EARLY STUFF

IEA: Global CO2 emissions from power gen rose 1.4% in '12 to 31.6B tons.

16 consumers suing S Cal Ed, PG&E in state court alleging smart meters cause them physical harm ranging from dizziness, ringing in ears, radiation burns to cancer.

4 Maine biomass power plants among first in world to get sustainability certification.

Price for LNG in Japan $15.25 now v. $18 in June last year.

US solar installs totaled 723Mw in Q1, up 33% v. '12. Solar's best ever Q1 in US. 1.3Gw installed in 4Q12. Now 8.5Gw total, 7.9Gw PV solar. Solar near half all new powgen installed Q1. Residential installs up 53% yoy Q1 to 164Mw. Utility solar up over 2x yoy to 318Mw. 3rd party-owned systems 2/3 of residential installs in Cal, 86% in AZ. Pipeline of utility-scale projects at 10.7Gw, 1/3 under construction. Avg PV system costs $3.57/w, down 24% v. '12. Residential fell ~16% to $4.93/w.

Distributed generation could require over $48B through '17 in US.

95% of farmers, landowners believe clean/renewable energy to be vital to farming in UK. But 42% of farmers, landowners confused about clean/ren options. Farmers who invest in clean/ren make 12-50K Pounds more per year. 75% of UK land area in ag sector.

Ontario cancelled FITs for large clean/ren projects. Replacing with bid system. FITs for small projects to continue - under 500Kw systems, total up to 900Mw through '18. Coal power is gone, though, last plant offline this year.

US govt extended "Farm To Fly" research program for 5 yrs to develop biofuels for commercial av. Started in '10. Part of broader effort to bring domestic production of drop-in av biofuel to 1B gal/yr by '18.

Ford buying 3Mw of 20Mw Mexico PV solar project. 1st part of 4-phase 80Mw project.

China cabinet adopted 10 measures to improve air quality. Mandate that heavy polluters must release detailed enviro info to public, also ordered to cut emissions 30% by '18. 5K of China's biggest factories account for 60% of industrial pollution.

'12 2nd costliest year in national disaster damages in US since '80.

Climate change, tougher seeds moving US corn belt north.

US coal exports taking hit from oversupply.

UK moving to larger solar plants as costs drop.