The Latest

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Releases “Evaluation of Risk-Based Decision Making” With Public Comment Open Until September 30, 2014

By Christopher McCormack | Pullman & Comley, LLC

The EPA Proposes Stricter Standards For Smog Limit

On August 29, 2014, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) released “Evaluation of Risk-based Decision Making,” a report prepared by CDM Smith under contract to the state. DEEP has now announced that it will accept public comments until September 30, 2014, and will take the report and comments into account in formulating next steps in the multi-year initiative to “transform” Connecticut’s approach to remediating contaminated sites.

The report was prompted by a controversial proposal in the 2013 legislative session to lower the thresholds for requiring “significant environmental hazard” reports concerning contaminated properties. Although a version of that proposal was enacted as part of Public Act 13-308, the General Assembly also directed DEEP to “engage independent experts” to evaluate and recommend best practices in risk-based decision making for site remediation. DEEP must consider the resulting report and make recommendations for statutory and regulatory changes, specifically including the significant environmental hazard statute.

 /  Published September 15, 2014 at 4:00 PM

Energy Quote of the Day: ‘Halliburton has Already Left the Market and Schlumberger is Likely to Follow’

By

Halliburton Co. in Fort Worth, Texas

As US- and EU-led economic sanctions against Russian energy players crank up, the degree to which Western interests could be collaterally damaged is again being called into question. The EU has shied away from sanctioning Russian gas industry participants because the bloc is so reliant on Russian gas supply, but oil market pressure could also… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Looking Beyond EU Energy Policy

By Janez Potočnik/Global Energy Affairs

E

For Europe energy has always been at the top of its political agenda but despite the many achievements in strengthening its infrastructure and diversifying its suppliers, the EU remains vulnerable to energy shocks and disruptions to energy supplies. One could argue that it is inevitable as the EU is a highly import dependent country. Today… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Will Floating LNG Mark a Crucial Milestone in Future Offshore Global Gas Development? 

By Roman Kilisek

prelude

Back in 2011, Shell took the final investment decision (FID) on its Prelude FLNG project and started having a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) terminal built in South Korea in order to produce and export LNG from the so-called Browse Basin, about 300 miles off the coast of Western Australia. This project is the first… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Block Island Wind Farm Receives Final Federal Approval

By Enerknol Research

Riffgat Offshore Wind Farm Nears Completion

Deepwater Wind has received the final federal approval required to advance its proposed Block Island Wind Farm, which would be the nation’s first offshore wind project. On September 5, 2014, Deepwater Wind announced that its proposed Block Island Wind Farm has received final federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the project’s lead… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2014 at 10:30 AM

Energy News Roundup: Writing on the Wall for Utilities, Big Week for House Energy Votes, Oil Price Plunge Continues

By

Conditions Ripe Along Southern Andreas Fault For Major Quake, Study Finds

Using Germany as an example, this article investigates the changing utility business model in the face of rapidly expanding renewable energy sources and other trends that are eating into utility company bottom lines. “A reckoning is at hand, and nowhere is that clearer than in Germany. Even as the country sets records nearly every month… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 15, 2014 at 9:42 AM

ARPA-E Project Takes an Innovative Approach to the Electrical Grid

By U.S. Department of Energy

AutoGrid

What if consumers were empowered with real-time data on the cost and efficiency of their energy use? During times of peak demand — such as on a hot summer afternoon when homes and businesses crank up their air conditioning — utilities could let cost-conscious consumers know how much they’re spending on energy or ask environmentally… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 12, 2014 at 5:00 PM

California Energy Commission Delays Compliance With Energy Disclosure Program For Smaller Nonresidential Buildings

By Sharona Toobian | Perkins Coie

Obama To Deliver Major Climate Change Speech

The California Energy Commission (CEC) implemented the Nonresidential Building Energy Use Disclosure Program in two phases. The first phase took effect on January 1, 2014 and applies to nonresidential buildings of at least 10,000 square feet. While the second phase, which imposes disclosure requirements for nonresidential buildings of at least 5,000 square feet, was supposed to take effect on July 1, 2014, this disclosure timeline was just delayed two years. The CEC recently announced that the compliance date for the second phase has been pushed from July 1, 2014 to July 1, 2016.

 /  Published September 12, 2014 at 4:00 PM

A Developing-World Perspective on this Month’s UN Climate Summit

By Chris Pedersen

Scenes Of Beijing - The Host City Of The 2008 Olympics

In anticipation of the UN Climate Summit, the majority of media coverage around the event has been delivered from the perspective of industrialized and relatively wealthy countries. In an attempt to offer a new perspective, let’s take a look at international climate negotiations through the lens of a country that doesn’t always expect the lights… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 12, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Merits of Oil Exports are Clear

By Energy Tomorrow Blog

Crude Oil Carrier Hijacked By Somali Pirates

A new report from Brookings’ Energy Security Initiative adds more scholarly weight to the analytical case for lifting America’s decades-old ban on crude oil exports. Echoing earlier studies by IHS and ICF International, the Brookings research finds that allowing the export of domestic crude would stimulate more oil production here at home, provide broad economic benefits and strengthen U.S. energy… Keep reading →

 /  Published September 12, 2014 at 2:00 PM
Page 488 of 9251...484485486487488489490491492...925