World:
¶ A former chairman of the Australian Coal Association, who has accused the fossil fuel industry of “stuffing up” effective action on climate change, is fighting an insurgent battle to gain a seat on the board of the mining giant BHP Billiton. [The Guardian]
¶ The world invested $300 billion in energy efficiency in 2011, the most recent year for which the report provides information. That’s about the same amount funneled into renewable energy or fossil-fuel power generation. [FuelFix]
¶ Research done by the World Energy Council finds onshore wind and hydro are already competitive with coal and gas and expects solar to follow suit as deployment increases. The cost of onshore wind and hydroelectricity is already matching coal and gas. [Business Green]
¶ Wednesday brought word that First Solar would install 250-megawatts worth of solar PV in the California desert. But the more interesting solar energy announcement on the day might have been that construction had started on a 100 MW plant in Canada. [EarthTechling]
¶ Scotland’s renewable energy sources are now producing 40% of the country’s electrical demand. This is not insignificant, as Scotland’s latitude places northern parts of the country closer to the Arctic Circle than to London. [OilPrice.com]
¶ Britain will welcome Chinese companies taking stakes, including potentially majority ones, in British nuclear-power projects, U.K. treasury chief George Osborne said Thursday. Mr. Osborne is in China this week as part of a five-day visit. [Wall Street Journal]
¶ A typhoon that swept through Japan has caused more radioactive leaks at the troubled Fukushima plant. Workers there say they have detected high levels of radiation in a ditch leading to the Pacific Ocean and suspect heavy rains lifted contaminated soil. [Yahoo News Canada]
¶ US and European diplomats said discussions on nuclear matters with Iran, the first since Hassan Rouhani was elected president and pledged to repair Iran’s global standing, went into more detail than previous rounds and took place in a better atmosphere. [Businessweek]
US:
¶ The US biodiesel industry is on pace to produce more than the 1.28 billion gallons set under the Renewable Fuels Standard for this year, says a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData. [Oil & Gas Financial Journal]
¶ As the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed lower targets for the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard, proponents of biodiesel are wondering why their green fuel is targeted a 20% reduction. [Domestic Fuel]
geoharvey 
Leave a comment