Top Stories
Analysis: Action on global climate may drift
for years.—reliability medium.
"International action on climate change looks likely to drift over the
next two years as politicians waver on tougher carbon caps in the wake
of the financial crisis. ... Talks resume next week in Bonn, Germany,
but a new draft text is as vague as ever on targets and a timetable to
cut carbon emissions. 'I suspect that we're in for a fairly long period
of slowdown, you're talking about a two to three years' timeframe
before you restore the political momentum,' said Tom Burke of Imperial
College London." More on reasons for government hesitancy, outlook for
next few years. "A long-term global goal to limit warming to 2 degrees
Celsius, aspired to in Copenhagen, appears out of reach." See Reuters
article. [HaraBara
has long noted that the problem is in mature, rich economies where
switching energy technologies involves substitution, threatening
powerful incumbents, while developing economies can (if they choose)
adopt low-carbon technologies as they expand their infrastructure.]
U.S. First-half demand for gasoline 0.6%
lower than last year.—reliability medium.
"According to the American Petroleum Institute's (API) Monthly
Statistical Report, U.S. gasoline deliveries for the first half of 2010
averaged 8.88 million barrels per day, 0.6 percent lower than the
corresponding period a year ago. Though the drop in demand is
minuscule, it does provide us with an indication that despite low gas
prices and a rebounding economy, U.S. demand for gas continues to wane.
... While economists like to attribute decreased demand for gasoline to
our shaky economical situation, we like to believe that advancements in
fuel-saving technologies lead to a dwindling need for gas." From Autoblog
Green. [Maybe
Americans drove fewer miles than in any June since 2004. On the other
hand, maybe they have learned to lighten up on the gas pedal and get a
bit better mileage. Could the Gulf spill mess have gotten people
thinking about the externalities of wasteful driving? (See related post
"Was
This Spill Necessary?".)]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
General Motors to establish global BEV test
fleet, build New Sail EV prototype.—reliability medium.
"General Motors' Global Vehicle Engineering VP Karl Stracke announced
the creation of a test fleet of battery electric vehicles. The fleet
will be deployed in several regions around the world beginning in 2011.
... Stracke also announced that a prototype electric version of the
Chinese market Chevrolet New Sail was being built and it seems
likely that this will form the basis of a test fleet in that country.
... GM decided to go it alone on EV development after a deal to produce
a low cost EV with Indian manufacturer Reva was dissolved earlier this
year." From Autoblog
Green.
GE Shares Its Energy Efficiency Treasure
Hunt Method.—reliability high.
"Over the last five years, teams of General Electric (GE) employees
have scoured the company's various facilities in pursuit of a common
enemy: wasted energy. ... Since 2005, more than 200 of these exercises,
called Treasure Hunts, revealed energy savings exceeding $130 million.
Now the company is expanding the program beyond its facilities to
include hospitals, universities, city buildings and private sites
through a new collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
The sites, which include existing GE customers, will learn how to
conduct Treasure Hunts, while GE and EDF will work to verify the energy
savings and identify and disseminate industry best practices." More
about the treasure hunt approach. See Greener
World Media.
Panasonic to acquire Sanyo Electric as it
aims to become top green innovator.—reliability high.
"electronic giant Panasonic will fully take over its partly-owned
subsidiary Sanyo Electric as it attempts to cement itself as a leader
in green innovation in the face of rising competition. Panasonic said
the companies hope to maximise their collaborative efforts in the
rechargeable battery, solar cell and electric vehicle-related fields,
in the face of intensified competition from the rest of Asia as well as
the US and Europe." More on Panasonic's recent strategic moves. Item at
NewNet.
U.N. ends Kyoto CO2 offset drought ahead of
key meeting.—reliability high.
"The United Nations' climate secretariat on Thursday issued 228,400
Kyoto Protocol carbon offsets to three Asian clean energy projects,
ending a two-week issuance drought but failing to reassure concerned
investors. ... 'It's taking longer to get CERs, so that delays project
developer revenues and makes them harder to predict,' said Niels von
Zweigbergk, CEO of Tricorona, a Swedish-based developer which was
recently bought by Britain's Barclays bank. ... Only 364,600 CERs,
worth 2.7 million euros ($3.53 million) at market rates, have been
distributed in July, a sharp drop from 3.4 million doled out in June
and 10.5 million in May. The flow of CERs has slowed this month due to
the phase-in of new procedures to streamline offset issuances and limit
waiting times at the CDM, a UN spokesman told Point Carbon News on July
13. 'We've not yet seen any improvements to the issuance process from
these new procedures,' von Zweigbergk added." More about problems with
CDM system. See story at Reuters.
Putting Chips to Work for Sharing Pedal
Power.—reliability medium.
"the programs and systems rolling out today for tracking and
distributing up to thousands of bicycles in cities from Milan to San
Antonio are of another generation — one built upon mobile access to the
real-time web and GPS chips. Armed with these IT tools, new and
evolving bike sharing networks fit into the larger trends of smarter
digital and networked transportation systems, innovation around
providing mobility as a service and moves by unconventional players
(from non-profits to advertising giants to health insurance firms to
new startups) to assume new roles in the transportation sector. ... On
Friday the world’s largest bike share network will launch in London,
with 6,000 bikes at 400 stations. It's an illustration of what
technologies like text messaging, smartphones with GPS, and the
real-time web are ultimately driving in the bike sharing market: a
shift in scale, as infrastructure costs come down and growing
convenience attracts a broader market." Table of 20 top bike-sharing
programs. See earth2tech.
Government and
Regulation
Electric Car Charging Won’t Fall Under
Utility Rules in California.—reliability medium.
"California regulators voted unanimously on Thursday that companies
providing electric vehicle charging stations and services will not be
regulated as public utilities in the state, which is expected to be one
of the earliest and largest markets for plug-in vehicles and a model
for other markets. This marks a victory for charging infrastructure
ventures including Coulomb Technologies, ECOtality and Better Place,
which have been pushing for this decision for months. ... Getting
today’s decision on the books will be a green light for these companies
in some ways, but there’s still a long road for regulators to figure
out how to handle this new industry." From earth2tech.
[Since car-charging
systems are selling electricity, currently regulated utilities urged
they be regulated like others in that market. They have dodged that
bullet--for now.]
U.N. panel to probe further Kyoto CO2-cut
projects.—reliability high.
The UNFCC "will ask a sub-panel to investigate further claims that a
Kyoto Protocol scheme may be incentivizing participants to emit more
greenhouse gases, environmental groups said on Friday. ... The roughly
20 projects in question, the most lucrative under the scheme, are
mainly in China and India. They destroy a potent waste gas called
hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) and account for more than half of the 423.5
million offsets issued to the 2,300 projects approved to date."
Watchdogs had said firms were gaming the system. "The CDM's 10-member
executive board ... will seek further input on the matter from the
scheme's methodology panel, the green groups attending the meeting
said." From Reuters.
[The methodology
panel had supported the concerns raised by NGOs, but China especially
has objected to changes. Thus the fallback to "more study".]
