May 2012 Climate Change Summary Report

May 2012 Climate Change Summary Report

 

“The more science you know, the less worried you are about climate”

May 31, 2012: The Register UK reports: “A US government-funded survey has found that Americans with higher levels of scientific and mathematical knowledge are more skeptical regarding the dangers of climate change than their more poorly educated fellow citizens. The results of the survey are especially remarkable as it was plainly not intended to show any such thing: Rather, the researchers and trick-cyclists who carried it out were doing so from the position that the ‘scientific consensus’ (carbon-driven global warming is ongoing and extremely dangerous) is a settled fact, and the priority is now to find some way of getting US voters to believe in the need for urgent, immediate and massive action to reduce CO2 emissions.”

“When hitting 400 is not good: Levels of key greenhouse gas pass milestone, trouble scientists”

May 31, 2012: AP reports: “The world’s air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant. Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. The number isn’t quite a surprise, because it’s been rising at an accelerating pace. Years ago, it passed the 350 ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395. So far, only the Arctic has reached that 400 level, but the rest of the world will follow soon.”

Legislative group to conduct “seed-to-wheel” review of RFS
A legislative study group created by Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and Christopher Coons, D-Del., will conduct a “seed-to-wheel examination of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard,” sources said. At least eight senators reportedly have expressed interest in joining the group, which plans to conduct work sessions from mid-June through late September. BiofuelsDigest.com (5/30)

Researchers develop “molecular sponges” for cellulosic ethanol
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada have developed “molecular sponges” from wheat straw that can help lower the cost of cellulosic-ethanol production. The molecular sponges can remove impurities from the ethanol-production process at room temperature, potentially resulting in 50% to 90% energy savings, the lead researcher said. The Western Producer online (Canada) (5/29)

“Is gas’s ‘golden age’ a challenge for the climate?”

May 30, 2012: ClimateWire reports: “The world is on the brink of a “golden age” for natural gas, with demand for the low-carbon fossil fuel slated to rise by 50 percent — as much as demand for coal, oil, nuclear power combined — over the next two and a half decades, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency. Should those trends manifest, however, the world will have little chance of halting global warming at 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels, the limit most scientists say is necessary if runaway climate change is to be avoided. ‘We are not saying that it will be a golden age for humanity — we are saying it will be a golden age for gas,’ Fatih Birol, lead author of the study ‘Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Natural Gas’ told the BBC.”

“Sierra Clubs Natural Gas”

May 30, 2012: A Wall Street Journal editorial states: “The media are finally catching up to America’s shale natural gas boom, with even Fortune magazine waddling in with a cover story. But the bigger recent news is that one of the most powerful environmental lobbies, the Sierra Club, is mounting a major campaign to kill the industry.  The battle plan is called ‘Beyond Natural Gas,’ and Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune announced the goal in an interview with the National Journal this month: ‘We’re going to be preventing new gas plants from being built wherever we can.’ The big green lobbying machine has rolled out a new website that says ‘The natural gas industry is dirty, dangerous and running amok’ and that ‘The closer we look at natural gas, the dirtier it appears; and the less of it we burn, the better off we will be.’ So the goal is to shut the industry down, not merely to impose higher safety standards.”

“Why regulating gas fracking could be cheaper than the alternatives”

May 30, 2012: The Washington Post reports: “We’re living in a “Golden Age of Gas,” says the International Energy Agency. Trapped in shale-rock formations around the world are trillions of cubic feet of unconventional natural gas. And drillers now have the technology to pluck it out. That’s a lot of cheap fuel — and it’s lower-carbon than coal. But as always, there’s a catch. The technology used to extract natural gas from shale rock — known as hydraulic fracturing — carries all sorts of unsettling side effects. The gallons of chemicals used for drilling could, potentially, contaminate nearby drinking wells. The disposal of wastewater has been linked to earthquakes in places like Ohio. And there’s the possibility that methane leaks from fracking could make natural gas even worse for global warming than coal.”

Feds urged to support corn ethanol sector’s efficiency efforts
The nonprofit Great Plains Institute issued a white paper that listed the various ways that dry-mill corn ethanol plants can boost their efficiency and cut greenhouse-gas emissions. The group also called for new federal policies to help existing corn ethanol plants reduce their energy consumption. “In recent years, policymakers have tended to focus on advanced and cellulosic fuels,” the group said. “While this is very important, this report indicates that additional focus should be given to supporting existing producers.” EthanolProducer.com (5/29)

“Solving the Electric Car Puzzle”

May 29, 2012: An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal by Ron Adner, author and professor of strategy at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, states: “The electric car has become a political litmus test. With billions of federal dollars spent to motivate further billions in private investment, the financial stakes are high, as are the environmental and energy-security implications. But in the tug of war between the caricatures of lefty liberal greens and righty conservative petroheads, love-it or hate-it are the only two options. …Unfortunately, manufacturers are approaching the electric car as another new product when what they really need is a new business model. The problem is not the cars themselves (which are technology marvels), or even the availability of charging infrastructure (which is improving thanks to government largess).”

“Ethanol-based fuel set to make Indy 500 debut”

May 28, 2012: Fuel Fix reports: “The Indy 500 will be fueled from the nation’s Heartland this year. E85, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent high-octane racing gasoline, will be used for the first time at the Indianapolis 500, and a new report suggest the milestone highlights the need for the general public to embrace alternative fuels. ‘The Indianapolis 500 has become a venue to show the feasibility of using alternative fuels, such as E85,’ Brent Schutte, a Harris Bank market strategist, wrote. ‘This is a development with many potential positive implications.’”

“Shale boom contributes to emissions drop”

May 25, 2012: Greenwire reports: “The shale gas boom has prompted a big drop in U.S. carbon emissions as power generators switch from coal to gas. During the last five years, U.S. energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide have fallen by 450 metric tons, according to the International Energy Agency. ‘This is a success story based on a combination of policy and technology — policy driving greater efficiency and technology making shale gas production viable,’ said Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist.”

“Washington Aims To Avoid Precedent-Setting GHG Controls For Refineries”

May 25, 2012: Inside EPA reports: “Washington state is aiming to scrap provisions in its air rules that according to a recent court order require the state to craft first-time greenhouse gas (GHG) control requirements for refineries, a move activists are opposing because they see the pending Washington refinery GHG limits as a model for other states and future EPA regulations. EPA has stalled work on a new source performance standard for refineries, though the agency won GHG control requirements in a major settlement announced May 23 with a BP refinery over alleged Clean Air Act regulations. Activists say they will cite the refinery settlement as a baseline of GHG and conventional pollutant controls that they want to see in future refinery settlements or rules, while also pursuing GHG controls for refineries in Washington.”

Gevo begins isobutanol production at Minn. plant
Gevo has begun making isobutanol at its biorefinery in Luverne, Minn., which the company converted from corn-ethanol production. Gevo plans to produce about 1 million gallons of isobutanol per month from the facility by the end of the year. The plant has the capacity to produce 18 million gallons of the fuel per year, Gevo said. The Denver Post/The Associated Press (5/24)

Supporters urge Senate panel to reject defense biofuel budget cuts
The Senate Armed Services Committee should reject provisions in a defense spending bill that would restrict the military’s use of biofuels, advocates said. A House version of the bill would cut funding for the development of a commercial supply of advanced biofuels. Advocates said that reducing U.S. dependence on oil imports is a concern for all Americans. The Detroit News (5/24)

“Oil sands pipeline to Canada’s West is downsized”

May 24, 2012: ClimateWire reports: “A U.S. pipeline company revised the size yesterday of a pipeline that would carry oil sands crude to Canada’s West Coast. Instead of carrying 850,000 barrels of oil a day, the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Project will now carry 750,000 barrels a day, the company said. That still places the project’s capacity close to that of Keystone XL, a conduit that would carry oil sands crude from Canada to Texas if ever built.”

“Exclusive Interview: Why Tar Sands Oil Is More Polluting and Why It Matters”

May 24, 2012: Inside Climate News reports: In an interview, Adam Brandt, global expert on the carbon footprint of fuels, explains why oil sands’ 20% greater greenhouse gas emissions are significant. “I found that the oil sands were about 20 percent [23%] higher on a ‘full fuel cycle’ basis, which is the metric [used] by the EU’s fuel-quality directive. This includes everything from extracting the fuel out of the ground, to refining it and burning it in your automobile. Now this 20 percent number can vary somewhat depending on what you’re comparing. For example in North America, because we refine somewhat heavier crude oils than they do in Europe, that number would be closer to 15 percent.”

Analysis: Waste-based energy projects are growing worldwide
Waste-based energy production is on the rise globally, writes columnist Jim Lane. Waste is an ideal bioenergy source because it’s abundant, affordable and usually pre-sorted, and it’s also less subject to considerations such as indirect land-use change that have hurt grain-based initiatives, Lane notes. BiofuelsDigest.com (5/22)

Global biofuels market is at a “tipping point,” experts say
The global biofuels market is approaching a “tipping point,” according to experts at the International Finance Corporation’s annual clean-technology workshop. Efforts to commercialize biofuels are now moving from the U.S. and Europe to emerging markets in Asia and South America, “where the feedstocks and customers are,” said Roger Wyse, managing director for Burrill & Co. AOL Energy (5/22)

“Britain Says It Will Add Reactors for Energy”

May 23, 2012: The New York Times reports: “Britain announced plans Tuesday to finance a new generation of nuclear power plants and renewable energy facilities, in a move that illustrates the differences in energy policies among European Union countries as the bloc grapples with the challenge of reconciling economic and environmental objectives. …The 27-member European Union sets climate change targets and coordinates efforts to reduce energy dependency, but decisions on energy sources remain with national governments.”

“McCain Hits Pentagon Push for Clean Energy”

May 23, 2012: National Journal reports: “Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member John McCain, R-Ariz., has launched a full-throated assault on a Pentagon program frequently praised by President Obama that would transition the military from fossil fuels to alternative energy. On Tuesday, McCain slammed the Defense Department’s ‘Operational Energy Strategy,’ unveiled last June, as an attempt by Obama to exploit the military in order to promote his clean-energy agenda—at the expense of national security and taxpayer dollars. ‘Adopting a ‘green agenda’ for national defense of course is a terrible misplacement of priorities,’ McCain told National Journal Daily in an interview on Tuesday.”

“The path to common sense energy solutions”

May 22, 2012: An op-ed by Former Rep. Charlie Melancon in The Hill states: “During my time in Congress, I worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop commonsense solutions on energy challenges. That process begins with admitting that a comprehensive energy policy must consist of more than just pursuing futuristic ‘green energy’ technologies or resting our hopes on a single strategy of ‘drill, baby, drill.’ Any serious, ‘all of the above,’ energy proposal will recognize that America will rely heavily on traditional fossils fuels for the foreseeable future. Absent a magic wand, America cannot and will not run, ‘predominantly’,  on renewable energies for another 50 years, if ever. …That is an “all of the above” energy policy on which candidates can hang their hat. The result will be more American jobs and domestic fuel, not just campaign bumper stickers.”

 “Biofuel Experts Weigh RFS Changes, CO2-Based Credits to Gain Refiner Support”

May 22, 2012: Clean Energy Report (no link) reports: “Fuels and vehicle consultants are weighing options to improve and restructure EPA’s renewable fuel standard (RFS) by eliminating the mandate’s separate targets for cellulosic ethanol and advanced biofuels and creating a fuel-neutral policy that credits a fuel based on greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, rather than a volumetric target. The options are being discussed ahead of a policy forum next month on EPA’s corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) and GHG rules for vehicles and Tier III rules for gasoline. The June forum will bring together the biofuels, oil and gas, and the automobile industries to discuss the interaction of fuels and vehicle policies.”

Heliae breaks ground on demonstration-scale biorefinery in Ariz.
Algae-technology firm Heliae started construction Friday on its demonstration-scale facility in Arizona. Heliae’s long-term goal is to produce transportation fuels from algae, but in the meantime the company will focus on producing algae-based materials for the chemical, cosmetic and nutraceutical industries, said President and CEO Dan Simon. “We will never take our eyes off the transportation fuels. But there are stepping stones to get us there. Production costs have to come down,” Simon said. Forbes (5/20)

“New facilities spotlight next-generation biofuels”

May 21, 2012: Reuters reports: “After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line. The new facilities are designed to take biofuels beyond corn-based ethanol and begin to shift the industry to ‘advanced’ fuels made with a lower carbon footprint derived from products that will not compete with demand for food. Many of the companies are turning to cellulosic plant materials, animal waste and plant oils to churn out millions of gallons of ethanol, diesel, jet fuel or components for gasoline.”

“With Natural Gas Plentiful and Cheap, Carbon Capture Projects Stumble”

May 21, 2012: The New York Times reports: “A federal proposal to ban the construction of coal-fired power plants that release all of their carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would seem to smooth the way for carbon capture, a budding technology that traps the greenhouse gas for storage or other uses. But even as the Environmental Protection Agency prepares to open hearings on the proposed rule, unveiled in March, industry experts say the persistently low price of natural gas is threatening the viability of the nation’s carbon capture projects.”

“Canada pledges oil and gas pollution rules by 2013 at climate conference”

May 18, 2012: Canada.com reports: “Facing questions about its upcoming withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol and “gaps” in its existing policies, Canada told international climate change talks in Germany Thursday that it planned to crack down on oil and gas pollution through draft regulations by next year. Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s chief negotiator and climate change ambassador, said that the Canadian government was ‘working towards draft regulations for 2013’ in the oil and gas sector as it continued efforts to meet commitments made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 17 per cent below 2005 levels.”

“Fight Over Auto Emissions Is Measured in Grams”

May 17, 2012: The New York Times states: “The battle to control carbon dioxide from automobile tailpipes in the European Union is fought by the gram — a measure roughly equivalent to the weight of a paperclip. Greenhouse gases in these amounts may sound tiny, but they could affect millions of jobs in the Union and help determine Europe’s future as a major manufacturer. … Last year, a report commissioned by Ms. Hedegaard’s department found that some of the most expensive technologies, like electric cars, now looked unnecessary for meeting the 95-gram target because making improvements to cars with internal combustion engines had turned out to be cheaper than originally thought.”

“Dire Predictions About Climate Change”

May 16, 2012: A letter to The New York Times Sierra Club Vice President David A. Scott, states: “In “Game Over for the Climate” (Op-Ed, May 10), James Hansen repeats his urgent warnings that burning Canada’s tar sands oil would cause irreversible climate catastrophe. When he says of the risks we face, ‘if this sounds apocalyptic, it is,’ he underscores the challenge of awakening those who don’t comprehend the sheer magnitude of what is at stake.  The sky may not literally be falling, but unless we find the will to stop extracting oil from dirty tar sands and shift to a clean energy economy instead, the atmosphere will keep changing in ways that will radically disrupt life on this planet.”

“Scientists Develop Method for Measuring CO2 to Fight Global Warming – in the Event of a Treaty to Limit Worldwide Emissions”

May 16,2012: CleanTechnica.com reports: “Should nations of the world ever see fit to sign a treaty limiting emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide gas, scientists from the University of Utah and Harvard have developed a way to verify compliance. Using measurements from three carbon-dioxide-monitoring stations in the Salt Lake Valley, the method could reliably detect changes in CO2 emissions of 15 percent or more, the researchers report. This CO2 detection method — published by the researchers in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the week of May 14, 2012 — is a proof-of-concept first step, say the study authors, adding that satellite monitoring of carbon dioxide levels ultimately may be more accurate than the ground-based method developed in the new study.”

 “U.S. energy independence is no longer a pipe dream”

May 16, 2012: USA Today reports: “As Americans heave a sigh of relief at gasoline prices falling back from near $4 a gallon, big new discoveries of domestic oil and natural gas hold the promise of more substantial benefits for the U.S. economy for decades to come — even the possibility of energy independence. … It’s no pipe dream. The U.S. is already the world’s fastest-growing oil and natural gas producer. Counting the output from Canada and Mexico, North America is ‘the new Middle East,’ Citigroup analysts declare in a recent report. The U.S. Energy Information Agency says U.S. oil imports will drop 20% by 2025. Oil giant BP projects the U.S. will get 94% of its energy domestically by 2030, up from 77% now, as oil imports fall by half.”

“Airlines show ‘very high’ compliance with E.U.’s emissions system”

May 16, 2012: ClimateWire reports: “The vast majority of commercial airlines are conforming to rules under the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) despite having spouted a lot of hot air against the scheme, according to the E.U. Commission. The aviation sector was brought into the ETS at the beginning of the year and will be required to pay into the scheme next April. Among the initial obligations, airlines were required to report their 2011 emissions to E.U. member states by the end of March. ‘I’m very glad to announce here today that there has been a very, very high level of compliance,’ E.U. Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard told reporters yesterday from Brussels.”

World’s first biotech jatropha developed in Singapore
Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and Singaporean firm JOil have developed a biotech jatropha whose seeds yield 10% more oil for biofuel production than ordinary seeds. JOil will field-test the jatropha after it gets the OK from the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee of Singapore. The partners plan to launch the biotech plant in 2015. Channel NewsAsia (5/14)

Advanced-biofuels prices to drop, execs say
It’s unfair to judge the value of the Department of Defense’s advanced-biofuel contracts on cost alone, according to executives at an event hosted by the Pew Charitable Trusts. “The cost has come down in each of these contracts and we are confident that at full commercial scale we can be competitive with petroleum,” said Solazyme President Harrison Dillon. “We will move down on the cost scale, but it’s going to take time and it takes further investment,” added Jim Rekoske, Honeywell UOP’s vice president for renewable energy and chemicals. National Defense (6/2012)

“Obama campaign adds ‘clean coal’ to website after GOP complaints”

May 14, 2012: The Hill reports: “The Obama campaign added a section on ‘clean coal’ to its website this week after House Republicans alleged that the president’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy plan neglected the fossil fuel. ‘President Obama has set a 10-year goal to develop and deploy cost-effective clean coal technology,’ the website now says. ‘The Recovery Act invested substantially in carbon capture and sequestration research, including 22 projects across four different areas of carbon capture-and-storage research and development.’

As of Wednesday, the website did not include ‘clean coal’ in a graphic outlining the president’s much-touted ‘all-of-the-above’ energy plan. The graphic mentions oil, natural gas, biofuels, wind, solar and nuclear.”

Oil Companies investing in Clean Energy
Big oil companies said that they have invested a total of $71 billion to develop biofuels and other renewable-energy sources, to get ahead on emerging technologies and to comply with obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard. But environmental activists say that those investments pale in comparison to the profits that the oil industry is raking in and the amount it is spending to expand fossil fuel production. “Their interest is a validation of the promise of clean-tech. But I don’t want to imply that this is something we should be falling out of our chairs over,” said Simon Mui, a scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Bloomberg Businessweek (5/10)

 

“Destroy the economy, save the planet”

May 10, 2012: An editorial by The Washington Times states: “By strangling the U.S. economy, President Obama may have single-handedly saved the planet. That’s the upshot of a paper recently published in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Policy by researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Valladolid in Spain. Congratulations, Mr. President. The study found the Great Recession a boon when it comes to preventing global warming. The scientists hypothesized that the worldwide economic collapse contributed to a drop in atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels in 2009. …Forcing adoption of expensive and inefficient sources of power only drags down the economy, which is exactly what global warming’s believers want.”

 “Canada Is Slow to Act on Emissions, Audit Warns”

May 09, 2012: The New York Times reports: “Canada will probably not meet its already-diminished greenhouse gas reduction targets, the country’s environment commissioner warned on Tuesday in a report to Parliament. The commissioner, Scott Vaughan, blamed a lack of government oversight, particularly for the oil and natural gas industry, which is Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas related emissions.  The current Conservative government withdrew Canada from its reduction commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and adopted the more limited goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. That matches the approach taken by the United States, which did not sign the Kyoto Protocol.”

“Next Generation of U.S. Biofuels Key”

May 9, 2012: An op-ed in The National Journal by Bob Dinneen, President and CEO, Renewable Fuels Association, states: “Public policies should help emerging energy sources to develop and grow, not forever subsidize established industries. That is why the American biofuels industry willingly agreed to the expiration of the tax credit for ethanol blenders (the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit) at the end of last year. But, in spite of having benefited from a century of subsidies, the oil industry continues to enjoy federal tax breaks and other advantages totaling from $3.6 to $4.5 billion a year. Unlike the oil industry, the biofuels industry believes that tax incentives should be targeted to new technologies, such as the development of non-grain-based (cellulosic) ethanol.”

 “E.U. needs to boost carbon prices under ETS”

May 7, 2012: ClimateWire reports: “The European Union needs to triple the price of carbon credits used in its Emissions Trading System (ETS), or risk failing its goal of a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2020, European business leaders said Thursday. The leaders, representing Royal Dutch Shell, Spain’s Acciona Energy, Unilever and Vodafone, among others, met with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso last week to reiterate demands for ambitious future targets on renewable energy and carbon emissions reductions.”

“US proposes new rules for fracking on federal lands”

May 7, 2012: Reuters reports: “The Obama administration unveiled long-awaited rules o nFriday to bolster oversight on public lands of oil and natural gas drilling using fracking technology that has ushered in a boom in drilling but also triggered environmental protests. Interior’s proposal would update its decades-old fracking regulations with new reporting standards and a requirement that companies get approval before using the drilling technique. The proposal also would require companies to reveal chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing after they complete the process.”

Biofuels Should Compete In Free Market

May 7, 2012: An op-ed in The National Journal Energy Experts Blog, AFPM President Charles Drevna states: “The biofuels industry exists only because it has been supported by billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies for decades and because government mandates require that biofuels be used in transportation fuels. In contrast, energy from oil and natural gas is produced without a dime of federal subsidies. Oil and gas producers and fuel and petrochemical manufacturers support more than 9 million American jobs and pay more than $31 billion a year in federal taxes. These American companies could vastly increase production if the federal government reduced costly overregulation and opened up more federal lands and waters to oil and gas exploration and drilling. While the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers opposes subsidies and mandates, nearly all the gasoline our members manufacture in the United States is blended with 10 percent corn ethanol (known as E10) today to comply with the federal mandate.”

Now is not the time to stop supporting clean energy

Congressional inaction on a slew of tax incentives for clean energy threatens to undermine the growth of one of the few sectors that added jobs at the height of the recession, according to The New York Times editorial board. Experts have determined that if Congress doesn’t act to save the tax incentives, clean-energy funding will drop from by 75% from $44.3 billion in 2009 to $11 billion in 2014, the editorial points out. “The idea is not to prop up clean tech industries forever. It is to get them to a point where they can stand on their own,” the editorial adds. The New York Times (5/5)

“Panetta links environment, energy and national security in groundbreaking speech”

May 4, 2012: Greenwire reports: “Climate change and oil dependence are issues of national security, and the Pentagon will take a lead role in shifting the way the country uses energy, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last night. In remarks made at a Washington, D.C., reception held by the Environmental Defense Fund, Panetta became the highest-level official to draw a clear line between environmental, energy and security issues since their relationship was formally established in Pentagon strategy two years ago.”

“The EPA is earning a reputation for abuse”

May 4, 2012: The Washington Post editorial board states: “Maybe Al Armendariz — until Monday, one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s top administrators — didn’t mean his comments to sound quite how they did. But they didn’t sound good. In a 2010 speech, now circulating online, Mr. Armendariz compared his ‘philosophy of enforcement’ to ancient Roman soldiers’ practice of crucifying random victims in recently conquered territory. The most reasonable interpretation is also among the most disturbing — that Mr. Armendariz preferred to exact harsh punishments on an arbitrary number of firms to scare others into cooperating. This sort of talk isn’t merely unjust and threatening to investors in energy projects. It hurts the EPA. Mr. Armendariz was right to resign this week, while EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson denied that his comments reflected the agency’s approach.”

Study: Plant-based biofuels could supply 30% of world’s motor fuels
Researchers have determined that biofuels from nonedible plants grown on idle lands could supply up to 30% of the world’s transportation fuels and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a report in F1000 Biology Reports. “Many of the concerns about the use of food crops for biofuels do not apply to the use of the inedible parts of plants that are the focus of our review,” said researcher Chris Somerville, professor of alternative energy at the University of California, Berkeley. “New dedicated energy crops are a particularly promising area of research,” Somerville added. USA TODAY/Green House blog (5/3)

A stable RFS is vital for advanced biofuels’ growth, execs say
Lawmakers should reject calls to revise or repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard because a stable RFS is necessary for the growth of the cellulosic-biofuel industry, according to executives of BP Biofuels, Novozymes and DuPont Industrial Biosciences. “We are at an early stage and showing instability creates difficulties in terms of continuing to get support for investments,” said BP Biofuels North America President Sue Ellerbusch. EthanolProducer.com (5/2)

“EPA expands biodiesel credits probe, source says”

May 3, 2012: Politico Pro reports: “EPA on Monday filed charges against a third company accused of generating and selling fake biodiesel credits, and the agency is investigating at least four other companies, a refinery industry official says. …One of the complaints against EPA has been that companies purchased the fake RINs from sellers that were included in an official list of agency-sanctioned sellers. All three companies charged so far with selling fake RINs remain on the list of EPA-registered producers.

Honeywell subsidiary to launch test program for green jet fuel
UOP, a subsidiary of Honeywell, plans to launch a comprehensive test program for renewable jet fuel. UOP will partner with the National Research Council of Canada and Agrisoma Biosciences for the program. The biofuel tested in the program is derived from an oilseed crop called Brassica carinata. United Press International (4/30)

EIA: Advanced biofuels output must expand to meet climate goals
The world must increase production of advanced biofuels to at least four times today’s levels by 2020 to meet global carbon-emissions-reduction targets, according to the International Energy Agency. Governments should also level the playing field for clean-energy sources by accounting for the hidden costs of continued dependence on fossil fuels, the IEA said. BiofuelsDigest.com (5/1)

“E.U. urges Russia to partner on carbon storage efforts”

May 1, 2012: ClimateWire reports: “Both Russia and Europe will have to work to reduce the carbon emissions from natural gas if their long-standing partnership of supplier and customer is to continue in coming decades, according to a top E.U. energy official. Speaking at an E.U.-Russia conference in Brussels last week, Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said that the technologies now available to capture and store carbon — typically in underground geological formations such as depleted gas fields — are insufficient to bring Russia’s supply of gas in line with European carbon targets.”