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In May, the Basel Committee announced plans to maintain the most recently proposed capital-adequacy guidelines, which will decrease reserve levels for internationally active, diversified institutions based on the adopted approach to credit and operational risk. U.S. banks now have until January 2008 to adhere to the new cross-border capital adequacy mandates, plus an additional three-year transition period, while other global institutions will be required to comply by early 2007.

The whole world, it seems, is "going green." When applied to IT, the term green power generally means conserving energy by limiting the energy consumption of computing gear, as well as minimizing the wasted energy that results from the daily rigors of computing.

California's new greenhouse gas control law amounts to "another mandate that will accelerate consumption of natural gas without any consideration to our nation's failing natural gas supply," the head of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America said Thursday.

Burying carbon dioxide (CO2) underground will be vital to keep greenhouse gases at safe levels, given projected rapid emissions growth in developing countries, accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in a report.

Cheap coal will be the main enemy in a fight against global warming in the 21st century because high oil prices are likely to encourage a shift to coal before wind or solar power, a top economist said on Thursday.

US House Majority Leader John Boehner Tuesday said in a veiled swipe at the Senate that a lack of urgency has been the reason for a more than two-month stalemate in passing a bill to open portions of the Outer Continental Shelf to oil and natural gas drilling.

Will the spending needed to prevent global warming cost the world more than just sitting back, or even enjoying the possible financial benefits of a hotter planet?

Entergy Corp. was honored as "Best in Class" for its approach to climate change in a report released last week by the Carbon Disclosure Project, a coalition of global investors with more than $31.5 trillion in assets.

Seven oil and gas companies are signing on as charter members of the Natural Gas Star International program, an expansion of the successful Environmental Protection Agency domestic program to reduce methane emissions.

The EU's environment chief on Thursday condemned the discharge of toxic waste in Africa that killed at least eight people and vowed to beef up policing to stop the illegal transport of dangerous waste in the future.

US forecasters are at odds over how cold and snowy the coming winter will be, with predictions ranging from frigid to mild in the key Northeast and Midwest heating regions.

The money the US has spent on studying greenhouse gas emissions has been insufficient to help answer the critical questions on how to deal with reducing those emissions, according to US Representative Darrell Issa,

Germany will make fighting climate change a top priority when it takes control of the G8 next year and will try to persuade the United States of its importance, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

Gold continued to firm in Europe Thursday morning, taking its cue from a rally in crude oil futures, which saw gold rebound after the New York session close, according to the daily web site report from Standard Bank.

US House and Senate negotiators have agreed to an appropriations measure that directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish and enforce security measures at high-risk facilities that use or store hazardous chemicals.

28Sep2006--ICE Brent futures on Thursday extended Friday's mini bull-run as the crude complex dismissed bearish US inventory data to focus on signs from OPEC of any scaling back of production, brokers said.

29Sep2006--ICE Brent futures in London fell Friday as the previous day's news of crude output cuts by some OPEC countries failed to support the market. November ICE Brent crude was trading at $62.06/barrel at 0955 GMT, down 48 cents from the overnight settle. ICE WTI futures for the same month were pegged at $62.44/barrel, down 32 cents.

Ecology is about how everything in our environment is interrelated and has an impact on everything else. What we do affects the environment for animals and trees, and what happens with them affects us.

Forests in northern nations such as Russia and Canada are worth $250 billion a year because of services they provide by purifying water or soaking up greenhouse gases, a researcher said on Tuesday.

Of course, the main focus of my visit at this point, following the coordination that we had with Mr Kiriyenko in Vienna, is to achieve a final summing up on the completion of the Bushehr project

Evergreen Energy uses heat and pressure to convert high-moisture, low-British-thermal-unit coal, such as subbituminous and lignite, into a more efficient, cleaner-burning fuel.

Salt River Project, which is 20% owner of the shut 1,580-MW coal-fired Mohave station in Laughlin, Nevada, said Tuesday that it "is accelerating efforts to return the plant to service."

Utility spent fuel could be moved off reactor sites to a storage facility in Nevada as early as fourth-quarter 2011 under nuclear waste legislation Senator Pete Domenici unveiled Wednesday.

German scientists have used the photonic crystal structure of dentin as an inspiration to propose a new method of using sunlight to produce electricity.

A report by a 16-member Royal Society panel of eminent business and academic energy experts recommends the nation kick its addiction to imported fossil fuels and start developing homegrown biofuels to power transport.

Although preparation for catastrophes—such as terrorism, pandemic outbreak or extreme weather events—is becoming an increasingly important aspect of risk management, levels of preparedness vary significantly from region to region, according to a new survey of 225 risk managers worldwide by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

NRG Energy President and CEO David Crane Tuesday attacked the US electric utility industry for advocating a voluntary approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, saying such an approach is "unwise and self-defeating."

26Sep2006-- Libya's top oil official Shokri Ghanem said Tuesday that he saw no need for OPEC to cut crude output with oil prices at $60/barrel prices but said the cartel could take action if prices fell further in coming months.

28Sep2006 - OPEC member countries have agreed to cut production on a "voluntary" basis to stem the fall in crude oil prices, OPEC acting secretary general Mohammed Barkindo said Thursday.

Pennsylvania is taking steps to make the development of landfill gas projects easier by making highway rights-of-way available for landfill gas pipelines.

Sugarcane and switchgrass are unlikely to fuel the next plane you ride, but Boeing Co. says development of biofuels is gaining momentum as airlines and armed forces seek alternatives to expensive jet fuel.

It takes a lot of natural gas to run an ethanol plant. A plant needs steam to liquefy corn starch and heat to distill alcohol and more heat to dry the leftover distillers grains.

Xcel announced Monday that it has selected an affiliate of SunEdison, LLC, North America's leading solar energy service provider, to build, own and operate the 8-megawatt central solar power plant about 2 miles northwest of this small unincorporated community lying along Colorado 17, about 13 miles north of Alamosa.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed landmark legislation that makes California the first US state to cap greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources and allows regulators to create an allowance trading program.

The United States can change course and develop policies that will foster more renewable energy use. That's the message from the Worldwatch Institute and the Center for American Progress, which say that a "transformation" is both necessary and possible.

A major commercial development in Syracuse, N.Y., will be the world's largest sustainable structure to be built with recycled industrial materials, incorporate energy efficient features, and reduce vehicle emissions.

Three bidders -- a Petro-Canada-led group, Anadarko Petroleum, and US major ConocoPhillips -- bid a total of $13.8 million on Wednesday to take the 81 tracts offered in an Alaska oil and gas lease sale sponsored by the US
Interior Department.

Of all the renewable energy sources, offshore wind has the capacity to make the largest contribution to clean energy. The simple fact is that it is much easier to get planning permission for a large number of wind turbines for a site that is a long way from shore than it is to get permission to festoon a hillside with dozens of the contraptions.

Two congressmen said Tuesday it is absurd for the Interior Department not to demand royalties for oil that was pumped under flawed drilling leases.

Freddie Mac yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.31 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending September 28, 2006, down from last week when it averaged 6.40 percent.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced that 10 electric cooperatives serving rural residents in 15 states will receive more than $234 million in loans to improve infrastructure, erect new lines, and provide service to 6,200 new customers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week its selection of 44 projects in 21 states that will receive nearly $5.5 million in grants for the production and marketing of ethanol, ethanol by-products, and biodiesel and for feasibility studies of energy production from biomass and wind power.

The electric utility industry is confronting a host of strategic and operational issues similar to ones faced during the 1970s, according to industry leaders attending EUCG's annual fall workshop.

Hudert, who lives in Alexandria, blamed his son's sickness on sooty emissions from the old, coal-burning Mirant Corp. power plant near his home.

•- ICE Brent futures rose over half a dollar on Wednesday on further hints from OPEC that the oil group is concerned about the low price of crude harming investment and US stock data, brokers said.

•- ICE Brent futures in London fell Friday as the previous day's news of crude output cuts by some OPEC countries failed to support the market.

•- Prices surged late Thursday as Nigeria said it was reducing crude exports by 5%, and the OPEC secretary-general said Saudi Arabia was also cutting production. However, the rally proved short-lived as traders were seemingly skeptical about OPEC's intentions and the possible impact on the market.

The Bush administration has no plans to ease its opposition to national limits on greenhouse gas output despite talk that a change may be under consideration, a White House spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Niagara County's largest property taxpayer is seeking a double- barreled 25-year tax break, which it says it needs to have a chance to build a $1 billion coal-fired power plant on its property in Somerset.

Analysts told Platts they were unanimous on one point: the silver price is headed seriously upward, fueled both by fundamentals and near-historic levels of investor and speculator interests.

The US Department of Transportation and BP Friday said the federal agency has approved the company's request to restart and test one of two low-pressure pipelines in the eastern operating area of the Alaska North Slope Prudhoe Bay
Field shut since August when severe corrosion was detected in the lines.

25Sep2006--Front-month ICE Brent futures in London fell through the support level of $60/barrel Monday for the first time in over six months as new Prudhoe Bay developments and EU-Iran talks pushed prices lower, brokers said.

For more than a year now, the specter of longwall mining has divided the agricultural county. Citizens Against Longwall Mining, a local group, pressured the county board into place the issue on the fall ballot. Opponents claim longwall subsidence will cause croplands to sag several feet.

Earth may be close to the warmest it has been in the last million years, especially in the part of the Pacific Ocean where potentially violent El Nino weather patterns are born, climate scientists reported Monday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding five new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. That brings the total of final sites on the list to 1,246. EPA is also proposing to add six other sites to the list.

The Environmental Protection Agency plans to finalize a 24-hour fine particle standard at 35 micrograms per cubic meter -- down from the current level of 65 micrograms...

The global petrochemical industry has a responsibility to reduce the planet's addiction to fossil fuels, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said Monday. With the global population expected to increase from 6.5 billion presently to 8 billion in 2030, energy use by the world at large will soar, regardless of price.

The world has seen high oil prices before, but the latest spike is very different from those seen in the 1970s, economist and syndicated editorial columnist Paul Krugman said Monday in a speech at the 2006 EPCA conference.

The European Climate Exchange (ECX) and ICE Futures Monday announced that they will launch an options contract for EU emissions Allowances on October 13.

The Secretariat of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), launched at the 14th Session of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development in May 2006 in New York to promote the use of bioenergy, opened for business here this week.

Scotland could meet its future energy needs without having to build new nuclear power stations, Jack McConnell said yesterday.

Congressional conferees are scheduled to continue efforts Monday to reach agreement on including language in the FY 2007 Homeland Security Department funding bill that would impose security standard on chemical facilities.

26Sep2006-ICE Brent futures fell on Tuesday after BP said that it had restarted output of 100,000 b/d from the eastern side of Prudhoe Bay over the weekend, easing market concerns over crude supply.

Japan and China have reaffirmed their intention to accelerate talks over the development of disputed gas fields in the East China Sea, Toshihiro Nikai, Japan's former minister for economy, trade and industry, said Tuesday.

CAP, formed by a group of residents, contends emissions of sulfur trioxide at Gavin produced an unhealthy, blue haze that permeated the area around the plant for several summers.

Opposition legislators vowed at the weekend to launch a united front against energy reforms proposed by President-elect Felipe Calderon.

Nearly seven out of 10 Americans polled support nuclear power and 68% said they support building a new reactor at the existing nuclear power plant closest to where they live, according to a recent survey done for the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Acciona Wind Energy Canada Inc., Enbridge Inc., and Suncor Energy Products Inc. today celebrated the opening of their newest joint venture wind power project in Alberta, a $60 million, 30-megawatt facility located 20 kilometres southwest of Taber.

Canada's Prince Edward Island would produce 30% of its energy needs from local renewable resources by 2016, under a plan released Thursday by Premier Pat Binns.

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today thanked Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) for recognizing the commonwealth's leadership on energy issues and strides to adopt and implement more green technologies in state operations.

With the selling pressure eased, gold and silver prices took a sharp upturn on the COMEX Friday morning and platinum and palladium followed.

A University of North Dakota professor says the Panhandle and southeast Nebraska could be good locations to bury concentrated carbon dioxide produced by coal- burning power plants.

"When I go out herding I always carry a radio with me," he said. The entertainment is the product of a renewable energy drive in the remote parts of the province to popularize the use of solar and wind power.

Oklahoma's renewable energy industry has boomed in recent years, but industry leaders are looking to ever-improving technology to make wind farms and other projects even more cost effective.

Scientists have issued their strongest warning so far this year that unusually warm Caribbean Sea temperatures threaten coral reefs that suffered widespread damage last year in record-setting heat.

Waters have reached 85 degrees around the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico -- temperatures at which coral can be damaged if waters do not cool after a few weeks

The United States has thus far resisted both entering into international agreements and implementing federal regulations for curbing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In the past month, however, seven Northeast states and California initiated their own CO2 emissions programs.

Although the imminent exhaustion of the world’s fossil fuel would certainly propel us to the Solar Hydrogen Economy, we need the fossil fuel to make the transition. Therefore, we need to have some idea as to when it might be exhausted.

Nevada regulators are following directions from the Environmental Protection Agency in setting rules designed to reduce mercury air pollution from coal-fired power plants, but Nevada's major electric utilities say the rule will not affect their planned or existing plants.

"We believe that (the new mercury standard) will be easily attained by the utilities in Nevada," said Dante Pistone, spokesman for the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

With a gleaming new garbage truck and billionaire Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens standing behind him, Gov. George Pataki hailed the Town of Smithtown yesterday for ordering municipal garbage trucks to run on compressed natural gas.

In a pledge to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), the AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) today announced it has committed to produce 10 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emission offsets by 2012 and said it will pursue offset development projects under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Arizona regulators are asking the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to provide "specific assurances" that Arizona consumers will not be harmed by the California Independent System Operator's proposed changes to its wholesale power market, saying California's last attempt at market design was "disastrous" for the West.

Biomass projects planned for Central and Eastern Oregon could mean a high demand in the future for small trees and the woody leftovers from sawmills. Biomass plants use very efficient technologies, which burn the wood at such high temperatures that it creates less smoke and fewer pollutants.

British billionaire Richard Branson on Thursday committed to spending all the profits from his airline and rail businesses -- an estimated US$3 billion over the next 10 years -- on combating global warming.

The European Union will grant $64 million to Bulgaria to help it close two reactors of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

The idea of quenching your thirst by drinking water from a car's exhaust might seem unlikely, but new technology could soon make it a reality.

A global warming bill approved last month by the California Legislature could spur the establishment of a "de facto national climate plan" within the next two years, a key advisor to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today unanimously paved the way for California to move into a new electricity era -- one that restores confidence in energy markets and lays the groundwork for meeting California's growing power needs.

California is suing six automobile makers, alleging their vehicles are harming the state´s environment and contributing to global warming. "Vehicle emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon dioxide emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal government and automakers have refused to act," Lockyer said.

Despite the Threat of Pollution From Planned Open Pit Coal Mining in Canada, No Adequate Base-Line Water Quality Data Exists for Montana's Pristine North Fork of the Flathead River--a Part of Glacier National Park

The provincial government in Manitoba will install 300 MW of wind turbines over the next two years.

Chevron commits up to $25 million to develop transportation fuels from renewable resources such as forest and agricultural waste; demonstration biofuels facility planned.

China and India are accelerating development of wind power, luring companies including the turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems, as restrictions hamper wind farm construction in traditional markets like Australia.

"As the rest of the nation struggles to determine the best ways to leverage renewable energy sources to address climate change and our fossil fuel dependence, New Jersey has emerged as one of the leading clean energy markets in the nation..

Energy analyst Hugh Wynne said Wednesday that a handful of firms capable of financing, building, operating and buying nuclear plants will benefit most if the US moves toward the "carbon-constrained" environment that already
dominates in Europe.

A bi-partisan coalition in Colorado has unveiled a state energy plan that its wants candidates for elected office to endorse.

The ‘Coalition for Colorado’s New Energy Future’ includes agriculture, labour and environmental groups and its four-point plan, entitled ‘The Plan for Colorado’s New Energy Future,’ was unveiled simultaneously in three cities: Colorado Springs, Denver and Grand Junction.

Ohio needs to plan for an affordable and environmentally sound energy future by designing and enacting a portfolio of diverse electricity options that will better serve residents and businesses over the long-term, the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) announced today.

Once bitten, twice shy, you might have thought, but on the basis that Russia was becoming one of the biggest oil and gas producers in the world and BP therefore couldn't afford not to be there.

Energy prices in the United States have been increasing since the start of last year, partly due to hurricanes and demand pressure on imported oil supplies, and “this has increased interest in alternate energy sources, which include renewable energy sources such as solar,” says the Energy Information Administration.

The Department of Energy has released a plan to accelerate the development and reduce the cost of new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Various environmental groups have joined together to challenge the track record of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank that provides loans and equity investment in projects to "reduce poverty and improve people's lives."

With Clean Air Mercury Rule monitoring starting in 2009 and removal starting in 2010, EPA's plan should create a "viable trading program to substantially remove mercury," the head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Markets office said.

Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the strongest national air quality standards in the country's history. These National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) address fine and coarse particle pollution, also known as particulate matter (PM).

The 25 member states of the European Union saw energy their consumption total 1.64 million mt of oil equivalent in 2005, unchanged from 2004, but energy imports rose as the region's oil, gas, coal and nuclear power production declines, the European Commission said.

U.S. scientists say it might be possible to build 400 huge far-offshore wind turbines to power several hundred thousand onshore homes.

The scientists say that would be possible by using platforms to float the turbines 100 miles out to sea, where winds are strong and steady, yet the turbines could not been seen from shore.

A pinhole-sized leak may be why 900 gallons of fuel oil flowed into Tampa Bay from a Florida Power & Light Co. off-loading terminal near the utility's Manatee Energy Center, an FPL spokesman said Tuesday.

Building power generation is a risky proposition. With the bust that occurred in the sector just a few years ago, it is a tough sell to get new projects underway despite the emphasis on reliability. But, it goes without saying that the demand for power is escalating and shortages are projected in some parts of the nation.

Green Mountain Power this week celebrated the tenth anniversary of installing the first turbine in its Searsburg wind generating station, a plant that has contributed clean, emission-free energy to the New England grid since it began operation.

Hong Kong gold prices opened slightly higher at around $577/oz on Thursday, up from Wednesday's close at around $575/oz. Gold trade, however, remained sluggish affected by the weakness in oil prices, according to local
traders.

The IAEA will begin consultations on an international nuclear fuel assurance plan, following the recommendations of a brainstorming "special event" held this week during the agency's general conference in Vienna.

22Sep2006--ICE Brent crude futures continue to creep upwards Friday, extending the gains made on Thursday and clawing back some of the sharp losses seen earlier in the week.

21Sep2006--ICE Brent futures fell over half a dollar on Wednesday in anticipation of builds in distillate and gasoline stocks in the US for the second week in succession, brokers said.

In late August, the water level was down and barge traffic was forced to use the lock and dam system to navigate the river in certain areas.

Mexico may become the latest oil-rich country looking seriously at nuclear power as a hedge against declining energy reserves, according to a plan outlined Monday by Energy Minister Fernando Canales Clariond.

North Dakota is on the tarmac of the U.S. military's flight into the world of energy independence.

The state, along with Texas and the Appalachian Mountain region, have been identified as areas of the country that could be centers of alternative energy development, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley told the state's congressional delegation Wednesday.

In a white paper published today, National Grid urged federal and state policymakers to address current inadequacies in U.S. transmission policies that create obstacles for wind and other renewable generators in accessing the country's electric grid.

Texans weary from huge summer electric bills may have noticed the recent decline in natural gas prices and wondered when — or if — their electric rates will fall too.

Neenah Paper is buying more than 10 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, making the company one of the largest purchasers of green power in its industry, the company said.

The US government approved new air pollution standards Thursday, promising "cleaner air to all Americans," but health and environmental groups said the revised rules are too weak to protect against lung disease and other pollution-related ailments.

Britain's foreign secretary said Thursday the next U.S president should quickly get involved in global negotiations to slow global warming, which she warned was fast becoming a crucial foreign policy issue.

"What I would like for the next administration to do is to engage fully in the international dialogue," Margaret Beckett told a meeting of Wall Street bankers at New York's Council on Foreign Relations.

Five public interest groups are asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend the operating license of Progress Energy's Shearon Harris plant or levy hefty fines until the plant fixes longstanding flaws in fire safety systems.

Clean up crews on Thursday worked to stop the spread of 5,000 tonnes of crude oil which leaked into Egypt's Suez Canal from an oil tanker, officials said. A Liberian-flagged tanker with a cargo of 84,000 tonnes collided with a bank of the canal on Wednesday, breaching its hull and causing the spill, the official said.

A communications agency in Britain has developed an on-line community consultation system (TOCCS) which is designed to provide windfarm developers with a balanced range of viewpoints on a project, demonstrate ‘best practice’ and facilitate faster planning decisions.

OPEC ministers could hold an emergency meeting ahead of the next regular conference in December, as the oil market is clearly "out of balance" and prices are falling, a senior OPEC official said yesterday.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader insisted Scotland would meet its 40per cent renewable target by 2020, and added of the 100per cent goal: "Big things can happen in 45 years if there's the will to make it happen.

Tom Baird of Meadville only wishes he would have done it sooner. Baird estimates he’s cut his winter heating bill by about 33 percent by installing an alternative heat source.

The natural gas plant, which was a hotly contested issue in March's provincial byelection in the Toronto-Danforth riding, is touted as "one of the cleanest burning gas plants you can get" by Portlands officials.

Renewable resources currently provide just over 6 percent of total U.S. energy, but that figure could increase rapidly in the years ahead, according to a joint report released today by the Worldwatch Institute and the Center for American Progress

Solar activity was very low. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet levels on 22 September. Unsettled to active conditions with isolated minor storm periods are possible on 23 September due to a favorably positioned coronal hole high speed stream. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected to return for 24 September.

Saudi Arabia has expressed concern that oil could become a victim of "selective" environment policies and called for striking a balance between a cleaner environment and development.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg agreed Thursday to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because the Republicans said they cannot wait for the Bush administration to take action on climate change.

The number of people killed after storms hit eastern India and Bangladesh rose to nearly 100 with dozens of bodies of fishermen washing up along the coast, officials said on Thursday.

The state of Pennsylvania has launched an investment strategy to promote greater public and private investments in renewable energy sources.

The European Union's (EU) commitment to reduce carbon emissions across EU member states is likely to support increased investment in more environmentally friendly power generation systems.

One-third of the nation's nuclear reactors have been forced to shut down for a year or more because of safety concerns, according to a new study from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear watchdog group in Washington.

In addition to 351 residential units, 50,000 square feet of commercial space, and a restaurant on Water Street, Massachusetts developer John Rosenthal hopes to include a tidal- energy study as part of the American Tourister condominium project.

National Grid and Ofgem are forecasting another tight winter supply scenario for the UK energy market. The relevance of soaring wholesale energy prices is keenest felt during the peak consumption period, enhancing the need for players throughout the value chain to be aware of the latest market movements and developments.

Unusually low natural gas prices have recently crippled prominent hedge funds, most notably Amaranth, which may have lost up to $5 billion. Short-playing investors also sustained significant losses when natural gas prices plummeted to a two-year low of $4.892 per thousand cubic feet. As countless traders race to the exits, one expert is maintaining an optimistic outlook for this volatile fuel.

The United States should adopt clean energy policies to reduce global warming emissions, including strong policies to increase the use of renewable energy. This year’s unprecedented heat wave is part of a broader trend of rising temperatures across the country, with temperatures in the continental U.S. in the first seven months of this year at the highest of any year on record.

ACORE will hold a meeting in November at the largest national all-renewables policy forum on Capitol Hill in Washington, entitled ‘Phase II of Renewable Energy in America: Market Forecasts & Policy Requirements.’ The conference will establish targets for renewable energies and suggest an action plan for both sectors to achieve.

The signing of a liability agreement by both countries clears a legal hurdle for the U.S. and Russia to build plants that would dispose of 68 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium by turning it into a fuel for commercial power reactors.

All activities of the energy industry are affected by the weather and are “potentially vulnerable to climate change,” it notes. Industry plans for generation are affected by government targets, and the target for reductions in GHG emissions states that “emissions reductions will come from continued movement towards gas fired power stations

A sharp slowdown in the U.S. economy in 2007 is unlikely to drag the rest of the global economy down with it, according to a research report by Merrill Lynch's global economic team. The good news is that there are strong sources of growth outside the U.S. that should prove resilient to a consumer-led U.S. slowdown.

US House lawmakers on Wednesday began examining a newly introduced bill that would establish an independent statistical agency responsible for publishing data on US and global energy and mineral supplies.

The US is likely to export ethanol to Europe in the near future amid falling prices in the US and the prospect of continued oversupply, trading sources said Tuesday.

Net nuclear generation in the US during July totaled 72.2 million MWh, up 2.1% from July 2005 and 5.5% over the June 2006 total, the US Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its monthly flash estimates of electric power data.

The US Minerals Management Service would collect royalties prospectively from oil and natural gas companies willing to accept changes in controversial Gulf of Mexico leases they received in 1998 and 1999.

California utilities now lag in efforts to achieve the state's goals for energy conservation and increased use of renewable fuels, but regulators hope that the apparent shortfalls merely reflect growing pains in ambitious new programs and limitations in data collection.

Interval consumption data, an emerging industry standard for electric utilities, is now being considered as a tool for conservation and customer service for water utilities as well. Even time-of-use rates for water are now envisioned, possibly including dynamic rates.

Summer 2006 clearly produced one of the Hottest U.S. Summers in the Central Corridor and Southern States, as well as a markedly cooler (than 2005) and mild Summer for the Great Lakes,

ICE Brent futures in London edged higher Thursday during thin trading, halting the tumble in prices driven caused by a bearish set of US distillate stocks, traders said.

ICE Brent crude futures continue to creep upwards Friday, extending the gains made on Thursday and clawing back some of the sharp losses seen earlier in the week.

A new industry report has claimed that just over a third of the world's electricity could be supplied by wind power by 2050, resulting in a saving of 113 billion tonnes of CO2.

Under conservative forecasts, wind energy is to likely supply 5% of the world's electricity by 2030 and 6.6% by 2050, according to a report released Wednesday by the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace International.

Wind like any other generation option has its pluses and minuses. You quote wind proponents extensively but have made no attempt to address the much larger issues that have limited wind's contribution to just 0.36% of the total 2005 US generation (EIA-Electric Power Monthly-March 2006).

EPA is recognizing eight small businesses and two congregations for their energy-efficiency operations that prevented over 1 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and saved $66,000 in annual utility costs. The agency gives Energy Star awards to small businesses and congregations, institutions and associations that promote energy efficiency in their facilities.

The Australian Gas Light Company (ASX code: AGL) today announced plans to build Australia's largest hydroelectric power plant in 25 years to provide additional peaking electricity generation capacity for Victoria and increase the amount of zero-emission electricity produced by AGL's power generation assets.

Australia is the driest continent, but chronic water problems in its cities and rural areas are the result of poor management rather than water scarcity, a new report said Monday.

Britain has four years to put in place a "road map" to ensure a low-carbon economy where petrol stations would be redundant and wind turbines would be a feature of every home by 2050.

Eastern Power Limited. (EPL) announced today the registration of its Green House Gas (GHG) Emission Reductions under the Canadian Standards Association GHG Registries Program for Climate Change. GHG reductions totalling 25 million tonnes have resulted from EPL's efforts to date; making it Canada's largest corporate responder to reversing GHG-related climate change problems.

As coal and natural gas prices track on a generally upward trend through 2010, coal provides the floor for natural gas prices and gas sets a "modest ceiling" for coal, said one speaker Thursday at the Platts Coal Marketing Days. The margins will stay tight, which could drive some smaller producers out of the business.

Duke Energy's plans to build two new coal-fired power plants at the Cliffside facility would add to problems we are currently faced with, including public health, global warming, air and water pollution, and environmental damage caused by the extraction and burning of coal. In our present situation, it's irresponsible to move forward with plans for coal burning plants before first pursuing other measures.

A World Bank scheme to bring electricity to the world's poor is short-sighted and won't curb climate change or help the people it's aimed at, environmental groups said on Sunday.

The Niagara Power Coalition spent more than $85,000 of taxpayers' money this summer on attorneys who are settling the terms of the low- cost power allocation included in its 2005 agreement with the New York Power Authority.

For centuries, Dutch windmills have pumped water out of the low-lying country, and old-fashioned wooden mills are as closely linked with the Netherlands' international image as its dikes and bikes.

But in the face of a large and growing lobby against the windmill's modern electricity-generating counterpart -- the wind turbine -- the country has started moving them offshore and out of sight.

Tourists are flocking to Switzerland's highest peaks to see formidable Alpine glaciers melt away before their eyes -- and sometimes, onto their heads.

The EU official also criticized the repeated delays in the privatization of the two thermoelectric plants and feels the thermal energy sector needs urgent attention, meaning closing units with high production costs and clearing significant debts.

El Nino, an abnormal warming of equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean that wreaks havoc with world weather, has formed and will last into 2007, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said.

Oklahoma's power companies continue to convert one of the state's most abundant resources into environmentally-friendly electricity.

A proposed federal agricultural bill is being praised by environmentalists for its support of renewable energy development on farms, ranches and forest lands.

Decentralised energy is cool for generations of the 21st-century ; There is a far cleaner alternative, using local renewable technologies and underground networks, and other countries in Europe have proved it works.

There was a special Canadian connection today when General Motors Corp. committed to building the world's largest fuel cell vehicle fleet during the Company's reveal of its next generation fuel cell vehicle - the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell.

"Penalizing pollution instead of penalizing employment will work to reduce that pollution," Gore said in a speech at New York University School of Law.

The front-month November Brent futures contract was trading 6 cents higher from the overnight settlement at $64.11/barrel building on Monday's strong gains of around 70 cents. The rebound marks the end of 16 straight
trading days of declines.

ICE Brent futures firmed on Monday morning shrugging off a lack of bullish news in a market where all the support remains on the downside. The market remains unsure of whether new lows are there to be tested or whether there would be a significant bounce, brokers said, but Monday has seen some fund buying activity as it looks to test the significant resistance level of $63.85/barrel.

Breathing Easier In The East--Today on the air pollution front we have good news. The EPA reports that emissions of smog-forming pollutants from power plants in the Eastern U.S. continue to drop significantly -- 11% from 2004 to 2005, and more than 50% from 2000 to 2005.

Moscow, 18 September: The nuclear power station at Bushehr (Iran) will start generating electricity in November 2007, the head of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency, Sergey Kiriyenko, has announced.

The Kremlin has started developing a new energy strategy to increase coal usage by domestic consumers amid a gas shortage on local Russian markets, Russia's Kommersant daily said Tuesday.

Lack of clarity about the legal definition of a "suspension" of Iran's centrifuge program until late this week had held up discussions between Iran and the European Union about restarting nuclear negotiations, EU officials told Platts.

An embattled wind farm development set to begin construction next year in Spanish Fork may serve as a microcosm for the future of wind energy in Utah and across the nation.

Mayors from 32 U.S cities were urged Saturday to be leaders in slowing global warming by taking steps in their communities.

"We need to find the leadership in this country," said Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City at a conference on climate change. "If it's not going to come from the top down. ... We need to push from the bottom up."

Millions of environmental activists will be picking up trash in places from Copacabana Beach in Brazil to the banks of the Nile in Egypt this weekend in a "Clean Up the World" protest at pollution.

Voltaire's "Candide" found an 18th century solution to the problems of the world: Cultivate the garden. Researchers are now developing a more advanced response: Cut the grass.

In addition to helping the environment by reducing emissions, hybrid vehicles also can save owners money thanks to a new income tax credit of up to $3,400.

Many people are unaware of the new federal tax credit that began earlier this year

Officials from two power suppliers wanting to construct 1,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and new substations in Colorado and Kansas met with residents Wednesday to discuss the proposed project.

International oil companies need a stable fiscal and regulatory environments if they are to make long-term investments in oil and gas projects in North Africa, Executive Director Upstream for Repsol YPF, Nemesio Fernandez Cuesta, said Tuesday.

The plant will provide up to 550 megawatts of power in combined cycle mode under the ACES contract - which is
about 25 per cent of central Toronto's needs.

A recommendation by a State Corporation Commission hearing examiner leaves the future of a proposed coal-fired power plant in Southwest Virginia in doubt.

U.S. pollution prevention efforts resulted in pollution reductions totalling 6 billion pounds from 2001 to 2003, according to a study published this month by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.

Kris Mayes believes the future of Arizona's power supply is in panels, not poles.

Mayes and her like-minded colleagues on the Arizona Corporation Commission say it's pathetic that sun-drenched Arizona is behind California -- and even New Jersey -- when it comes to the amount of solar energy generated per capita.

Some recent headlines cause me to wonder if our political friends are overly worried about our ability to make independent decisions. I am beginning to resent this surge toward protectionism.

Public Service Commissioners Wednesday recommended a plan to clean polluted air in Louisiana that would be expensive for utility companies but, they predict, not as costly for customers.

Solar wind speed increased to about 500 km/s during the reporting period due to the geoeffective coronal hole. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled with a chance for active periods on 18 September due to continuing effects from the coronal hole high speed stream. Expect quiet to unsettled conditions on 19 - 20 September.

Their efforts culminated last month in a bipartisan landmark global warming law that makes California the first U.S. state to mandate a cut in greenhouse gas emissions, equal to 25 percent by 2020.

Now the governor, who has accused fellow Republican U.S. President Bush of failing to show leadership on climate, is sending Tamminen out to convince other states to follow the nation's largest economy.

A flat-bottomed rowing boat rests on dry earth with reeds pushing up under its prow -- the last vestige of a lost way of life and a warning perhaps of the future of Spain's water reserves.

A state commissioner on Wednesday directed San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to go back to the drawing board for its proposed Sunrise Powerlink transmission line and come up with an alternative route that goes around Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The World Bank should stop exploring options for financing the development of clean energy because it does not have enough strength in the field, South Korea said on Monday.

Promoted as a great way to dispose of treated waste, the sewage sludge sold to homeowners to spray on their lawns and gardens may also be adding drugs, flame retardants and other chemicals to the landscape, according to a study

Thailand's demand for gasoil and gasoline slipped in the first eight months of the year on the back of high prices and a switch towards using more alternative fuels such as ethanol-blended gasoline and natural gas for vehicles, an energy ministry official said Monday.

Coal-bed methane is increasingly attractive. While fuel producers can use it interchangeably with conventional natural gas for electric power generation, it is under fire from environmental groups and ranchers. They argue that production methods are harmful to local water quality, resulting in a number of legal and regulatory challenges.

Austria United Nations inspectors investigating Iran's nuclear program have angrily complained to the Bush administration and to a Republican congressman about a recent House committee report on Iran's capabilities, calling parts of the document "outrageous and dishonest" and offering evidence to refute its central claims.

Freddie Mac yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.43 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending September 14, 2006, down from last week when it averaged of 6.47 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.74 percent.

The Cedar Ridge Wind Farm in the Towns of Empire and Eden would consist of about 40 wind turbines generating enough power to meet the needs of roughly 20,000 homes.

The proprietary process prevents the generation of waste sludge during the wastewater treatment process.

With a steady stream of bleak predictions that "water wars" will be fought over dwindling supplies in the 21st century, battles between two Sumerian city-states 4,500 years ago seem to set a worrying precedent.

Western experts are worried about the security of oil supplies from Africa's Gulf of Guinea. Analysts say domestic unrest is by far the bigger threat to the region whose oil is growing in strategic importance to the West because of increasing volatility in the Middle East

Surging demand for irrigation to grow crops for food and biofuels will add to pressure on water supplies in a world where one in three people already suffer from shortages.

The Bush administration has released $79.9 million in emergency aid to the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, better known as LIHEAP.

An anti-nuclear group, in congressional testimony submitted Wednesday, emphasized the Interior Department's rejection of Private Fuel Storage's lease in Tooele County as evidence of the need for stronger security at nuclear power plants.

Lured by dreams of a better life, hundreds flock each month to the ramshackle settlement of tin-roofed shacks that already houses 600,000 people in a packed 3 kilometre (1.8 mile) corridor that is one of Africa's biggest slums.

Alberta has launched a C$33 million ($30 million) clean coal study project to develop ways of exploiting the province's coal reserves and to produce environmentally friendly electricity, a provincial government release
said Tuesday.

Three former chiefs of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) praised the introduction today of the first major agriculture bill introduced prior to the 2007 expiration of the current farm bill because it will help farmers address the nation's energy crisis by boosting funding for renewable energy development on farms, ranches and forest lands.

BMW expects the to roll out the world´s first hydrogen-drive luxury automobile next year with the launch of the BMW Hydrogen 7.

The vehicle will be built in Europe and available to selected users in the United States and other countries in 2007, the Munich, Germany-based company said.

China plans to more than treble its fuel ethanol output by 2010 to reduce the country's dependence on imported oil and to boost the income of hundreds of millions of farmers, a government official said on Thursday.

Township supervisors in Robinson, Washington County, last night unanimously approved construction of a coal-fired power plant, but not before leveling criticism at officials of the company and state environmental regulators.

A provision in this year's clean energy initiative, designed to guarantee new environmentally friendly power sources won't cost ratepayers, lies at the crux of the debate over Initiative 937.

Crude oil futures in London rose slightly on Friday after tumbling to their lowest levels in for almost six months on Thursday on easing supply concerns and news that Nigeria's two oil unions had suspended a strike a day after it was launched.

Power plants and other large facilities in the East cut ozone-forming emissions 11 percent between 2004 and 2005 under an EPA cap and trade program.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rules last week for a national program requiring increasing levels of renewable fuels production over the next six years.

A barrage of meteorological studies have found a pattern of increasing climatic variability and unpredictability.

With the return of investors to the market, gold could rally past $700/oz before the end of this year, according to Gold Survey 2006

Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced an international agreement between Pennsylvania and Germany's leading industrial state to attract more foreign investment and job creation in the commonwealth's energy sector.

A global toxic trade watchdog group is concerned over an apparent resurgence of a "waste trade epidemic" and wants enforcement of international law banning the shipment of toxic waste to developing countries.

Spot natural gas prices along the US Gulf Coast fell as much as 55 cents Thursday from Wednesday's averages, following an October NYMEX gas futures contract that began tanking after the Energy Information Administration's
estimate of gas storage injections came in well above industry expectations.

"Right now, our culture drives people to consume more, and it's hard to imagine shifting to one of conservation and nurturance," Preus said. "But with incentives, good wind and high utility rates, you're going to see it happen."

The reluctance of E&P operators to drill as feverishly in the Gulf of Mexico this summer as they had earlier in the year can be pegged in part on skittishness in the face of the seasonal hurricane threat, but that is only part of what has spurred the current sluggishness in the area, an ODS-Petrodata analyst said Wednesday.

The IAEA governors will conclude deliberations on Iran September 14 without having introduced any resolution, or taking any other action, officials attending the meeting said September 13 at the end of the agency's session.

If coal-to-liquids plants are built, they could be a "game changer," said Steven Leer, chairman and CEO of Arch Coal, while Consol Energy's Chief Financial Officer William Lyons expects CTL plants to be built with eastern
coal to supply them.

America's quest for energy independence along with an abundance of relatively inexpensive coal has prompted developers to plow new ground and re-open some old mines. And with high natural gas prices, coal is hot. But the flip side is that many coal mines use antiquated equipment that may not properly function.

An employee of the US Minerals Management Service responsible for preparing deepwater US Gulf oil and gas drilling leases in the late 1990s was told by officials from two agency divisions to remove price thresholds for
royalty relief, a top Interior Department official will tell House lawmakers Wednesday.

The nuclear energy industry wants Washington to respond to an emerging renewal of atomic generating plants with updated regulations and policies.

A Bush Administration legislative proposal to facilitate management of used nuclear fuel is strongly supported by the nuclear energy industry and would be "a major milestone" on the road to proper environmental stewardship of this material, an industry leader told the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality today.

Along Oregon's postcard coast, generations have tapped the ocean for its rich fisheries. Now, a new generation wants to tap it for electricity.

Some of the biggest oil companies are urging consumers to use less energy to bring down prices and slow rising global demand. Concerns are increasing on global warming and as the oil industry contends with limited access to new reserves and criticism from politicians for not investing enough.

Unless the agency planning Ontario's energy future incorporates a good dose of reality, consumers will pay a higher price for electricity than need be, says the union representing workers in the electricity field on the basis of an independent study released today.

Polar bears are drowning and receding Arctic glaciers have uncovered previously unknown islands in a drastic 2006 summer thaw widely blamed on global warming.

The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled for the next three days (14-16 Sep). Isolated active conditions are possible on 16 Sep as a recurrent coronal hole rotates into geoeffective position.

Two things about Jim Hansen have remained near-constant for the past 30 years. He has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the science of global warming, issuing warning after warning about the consequences for the planet if we do nothing to stop the creation of greenhouse gases. And he has run up against a wall of resistance from politicians and policy-makers who simply don't want to believe what they hear from him.

Senior Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee warned Thursday that New Mexico Republican Senator Pete Domenici's plan to authorize more than 30 interim storage sites for spent nuclear fuel could
distract the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from processing a wave of applications for nuclear reactors.

State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) Board of Directors has approved the implementation of a "Green" Mortgage Program. The new energy awareness mortgage encourages home energy conservation with expanded debt to income ratios, a 50% reduction in origination fees, and 100% financing for qualifying members.

Volvo Powertain's new North American Operations Center in Hagerstown, Md. will not only help make the environment cleaner, but also accelerate the economy.

To stall global warming for 20 years, one climate scientist Thursday proposed lobbing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, which would work in concert with cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

The sulfur dioxide, a pollutant on Earth, would form sulfate aerosol particles to shade the planet, much as the ash clouds from a major volcanic eruption do, said Tom Wigley of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

The sun's energy output has barely varied over the past 1,000 years, raising chances that global warming has human rather than celestial causes, a study showed on Wednesday.

The MOU builds on the success of the China-Britain Natural Gas Working Group, creating a China-UK Energy Group.

Greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced far more quickly than was previously thought, says a climate change research institute.

Despite falling "seasonally" in August for the fourth consecutive month to 333.2 million barrels, down from 335.2 million barrels at end-July, US commercial crude stocks were still at the highest "ending level" for August since 1993, API reported Wednesday.

Out at the Wanapum Dam on the Columbia River, a new turbine is being tested that generates more electricity, but won't kill so many fish - thanks to research dollars from Uncle Sam.

More than 77 million Americans could be left vulnerable to deadly particle pollution if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) follows through with a proposal to set weak public health standards for the pollutant, according to a new American Lung Association report.

By contrast, stronger new pollution standards supported by the Lung Association and other major medical and public health groups would protect 159 million people, the report concludes.

•- Crude oil futures in London rose slightly on Friday after tumbling to their lowest levels in for almost six months on Thursday on easing supply concerns and news that Nigeria's two oil unions had suspended a strike a day after it was launched.

•- The new front-month November crude futures contract was trading 3 cents above Thursday's close at $63.57/barrel, trading in between the intra-day low and high of the so far. The October futures contract expired Thursday at $62.24/barrel.

•- Four bombers and a security guard were killed Friday when Yemeni security forces foiled twin suicide bombings against oil installations, five days before the impoverished Arab nation goes to the polls, AFP reported.

•- The middle distillates market failed to provide much support to the crude market with crack spreads deteriorating further following Wednesday's larger than expected distillate stock build at 4.7 million barrels, against the projected build of 2 million barrels.

The state Department of Public Utility Control has ordered the owner of the Millstone nuclear power plant to provide a whistleblower -- whose job was axed during a corporate restructuring -- office space until he accepts another post within the company.

The Bush administration plans to announce as early as next week a goal of stabilizing carbon dioxide levels in the global atmosphere at 450 parts per million by the year 2106, congressional and non-government sources told Platts Wednesday.

You may not have realized that the electric car, which has patiently waited its turn while the world's fossil fuels dwindled away, finally went for a test run in the late '90s and early '00s, when first GM, then other auto manufacturers had to come up with ways to comply with California's new zero-emissions policy. And you may not have realized that the electric car, having suddenly sprung to life, just as suddenly perished.

A leading US climate researcher said on Wednesday the world has a 10-year window of opportunity to take decisive action on global warming and avert a weather catastrophe.

Over the past decade, Xcel Energy has spent $23 million on a plan to store highly radioactive nuclear waste at a Utah Indian reservation. But that project might be dead.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday it will investigate security concerns at the South Texas Project nuclear plant after a report saying guards pointed out holes in the plant's security system.

The cost of installing flue gas desulfurization equipment, or scrubbers, at the company´s Fort Martin and Hatfield´s Ferry power plants will be higher than officials estimated.

Earnings from Australia's minerals and energy exports rose by 32% year on year to a record high of A$90 billion ($65.5 billion) during the fiscal period running from July 2005 to June 2006, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics on Wednesday.

To get to Ilkka Homanen's office, nestled in a technopark in Espoo, Finland, visitors have to cross a small entry hall featuring one large object: a sturdy-looking one square meter [nearly 11 square-foot] plastic plate, with a hydraulic contraption attached to it, leaning against the wall.

"There is no question that the dramatic increase in biofuels production projected over the next decade would force a major realignment of agricultural resources from food to fuel," said Jacob Golbitz, director of research for HighQuest Partners and study author.

BP's failure to maintain its Prudhoe Bay pipelines sets back any attempt to open Alaska's North Slope to additional oil and gas development, US Senator Jim Bunning, Republican-Kentucky, said Tuesday.

Brazil's sugarcane fuel-ethanol production will rise to 26 billion liters in 2010, up from around 16 billion liters this year, as the country builds several dozen new ethanol plants, expands its sugarcane plantation area by 33 percent and improves productivity from its existing 3 million hectares of sugarcane plantations, Energy Minister Silar Rondeau said Monday.

Citing public opposition to spending federal funds in the international carbon market, the Conservative government of Canada has rescinded a 2005 pledge by the former Liberal government to give the United Nations C$1.5 million (C$1=US89 cents) for the Clean Development Mechanism.

Climate Change Capital, the specialist bank, has raised by far the largest private sector fund dedicated to investment in clean energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with Centrica and two blue-chip pension funds among the investors.

Summit County, Colo.´s material recovery facility is the first recycling plant in the nation to receive recognition from the Green Building Initiative.

A 25-year legal battle over water rights in the Upper Gunnison basin came to an end onday when the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a Gunnison water court ruling denying a water right for power generation at the proposed Union Park Reservoir.

C TRADE's web registry, gets very frequent requests and enquiries to develop carbon credits for various renewable energy projects from all parts of the world. For example, we received this typical request: "I am presently working on a small project (150 KW) which is a sustainable, green project in New England and am wondering how I would get marketable carbon offsets for that project and what the rate might be. Could you advise me on that?"

Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) today said that a new study by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) shows that the cost for Pennsylvania's power plants to comply with the state's proposal to cut toxic mercury pollution is about the same as the golden parachute given this summer to Allegheny Energy's chief financial officer.

A Florida county has grand plans to ditch its dump, generate electricity and help build roads - all by vaporizing garbage at temperatures hotter than parts of the sun.

As harbingers go this is pretty graphic - 3,000 cars of Powder River Basin coal hauled by the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad from Rapid City to Chicago.

DOE issued three request for proposals September 11 for independent reviews of the engineering, quality assurance, and license application for the department's repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Dow Chemical Co. is creating a new business unit for the water industry that will include efforts to remove contaminants and recycle.

Dow Water Solutions also will work in the areas of desalination and water purification,

US electricity consumption is expected to increase by 0.9% in 2006 from the prior year, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday in its September short-term energy outlook.

China's double-digit growth will not threaten global energy supply if the country improves energy efficiency and adopts new technology, a leading Chinese energy figure said yesterday.

Party planners beware: a global but temporary helium shortage could deflate festive balloons this fall.

The uncertainty over natural gas prices may prompt Congress to allow more drilling in federally-controlled waters. But it's also unsure as to whether any compromise bill will pass both chambers, given that the House and Senate have approved two different bills that may not be reconciled before lawmakers adjourn for the year.

GS Energy Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GSEG) today announced its plans to build, own and operate biomass-derived energy facilities co-located at renewable fuel production facilities, specifically facilities with biomass gasification capabilities.

As recently as two years ago, few energy analysts believed that ocean power harvesting electricity from tides and waves had a future. Offshore conditions seemed too harsh, the costs too high. But with crude oil heading to $80 a barrel, interest from both investors and researchers has surged.

Just last fall, it appeared the Texas coal rush was rolling ahead like an unstoppable locomotive. But this summer, the coal train has hit some rough rails.

The front-month October Brent futures contract was trading below the magical $65/barrel level as the market appeared to be bracing for more bearish fundamentals as well as noting that geopolitical events were fading into
the background, brokers said.

"There is insufficient scientific evidence to either rule out or confirm a definitive link between exposure to EMF and childhood leukemia," says Barbara Kaminsky, CEO for the Canadian Cancer Society, B.C. and Yukon Division. The Canadian Cancer Society also suggests individuals limit their exposure to EMF by taking precautionary actions.

The Michigan-Ontario waste import saga has heated back up in the last week and a half.

Oil, which is the economic lifeline of all countries in the region, largely passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. One need not be a person of very high talent to understand that any instability in this part of the world will without doubt upset the free flow of oil and harm regional markets.

Seventeen U.S. manufacturing plants were first-time winners of EPA's Energy Star award in recognition of their energy-efficient operations that prevented some 3 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

Petroleum prices may make for eye-catching headlines, but oil is only one of many commodities that has outperformed other market sectors -- part of a mega-bull run that began end 2002

October crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened 49 cents higher at $64.25/barrel Wednesday on news that ExxonMobil suspended loadings at its Qua Ibo terminal in Nigeria and ahead of this week's petroleum
inventory data.

OPEC is still expected to maintain its current crude production ceiling at 28 million b/d at talks underway Monday in Vienna, although the $13/barrel slide in oil prices since early August has prompted some ministers to talk about the potential need to trim back output.

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr. today announced a new investment strategy for the Commonwealth that will promote greater public and private investments in clean technologies, such as alternative and renewable energy sources, and provide superior returns for taxpayers.

but the Government's Energy Review, published this summer, put it at the heart of future policy. In the United States, the successes and the setbacks are very similar.

Carlos Sanchez, analyst with the CPM Group, believes that the massive liquidation taking place in precious metals is not an end to the bull market. "For gold, a decline of $10 is not abnormal," said Sanchez. "We've seen gold fall $10 one day then go up $15 the next day, so this is not an unusual situation."

The Louisiana Public Service Commission wants to go nuclear to fight rising electric bills.

"The storm concerns are easing day by day, refinery crack spreads are also beginning to weaken (citing weakness in NYMEX heating oil and gasoline cracks)."
- A broker at Refco discussing what he thinks is pushing down the crude complex.

-"The strike must come to pass. We have instructed our members to begin gradual shut down of facilities for technical and safety reasons."
-Peter Akpatason, president of the blue-collar union NUPENG discussing the strikes by oil workers in the Niger Delta.

Updated: 09/04/06
"There has not been any sign of a decline in investment interest in Iran. And given the negotiations are good, we have not seen such a trend."
-Iran oil minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh shrugged off suggestions Monday, that the crisis over Iran's uranium enrichment program would stifle foreign investment in the oil complex

Russia is planning its final big privatisation, a hugely ambitious programme involving the country's entire electricity generating system. The Kremlin intends to put Russia's power plants up for auction and invest $80bn (Pounds 45bn, E65bn) over the next four years in building new generating capacity. Most of the investment will come from outside investors through initial public offerings.

The Bush administration has not done enough to make nuclear waste "terrorist-proof" at power plants where the highly radioactive material is stored indoors in deepwater pools and outdoors in heavy casks, several lawmakers and safety advocates said Thursday.

Enhanced oil recovery techniques and other advances in technology could boos the world's potentially recoverable oil reserves to more than 4.5 trillion barrels, translating into 140 years of supply at current rates of consumption

The research vessel Seward Johnson left the port at Gulfport at midday Monday packed with local scientists and cutting-edge technology to study a seafloor phenomenon still shrouded in mystery.

The outlook for economic growth and housing activity sounds similar to the seasonal variation in climate: A cooling trend for the balance of this year, with occasional frost, and warmer conditions as we move into next spring.

The US Environmental Protection Agency Friday issued its final set of proposals to revise the New Source Review program which, the agency said, would "accelerate investments in cleaner energy-saving technologies."

Environmentalists were quick to criticize the proposals, saying they are aimed at helping the oil industry avoid installing additional pollution controls.

Amid calls for a more thorough public debate, the chairman of the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has decided not to push ahead with legislation that would impose massive federal fines and strip federal
highway funds from states that fail to meet federal air quality standards for particle and ozone pollution

•- The front-month October Brent futures contract was trading below the magical $65/barrel level as the market appeared to be bracing more bearish fundamentals as well as noting that the geopolitical events were fading into the background, brokers said.

•- Refco noted that prices had broken through some critical support levels Friday with prices at their lowest level since the end of March 2006. Brokers were looking for support levels between $64.60/barrel and $64.65/barrel on the October contract.

•- "The storm concerns are easing day by day, refinery crack spreads are also beginning to weaken (citing weakness in NYMEX heating oil and gasoline cracks)," a broker at Refco said.

Xcel Energy's experience with wind energy is whipping up support for alternative fuels. A new study says that energy consumers in Colorado will save more than $251 million over the next 20 years because of the utility's current fleet of wind plants.

Former US Vice President Al Gore said on Tuesday that reducing drastically the amount of greenhouse gas emissions was vital for the future of the planet.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) today announced that the Niagara Tunnel Boring Machine, nicknamed "Big Becky", has begun the 10.4 km journey in her quest to bring additional water from upstream of Niagara Falls to the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric generating complex at Queenston

A rapid rise in biofuels production in Europe poses a potential threat to some wild birds, Mark Avery, director of conservation for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said on Thursday.

Subject to final verification by the state assembly's chief clerk, the lawmakers in the world's 12th largest greenhouse gas emitter -- California -- have approved for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature a bill that would make California the first state to put a cap on such emissions from industrial sources.

Sustainable Energy Technologies of Calgary developed the inverter under a subcontract with Electrovaya, to integrate solar and battery power with conventional diesel generation to provide lower-cost and more-reliable power under extreme conditions.

Booming oil and gas development in Western and Northern Canada has prompted native groups to build a united front to better protect the vast region's water resources, aboriginal leaders said Thursday.

The Canadian government, under fire for dismissing the Kyoto protocol as unworkable, will next month unveil an environmental package that focuses on improving air quality, but says little about global warming, officials and activists say.

Chevron Canada is moving ahead with the regulatory and technical phases of a new Alberta oil sands project that could be producing 100,000 b/d within 10 years, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The earliest civilizations were not a product of favourable conditions but rather a last resort in the face of dramatic shifts in the weather, a climate scientist said on Thursday.

The cogeneration industry should use Renewable Portfolio Standards as a policy tool to advance the industry, suggests the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

For decades, the conventional wisdom about developing energy projects in the United States has been that ”big” always meant cheaper, and therefore better, projects. This produced what has become our modern centralized electric power system fueled primarily by coal, natural gas, and nuclear power.

Charles Hamel, a long-time critic of the way the oil industry operates in Alaska, told a Washington press conference Tuesday that state regulators are complicit in BP's pipeline failure on the North Slope and blamed the "cozy relationship between BP and state regulators."

A decision on whether to grant planning permission for 23 huge wind turbines to be sited in a well-known Scots beauty spot will be made today.

Leading silicon producer has begun large-scale manufacturing of metallurgical-grade silicon feedstock for PV cells. Dow Corning Corporation announced the development of PV 1101 SoG Silicon, the first commercially available metallurgical feedstock produced using large scale manufacturing processes.

US Senator Pete Domenici expects to introduce nuclear waste legislation later in September, he said. The bill would be aimed at fixing what Domenici described in a late Wednesday statement as "problems" facing the Department of Energy's proposed repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

Earth Ethanol Inc. plans to reconstruct the Plaquemines Parish, La., ethanol plant, located 9 miles southeast of New Orleans. The company expects to complete the project by the third quarter of 2007. The facility will have the capacity to produce at least 65 million gallons of corn-based ethanol per year.

The Bush Administration is proposing improvements to three specific areas of its New Source Review (NSR) permitting program. These improvements will simplify the process facility owners and operators must follow in determining whether plans to modify their facility would trigger NSR requirements.

Projecting annual cuts up to 3.9 billion gallons in petroleum use and 14 million tons in greenhouse gas emissions, the Bush Administration today proposed a Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) Program designed to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil by doubling the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

EU regulators might take legal action against governments that are taking too long to submit national allocation plans for the EU's emissions trading scheme, the EU environment chief indicated on Tuesday.

The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday rejected a bitterly contested plan to create a nuclear waste stockpile at an American Indian reservation in Utah's west desert.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the decision kills a proposal to store 44,000 tons of spent fuel rods on the Goshute Indians' Skull Valley reservation, about 50 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

A doctor, a utility board member, a health-care executive and a state lawmaker are among the nine people who will help decide the way Florida gets, produces and uses its energy for the next several decades.

State utility regulators unanimously approved a lower premium Tuesday for the so-called green energy Georgia Power expects to begin marketing this fall.

German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel has rejected calls by environmental groups for the Brunsbuttel nuclear power plant to be switched off while its operator Vattenfall Europe seeks to prove that the emergency power supply system is safe.

Global warming over the coming century could mean a return of temperatures last seen in the age of the dinosaur and lead to the extinction of up to half of all species, a scientist said on Thursday.

The survey of 80 Canadian respondents shows that 50% of companies do not include GHG emission management in their overall risk management policy or strategy, despite 80% ranking GHG emissions management as an issue of moderate to critical importance.

When Connecticut-based United Illuminating wanted to build a 69-mile transmission line and place 24 miles of it underground, the idea got a warm reception from the citizens of the affected communities. All in all, the price tag in this case would not be any higher than doing it all above ground because of rights-of-way issues. But despite the good PR, no one likes to have their neighborhoods dug up.

FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group (NYSE:FPL) said today that as of the end of August it had completed 662 megawatts of the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Texas making it the largest wind farm in the world.

Hungary's system for providing subsidies for renewable power and cogeneration is unsustainable and must be substantially modified in the near future, officials of the Hungarian Energy Office (HEO), the country's regulator..

ICE Brent futures in London continued the downward trend of recent days on Friday and broke through the $66/barrel mark in early trading, as the market extended Thursday's weak settle amid bearish US inventory data, market sources said.

ICE Brent futures moved lower Wednesday, after trading in a narrow range Tuesday, heading towards the $67/barrel mark as crude supply disruption fears ease and funds move to short positions.

The Drudge Report picked up on this sad little tale last week and catapulted it into the Internet stratosphere. Two hungry young men from back east stopped in Steamboat Springs, Colo., one night in June hoping to get a bite to eat. They couldn't find a place that was open, so they jumped a fence at a produce shop and grabbed some fruit and vegetables out of a Dumpster. And they wound up getting thrown in jail for six months for "stealing garbage."

Arankartuktaram! This Achuar cry sums up what indigenous communities in the heart of Peru's Amazon jungle region are demanding from the State and multinational oil companies -- a little respect.

The geothermal industry today applauded a bipartisan letter from ten Senators urging the Department of Energy to amend their loan guarantee solicitation to include geothermal energy.

Iraqi Ministry of Oil figures for August show that crude oil production and internal supply rates from northern fields rose during the month, lifting the country's total production to 2.285 million b/d, up 42,000 b/d from the previous month.

Ireland is bracing itself for its highest tides in more than two decades that could cause wide-spread flooding if combined with stormy weather.

Ireland's main government party has pushed energy towards the top of its agenda ahead of a general election next year as the country looks to reduce its dependence on increasingly expensive fuel imports.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today announced during a visit to South Dakota $780 million in assistance to help farmers and ranchers manage drought and weather related production challenges.

Microbes with a taste for toxic waste may hold the solution to cleaning up contaminated industrial sites and poisoned waterways across the globe, saving billions of dollars in cleanup bills, an Australian scientist said.

Leaders of the world's 370 million indigenous people are calling for the United Nations General Assembly to recognise native peoples' right to self-determination.

Nigerian oil unions Friday threatened to stage an indefinite strike if the crisis in the Niger Delta persists after next week's planned three-day 'warning' strike.

Whistleblowers at the South Texas Project nuclear power plant have reported instances of security guards failing to follow protocol, leaving the facility vulnerable to intruders, according to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Senate bill would open 8.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to drilling, including nearly 2 million acres that were removed from the federal government's Lease Sale 181 five years ago because of objections from Florida
officials.

A private company and a local government have become the first in the nation to seek federal approval to build wave energy projects - both off the coast of Oregon.

Governor Edward G. Rendell today awarded 64 grants totaling $373,554 to help small businesses enhance energy efficiency and promote pollution prevention.

Trading has been particularly heavy in gold, which apparently is leading the precious metals complex on its downward path. At 9:55 a.m., the nearby December gold futures contract on the COMEX was trading at $630/oz, down $11.80 from Wednesday's settlement

Proposals will be considered for the following types of renewable energy resources: wind, geothermal, biomass and other non-solar resources eligible for portfolio energy credits under the Nevada renewable portfolio standard.

Roof-top solar PV systems recover their energy content (from manufacturing and recycling) within 1.6 to 3.3 years, depending on location, concludes an assessment from the International Energy Agency.

"There appears to be a consensus among the members of OPEC to maintain the current production ceiling at the next meeting that will be held before the end of this month and Algeria will support this position, because OPEC states have no other choice."
Algerian oil minister Chakib Khelil was quoted Wednesday as saying ahead of the next OPEC meeting when ministers meet in Vienna on September 11.

"As for an analysis of the current market situation, oil prices are expected to remain at current high levels, above an average $50/barrel for the rest of the year. As for next year, they are expected to remain high but not at the high levels we have seen this year."
Algerian oil minister Chakib Khelil was quoted Wednesday as saying ahead of the next OPEC meeting when ministers meet in Vienna on September 11.

"I would expect to see some consolidation after so many days of falls. I think the target is $65/barrel and then we may see a rebound."
- A London-based trader discussing the short term prospects for ICE Brent futures.

"If after the three-day warning strike government fails to address the issues raised in this communique...Nupeng and Pengassan will have no other option but to withdraw their services indefinitely."
-A statement released Friday by the Nigerian Pengassan and Nupeng oil workers union concerned over the governments inability to quell unrest.

A study released today by the Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) and the Canadian Gas Association (CGA) outlines good practices for successful programs that help residential, commercial, and industrial consumers use energy more efficiently.

slight chance for an isolated C-flare.The geomagnetic field was quiet with an isolated active period at middle latitudes between 07/0600 - 0900 UTC.

A vigorous voice speaking in Quechua is answered by another speaking in Aymara as Bolivia's constituent assembly begins to rewrite the constitution under the government of Evo Morales, the country's first-ever indigenous president.

A major program is underway inside Russia – and, if it succeeds, it will develop a unified system for the production, transportation, and distribution of natural gas in the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia. One key goal is to create a new gas outlet into the Pacific Rim.

On the eve of the annual symposium of the World Nuclear Association in London, there were rumors in the
nuclear fuel market that Russia would announce at the symposium that it was pulling out of the 1993 agreement under which Russia is downblending 500 metric tons of high-enriched uranium for reactor fuel.

A new GBP6 million fund backed by both the public and private sectors has been set up to support renewable energy developments in the East of Scotland, UK.

"Neither American oil companies, nor American car companies have shown an inclination to dramatically transform their businesses in ways that will achieve the degree of change we need to address a national security emergency," Lugar says in the address. "Most importantly, the federal government is not treating energy vulnerability as a crisis, despite an increase in energy related proposals."

"Demand will significantly exceed supply through the end of the decade, that prices are likely to remain high and that margins are likely to continue expanding for at least 3 more years."

With the current scarcity of raw silicon, this represents a significant cost and thus competitive advantage for the customer. Per generated watt cell performance, this process results in the smallest silicon usage of all solar silicon wafer-manufacturing processes.

Spain's searing drought has sapped water reserves to record lows for the time of year, threatening supplies to the populous southern regions of Alicante and Murcia, official data showed on Tuesday.

A day after petroleum giant Chevron Corp. announced the discovery of large oil deposits under the Gulf of Mexico, alternative energy supporters convened in North Charleston to promote the environmental benefits of renewable fuels and the opportunities they present for South Carolina businesses.

The discussion over whether to place transmission and distribution lines underground is largely about costs and what route the wires will take. But activists are also concerned about electromagnetic fields, which some studies say increase the threat of childhood leukemia and adult brain cancer, as well as cause degeneration in nerve cells connected to the brain and spinal chord.

Two billion households worldwide could realistically be powered by solar energy by 2025, according to a joint report released by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association and Greenpeace.

Agriculture secretary Mike Johanns says funding from the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Program will go to 375 recipients in 36 states, and will compliment federal efforts to increase energy independence through the development of renewable energy as well as improving efficiency of existing systems.

Congressman Edward Markey joined with the nationwide Nuclear Security Coalition to call for prompt actions to secure the U.S. commercial power reactors’ nuclear waste storage system. He proposed implementation of a storage technology known as “Hardened On-Site Storage” (HOSS) – by which over-filled atomic waste storage pools at reactor sites are off-loaded into dry storage casks that have been “hardened” against terrorist attack.

The leaders of Ukraine and Azerbaijan met for talks on a new project to ship Caspian Sea oil to Western markets. Aliyev said oil would be flowing through the US-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, a route also designed to skirt Russia and deliver Caspian crude to world markets, at full capacity by 2008 while supply from the region would continue to grow

The Bush administration has moved closer to issuing another industry-backed revision to the federal New Source Review program, which requires electric utilities, oil refineries and other power sector facilities to install new pollution controls when undertaking certain modifications.

Requiring power plants and other industrial facilities to cut greenhouse gases by 11% by 2030 under a proposed cap-and-trade program would mean slightly higher US energy costs, according to a new report by Department of
Energy researchers.

Freddie Mac yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.47 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending September 7, 2006, up from last week’s average of 6.44 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.71 percent. “Consequently, higher rates have resulted in houses sitting on the market for longer periods of time, changing the real estate sector into more of a buyer’s market from the seller’s market of the last few years

US Senator Mary Landrieu Thursday said Senate-passed legislation that would open millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration and development is preferable to a much more expansive House measure and is "the
best thing we can do now."

The US Environmental Protection Agency will release Thursday a final proposal for implementing the renewable fuel standard dictated by Congress last year, William Wehrum, head the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation told a Senate panel Wednesday.

Premier Wen Jiabao voiced confidence on Tuesday that China would continue to enjoy strong economic growth despite energy constraints and environmental woes.

•Funds have stopped taking long positions, which had been keeping crude above $70/barrel, allowing for a further drop in prices on bearish sentiment. A great deal of risk premium has been eroded from the crude complex but brokers say that there is still some premium that still has to work it's way out as bearish sentiment continues to dominate the market.

•Brokers also talked of the lack of support being offered to the crude complex by product cracks with European Naphtha, gasoline and fuel oil cracks trading at a low ebb.

All of Maple Ridge Wind Farm's 195 towers -- minus one top section -- should be up this week and fully operational by November.

Industrial countries will have to make swingeing cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming, perhaps of up to 80 percent by 2050 as suggested by some nations, the UN's top climate official said on Thursday.

Australia faced a widespread risk of bushfires and worsening water shortages after its driest August since records began in 1900 and its warmest August since 1950, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Monday.

Scientist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author E.O. Wilson is out to save life on Earth -- literally -- and as a secular humanist has decided to enlist people of religious faith in his mission.

BP America will work with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to develop workable, market-based strategies for implementation of climate change legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout California. Governor Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the legislation into law in the near future.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said his state will become a world leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions because of an agreement his Republican administration negotiated with the Democratic controlled state Legislature.

Late last week, the California Legislature passed landmark legislation to create the nation’s first economy-wide cap on global warming emissions, and Governor Schwarzenegger has agreed to sign the bill into law.

The new law codifies the state's goal to reduce its global warming emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a 25 percent reduction from business as usual. The state will phase in an enforceable statewide cap on global warming starting in 2012.

In a land where fortunes were spun from gold, films and silicon chips, California's leaders envisage a "greenrush" with their groundbreaking law to fight global warming.

Diseases not normally seen in Europe are now starting to appear because of the world's changing climate, a scientist said on Monday.

The world's top climate scientists are slightly less pessimistic in their latest forecasts for global warming over the next 100 years, the Australian newspaper reported on Saturday.

"With Connecticut being a center for fuel cell technology development, it is only fitting that Hartford have New England´s first fuel cell bus," UTC Power President Jan van Dokkum said. "We hope it is the first of many."

ProgressNowAction faults the former Xcel Energy attorney for taking nearly 30 trips during his 3K years as chairman that were hosted by the types of industries he regulates.

The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant was back to full power early Friday after a water leak prompted the shutdown of one of its two reactors the day before.

Drought-hit Australian farmers are being forced to return tens of thousands of head of cattle to parched paddocks and expensive hand feeding as a worsening drought leaves the country's usually green stock routes barren.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands fell by around 2 percent in 2005 from a year earlier and were at approximately the same level they were in 1990, a government agency said Monday.

A British engineering firm has put together a high-performance hybrid version of BMW's Mini Cooper. The PML Mini QED has a top speed of 150 mph, a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds.

Deep in the forests of southeastern Bangladesh, a battle rages between herds of endangered elephants and villagers whose livelihoods depend on felling trees that provide the elephants' habitat.

Environmentalists are praising a California plan to limit emissions of so-called greenhouse gases, which are widely believed to contribute to global warming. Some business leaders, however, say the proposal will hurt the state's economy. Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger reached an agreement on the issue with Democrats Wednesday, the effects could be far-reaching.

The president and chief executive officer of one of the nation's largest energy companies warned that the United States is heading toward "an energy train wreck" unless it immediately begins work on projects that will take years to finance and complete.

A day after a landmark energy security summit in West Lafayette, a coalition of farm and consumer groups want to blow new life into the push for wind-generated electricity in Indiana.

Flooding triggered by monsoon rains in the past few days have left 1.5 million people homeless and damaged thousands of acres of paddy crop in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, officials said on Sunday.

The worst drought to hit southwest China in more than a century is spreading to neighbouring provinces with temperatures reaching record highs, state media said on Friday.

Air from the oldest ice core confirms human activity has increased the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere to levels not seen for hundreds of thousands of years, scientists said on Monday.

Indonesia will propose that OPEC maintain and possibly even raise its current production when the cartel next meets in Vienna September 11, Energy and Mines Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Monday. "We will propose [that] OPEC maintain its current production. If possible we want OPEC to increase its production because the current price of $70/barrel is too high," Purnomo said.

In a bid to save more gas for exports, Indonesia has decided to convert the gas-fired generators powering its Bontang liquefied natural gas faciliy in East Kalimantan into coal-fired ones, energy minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Tuesday.

Latin America has established itself as a serious player in the global energy mix. The region as a whole is:

-- The third most important oil producing region behind the Middle East and Eurasia.

Idaho’s first and only natural gas “well” is expanding as a Rupert area farmer increases his dairy herd. The project has the attention of federal officials.

St. Louis-based AmerenUE said it is investigating newly discovered leaks of radioactive tritium from a pipeline at its Callaway nuclear power plant in Fulton, following half a dozen leaks from pipe breaks dating to 1987.

As they wait for a national storage site to be built, Nebraska's two nuclear power plants are expanding their on-site storage systems for used fuel.

Five, inch-long nuclear fuel pellets can power the average household for an entire year -- unfortunately, you have to really, really be careful with it.

State energy officials would evaluate the future of nuclear power in California under a bill sent Thursday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

October crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened 39 cents lower at $68.80/barrel Tuesday, lacking any fundamental reason to reverse back to the upside.

Oil futures rose Tuesday as some traders bought up contracts after the price plunged by more than a dollar a barrel in the previous session. "In the event that no clear developments materialize over the Iranian nuclear dispute, we remain in a $68-$70 per barrel range for today's session," Harris said.

The agreement, which came as a surprise to many people, could bring an end to a long-running feud between Michigan politicians and many residents and their neighbors to the north. Residents complained about hundreds of trash trucks crossing the border every day.

Voltage applied to the atomized fuel stream prior to combustion generates a plasma in the fuel that breaks down the long chains of hydrocarbons into smaller molecules, allowing a more complete burn.

"The funds can't wait for the market to come off down to $65/barrel. You may get a few blips with smaller traders buying back into the market as they aren't looking for such big swings but when it does get down to that level they (hedge funds) are going to come back into the market in a big way."
A London-based trader discussing the crude futures complex on Tuesday 05.

"Technically the market looks very bearish. I think we could go down to $65/barrel. Anything around that level will be a good buy."
A London-based broker discussing the possibility of funds re-entering the crude market with new length.

"We deliver one million barrels per day and about 13 percent of it comes from Iran. We can procure this amount of 130,000 barrel in the spot market."
Nippon Oil Corp chairman Fumiaki Watari

UTC likely associated with a long duration B2.8 flare on the west limb. This CME is not expected to be geoeffective. The geomagnetic field was at quiet to major storm levels. A major storm period was observed between 04/0300 - 0600 UTC due to the effects of a coronal hole high speed stream. Solar wind speed at ACE increased from approximately 410 km/s to 630 km/s.

The presidents of Russia and Bulgaria and the Greek prime minister have adopted a declaration on cooperation in the sphere of energy. "The sides have adopted an obligation to speed up the procedures necessary to set up an international project company and sign an intergovernmental agreement to support the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline construction project by the end of this year," the document says.

Created by the Hudson River centuries ago, parts of the massive, undersea region rival the Grand Canyon in scale. Now, for the first time, scientists have a vivid picture of what the mysterious region looks like.

Linn is among dozens of companies that have been drilling natural gas wells at historic rates across much of the Appalachian Basin, an area that includes swathes of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.

Soaring prices and demand, along with modern drilling technology, are making such wells economically feasible.

DuPont Co.'s announcement last week that it would spend $50 million to build a factory to make solar-panel components is a sign of boom times in the solar-energy industry.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook a remote part of Papua New Guinea on Friday but there were no immediate reports of damage or that the quake triggered a tsunami.

The first certified green automobile dealership in the country, a 14-acre site designed with the environment in mind, is now open for business.

The price of uranium hit all-time high this week, crashing through the $50/pound-U3O8 level. According to the price-reporting firm TradeTech, the spot price on September 1 was $52/lb, a rise of $4.50/lb from the price at the end of July.

Whether there is global warming is debatable, but the excessive heat wave of 2006 and the thousands of families left without power for as many as eight days left many Americans wondering if the current structures for generating electricity -- coal, natural gas and nuclear power -- are enough to meet the demands of the growing number of homes and businesses in need of power.

The Asian Development Bank will conduct a study into its energy policy, to promote increased use of clean energy in the Pacific region.

Argentina and South Africa have announced plans to revive uranium enrichment programs mothballed since the last decade.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard says Adelaide will be the first state capital city to test a new solar energy program.

The best-performing oil investment comes from trees in Malaysia, not the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

Brazil proposed Thursday a fund to compensate developing countries that slow the destruction of their rainforests, a move that could help lower emissions of gases blamed for rising world temperatures.

The California Senate in a 23-14 vote late Wednesday passed landmark legislation that would make California the first US state to cap greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources.

California catapulted to the forefront of US efforts to fight global warming on Wednesday with an accord that will give the state the toughest laws in the nation on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Canada realized annual revenue from renewable energy technologies of Cdn$169 million in 2004, an increase of 19.7% over 2002, with construction of renewable energy facilities increasing 681% over the two years.

The fact that Junichiro Koizumi chose to visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on almost certainly his last foreign excursion as prime minister illustrates the importance of the economic and strategic goals that he sought to pursue there: ensuring energy security and raising Japan's diplomatic profile. Pursuing these goals will inevitably raise tensions between Japan and China.

China failed to rein in two main pollution indicators in the first half of the year as soaring energy use and lax environmental controls thwarted policies to clean foul water and skies, the government said on Wednesday.

More than 300 tons of pesticides and other toxic chemicals considered a public health risk have been removed from a communist-era chemical plant that has been closed for 15 years, authorities said Wednesday.

Companies responsible for asbestos waste contamination at a New Jersey site will remove about 6,500 tons of contaminated soil under a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup plan.

PJM's feasibility study, which was completed this summer, found that adding 81 megawatts would further overload or nearly overload power lines and circuits at several points.

The study found that those problems could be solved by replacing or upgrading equipment at a cost of more than $1.6 million over one to four years.

"We can no longer lavish ourselves with large gas guzzling vehicles. We need to replace them with fuel efficient cars and trucks such as hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and we must learn to economize on our travel in every way we can."

Oil prices edged higher in Asia on Thursday as the market shrugged off unexpected builds in US crude and products stocks and turned its attention to the Iranian nuclear row. Hurricane John, currently a category three hurricane, also sent some jitters through the market though its path, along the west coast of Mexico, implies there is no threat to oil production.

While consumer spending slowed slightly in the quarter to 4.2% from the first quarter’s 5.1% pace, it continued to support the economy. Expenditures on durable goods decelerated sharply. Residential investment declined 5.2% after growing at a solid 12.7% in the first quarter due to mild winter weather.

Canada’s merchandise trade surplus decreased $4 billion in the second quarter to $4.2 billion. The surplus was smallerthan the C$6.1 billion expected and the report should prove negative for the Canadian dollar, positive for bonds.

Down-Draft Energy Towers, proposed by Robert J. Rohatensky, are like an funnel, with a method to remove heat at the top of the tower causing the cold heavy air to fall down the tower and drive electrical generation turbines. The input energy source is solar.

Southwest China is suffering from its worst drought in 50 years and temperatures soared to 41 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday with crops withering in the scorching heat, state media reported.

A well-known resort town in a Canadian Pacific rain forest must shutter its hotels and businesses this week because a prolonged drought has slashed water supplies, officials said on Wednesday.

Duke Energy's first new Carolinas coal-fired power plants in three decades, to be built 55 miles west of Charlotte, promise cheap energy. And a debate: What are such plants doing to the environment?

Earth's protective ozone layer, which was notably thinning in 1980, may be fully recovered by mid-century, climate scientists said on Wednesday.

Using more renewables, increasing energy efficiency and taking other measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions could boost the California economy by US$60 billion and create 17,000 jobs by 2020.

Hard work and good luck, combined with excellent hydroelectric conditions and overtime work from aging power plants, enabled California to escape rolling blackouts during the July heat storm, state and utility officials said Tuesday.

The environmental mandate to "think globally, act locally" gets tricky when it's your "local.'' Nowhere is the conflict between virtue and practicality more vivid than in Tallahassee, Fla.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has closed a deal making it the first federal agency to purchase renewable energy, or "green power," equivalent to 100 percent of its annual electricity needs.

Tropical Storm Ernesto's winds have increased to near 70 miles per hour and it could make landfall somewhere along the South or North Carolina coast as a hurricane later Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.

The share of renewable energies could reach 20% by 2020 in Europe, under a combined scenario of high energy efficiency and high renewables.

California is ready to enact the toughest legislation in the United States to tackle global warming after Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and top Democrats agreed Wednesday on a landmark bill to cap greenhouse gas emissions.

Gold was indicated slightly higher in thin early morning London trade Friday. Spot bullion was bid at $625.45/oz .

Security has been stepped up at Britain's biggest power station, the Drax plant in northern England, ahead of a planned protest by environmental campaigners, a spokeswomen for the plant said on Wednesday.

A proposed Greenbrier County power plant isn't planning to use the best available pollution controls as required by law, three nonprofit groups argued before the state Air Quality Board Tuesday. If it did, it would spew out 600,000 fewer pounds of sulfur dioxide per year...

Sitting humbly on shelves in stores everywhere is a product, priced at less than $3, that will change the world. Soon. It is a fairly ordinary item that nonetheless cuts to the heart of a half-dozen of the most profound, most urgent problems we face. Energy consumption. Rising gasoline costs and electric bills. Greenhouse-gas emissions. Dependence on coal and foreign oil. Global warming.

Hurricane John barreled along Mexico's Pacific coast on Wednesday as a dangerous Category 4 storm, pounding beach resorts with heavy rain and winds and blowing down trees in Acapulco.

From the front of the Flat Rock Inn, a restaurant and campground on a gravel road, owner Gordon Yancey can see more than 100 windmills spinning, part of the electricity-generating wind farm that surrounds his property in upstate New York.

A 6.0 magnitude undersea earthquake shook northern parts of Sulawesi island on Thursday, but there was no risk of a tsunami, the country's meteorology agency said.

Low water levels are typical this time of year on the lower Mississippi River, but lower-than-normal levels are affecting barge traffic and played a role in three tugboats grounding last week near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a US Coast Guard lieutenant told Platts.

Northern Iowa could have one of the nation's largest wind farms by 2008. Iowa Winds LLC wants to build a 200- to 300-megawatt farm covering about 40,000 acres in Franklin County. Texas leads the nation with 2,400 megawatts of wind energy installed and California has 2,323 megawatts.

Missouri's utilities would attempt to acquire 10% of their power from renewable sources and conservation by 2020 under a governor's task force recommendation made in a report approved late Thursday.

ThyssenKrupp's recently announced project to build a new stainless steel plant in the US has sent ripples through the market, according to UK steel consultancy MEPS (International) Thursday, as the prospect of a new competitor
with up to 1 million mt of additional capacity may give other producers some cause for concern.

Japanese experts believe a submerged oil tanker has developed no fresh leaks after it was found off a central Philippine island, the coast guard said on Thursday.

PROSPECT PARK The borough is joining a state program to plant 250 trees on public streets this fall, on the premise that more leafy green in town will lead to lower air-conditioning bills.

SELBY, England - Thirty eight people were arrested on Thursday, many for possession of weapons or criminal damage, as some 600 environmental protesters staged a demonstration at Britain's biggest power station, police said.

"I think it's abundantly clear that Iran has no intention of meeting the deadline and meeting the condition that the countries put down three months ago."
- US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in response to Iran's defiance and he expressed confidence that the UN Security Council can agree sanctions in September.

The geomagnetic field has been quiet to unsettled. Solar wind speed remains elevated due to a coronal hole high speed stream, however, velocity is steadily decreasing as this coronal hole rotates out of a geoeffective position.

Region 905 (S08W67) produced multiple B-class flares during the period. Region 906 (S09W51) is a rapidly emerging, newly numbered region. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at predominantly quiet to unsettled levels. A chance for active to isolated minor storm conditions are possible on 03 September due to a recurrent coronal hole.

Industrialised nations' emissions of greenhouse gases edged up to the highest level in more than a decade in 2004 despite curbs meant to fight global warming, data compiled by Reuters showed on Thursday.

An all-magnet motor capable of continous torque for useful work, that is not a function of depletion of the magnets or of some external man-made input power source. Present models of physics say this is impossible, but Steorn alleges to have built such a functioning device.

In a survey released in late August by the National Emergency Response & Rescue Training Center, 50% of respondents from the US chemical industry rated their disaster and/or terrorist attack response plans as "very good" or "excellent" and 83% of respondents rated their plans as "good" or better.

Emissions of the most potent greenhouse gas, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), could be history in less than four years, according to results of pilot tests conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the magnesium industry. Preliminary results show that alternative technologies have the potential to replace SF6, which is used to prevent oxidation and burning of molten metal.

With folks still sweating over the summer heat wave, attention remains focused on increasing electricity reliability at a reasonable price. As such, distributed generation is in the spotlight.

Illinois, Washington, and Wisconsin have awarded nearly $33 million in grants and loans for biofuels and other forms of biomass energy in the past several weeks.

Nigerian oil unions said Friday oil liftings from the West African country will be affected during the three-day strike planned for September 13. "The warning strike will affect downstream and upstream activities, onshore and offshore. There will be no oil exports during the period as we intend to make it total," Peter Esele, president of the white collar union Pengassan told Platts.

TXU Thursday said it plans to file applications with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for combined construction and operating licenses for between 2,000 and 6,000 MW of new nuclear generating capacity in Texas.

Wind power represents the fastest growing segment of the world's energy markets, and this rapid growth has led to a significant increase in the power rating and size of wind turbines. Large turbines currently being developed for on-shore and off-shore applications offer economies for utility-scale wind farms, further lowering the cost and environmental impact of creating significant sources of alternative energy.

Renewables and efficiency could reduce GHG emissions by 20% within 15 years, according to a report released by PennEnvironment.

US contract driller Rowan will move two jack-up rigs from the Gulf of Mexico to offshore Saudi Arabia for Saudi Aramco on a four-year contract worth more than $550 million, Rowan said Thursday.

As U.S. demand for energy continues to grow, a top American nuclear official says the United States is seriously considering stepping up its reliance on nuclear power. As Nuclear power already accounts for 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply.

Freddie Mac yesterday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Surveyâ (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.44 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending August 31, 2006, down from last week’s average of 6.48 percent.

US states' plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could lead to little change in national carbon output, simply pushing coal-fired power plants and other dirty industries to relocate in states without rules, experts said on Thursday.

Elgin and Commonwealth Edison Co. officials announced plans Tuesday to transform a drafty 1890s Victorian home into a "green" house.

Wackenhut Corporation will likely lose its security contract at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant, estimated to be worth $5 million a year, as the Entergy Corporation recently announced plans to take over the Plymouth, Massachusetts plant's security operations after public and government criticism of Wackenhut's performance.

•-Crude oil futures in London rebounded after a heavy sell-off, which was primarily led by the partial exiting of the hedge funds, but recovered to trade above $71/barrel on short-covering as the threat of hurricanes in the US Gulf Coast returned and Iran again refused to halt its nuclear program.

•-The front-month October Brent futures contract traded $70.99/barrel at 1235GMT. Oil prices had tumbled sharply in the last few trading sessions as fears of a hurricane-related disruption to US oil production in the Gulf of Mexico from tropical storm Ernesto appeared to have dissipated.

•- But another storm was brewing in Hurricane John,

•- Thursday marked the last day for Iran to comply with a UN Security Council demand to halt its uranium enrichment program or face possible sanctions.

THE hills will be alive to the sound of wind turbines all the way from Ashhurst to Tokomaru if all proposed wind farms go ahead. This adds up to the possibility of more than 500 wind turbines covering the Tararuas.

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News 2006:

Find out what's going on in our area and around the World from an "energy" perspective!

Arctic meltdown is speeding up... sea ice is vanishing faster than ever before... polar bears face extinction... and America's top climate scientist warns we only have a decade to save the planet

Leading silicon producer has begun large-scale manufacturing of metallurgical-grade silicon feedstock for PV cells. Dow Corning Corporation announced the development of PV 1101 SoG Silicon, the first commercially available metallurgical feedstock produced using large scale manufacturing processes.