Chevron CEO: refiners may increase gasoline exports to circumvent RFS ethanol mandate. Will cause gas prices to rise in US. Refiners say E15 adds to their costs, can only be used by 5% of US cars (AAA report). Some automakers say E15 use would void warranties.
OPEC expects world oil demand to increase 800Kb/d this year. China 400K of that. Projecting production growth from non-OPEC at 1Mb/d this year.
US expected to produce 8.1Mb/d by '14: DOE. Up 24% from '12.
Norway awarded 24 new oil/gas exploration licenses, most in Arctic Barents Sea. Their production level set to hit 25-year low. Barents Sea est. to hold up to 7.9B bls oil equivalent.
US installed solar capacity grew 600% over last 5 yrs.
S Korea oil imports from North Sea to fall 50% due to tax charge.
Avg. Tucson El Power power bill going up $3-4/mo July 1. (Where is this low inflation we read about? Power bills going up, pump prices up, food prices up, rent up, you name it.)
New studies show evidence folks living too close to utility-scale wind turbines at risk for increased stress, sleep disturbance. "Infrasound" - low freq noise - affects ears. Wind turbine syndrome.
Japan agreed to offest GHG emissions by transferring energy management tech to Kenya after deals with Mongolia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia already this year. Also sharing tech to protect forests in developing countries.
Goldman Sachs eyeing offshore wind power in Japan. 31Mw offshore capacity now.
German regulator approved 580Mw offshore wind farm.
Ming Yang, China National Nuclear to build 300Mw of wind power in Henan.
Reports of defective solar panels starting to rise. (And how good are 20-year guarantees if company is out of business?) Confidentiality agreements often keep manufacturer's ID secret. Cell, panel makers, chem comps providing special materials cutting corners. May be 2 yrs away from hearing extent of prob. Faulty coatings on panels. "Black solar" coatings.
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