JLN Environmental/Energy: January 25, 2012

Quote of the Day

“This is a good example of markets taking responsibility and responding on current issues.”

Sweden’s minister for information technology and energy Anna- Karin Hatt in Bloomberg’s “Green Bond Underwriters From Japan to Sweden Top U.S. in $7 Billion Market”

Lead Stories

Green Bond Underwriters From Japan to Sweden Top U.S. in $7 Billion Market
Bloomberg
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEBA) and Daiwa Securities Group Inc. have underwritten the most green bonds since the securities were first issued in 2007, indicating the dominance of Swedish and Japanese banks in the market.
http://jlne.ws/y9dJ7A
**JK – What’s the Swedish/Japanese mash-up for “green bond?”

Gridlock likely, ‘grand bargain’ possible, for US environmental policy in 2012 – Van Ness

http://jlne.ws/x23AVO
**JK – I’ll go out on a limb and lean toward gridlock.

EU launches attempt to deliver shipping emissions trading scheme
Business Green
The EU is asking for views on how best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping in a move that could pave the way for the sector to follow aviation into the bloc’s carbon trading scheme.
http://jlne.ws/zpyH0t
**JK – Do you think it’d help if Brussels’ bureaucrats used sailing terms in the language. “Bringing CO2 credits to port. And hoist the CO2 credits!” Or just serve A LOT of rum.

Canadian oilsands firms ranked among world’s most sustainable companies
Postmedia News
Despite talk of Canada’s “dirty oil,” in a report ranking the world’s 100 most sustainable big companies, four of the six Canadian entries have some kind of connection to the oilsands.
http://jlne.ws/xMUX2Q
**repeats in Canada

**repeats in Canada

China considers Canada’s energy exports ‘win-win’
Canadian Press
China wants to forge a “win-win” energy partnership with Canada that would set an example for the world, while also satisfying its “huge” demand for resources.
http://jlne.ws/wp5Etc

Iberdrola to Spend $3.4 Billion on U.K. Grid to Boost Wind
Bloomberg
Iberdrola SA (IBE), the world’s biggest investor in wind parks, will spend 2.6 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) upgrading its U.K. electricity grid to handle more power from turbines and curb power costs to consumers.
http://jlne.ws/wk7BSx

Storage Key to ‘Round-the-Clock Solar,’ Idealab’s CEO Gross Says
Bloomberg
Storing solar- and wind-generated energy may prove nearly as important as creating it, according to the chairman and chief executive officer of Idealab, a technology venture-capital firm.
http://jlne.ws/zs6CpA

Wasting the Wastewater
The New York Times Green blog
Each day, American municipalities discharge enough treated wastewater into natural sources to fill Lake Champlain within six months. Growing pressure on water supplies and calls for updating the ancient subterranean piping infrastructure have brought new scrutiny to this step in the treatment process, which is labeled wasteful and unnecessary by a spectrum of voices.
http://jlne.ws/zKSBK4
**JK – I still can’t believe it when I hear that some cities, STILL have and use hollowed-out logs from the 1800s as water pipes.

Not All Wetlands Are Created Equal
The New York Times Green blog
To many, it’s a familiar scenario: a strip mall suddenly pops up in what was once a desolate quagmire or boggy boondock.
http://jlne.ws/AzQaVx

US

L.A. has a coal problem
Los Angeles Times
When protesters were arrested at the management offices of a huge coal-fired power plant in Arizona in December, it highlighted a very untidy fact about electricity in green-conscious L.A.: about half of it comes from coal.
http://jlne.ws/wPRONI

Chesapeake to Cut Number of Gas Rigs
The New York Times
Chesapeake Energy, the nation’s second biggest natural gas producer, announced Monday that it would cut production of gas in response to plummeting prices.
http://jlne.ws/y09EzJ

Energy Turbines May Be Spinning in New York’s East River by 2013
Bloomberg
The currents of New York City’s East River may soon be harnessed to produce electricity that can be sold to Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) or the New York Power Authority.
http://jlne.ws/AfROKo

Berkshire’s MidAmerican Creates Renewables Unit, Led by Fehrman
Bloomberg
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A)’s energy unit established a new business to aid investments in unregulated renewable generation, including wind, geothermal, solar and hydroelectric projects.
http://jlne.ws/xgYVt4

Climate Change Threatens California Economy by Changing Ecosystems
Press Release
Climate change is likely to harm California’s economy by reducing the types of natural, non-irrigated vegetation available for livestock forage and the ability of forest ecosystems to store carbon dioxide, according to a peer-reviewed study published in the scientific journal Climatic Change. The ability of ecosystems to store carbon dioxide is a key part of implementing the state’s climate law, the Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as Assembly Bill 32 or AB 32.
http://jlne.ws/yvLl5p

THE STUDY:
The Impact of Climate Change on California’s Ecosystem Services
http://jlne.ws/wU524x

Canada

Canadian oilsands firms ranked among world’s most sustainable companies
Postmedia News
Despite talk of Canada’s “dirty oil,” in a report ranking the world’s 100 most sustainable big companies, four of the six Canadian entries have some kind of connection to the oilsands.
http://jlne.ws/xMUX2Q
**repeats in Leads

Canada doesn’t have enough workers to tap the oil sands, and the shortage is getting worse
Financial Post
This is almost hard to believe from an American perspective, but the biggest obstacle to growth in the Canadian oil sands is a labor shortage.
http://jlne.ws/xUdu85

Canada pulls back on research into icebound energy reserves
Ottawa Citizen
Research in gas hydrates — methane reserves trapped in ice under the oceans — has slowed in Canada while other countries are moving ahead quickly with it.
http://jlne.ws/z6MPfZ

Canada-China energy link a ‘win-win’
Winnipeg Free Press
China wants to forge a “win-win” energy partnership with Canada that would set an example for the world while also satisfying its “huge” demand for resources.
http://jlne.ws/wqoi9c
**repeats in Leads

Europe

Solar feed-in tariff appeal judgment set for tomorrow
Business Green
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has refused to rule out further legal action if it fails to win an appeal tomorrow over its plans to rush through deep cuts to solar subsidies, potentially prolonging uncertainty over the future of the feed-in tariff scheme.
http://jlne.ws/x47xbE

Set-aside may not be agreed before July: Lidegaard
Point Carbon
Denmark’s climate minister said Tuesday he is unsure if enough countries can agree to cut supply of CO2 permits from the bloc’s carbon market under its term as holder of the EU presidency, which expires at the end of June.
http://jlne.ws/xwLnFw

Petroplus closures to cut into EUA demand
Point Carbon
Swiss-based oil refiner Petroplus on Tuesday said it will file for insolvency after shutting five of its six remaining plants over the past year, a move which could cut EU emissions permit demand by more than 4 million units annually.
http://jlne.ws/w9x2Lu

Asia

Peabody Energy Warns of Problems at Australian Mines
Wall Street Journal
Peabody Energy Corp. posted a 5.9% increase in fourth-quarter earnings and warned that coal output would be nearly unchanged this year, saying recently acquired Australian mines aren’t up to snuff.
http://jlne.ws/zr94NK

Minister used his own numbers on carbon cost
The Age
ENERGY Minister Michael O’Brien ignored his own department’s economic modelling on the impact of the federal carbon tax, instead relying on his own calculations to claim Victoria would be hit ”first and hardest”.
http://jlne.ws/yWVlDd

Africa/Middle East

NTPC Looking at Africa Coal Block Opportunities
Wall Street Journal
State-run power producer NTPC Ltd. is exploring opportunities in Africa to get coal blocks under bilateral pacts between India and mineral-rich countries.
http://jlne.ws/AEvvnj