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newsclips -- ARB Newsclips for August 16, 2013.
Posted: 16 Aug 2013 12:53:06
ARB Newsclips for August 16, 2013. 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. CAP AND TRADE Australia Carbon to Survive Rudd-Abbott Standoff: Energy. Electricity markets are showing Australia’s biggest polluters will have to pay for their carbon emissions regardless of who wins the Sept. 7 election. With Prime Minister Kevin Rudd seeking to reduce the cost of CO2 permits to an estimated A$6 ($5.48) a metric ton and his rival Tony Abbott vowing to scrap carbon prices altogether, power futures signal the cost of emissions will be about A$10 a ton by 2015…Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-08-16/australia-carbon-to-survive-rudd-abbott-standoff-energy.html AIR POLLUTION California board fines companies $653,250 for air-quality violations. The California Air Resources Board said it has collected another $653,250 in fines for violations of state air quality laws. ARB fined three international shipping companies a combined $440,250 for failure to switch from "bunker" fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering regulated California waters. Under California law, oceangoing vessels must switch to cleaner fuel within 24 nautical miles of the shoreline - a requirement designed to reduce diesel exhaust emissions. Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/15/5654259/california-board-fines-companies.html#storylink=cpy http://www.landlinemag.com/Story.aspx?StoryID=25572 http://gcaptain.com/maritime-shipping-firms-fined-california-emissions/ http://www.worldbunkering.com/news/industry-news/1206-california-fines-three-owners.html http://shipandbunker.com/news/am/607480-440k-in-fines-for-carriers-over-fuel-violations http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/91228/maritime-shipping-firms-fined-for-violating-fuel-regulation-usa/ http://www.cargobusinessnews.com/news/081413/news3.html http://www.bunkerworld.com/news/i123994/Three_shipping_companies_fined_for_breaking_California_fuel_rule# (subscription req'd) http://www.cargobusinessnews.com/news/081413/news3.html http://www.sustainableshipping.com/news/i123994/Three_shipping_companies_fined_for_breaking_California_fuel_rule# (subscription req'd) http://africanoilandgasnews.com/news/maritime-shipping-firms-fined-for-violating-fuel-regulation-usa http://maritimesecurity.asia/free-2/maritime-security-asia/maritime-shipping-firms-fined-for-violating-california-emissions-regs/ http://news.silobreaker.com/440k-in-fines-for-carriers-over-fuel-violations-5_2267029547599790112 Tehama County 2012-13 Grand Jury: Air Pollution District needs more consistency. The Tehama County Air Pollution Control District and CalFire need to better communicate and the district needs to be more consistent with its fine schedule, the 2012-13 Grand Jury recommends in its report. The Grand Jury reviewed the Air Pollution Control District focusing on the issuance of burn permits, reports and complaints, investigations, enforcement and documentation of illegal burns. Posted. http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/business/ci_23876219/tehama-county-2012-13-grand-jury-air-pollution Lawmaker wants indoor air standards following therapy closure. Carlos Mixon shouldn’t be standing, much less able to talk. The former pedicab driver ran a red light, got hit, and suffered a traumatic brain injury Eight years ago. "One of the nurses told me, you probably want to just take him off the ventilator, and everything, because he's not ever going to get out of a bed," Tony Rockwell explained about her son. Posted. http://www.kvue.com/news/Lawmaker-wants-indoor-air-standards-following-therapy-closure--219842441.html CLIMATE CHANGE Climate research targets Western wildfire smoke. Researchers are flying over Western wildfires to sample the thick smoke they emit and study its role in cloud formation and climate. The data-gathering campaign is intended to help scientists flesh out one of the least understood areas of climate: the role of aerosols, or particles given off by wildfires, and how they evolve over time. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WILDFIRE_SMOKE_RESEARCH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Climate-research-targets-Western-wildfire-smoke-4735718.php http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/08/15/3443076/climate-research-targets-western.html http://www.modbee.com/2013/08/15/2865328/climate-research-targets-western.html Experts surer of manmade global warming but local predictions elusive. Climate scientists are surer than ever that human activity is causing global warming, according to leaked drafts of a major U.N. report, but they are finding it harder than expected to predict the impact in specific regions in coming decades. The uncertainty is frustrating for government planners: the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the main guide for states weighing multi-billion-dollar shifts to renewable energy from fossil fuels…Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/16/us-climate-report-idUSBRE97F0KM20130816 New Zealand reduces carbon emissions target. New Zealand scaled back its target for reducing carbon emissions on Friday, saying the move was an interim step ahead of a new United Nations pact from 2020. The government said it would commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. It had previously indicated that it would look at a cut of 10 percent to 20 percent. Posted. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/16/newzealand-carbon-idUSL4N0GH03G20130816 Businesses Back Greenhouse Gas Emissions Law. As Texas Republican leaders continue their drumbeat against what they say is federal overreach by the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency remains a primary target. Attorney General Greg Abbott, a candidate for governor, trumpets the fact that the state has multiple lawsuits targeting the agency, and other candidates for statewide office are also pledging to protect Texas from what they see as encroachment by the E.P.A. Posted. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/businesses-back-greenhouse-gas-emissions-law.html Climate change has impact on carbon cycles. Forests in Earth's northern latitudes have been thickened by migrating plant species and younger growth, driving a stronger gyration in the amount of carbon that cycles between land and the atmosphere each year, a new study suggests. The net rise in seasonal exchange of carbon between land and air cannot be explained solely by increased burning of fossil fuels…Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Climate-change-has-impact-on-carbon-cycles-4736866.php Democrats turn up heat on Republican climate-change skeptics. Members of Congress have come to expect controversy sometimes during their August break. Four years ago, it was health care. This year many thought it would be immigration. But in California, global warming has become an unexpectedly hot topic. Thanks to California Sen. Barbara Boxer, the White House and environmental groups…Posted. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/08/15/5654425/democrats-turn-up-heat-on-republican.html#storylink=cpy New Antarctic ice core reveals secrets of climate change. A new Antarctic ice core that's more than 10,000 feet long suggests that West Antarctica may have begun melting more than 2,000 years earlier than believed. The secret? Sea ice. Most ice we see melts quickly, from ice cubes melting into a soda to icicles disappearing on a sunny winter day. But in Antarctica, ice can stick around for hundreds of thousands of years. Posted. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0815/New-Antarctic-ice-core-reveals-secrets-of-climate-change DIESEL EMISSIONS Low temperature combustion promises to clean up diesel engines. For decades, motorists have known that diesel engines offer a trade-off between higher levels of efficiency in the credit column and higher levels of air pollution in the debit column. But now researchers in California think they might have made a breakthrough that could help automotive engineers develop a diesel engine that is both efficient and clean. Posted. http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2289281/low-temperature-combustion-promises-to-clean-up-diesel-engines FUELS Calif. panel launches probe into offshore fracking. California regulators have launched an investigation into offshore hydraulic fracturing after revelations that the practice had quietly occurred off the coast for the past two decades. The California Coastal Commission promised to look into the extent of so-called fracking in federal and state waters and any potential risks. "We take our obligation to protect the marine environment very seriously… Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OFFSHORE_FRACKING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://news.yahoo.com/calif-panel-launches-probe-offshore-fracking-165603655.html http://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1059986097/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Energy firm halts work in face of fracking protest. Energy company Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. said Friday it has temporarily suspended drilling at an exploration site in southern England amid protests from residents and environmentalists opposed to shale gas extraction. The company said it had stopped work on police advice, but would resume "as soon as it is safe to do so." Demonstrators are planning to expand a protest camp Friday near the village of Balcombe. Posted. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_FRACKING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT OTHER RELATED STORIES http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/16/us-cuadrilla-shale-protests-idUSBRE97F0MM20130816 http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Energy-firm-halts-work-in-face-of-fracking-protest-4737299.php Diesel Futures Advance as Brent Surges Amid Supply Disruptions. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel futures advanced, following Brent crude and gasoil higher amid supply disruptions in Africa and the Middle East. Diesel rose as Brent gained 0.5 percent and gasoil climbed 0.6 percent on the London ICE Futures exchange. Egypt’s army-backed government declared a state of emergency in the country. Posted. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-08-15/diesel-futures-advance-as-brent-surges-amid-supply-disruptions.html Fracking bill under fire from environmentalists. State Sen. Fran Pavley's bill to regulate fracking in California was always going to face a fight from the oil industry. But now it's under attack from some of Pavley's most ardent supporters - environmentalists. Many want to ban fracking outright, not regulate it. They are pressing Gov. Jerry Brown to halt the oil-production technique, used in a growing number of wells across the state. And they fear that Pavley's bill, if passed, would give politicians an excuse to let fracking continue. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Fracking-bill-under-fire-from-environmentalists-4736584.php http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_23876202/californias-coastal-commission-investigate-offshore-fracking Ecuador's president abandons no-drilling plan. President Rafael Correa said Thursday that he has abandoned a unique and ambitious plan to persuade rich countries to pay Ecuador not to drill for oil in a pristine Amazon rainforest preserve. Environmentalist had hailed the initiative when Correa first proposed it in 2007, saying he was setting a precedent in the fight against global warming by lowering the high cost to poor countries of preserving the environment. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ecuador-s-president-abandons-no-drilling-plan-4736894.php A Novel Way to Cut the Cost of Advanced Biofuels. A novel genetic modification to plants could make advanced biofuels more competitive with fossil fuels, according to a study published this week in the journal Science. The modification could achieve this by rendering an expensive step in making such biofuels unnecessary. Currently almost all ethanol production comes from the sugar and starch in sugarcane and corn grain. Producing biofuels from biomass remains too expensive to be competitive…Posted. http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518061/a-novel-way-to-cut-the-cost-of-advanced-biofuels/ http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059986088/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Rechargeable membrane-less hydrogen bromine flow battery shows high power density. MIT researchers have engineered a new rechargeable, membrane-less hydrogen bromine laminar flow battery with high power density. The membrane-less design enables power densities of 0.795 W cm−2 at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, with a round-trip voltage efficiency of 92% at 25% of peak power. That is about three times as much power per square centimeter as other membrane-less system…Posted. http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/08/20130816-braff.html VEHICLES Whatever Happened to the Chevy Volt? Just Look at These Numbers. Remember how much time and energy was spent focusing on Detroit and the auto bailouts during the 2012 presidential election? More specifically, do you remember all the attention that was paid to the Chevy Volt, the hybrid electric vehicle that was supposed to mark the rebirth of General Motors? Now think back. Have you heard that much about it recently? No? Neither have we. So we started looking into the issue to figure out what happened. Posted. http://news.yahoo.com/whatever-happened-chevy-volt-just-look-numbers-133027502.html GREEN ENERGY Sierra Club, KCP&L spar over 2007 agreement. The Sierra Club has notified Kansas City Power & Light that the environmental group believes the utility has failed to honor the agreement that ended a dispute over construction of a coal-fired plant in northwest Missouri. KCP&L, however, says it has fulfilled all the requirements of the 2007 agreement, which stemmed from the utility's Iatan 2 coal-fired plant in northern Platte County. Posted. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Sierra-Club-KCP-L-spar-over-2007-agreement-4737471.php Duke Energy acquires San Francisco's largest solar facility. Duke Energy has bought a San Francisco solar project from developer Recurrent Energy. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal between Recurrent Energy and Duke's commercial business division, Duke Energy Renewables, is for the Sunset Reservoir solar power project, the biggest solar generation facility in San Francisco. Posted. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23869990/duke-energy-acquires-san-franciscos-largest-solar-facility?source=rss Waste CO2 Could Be Source of Extra Power. Dutch scientists have a use for all the carbon dioxide that pours from the chimneys of fossil fuel-burning power stations: Harvest it for even more electricity. A team of Dutch researchers have a way – in the laboratory, at least – to wring power from everyday emissions of such plants. Power-generating stations worldwide release 12 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year as they burn coal, oil or natural gas…Posted. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=waste-co2-could-be-source-of-extra-power Could suburbs become the future of renewable energy? Environmentalists have a long-held contempt for the sprawl of suburbia, where the low rooftops of tract housing sometimes seem to stretch to the horizon and where commuters spend their days spewing carbon dioxide into the air. But now some researchers are viewing this differently, as an opportunity for an energy revolution. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059986079/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY Researchers find a battery that meets DOE targets for large energy storage. Flow batteries -- devices that generate electricity by pumping a liquid electrolyte through a cell -- could be an option to store energy at power plant scales, smoothing out peaks and valleys from intermittent renewable energy or providing backup power to homes and offices. The design lends itself to high power applications, produces no emissions and can charge simply by replacing the electrolyte. But there are some critical drawbacks. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059986092/print BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY OPINIONS Climate policy's twin challenges. We need to slow incremental damage while taking out an insurance policy against the growing risk of catastrophic damage. Climate change presents two distinct problems. The first is linear: A little more warming causes a little more damage. The second is nonlinear: A little more warming pushes some part of the climate system past a tipping point and the damage becomes catastrophic. Posted. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/la-oe-zaelke-climate-tipping-points-20130816,0,631359.story Climate-change: rhetoric and reality. The first column in a series about climate change acknowledged climate change as a fact of life. But it also asked whether man’s activities are the cause for potentially catastrophic climate change? There are people who passionately believe and who want us to believe climate change threatens our very existence, and man-made CO2 is the cause. Some believe that, but have no agenda of any sort. They and their beliefs must be respected. Posted. http://santamariatimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/commentary/improving-north-county/climate-change-rhetoric-and-reality/article_84adf66c-0558-11e3-97f6-001a4bcf887a.html?print=true&cid=print COLUMN-Deep ocean to resolve human role in global warming: Wynn. The world's oceans have absorbed more than 90 percent of global warming since the mid-20th century, making accurate measurements of deep ocean temperatures vital to predicting how much global temperatures and sea levels are going to rise. In 1999, a group of 30 countries launched the Argo programme as the first global, subsurface ocean observing system. Posted. http://www.cnbc.com/id/100967611 BLOGS ‘Liberated Carbon, It’ll Turn Your Night to Day’ Via Climate Nexus and Daniel M.N. Turner, here’s video of my performance of “Liberated Carbon,” my short musical history of humanity’s love affair with fossil fuels, at the ScienceOnline Climate conference in Washington, D.C., yesterday. Video of my full talk, “Is the Internet Good for the Climate,” is now online. I think you’ll find value in the full suite of sessions (the meeting continues through today). The best way to track the flow is by following the #ScioClimate tag on Twitter. Posted. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/liberated-carbon-itll-turn-your-night-to-day/ Climate Change And Wildfires: Research Explores Link Between Blazes And The Environment. Researchers are flying over Western wildfires to sample the thick smoke they emit and study its role in cloud formation and climate. The data-gathering campaign is intended to help scientists flesh out one of the least understood areas of climate: the role of aerosols, or particles given off by wildfires, and how they evolve over time. Biomass burning, such as forest fires and agricultural fires when farmers burn off their farm fields…Posted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/climate-change-wildfires_n_3764350.html Could Outmoded Phone Booths Become E.V. Charging Stations? Consider New York’s public pay telephones. They may be outdated in the digital age, but they have telephone wiring and are often supplied with electricity. More important, they already occupy precious city real estate — and already have the permits necessary to stay there. Is it possible to imagine some of them seamlessly replaced with electric vehicle charging stations, with vital dedicated parking spaces? Posted. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/could-outmoded-phone-booths-become-e-v-charging-stations/ Defense contractor: Climate change could create “business opportunities”. Of all the business opportunities presented by global warming, Raytheon Company may have found one of the most alarming. The Massachusetts-based defense contractor — which makes everything from communications systems to Tomahawk missiles — thinks that future “security concerns” caused by climate change could mean expanded sales of its military products. Posted. http://grist.org/climate-energy/defense-contractor-climate-change-could-create-business-opportunities/