.

Jinko Solar got $58M, 15-yr loan from China Development Bank to help finance domestic solar PV power plant projects.

Japan approved 400Mw PV solar project on remote island, undersea power lines. ~100B Yen.

Queensland Australia dropping solar FIT from 44 cents to 7.5/Kwh.

$191M funds from Development Bank of Japan, 5 other banks, to add 80Mw wind capacity to 15Mw wind farm in Japan. DBJ also loaning $3B Yen for 12Mw solar plant, online June.

Toshiba entered solar biz with 1.5Mw plant near Tokyo. 3 more projects online w/in 12 months, total 6.5Mw.

Taiwan raised target for installed PV solar in '13 to 130Mw from 104 in '12. $434M est. cost in '13.

25 comps interested in bldg 300Mw solar in Punjab India.

Sol Voltaics (Sweden) process making semiconducting nanowire of gallium arsenide. Boosts solar panel efficiency up to 25%. SV raised $11M since '07. Seeking up to $20M to produce test cells, develop larger manufacturing equipment. ~$50M more needed to start commercial scale production, goal  in '15.

FoxConn plans research center, 5 factories to make solar power components and 20 solar power projects in China.

Tamil Nadir target to add 3Gw solar capacity by '17. Tender for 1Gw 1st phase last Dec, though, got only half bid for. Cited lack of upper limits, bidding mechanism, payment security, validation.

Deutsche est. US bldg owners to spend $280B through '22 to reduce power bills. LED lighting, solar, software to manage el usage, etc. PACE program supported $121M of clean energy projects for US residential, commercial bldgs in 6 states recently. 28 states, DC have PACE financing authority.

NRG Energy plans to offer residential PV systems with batt backup. Can be grid-tied. Prefab'd to reduce cost. Grid-tied solar systems have to shut down in power outage. System with batt backup can divert excess solar power to batts without shutting system off. PV system not grid-tied could produce too much energy for home, fry appliances. Batts also flatten out variability from clouds.

FERC: "renewables" - biomass, geo, sol, hydro, wind - accounted for 82% of all new domestic US elgen cap in 1Q13. 1.55Gw. 340Mw from NG. Wind 958Mw. Solar 537Mw. Biomass 46Mw. Hydro 5.4Mw.

Mosaic approved to offer $100M in solar investments to Cal residents. Making possible anyone to invest as little as $25 in financing solar projects all over country.

Citigroup projecting 25 cent/watt solar by '20.

Scientific consensus emerging that rate of global warming slowed down in last decade. Many think linked to heat absorbed by oceans. Ocean warming accelerated last 15 yrs.

Neste Oil pledged to shift away from palm oil sourced from primary forests. "No more deforestation."

Brazil researchers found efficicnet use of nitrogen fertilizers can have major impact on GHG emiss of biofuel feedstocks. Different impacts on NOx emiss depends on urea or ammmonium nitrate used. Emiss increase after rainfall from microorgs that produce NOx w/out O2, but use H2O.

UK exploring use of reeds from newly restored wetland to make biofuel briquettes. Could help make restoration econ viable. Briquettes for elgen.

S Africa preparing to implement E2, B5 blending mandates w/in month. Expects to spur 2 major ethanol and 2 major biodiesel projects.

Kurd crude hit intl mart. 30K tons trucked over Turk border. ~$22M. Tender went to German comp. No Baghdad involvement. Baghdad promising to halt "smuggling". Kurds trucking ~50Kb/d to Turkey. Australia comp said their Kurd well started producing. S Korea's KNDC, Swiss partner announced new discovery in Kurdistan Iraq.

New Apple HQ being planned.to produce 8Mw from solar. Goal net zero energy campus. Negotiating for off-campus solar, wind energy.

Paris marathon generated energy from runners' footsteps. Pavegen Systems. Tiles from recycled truck tires. Up to 8w/footstep. 178 tiles laid out on 25-meter stretch.

World's largest waste-to-energy power plant to be built in London. 70M Pounds, 130Gwh plant. Online '15. Used cooking waste, fats from restaurants, food comps. Power to run sewage works, desal plant. Grease, used cooking oil. Current sewer system blockages cost 1M Pounds/mo to clean up. ~30tons/d waste to be collected.

US Ecogen got FL approval for el sales contracts for 3 biomass plants online by '19. 60Mw each. Eucalyptus primary feedstock. Next Era Energy to save customers ~$90M/yr. (Yea, right. But maybe rates won't go up.)

Eco Motors (Mich) - backed by Gates and Khosla - to build 1st engine factory in China. 150K engines/yr beginning in '14. Opposed piston/cylinders improves efficiency, lowers GHG emiss up to 50%. (We have been flying these engines since we have been flying. At least props. And then there's rotary - radials. Oy. And it takes Gates and Khosla. What a world.)

Tidal Lagoon seeks $15M to start Wales tidal project. 250Mw. Would need 650M Pounds more for project completion. (Less than $3/w. Not bad at all.)

National lab director: "budget cuts threaten US lead in nanotech."

Study: exposure to air pollution during pregnancy leads to cancer in kids.

On that happy note, onward and upward pards.