Sustainable Energy News: 03/20/12

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The New Climate Politics

EU Airline Carbon Tax Friction Is Hint Of New Climate Politics

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Threats of retaliation by China and India against a European Union plan to charge airlines for their carbon emissions is misplaced, given their weak legal case and a drift towards more such unilateral climate action. Countries in Durban at the end of last year topped off years of lumbering U.N. talks by agreeing that a new climate protocol should come into force by 2020, with more vagueness about exactly what that should be, leaving a vacuum in national action in the meantime. That slow rate of progress underscores how multilateral climate action has faded over the past decade.

European Carbon Permit Price Rally ‘Won’t Last,’ UBS Says

European Carbon Permit Price Rally ‘Won’t Last,’ UBS Says - Bloomberg

The current rally in European Union carbon permits will come to an end in April, said UBS AG. (UBSN) The “carbon crash” will continue because the market is oversupplied by 2 billion metric tons and companies may sell allowances once they realize how few they need, Per Lekander, an analyst at the bank in Paris, said today by e-mail. “Enjoy the carbon rally while it lasts - it won’t,” he said yesterday in a research note.

SocGen ups year-end carbon price outlook by 10 pct

SocGen ups year-end carbon price outlook by 10 pct | Reuters

(Reuters) - Societe Generale has lifted its year-end price forecast for European Union carbon permits by 10 percent, citing an increased probability that the EU will agree to withhold some of the carbon market's excess supply, the French bank said. SocGen analysts estimated benchmark December 2012 EU Allowances (EUAs) would reach 11 euros ($14.57) a tonne by the end of the year, up one euro from a previous estimate made in mid-January, a bank research note said on Tuesday.

The True Cost of Gasoline is Closer to $15 a Gallon

The True Cost of Gasoline is Closer to $15 a Gallon (Video) : TreeHugger

Last week's news cycles were dominated in part by rising gas prices, and the political parties' response to costs at the pump inching closer to $4 per gallon. The GOP is outraged, rather, is feigning to be outraged, and is disingenuously blaming Obama's energy policies for the spike. But all this political football obscures one important fact: Gasoline should really be a hell of a lot more expensive than both the GOP and Obama's worst nightmares combined. I recently wrote an in-depth examination of the true cost of fossil fuels, where I looked at the various significant costs that refining and burning oil, coal, and natural gas impose on the public. Suffice to say that when you factor in all of the government subsidies and 'externalities' (increased health costs from respiratory sickness, environmental degradation, etc; the stuff that we all have to pay for maybe not from our wallets but in our tax returns), the true price of fossil fuels is much, much higher than any individual or company pays. Gasoline is no exception.

Gas Prices May Fall Sooner Than Expected

Gas Prices May Fall Sooner Than Expected : TreeHugger

Everybody is talking about the price of gasoline. These are but a few of the myriad conversation bits you might have been privy to over the last few weeks: It's Obama's fault! Or, are high gas prices hampering Obama's reelection bid? Will they rise high enough to stall the mild economic recovery that's underway? Newt Gingrich promises $2 gas! Can the GOP really bring prices down, like its loudest members claim? Should we drill for more oil? So, amidst the cacophony of 'gas price' coverage, here's something you might not have heard yet: Gas prices may soon begin to decline, despite the recent, much-ballyhooed bump. NPR reports:

Free Design-Your-Own Solar Power System Software

Startup Simplifies Going Solar With Design-Your-Own Online Tool : TreeHugger

For homeowners, thinking about making the switch to solar power can be like heading down the rabbit hole. The number of questions that come up when imagining if solar power is feasible for their building and their location are numerous: How big of a system do they need, how much can they afford, and how much power can they produce? And what kind of financial incentives exist to make it easier?

Chevron Execs to Face Charges of Environmental Crimes in Brazil

Chevron Execs to Face Charges of Environmental Crimes in Brazil : TreeHugger

It's been less than a week since news went public of Chevron's latest oil spill off the coast of Brazil, its second in less than 6 months, but troubles for the oil company and the environment are clearly escalating. Although early reports from Chevron sought to downplay the severity of the deepwater leak as an infrequent drip, a recent flyover of site by the Brazilian officials shows that the oil slick has already reached about 1 kilometer in length.

Alec Baldwin Says Sen. James Inhofe is an "Oil Whore", Should "Retire to a Solar-Powered Gay Bar"

Alec Baldwin Says Sen. James Inhofe is an "Oil Whore", Should "Retire to a Solar-Powered Gay Bar" : TreeHugger

At long last, a story of the omnipresent 'Celebrity Says Something Semi-Controversial on Twitter' variety graces the green world. In this case, it's Alec Baldwin, who plays a wealthy, government-bashing, corporation-loving Republican hardliner on TV, tweeting some nasty words about Sen. James Inhofe, who plays one in real life. Evidently, Baldwin was watching Inhofe on the Rachel Maddow show, where he was defending his conspiratorial ideas about climate change while taking enormous amounts of campaign cash from oil companies. Baldwin let loose a string of tweets aimed at the oily Oklahoma senator, beginning with this one: "Is there a bigger Oil Whore alive than James Inhofe?"

HSBC tips energy efficiency sector

Environmental Finance | News | HSBC tips energy efficiency sector

Climate theme investors should switch out of low-carbon energy production into energy efficiency and energy management, according to analysts at HSBC. In their latest quarterly review of the HSBC Climate Change Index, HSBC analysts note that the low-carbon energy production (LCEP) sub-sector – which the bank tipped in December, based on cheap valuations – now faces the lowest 12-month earnings growth forecast of all the sub-sectors included, at -31%.

Financiers say US biofuels will outpace geothermal

Environmental Finance | News | US biofuels set to outshine geothermal, say financiers

The investment future is bright for the US biofuels sector, but the geothermal industry will continue to struggle, according to financiers. Geothermal projects are hampered by drilling costs and the distance between project sites and demand centres, which makes the projects uncompetitive with other energy sources, said Michael Carter, the Denver, Colorado-based director of the energy group for analysis firm SNL Energy.

Clean energy investors should look to Brazil, Nicaragua, Panama

Environmental Finance | News | Clean energy investors should look to Brazil, Nicaragua, Panama

Brazil, Nicaragua and Panama have been ranked the most attractive countries for clean energy investments in Latin America and the Caribbean by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the Multilateral Investment Fund. The partnership has developed Climatescope – a review of the environment for low-carbon in the region, ranking 26 countries on their climate policies, the availability of climate finance, low-carbon businesses and clean-energy value chains, as well as their greenhouse gas management activities.