Today’s Climate: August 25, 2010

Biden Says Country on Track to Double Renewable Energy Capacity (Reuters)

Government stimulus spending has put the country on track to double renewable energy production capacity by 2012 and halve solar power costs by 2015, Vice President Joseph Biden said on Tuesday.

TVA Targets 9 Older Coal-Fired Units for Shutdown by 2015 (Platts)

The Tennessee Valley Authority said Tuesday that it will shut down nine coal-fired units at three of its steam plants by 2015, keeping with its plans to idle 1,000 MW of older coal-fired capacity for environmental and economic reasons.

U.S. Mounts Global Push for Shale Gas (AFP)

The U.S. has offered to help major economies such as China and India develop shale gas, a rapidly growing sector in North America which U.S. officials bill as a clean alternative.

Enbridge Pipeline Expansion Will Double North Dakota Oil Shipping Capacity (AP)

Enbridge Inc. plans to increase its oil shipping capacity from western North Dakota by about 145,000 barrels daily by building several new pipelines and pumping stations in the next three years, company and state officials said.

Drillers May Face Months of Waiting Even After Obama Lifts Deepwater Ban (Bloomberg)

Pres. Obama’s administration may agree to an early end for its moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling while backing new regulations that may keep rigs idle for months afterward.

Spill Panel Examines Offshore Drilling Policy (Reuters)

The White House oil spill commission on Wednesday will probe U.S. offshore drilling policies and consider pushing the oil industry to accept a self-governing body to help oversee tough safety standards.

Scientists Find Oil-Eating Bacteria Plentiful in Deep Gulf Waters (New York Times)

Oil-eating bacteria exist in significant quantities even in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and may be breaking down submerged oil from the spill faster than previously believed, scientists say.

Rig Official Cites "Confusion" Over Well Key Test (Reuters)

There was "confusion" over the results of a key pressure test of the Macondo well hours before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April, a senior rig official told federal investigators on Tuesday.

Gulf Waste Heads to Landfills, Some with Problems (AP)

The cleanup of the Gulf spill is generating thousands of tons of oil-soaked debris that is ending up in local landfills, some of which were already dealing with environmental concerns.

L.A. Officials Launch Campaign to Roll Back State Environmental Rule (Los Angeles Times)

The city of Los Angeles has launched an aggressive lobbying campaign to roll back tough new state regulations meant to limit the environmental damage that power plants inflict on the oceans.

Murkowski in Close Contest for Alaska Senate (AP)

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was locked in a tight race Tuesday to hold on to her seat amid a surprisingly tough challenge from a Sarah Palin-backed conservative.

First Solar ‘Confident’ of Price Accord With China on Biggest Solar Plant (Bloomberg)

First Solar, the U.S. company planning the world’s biggest solar-power plant in China, is "reasonably confident" China’s government will set electricity prices high enough to make the project viable, a spokesman said.

World Bank Defends Controversial HFC Carbon-Cut Plants (Reuters)

The World Bank has defended its investment in chemical plants accused by green groups of raising production of greenhouse gas HFC-23 with the aim of incinerating it to get extra carbon offsets worth millions of dollars.

Cairn Find Fuels Hope of New Frontier (Wall Street Journal)

Cairn Energy said it found natural gas off Greenland’s western coast, bolstering hopes that the area could become one of the world’s last significant untapped hydrocarbon provinces.

$28 Billion Pledged by Rich Nations to Fight Climate Change (Mongabay)

Nearly $28 billion in "fast-start" funding has so far been pledged by industrialized countries to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change, according to a new climate finance tracking tool released by the World Resources Institute.

Britons Buy Record Solar Installations After Subsidy Change, FT Reports (Bloomberg)

A record 2,200 U.K. households have installed solar panels this month, the Financial Times reported, citing the energy regulator Ofgem.

U.N. Carbon Funding Key for China Clean Coal Developers (Reuters)

Developers of clean-coal power plants in China fear for the viability of their projects after a UN carbon-credit scheme denied funding for a similar plant in India at the end of July.

Beijing Plans $3B on Alternative Energy, Trees (People’s Daily)

Beijing plans to invest $3 billion in the next decade to develop alternative energies and to plant trees, with a goal to have 23 percent of the country covered with forests in 10 years, up 3 percent increase from the current level.