Coal consumption has been increasing in past months as natural gas prices pushed upwards and coal stocks dipped lower. With natural gas the peak-load fuel of choice for many utilities, base load summer cooling could be powered by lots of comparatively cheaper coal – with gas peaker plants firing up when demand surges and thus heavily impacting consumers’ electric bills. [Bounce Energy]

By 2019 European electric and hybrid cars will need to install acoustic vehicle alerting systems (AVAS) that sound like internal combustion engines so the cars can be heard by pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorists who could potentially be surreptitiously mowed down. “So the European Parliament just decided that EVs and hybrids have to add fake “vroom vroom” noises so drivers quit sneaking up on people, goshdarnit.” [Grist]

This piece details the latest on shareholder resolutions and activist investor moves to get institutional investors to divest their fossil fuel company holdings on the basis of decreasing value in the face of potential anti-carbon emission policies. [GreenBiz.com]