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newsclips -- Newsclips for December 2, 2011
Posted: 02 Dec 2011 11:40:01
California Air Resources Board News Clips for December 2, 2011. 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. AIR POLLUTION EPA eases boiler rule; health benefits unchanged. Facing criticism from industry and lawmakers, the Obama administration is easing rules aimed at reducing toxic air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators. But administration officials maintain the health benefits of the regulation won't change. In a proposal released Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would place emissions limits on the largest and most polluting boilers. Smaller ones could meet the rule through routine tune-ups. Posted. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gKf2cc2AP1n-eOB07GFh7_zwbp9g?docId=f03c65589e334266898231b10de5d501 AP Newsbreak: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/new-proposal-eases-some-requirements-on-boilers-but-preserves-health-benefits/2011/12/02/gIQALmJ3KO_story.html http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/02/national/w083908S70.DTL http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/02/2635358/epa-eases-boiler-rule-health-benefits.html#storylink=misearch http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/02/4095400/epa-eases-boiler-rule-health-benefits.html#storylink=misearch http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/epa-eases-boiler-rule-health-benefits-unchanged/article_51bd4643-bca3-59d0-b649-e454d2fee1c6.html#ixzz1fPAC24sp http://www.modbee.com/2011/12/02/1971310/epa-eases-boiler-rule-health-benefits.html BY SUBSCRIPTION http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19456516?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com CLIMATE CHANGE China signals coming shift in measuring CO2 limits. An influential Chinese analyst says his country may adjust how it measures carbon emission targets as early as 2020, bringing it more in line with Western governments and signaling a possible opening in international climate negotiations. Xu Huaqing, a senior researcher for China's Energy Research Institute, was quoted Friday in the semiofficial China Daily as saying Beijing could set absolute caps on its carbon emissions — comments later confirmed privately by one of China's top climate negotiators on the sidelines of the international climate talks in South Africa. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_CLIMATE_CHINA?SITE=TXBEA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT AP Newsbreak: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/02/international/i101109S99.DTL http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/02/4095552/china-signals-coming-shift-in.html#storylink=misearch http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19456880?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com DIESEL EMISSIONS CARB TRU Compliance Extension Application Forms now Available. Owner of reefer equipment unable to comply with the Dec. 31 2011 deadline due to delays in delivery, installation, or financing, reefer owners may apply for a compliance extension. Back on Oct. 21, 2011, the California Air Resources Board approved an amendment to the Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU or reefer) regulation that allows compliance dates to be extended for a limited time. For model year 2004 engines, owners must make a good-faith effort to comply by the end of 2011. Posted. http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=75442 Frito-Lay Electric Delivery Trucks Hit the "Green" Streets of Orlando. PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America announces ten new electric trucks will be rolling out in Orlando. These electric delivery trucks will ultimately be part of the largest planned fleet of commercial all-electric trucks in North America. Electric trucks reduce fuel consumption, noise pollution and CO2 emissions, compared to traditional delivery trucks. In total, Frito-Lay will deploy 176 electric trucks this year in the U.S. and Canada, making Frito-Lay the largest commercial fleet of all-electric trucks in North America. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/02/4095037/frito-lay-electric-delivery-trucks.html#storylink=misearch FUELS Learning Too Late of Perils in Gas Well Leases. After Scott Ely and his father talked with salesmen from an energy company about signing the lease allowing gas drilling on their land in northeastern Pennsylvania, he said he felt certain it required the company to leave the property as good as new. So Mr. Ely said he was surprised several years later when the drilling company, Cabot Oil and Gas, informed them that rather than draining and hauling away the toxic drilling sludge stored in large waste ponds on the property, it would leave the waste, cover it with dirt and seed the area with grass. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/us/drilling-down-fighting-over-oil-and-gas-well-leases.html?pagewanted=1&ref=science 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas. Thirteen years after launching its natural gas-powered Civic as a low-emission, low-fuel-price vehicle for public utilities and other business fleets, Honda is expanding availability to more consumers than ever. For the first time, car shoppers in 30-plus states, including California, should find natural gas-powered Civics sitting on lots at select Honda dealerships. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19449364?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19449364?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com GREEN ENERGY Geoengineering could save Earth—or destroy it. Brighten clouds with sea water? Spray aerosols high in the stratosphere? Paint roofs white and plant light-colored crops? How about positioning "sun shades" over the Earth? At a time of deep concern over global warming, a group of scientists, philosophers and legal scholars examined whether human intervention could artificially cool the Earth—and what would happen if it did. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/01/international/i214745S94.DTL http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19453934?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.modbee.com/2011/12/01/1970769/geoengineering-could-save-earth.html#ixzz1fPBmNoZV BY SUBSCRIPTION http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_19456673?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com Obama, Clinton together again, pitching efficiency. President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton are presenting a unified front in pushing more energy-efficient government and private buildings. The unusual joint appearance of Obama and the popular former president is drawing outsize attention to a $4 billion administration initiative aimed at achieving fuel savings and job creation at no increased cost to taxpayers. Obama says the program will help create jobs, save money and cut down on pollution. He calls it a "trifecta." The cost to renovate buildings is to be off-set by energy savings. Clinton calls it "the nearest thing we've got to a free lunch in a tough economy." Obama and Clinton announced the plan Friday at a downtown office building that is undergoing renovations under the new commitment. Posted. http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/obama-clinton-together-again-pitching-efficiency/article_75045247-51cd-5c92-983e-969107642766.html#ixzz1fPAZU789 Yet more evidence that shutting down coal plants will not threaten reliability. Remember way back, uh, two days ago when I wrote a post arguing that new EPA rules will not threaten electric system reliability? Well, just in the last day or so, more evidence has emerged to support that position. I enjoy being right, so I'm doing a follow-up post. Hopefully this will not be a daily thing. First, as Inside EPA reports, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a trade group for investor-owned utilities, has done its own internal study on coal-plant shutdowns. Posted. http://www.grist.org/coal/2011-12-01-evidence-shutting-down-coal-plants-will-not-threaten-reliability VEHICLES Toyota, BMW to work on greener car battery. Auto giants Toyota and BMW said Thursday they have agreed to collaborate on research for cleaner, next-generation car batteries, underlining the growing push in the industry for green technology. The agreement brings together Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's No. 1 carmaker and a leader in gas-electric hybrids, and BMW AG of Germany, a European maker that has a strong luxury brand image in both Japan and Europe. "We are now joining forces to further develop environmentally-friendly technologies and to expand our innovation leadership in each of our segments," Norbert Reithofer, chairman of BMW, said in a statement. Posted. http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_19446623?IADID=Search-www.insidebayarea.com-www.insidebayarea.com http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19446623?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com Portable chargers to the rescue for EVs. With the increased number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads, the complementary services become ever more important. Just like a car with an internal combustion engine can run out of gas, an EV can run out of electricity. In response to this need companies are starting a number of pilot projects to assist EVs with mobile charging points. As electric cars become more and more popular, there is an increasingly large number of firms providing charging equipment for EVs, ranging from wall-mounted residential charging points through to large, commercial rapid charging stations for parking places, shopping centres and gas stations. Posted. http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/70620111202.php Electric Vehicles Critical to the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas. A research report, conducted by the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Energy and Environmental Economics, concluded that the widespread substitution of direct fuel is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The research indicates that the transformation poses significant concurrent opportunities and challenges for economic growth and climate policy, unrealized technology development, infrastructure transformation and capital investment. Posted. http://lithiuminvestingnews.com/4775/electric-vehicles-lithium-batteries-greenhouse-gas/ MISCELLANEOUS Cupertino: Solar panel project nearly complete at De Anza College. The sun is setting on the installation of De Anza College's solar panel project. Preparation is nearly complete and designers hope to turn on the electricity-saving devices in mid-December. Campus visitors and motorists can easily spot the large panels doubling as shade structures in the campus parking lots. The panels will have a capacity of 1.1 megawatt hours and an expected first-year output of approximately 2.3 million kilowatts per hour, according to the college's website. Posted. http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_19453056?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com http://www.mercurynews.com/sunnyvale/ci_19453056?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com BLOGS New Pollution Rules for Boilers and Incinerators. The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday released its much-delayed and oft-revised air quality regulations for industrial boilers and incinerators. The proposal is a modest refashioning of boiler rules introduced earlier this year, which were themselves a major revision of a 2010 plan by the agency that drew heavy political and industry opposition. The E.P.A. has been recalibrating its approach to pollution regulation in recent months after President Obama made it clear that he was going to give close scrutiny to rules that impose heavy compliance costs on businesses and local governments. Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/new-pollution-rules-for-boilers-and-incinerators/ On Our Radar: China Hints at Emissions Timetable. For the first time, a Chinese official suggests that Beijing is “likely” to agree to a target for limiting its greenhouse gas emissions after 2020. But that depends on the outcome of international climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, he says. [China Daily] Posted. http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/on-our-radar-china-hints-at-emissions-timetable/ Durban Climate Talks: What’s At Stake? When UN climate chief Christiana Figueres kicked off the Durban Climate Summit this week, she told those assembled that a commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions was “the defining issue of this conference.” She went on to quote former president Nelson Mandela, who said, speaking of the great struggle he led his people through, “It always seems impossible until it is done.” Ten points for the positive attitude, but the challenges are daunting. For starters, the US, according to a letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from sixteen organizations including Greenpeace, NRDC, Oxfam, UCS and the WWF, appears to be an “obstacle to progress.” Posted. http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/12/durban-climate-talks-whats-stake/ GM now willing to buy back Volts from worried owners. According to the Associated Press, GM CEO Dan Akerson has said General Motors will buy back any Chevrolet Volt from owners who are concerned about the vehicle's fire risk. Akerson said that his company isn't making the move because the plug-in hybrids are unsafe, but because GM is committed to keeping its customers happy. The CEO also said that GM is prepared to recall the 6,000 Volt models currently on the road if the federal government deems such an action necessary. As you may recall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration discovered that the Volt could catch fire several days after a severe side-impact crash and rollover. Posted. http://green.autoblog.com/2011/12/02/gm-now-willing-to-buy-back-volts-from-worried-owners/ A hole in the ground: Storing carbon dioxide thousands of feet below Illinois. One blazing hot afternoon in August of 2010, I stood on a mountain top in Alabama, staring at a styrofoam beer cooler upended over the top of a metal pole. Alongside me were a couple dozen sweaty engineers and geologists. That beer cooler was one of the few visible signs of the research project happening far below our feet. Over the course of two months, scientists from the University of Alabama had injected 278 tons of carbon dioxide into the Earth. The goal was to keep it there forever, locked in geologic formations. Posted. http://boingboing.net/2011/12/02/a-hole-in-the-ground.html Steyr introduces first production natural gas tractor with FPT engine; diesels with SCR and idle speed management. Steyr has introduced the first production tractor powered by natural gas. The new Steyr Profi 4135 Natural Power is equipped with a turbocharged mono-fuel CNG engine, made by Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT), another Fiat group company. (Steyr is part of CNH Global N.V., a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat Industrial S.p.A., and was originally formed by the merger of Case Corp. and New Holland in 1999.) Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/12/steyr-20111202.html