Sustainability Worth $20-25 Billion to Utility Investors: Billions More to Society Likely

Sustainability Worth $20-25 Billion to Utility Investors: Billions More to Society Likely

Target Rock Advisors, LLC today released the results of an analysis suggesting that the value of good sustainability policies and practices could be worth between $20-25 billion to utility investors. This first-of-a-kind estimate was based on a comparative analysis of the total returns over ten years for the 49 U.S.-domiciled utilities included in Target Rock's 2012 sustainability rankings and indexes, previously released on February 14, 2012.

Seagrass stores more carbon than forests

Seagrass stores more carbon than forests - study | Reuters

(Reuters) - Coastal seagrass can store more heat-trapping carbon per square mile (kilmometre) than forests can, which means these coastal plants could be part of the solution to climate change, scientists said in a new study.

European Fracking Bans Open Market for U.S. Gas Exports

Opposition to a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing has slowed the development of natural gas in Europe, creating export opportunities for U.S. producers hurt by low prices and a glut of gas at home.  Fracking, as the practice is known, was temporarily suspended in the United Kingdom after it was linked to a series of earthquakes. Bulgaria and France -- home of the continent’s largest estimated reserve -- outlawed it over environmental concerns.

H.I.G. Capital purchases Comverge

Private equity investment firm H.I.G. Capital, through its affiliates, has acquired US-based Comverge.  Comverge is a provider of intelligent energy management solutions that empower utilities, commercial and industrial users and homeowners to use energy in a more efficient manner.  The company's core demand response product offering includes hardware, software and services that enable the management of peak electricity demand.

Husky Energy secures $14.1m for carbon capture project in Canada

Husky Energy will secure $14.5m from the Canadian Government to support its enhanced oil recovery and carbon capture and storage project in Saskatchewan, Canada.  Canada Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver said, "Our Government is committed to exploring carbon capture and storage technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors of the Canadian economy."

Energy Stocks Should Be Your Summer Fling

Energy has lost its mojo. No one seems to care anymore about gas prices and the threats of an Iranian nuclear program. But you ignore energy price action at your own risk -- it's delivering some of the best indications of future stock prices, and telling me it's near time to start developing some positions in energy stocks.

BP, EPA reach deal on Canada crude at U.S. refinery

BP Plc on Wednesday said it will spend $400 million to install pollution controls at its giant Whiting, Indiana refinery, to allow it to process heavy crude oil from Canada, in a deal with U.S. and state regulators.  The consent decree reached with the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency also requires London-based BP to pay $8 million to resolve prior alleged clean-air violations at its 405,000-barrels-per-day plant, the sixth-largest U.S. refinery.

Aviation conference sees EU carbon tax concern

An aviation conference in Beijing on Wednesday saw leaders of the industry voice strong concern over a European Union (EU) plan to tax international airlines for carbon emissions, and an EU official signal a more flexible attitude from the bloc.  Chinese and U.S. aviation authorities and industry associations reiterated opposition to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) at the 2012 China Civil Aviation Development Forum, urging the EU to take a global and comprehensive approach to the issue.

PNNL research finds new way to store carbon emissions

Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are making some major contributions to the developing science of storing carbon emissions underground.  Carbon dioxide gases are harmful to the environment and in the U.S. we produce a lot of it. A new atlas from the Department of Energy shows when CO2 emissions from industrial sources and power plants can be stored underground. PNNL found that our area could be home to some of the best storage land in the U.S.  PNNL's carbon storage research is on it's way to putting the environmentally harmful gas in the ground in what could be the best way yet. The most accepted place to store CO2 emissions was thought to be in deep underground salty water reservoirs. But PNNL has found that basalt rock, like the ground found here in southeastern Washington. It's a more effective long term choice says scientist Todd Schaef.

Fracking Boom Seen Slow to Develop in New York, Regulator Says

A decision to permit hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York state will trigger a cool response from drillers, the state’s environmental regulator said.  Low natural-gas prices have dulled interest in New York’s gas reserves, Joseph Martens, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said at a conference today. The agency is reviewing more than 66,700 comments on a draft plan for drilling in the state’s portion of a geological formation called the Marcellus Shale.  Since New York began developing gas-drilling rules in July 2008, prices have plunged more than 80 percent, sinking to a decade low $1.902 per million British thermal units on April 19. During that time, Pennsylvania and Ohio allowed producers such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) and Talisman Inc. (TLM) to drill, attracting billions of dollars in investment.

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23 May 2012 13:32

Russia approves record number of CO2 reduction projects

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EU appeals to China to join global emissions talks

A European envoy held out a possible compromise in a fight with China over carbon emissions charges on airlines, saying Wednesday that Europe might alter its system if Beijing helps negotiate global regulations.  China, India, the United States and Russia oppose the European Union charges that took effect Jan. 1. Beijing has barred its carriers from cooperating and has suspended purchases of European aircraft.  Talks on a global system have begun in the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. body, said Matthew Baldwin, director of aviation for the 27-nation EU. He said Europe might alter its Emissions Trading System if an agreement is reached.  "We would very much like to see a stronger role played by China in those talks," Baldwin told reporters at a European-Chinese aviation conference. "In the event of a global solution in ICAO, the EU is fully ready to review and amend the ETS directive to take account of that global solution."  Baldwin said he would press that appeal during talks with Chinese economic planners and airline regulators this week.  Baldwin said the ICAO talks are looking at four possible "market mechanisms" to regulate carbon emissions but gave no details.

Sustainability Worth $20-25 Billion to Utility Investors: Billions More to Society Likely

Target Rock Advisors, LLC today released the results of an analysis suggesting that the value of good sustainability policies and practices could be worth between $20-25 billion to utility investors. This first-of-a-kind estimate was based on a comparative analysis of the total returns over ten years for the 49 U.S.-domiciled utilities included in Target Rock's 2012 sustainability rankings and indexes, previously released on February 14, 2012. "Earlier this year, we demonstrated that as a group the stocks of utilities that scored highly in Target Rock's sustainability rankings outperformed companies with lower sustainability performance over the ten years ended December 31, 2011," stated Richard Rudden, chief executive at Target Rock. "Now, we have been able to place an estimate around the potential value that improved sustainability practices might bring to utility equities, and it is not insignificant. Our analysis makes another compelling case for sustainable and socially responsible investing in the utility sector."

Scottish Carbon-Capture Drive to Help Unlock $299 Billion of Oil

Scotland is targeting a 3 billion- barrel increase in North Sea oil output by using carbon dioxide to push out hard-to-reach energy resources valued at 190 billion pounds ($299 billion).  The Centre for North Sea Enhanced Oil Recovery With CO2, which opened today, will help advance technologies to inject carbon emissions from power plants and industry into aging oilfields to force out crude, according to 2Co Energy Ltd., funding the venture with the Scottish government.  Oil extraction from the North Sea, the world’s sixth- largest supplier of crude, peaked more than decade ago and is going into decline as fields are depleted. CO2 injection, already employed in countries including the U.S., not only helps boost oil output but also prevents dispersal of the polluting gas in the atmosphere by trapping it underground.