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California Air Resources Board News Clips for September 27, 2011.
 

This is a service of the California Air Resources Board’s Office
of Communications.  You may need to sign in or register with
individual websites to view some of the following news articles.

AIR POLLUTION

NRG's Texas coal plants able to meet new air rule. Houston, - NRG
Energy Inc, (NRG.N), the second-largest electric power producer
in Texas, does not expect to shut units at its coal-fired plants
to comply with the latest federal mandate to cut air pollution, a
spokesman said. Texas is challenging the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency over its last-minute inclusion of Texas coal
plants under the final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR).
The rule mandates much stricter limits on emissions of sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide from coal and natural gas-fired
power plants beginning in January. Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/utilities-coal-nrg-idUSS1E78Q0UK20110927

'MythBusters' turns to UCR researcher for help.  UC Riverside
researcher Kent Johnson didn't get to blow anything up. He didn't
get to crash any vehicles together. Nothing was destroyed at all.
 In that sense, the episode of the popular "MythBusters" TV
program in which Johnson appears that airs Wednesday evening on
the Discovery Channel is hardly a normal one.  On the other hand,
it's one of a very few -- two, to be precise -- that will result
in the writing of a scientific paper.  Posted. 
http://www.pe.com/localnews/riverside/stories/PE_News_Local_D_mythbusters26.384e3a8.html

Oil refineries seek huge tax refunds. Some of the nation's
largest oil refineries are seeking huge tax refunds that could
force school districts and local governments across Texas to give
back tens of millions of dollars they were counting on to pay
teachers and provide other services. The refineries want the tax
breaks in exchange for buying pollution-controlling equipment.
But the cost to public schools would be dear, coming only months
after lawmakers slashed education spending by more than $4
billion. Posted.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9Q0ENHO0.htm

DIESEL EMISSIONS

CARB issues $223,295 in diesel violation fines. The California
Air Resources Board issued $223,295 in fines for 37 different
cases of air quality violations recently. Most of the violations
stemmed from trucks and buses failing to meet state requirements
for self-inspections. The five highest fines were the following:
•$27,000 in fines for the County of Imperial Department of Public
Works. The county failed to properly self-inspect its diesel
trucks; Posted.
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2011/Sep11/092611/092611-06.shtml
http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=74805

Panel throws out part of Port of L.A.'s Clean Truck Program. U.S.
9th Circuit Court of Appeals eliminates provision that would have
ended trucking companies' use of independent contractors to haul
containers from the port. The program is aimed at reducing diesel
emissions. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday threw
out a key provision of a program aimed at reducing diesel
emissions from trucks hauling containers from the Port of Los
Angeles. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trucks-port-20110927,0,5148568.story
http://www.modbee.com/2011/09/26/1878561/court-rejects-key-aspect-of-clean.html
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/sep/26/court-rejects-key-aspect-of-clean-truck-program/
http://www.nctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_a2f112a3-3377-50ab-8f58-3ac11ee15ecd.html
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/09/27/business-us-port-pollution-california_8702757.html

FUELS

A Way to Make Motor Fuel Out of Wood? Add Water.  A Georgia
company says it has overcome a major roadblock in turning
agricultural waste into vehicle fuel and other useful chemicals
by experimenting with a technology that treats the waste with
compressed water heated to very high temperatures.  The company,
Renmatix, plans to cut the ribbon on a research and development
center on Tuesday in King of Prussia, Pa., near the heart of the
nation’s chemical and refining industry, to complete development
of the process.  Posted. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/energy-environment/using-water-to-turn-wood-chips-into-motor-fuel.html?scp=6&sq=fuels&st=cse

Berkeley Lab scientists identify new type of biofuel. Researchers
at the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville identified a
possible new type of biofuel that could replace diesel. The JBEI,
run by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory engineered the new
fuel, called bisabolane, from two microbes -- a bacteria and a
yeast. Fuel made this way, the lab said, would be “clean, green,
renewable and produced in the United States.” Posted.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2011/09/27/berkeley-lab-scientists-id-new-biofuel.html

VEHICLES

Battery options for an older Prius.  Dear Tom and Ray: I just got
word that my 2005 Prius, with 110,000 miles, needs a new hybrid
battery. I got the car new, and it’s been well-maintained, but
the battery has not given us the 150,000 or 180,000 miles that we
had hoped we could get out of it. Our dealer is willing to
replace the battery pack with a new one for $3,500 (another
dealer would charge $3,995). Posted. 
http://www.pe.com/cars/content/click/stories/0919ClickClack1.15ea22a0c.html

Hybrid technology soon to be inescapable.  Your next car will
probably have a little bit of Toyota Prius or Chevrolet Volt in
it, whether you think of yourself as a high-tech fuel saver or
not. Technologies pioneered by the 50-mpg Prius and the Volt,
which burns no gasoline at all on most trips under 40 miles, will
soon be omnipresent.  Virtually every car will be a hybrid, with
so many variations of electric-assistance that some manufacturers
won't even use the word.  Posted. 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/sc-cons-0922-autotips-20110924,0,1373990.story

EV charging standards: European OEMs recommendations.  The
European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has
published on 14 September 2011 a position paper with
recommendations for the “standardisation of the charging of
electrically-chargeable vehicles”. For ACEA, standardisation is a
pre-requisite for quicker market uptake of electric vehicles and
higher investment into a quick charging network.  Posted. 
http://www.cars21.com/content/articles/66220110926.php

Electric vehicle information and demo center being built.  GE
Capital Fleet Services is setting up a “customer experience and
learning center” for electric vehicles in Eden Prairie, MN. The
center will showcase GE’s portfolio of electric vehicle solutions
and allow customers to evaluate electric vehicles and other
alternative fuel vehicles.  The facility is expected to open in
the spring of 2012.  “At GE, we are committed to helping our
customers incorporate electric vehicles and other alternative
fuel technologies into their fleets,” said Clarence Nunn,
president & CEO.  Posted. 
http://fleetowner.com/green/archive/electric-vehicle-info-demo-center-0926/

GREEN ENERGY

Consumer product packaging in plastic going green. The
decades-old duel between Coca-Cola and Pepsi has entered new
territory. As the soda behemoths spar for world's top soft drink,
the battle isn't just about what's in their bottles. It's about
what's in their plastic. In 2009, the Coca-Cola Co. said it would
sell its Dasani water products in bottles containing up to 30
percent sugarcane-based polyethylene terephthalate plastic, or
PET. It touted the "PlantBottle" as the latest in eco-friendly
food packaging. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/23/BULA1L78PH.DTL#ixzz1ZAT35CIi

Looming budget cuts threaten San Jose's expansive solar plan. The
gloomy financial forecast that has San Jose considering
shuttering its branch libraries and community centers next summer
could also claim another casualty: a money-saving solar project
at the heart of Mayor Chuck Reed's clean-energy plan.  The
threatened closures could kill plans to install solar panels at
no cost to the city on the roofs or parking lots at libraries and
community centers.  Posted. 
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-news/ci_18981181 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/bay-area-news/ci_18981181
 
State's openness to 'green energy' a big selling point. When
Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler decided to start their own
luxury electric auto company in 2007, they knew they wanted to
set up the business in California. “This was a definite
decision,” said Will Powell, a spokesman for Anaheim-based Fisker
Automotive, which produces an electric vehicle with a gas-powered
“range extender” different from traditional hybrids. Posted.
http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110925/BUSINESS/109250304/State-s-openness-green-energy-big-selling-point?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p

MISCELLANEOUS

Gov. Jerry Brown signs 38 bills, vetoes 4. Sacramento -- Gov.
Jerry Brown signed 38 bills and vetoed four others on Monday,
including a Republican-sponsored measure that would have mandated
that one of the state's Air Resources Board members be a
small-business owner. In a swipe at Republicans over their
refusal to support taxes, Brown attached a message to a bill he
signed that imposes a 1 percent fee on the sale of olive trees to
raise funds to help certify the trees through a government
program. Posted.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/27/BAM71L9OAJ.DTL&type=politics
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2011/09/26/calif-air-board-small-biz-owner-veto.html

OPINIONS

Climate Change and the Exodus of Species. To most humans, so far,
climate change is still more of an idea than an experience. For
other species, it is an immediate reality. Many will be left
behind as the climate alters, unable to move quickly enough or
with nowhere to move to. Others are already adapting. An iconic
example of these swift changes is the recent discovery that
Atlantic and Pacific populations of bowhead whales — long kept
apart by the frozen Arctic — are now overlapping in the open
waters of the Northwest Passage. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/opinion/climate-change-and-the-exodus-of-species.html

BLOGS

Climate Change Takes a Toll on Cultures. A member of Colombia’s
indigenous Nukak-Makú people. Climate change will only hasten a
trend in which members resettle in urban areas when they come of
age, environmental experts warn. There are nearly 7,000 known
languages in the world today. It is predicted that half of these,
in many cases vessels of indigenous cultures, will vanish over
the next 50 years. Posted.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/climate-change-takes-a-toll-on-cultures/

Report Says Vehicle Fuel Should Be the Priority, Not Electricity.
 Research on solar and wind power is all well and good, but a
self-assessment by the Department of Energy has found that in the
great scheme of energy needs, the government is not investing
enough in transportation energy, an area in which those renewable
power sources do not play a role.  Posted. 
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/transportation-fuel-challenge-dogs-the-u-s/?scp=5&sq=fuels&st=cse

California treasurer: Put renewable-energy tax exemption on hold.
The head of a California panel that hands out sales tax
exemptions to renewable-energy manufacturing companies wants to
suspend the program in the wake of the Solyndra scandal. State
Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he will ask fellow members of the
California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation
Financing Authority at a meeting Tuesday to not approve any new
applications for exemptions from paying California sales tax.
Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/09/solyndra-california-bill-lockyer-tax-exemption.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MoneyCompany+%28Money+%26+Company%29

EGYPT: Clearing the air pollution after the revolution. Reporting
From Cairo -- When the thick clouds of tear gas and repressive
rule lifted last winter, Egyptians breathed more easily. And in a
shade of serendipity, the revolution that overthrew President
Hosni Mubarak accomplished what the Egyptian Environmental
Ministry had failed to accomplish for years: noticeably cleaner
air in Cairo. Posted.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/09/egypt-revolution-air-pollution.html

Carbon Sciences adapting its dry reforming catalyst to target
steam methane reforming market.  Carbon Sciences, Inc., the
licenser and developer of technology for the dry catalytic
reforming of methane to produce gasoline and other transportation
fuels (earlier post), now plans to commercialize its catalyst as
a drop-in replacement in the existing billion-dollar catalyst
market for steam methane reforming (SMR).  Posted. 
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/09/carbonscismr-20110927.html