FRACKING: The fracking debate is shaken up by a new EPA report dramatically lowering the estimate of how much methane — a potent greenhouse gas — is emitted during natural gas production. (Associated Press)

ALSO: More than a year after a string of earthquakes prompted Ohio to enact tougher rules on disposal wells for fracking wastewater, researchers are still working to understand the extent of the risk.; and a newspaper series examines the gas boom’s impact on northeast Ohio’s economy. (Midwest Energy News, Canton Repository)

COAL: Developers of a proposed Indiana coal-to-gas plant say the project is unlikely to go forward after legislators passed a bill essentially giving the state a path out of its 30-year contract to buy gas from the facility. (Evansville Courier & Press)

OIL: An explosion and fire at a Detroit-area refinery forces 3,000 people to temporarily evacuate their homes, the oil sands industry pursues an export route through the Arctic, and the State Department will make Keystone XL comments public after all. (Detroit Free Press, EnergyWire, InsideClimate News)

ELECTRIC CARS: Two companies will go to court over the right to take over Chicago’s electric vehicle charging station program. (Chicago Tribune)

TRANSPORTATION: Some Republicans in the Minnesota legislature oppose a bill that would make it illegal to park cars in bike lanes, with one lawmaker concerned it may interfere with pizza deliveries; and the federal government will purchase 10,000 additional hybrid vehicles, which are projected to save 1 million gallons of gasoline per year. (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Detroit News)

SOLAR: Officials in a Wisconsin town back a plan that would combine a solar power plant with technology that would also extract phosphorus from an algae-clogged lake, and a Michigan religious community dedicates a 518 kW solar project. (Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, Associated Press)

CLIMATE: Amid the Bakken oil boom, a North Dakota research facility continues to pursue carbon sequestration technology. (Minot Daily News)

BIOENERGY: An Indiana duck-processing plant, aiming to become a zero-discharge facility, will install a biodigester to convert duck waste into electricity. (Goshen News)

COMMENTARY: Are solar companies prepared for a post-subsidy world? (Greentech Media)

Ken is the director of the Energy News Network at Fresh Energy and is a founding editor of both Midwest Energy News and Southeast Energy News. Prior to joining Fresh Energy, he was the managing editor for online news at Minnesota Public Radio. He started his journalism career in 2002 as a copy editor for the Duluth News Tribune before spending five years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he worked as a copy editor, online producer, features editor and night city editor. A Nebraska native, Ken has a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors.

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