TRANSITION: Economic recession was the main cause for the drop in U.S. carbon emissions between 2007 and 2013 rather than utilities’ switch from coal to natural gas, researchers said Tuesday. (Agence France Presse)
ENERGY POLICY:
• House Republicans have unveiled a package of bills aimed at modernizing the electric grid and better responding to power disruptions and threats to the grid. (The Hill)
• House Republicans decided against including a repeal of the crude oil export ban in their energy package that is set for an initial consideration on today. (E&E Daily)
OIL PRICES:
• The Senate highway bill unveiled Tuesday assumes that crude oil prices will rise by nearly 90 percent in the next 10 years to pay for infrastructure renovation. (The Hill)
• Ridgewood Energy says it can find and develop oil in the Gulf of Mexico for $20 a barrel or less, although the break-even price is closer to $35 a barrel. (FuelFix)
NATURAL GAS PRICES: A glut of cheap natural gas in the Northeast will be heading south by the end of the year, radically changing the price differences between the regions. (Bloomberg)
WIND:
• The wind energy industry won a key victory Tuesday when the Senate Finance Committee voted 23-3 to approve a production tax credit and send it to the full Senate for a vote. (The Washington Examiner)
• Hewlett-Packard announced Tuesday that it will operate its Texas data centers with power from a 12-year contract to buy 112 megawatts from a wind farm SunEdison is expanding in the state. (The New York Times)
• Deepwater Wind expects delivery this week of foundations that will support five wind turbines in the first U.S. offshore wind farm, to be built off Rhode Island. (USA Today)
AVIATION BIOFUEL: Many in the airline industry believe that without aviation biofuel, future growth could be threatened by forthcoming rules that limit aircraft carbon emissions. (Associated Press)
SOLAR: Pepco, the power provider for Washington, DC, and parts of Maryland, is the country’s worst utility at connecting solar power, according to a study released Tuesday. (The Washington Post)
COAL: Two units of Minnesota’s largest coal-fired power plant could be shuttered without a significant impact to the grid, under a plan developed by environment and energy groups. (Midwest Energy News)
METHANE: Vermont is trying to lower its methane emissions by banning from landfills food wastes from facilities that produce more than 1 ton of scraps a week. (ClimateWire)
INNOVATION: In the race to develop technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the world is off track, according to the International Energy Agency. (The New York Times)
CLIMATE: Some 60 mayors from around the world met at the Vatican Tuesday and pledged to ask world leaders for a “bold climate agreement that confines global warming to a limit safe for humanity.” (The New York Times)