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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for October 18, 2013.

Posted: 18 Oct 2013 14:30:12
ARB Newsclips for October 18, 2013. 

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

CAP AND TRADE

Angela Merkel signals hope for carbon market fix. The European
carbon price jumped to a three-month high yesterday, after German
Chancellor Angela Merkel backed reforms to the bloc's emissions
trading scheme. According to Bloomberg, the price of emissions
allowances for December reached €5.50 per tonne, up 10.9 per
cent, following Merkel's first post-election speech, in Hanover.
Posted.
http://www.businessgreen.com/print_article/bg/news/2301101/angela-merkel-signals-hope-for-carbon-market-fix

http://www.energylivenews.com/2013/10/18/angela-merkel-supports-back-loading-in-eu-carbon-market/


EU Revives Airline Fees For Carbon Emissions.  Aviation Industry
Cries Foul After ICAO Agreement. The European Union (EU) has
proposed a modified version its widely-panned Emissions Trading
Scheme (ETS) that would have charged all airlines regardless of
country of registry for emissions during the full duration of
their flights. The latest proposal would charge airlines using
any airport in an EU member state for emissions expelled during
the portion flights conducted in European airspace. Posted.
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=6d605c14-8707-4330-9724-f1d8b8313e20


Hub liquidity eyed in wake of Calif. cap-and-trade: analysis.
Concerns about the impact of cap-and-trade on liquidity in
California just won’t go away. The Sacramento Municipal Utility
District has raised questions about the impact carbon costs might
be having on liquidity at the key California-Oregon Border power
import hub since the state’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program
for electricity generators went into effect on January 1. Posted.
http://www.platts.com/news-feature/2013/electricpower/uspower/index


AIR POLLUTION

State incentives offer polluters breaks to come clean. The state
is asking businesses to report themselves if they break pollution
rules, with the promise of lesser or no fines. There may even be
a reward. Businesses could also cut deals quietly with the state
to ensure their problems don't happen again. The so-called
Environmental Audit Incentive Policy, released by Environmental
Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens this week, is drawing
praise from industry, which said it will encourage businesses to
clean up. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/State-incentives-offer-polluters-breaks-to-come-4905097.php


No good argument to keeping coal plant open. It seems to be near
foolhardiness to continue allowing the Bridgeport Harbor
Generating Station to keep running, while claiming that this
coal-producing plant is "not a large source of local air
emissions." This is simply not true; coal combustion cannot be a
completely "clean" process, despite PSEG Power Connecticut's $1.6
billion invested in scrubbers, catalytic reduction systems or
baghouses. PSEG Power Connecticut can deny the truth all it
wants, but what they cannot contradict is the effects that sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate pollution…Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/No-good-argument-to-keeping-coal-plant-open-4904496.php


Beijing tackles abominable air pollution with a car ban.  Beijing
will ban half of the city's cars on days with 'serious pollution'
– but the stringent definition will leave most cars on the road.
As air pollution levels in Beijing hovered between “hazardous”
and “very unhealthy” according to the US embassy’s monitoring
device on Friday, the Beijing city government unveiled a new plan
to try to get the capital’s air quality under control. Posted.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2013/1018/Beijing-tackles-abominable-air-pollution-with-a-car-ban


CLIMATE CHANGE

Gore Says U.S. Likely to Beat ‘Inadequate’ Carbon Target. The
U.S. will probably beat its own target for reducing
greenhouse-gas emissions as the costs of wind and solar power
fall and coal becomes inviable, former Vice President Al Gore
said. President Barack Obama’s administration has said the U.S.
is on track to meet a pledge of cutting heat-trapping gases by 17
percent from 2005 levels by 2020. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/gore-says-u-s-likely-to-beat-inadequate-carbon-target.html


DIESEL EMISSIONS

Daimler Challenge to EPA Diesel Certificates Is Tossed. A
challenge by four truckmakers including Daimler AG (DAI) to an
Environmental Protection Agency rule allowing Navistar
International Corp. (NAV) to continue producing engines that
didn’t comply with pollution standards by paying a fine was
thrown out by an appeals court Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-10-18/daimler-challenge-to-epa-diesel-certificates-is-tossed.html


FUELS

Diesel Advances on Speculation Fed to Maintain Stimulus Levels.
Diesel gained on indications that the Federal Reserve will delay
tapering stimulus because the protracted government shutdown and
political wrangling that preceded it may have disrupted growth.
Futures rose amid optimism demand will increase as comments by
two Fed regional presidents yesterday signaled a reduction in
debt buying won’t occur this year. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/diesel-advances-on-speculation-fed-to-maintain-stimulus-levels.html
 
Oil Companies Are Sued for Waste of Natural Gas. In the sharpest
challenge yet to the surge in flaring of natural gas in the
Bakken shale oil field, North Dakota mineral owners this week
filed 10 class-action lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in
lost royalties from some of the nation’s largest oil companies.
Roughly 1,500 fires burn above western North Dakota because of
the deliberate burning of natural gas by companies rushing to
drill for oil without having sufficient pipelines to transport
their production. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/business/energy-environment/oil-companies-are-sued-over-natural-gas-flaring-in-north-dakota.html?_r=0

 
VEHICLES

Tesla Tops California Green-Car Credit Sales in Past Year. Tesla
Motors Inc. (TSLA:US), the electric-car maker led by Elon Musk,
was the top seller of California zero-emission vehicle credits in
the past year as Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) led hybrid-car credit
trades, according to a state tally. Tesla transferred 1,311.52
ZEV credits from Oct. 1, 2012, through Sept. 30 of this year, 32
times the number of Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269), the next biggest
seller…Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-10-16/musk-s-tesla-tops-california-green-car-credit-sales-in-past-year

http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?rssid=31543 

Volvo Develops Structural, Supercapacitor Nanobatteries For
Future Electric Cars. Batteries in electric and hybrid cars--and
this may not come as much of a surprise--are large, and they're
heavy. Reducing the size and weight of these vital components is
priority number one for scientists all over the world, and Volvo
is among them with its latest technological development. Posted.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087770_volvo-develops-structural-supercapacitor-nanobatteries-for-future-electric-cars

http://www.complex.com/rides/2013/10/volvo-body-panel-batteries 

GREEN ENERGY

Australian Clean Energy Bank Profitable Before Possible Closing.
Clean Energy Finance Corp., the Australian green development bank
earmarked for closing by newly-elected Prime Minister Tony
Abbott, is making a profit and prodding commercial banks to lend,
according to its chief executive officer. “We’re operating
profitably already, with our contracted investments expected to
earn an average return of around 7 percent,” which is above the
bank’s capital cost of about 3 percent…Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-10-18/australian-clean-energy-bank-profitable-before-possible-closing.html


California regulators pushing for electricity storage.
California's electric utilities and other power sellers better
hope that scientists and engineers come up with a surefire way to
bottle lightning. That's a dramatic way of describing the more
prosaic goal of finding a way to store large amounts of
electricity, something that, up until now, did not seem
practicable. On Thursday, the state Public Utilities Commission
voted to create a formal "energy storage target"…Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-regulators-pushing-for-electricity-storage-20131017,0,4492806.story

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24331470/california-adopts-first-nation-energy-storage-plan?source=rss


Living Smart: Energy-efficiency tax credits. If you're
considering a home-improvement project that will cut energy
costs, it's not too late to take advantage of special federal tax
credits. But be aware that time is running out.  The residential
energy-efficiency tax credit had been set to expire at the end of
2011. But early this year, as part of the "fiscal cliff" deal,
Congress extended it to include projects undertaken during tax
years 2012 and 2013. Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/17/5828631/living-smart-energy-efficiency.html#storylink=cpy


Renewables now provide Scotland with 40% of its power. Renewable
energy sources now provide Scotland with 40 percent of its
electricity. Despite the fact much of Scotland is closer to the
Arctic Circle than London, wind, solar and tidal energies are
utilized to best effect and have slashed carbon emissions. The
British Energy Minister, Michael Fallon, highlighted this news in
answer to a Parliamentary Question, saying: “Renewables now
generate the equivalent of 40 percent of the demand for power
from every home and business in the country…Posted.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/print/article/360427#ixzz2i6II7v8V


MISCELLANEOUS

UN sees mercury use phase-out within 3 decades. A new global
treaty could eliminate within three decades the commercial use of
mercury in everything from batteries, paints and skin-lightening
creams to utility plants and small-scale gold mining, the head of
the U.N.'s environment agency said Thursday. Achim Steiner, the
executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, describes the
Minamata Convention on Mercury as a major game-changer for a
naturally occurring element that…Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/UN-sees-mercury-use-phase-out-within-3-decades-4903608.php


OPINIONS

Analysis: Brewing U.S. ethanol legal battle hinges on meaning of
'supply' The fate of a landmark U.S. requirement to blend
increasing amounts of biofuels into the nation's gasoline pool
rests on the meaning of three words tucked into a mammoth law:
unless there is "inadequate domestic supply." But "supply" of
what? The law does not say. As a years-long battle over the
future of the U.S. fuel supply begins to shift to the courts, the
two fierce foes - the biofuel industry and oil refiners …Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/us-ethanol-supply-analysis-idUSBRE99H02N20131018


40 Years After Embargo, OPEC Is Over a Barrel. Today marks the
40th anniversary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries embargo against the U.S. and states that supported
Israel after Egypt and Syria initiated simultaneous offensives
against it on Yom Kippur in 1973. While it’s not an anniversary
that many will celebrate, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on
how much more secure our energy situation is, despite our
continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-17/40-years-after-embargo-opec-is-over-a-barrel.html


Tesla Success Fueled by U.S. Innovation Policy? I truly love
cars, and, having turned 40 recently, I went on a year-long
search for the perfect car to celebrate with. I had given up for
a while until I came across the amazing Tesla Model S. Tesla
Motors TSLA +0.91% represents everything I appreciate in life –
innovation, technology, and even tax policy. In my last post I
discussed how corporate tax credits and other incentives can fuel
innovation. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joeharpaz/2013/10/18/tesla-success-fueled-by-u-s-innovation-policy/



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