QUICK NEWS, April 23: MONEY COMING BACK TO NEW ENERGY; CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS FROM CORN STOVER STUMBLE; SUIT AGAINST WIND FOR BAT IMPACTS THROWN OUT

MONEY COMING BACK TO NEW ENERGY Stronger First Quarter For Global Investment in Clean Energy; Small-scale solar in Japan and the US, and renewable power financings in emerging markets, help investment to rise 10% compared to Q1 2013

April 16, 2014 (Bloomberg New Energy Finance)

“Investment in clean energy worldwide rallied nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching $47.7bn…[owing] much to a 42% jump in investment in small-scale solar, as households and businesses in countries such as Japan and the US took advantage of the big falls that have taken place in the cost of photovoltaic systems…The first quarter is often the weakest of the year for investment in clean energy…So, although global investment in Q1 2014, at $47.7bn, was down on Q4′s $58.1bn, the more useful comparison is with the first quarter of 2013′s $43.6bn… Also rising strongly year-on-year was public markets investment…The WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, or NEX, which tracks around 100 clean energy stocks worldwide, appreciated 11% in the first quarter, to roughly double its low of July 2012…” click here for more

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CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS FROM CORN STOVER STUMBLE Study: Fuels From Corn Waste Not Better Than Gas

Dina Cappiello, April 21, 2014 (AP)

“Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term…challenging the Obama administration's conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change…[A study in the] peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline…While biofuels are better in the long run, the study says they won't meet a standard set in a 2007 energy law to qualify as renewable fuel…The conclusions deal a blow to what are known as cellulosic biofuels…About half of the initial market in cellulosics is expected to be derived from corn residue…The biofuel industry and administration officials immediately criticized the research as flawed. They said it was too simplistic in its analysis of carbon loss from soil…” click here for more

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SUIT AGAINST WIND FOR BAT IMPACTS THROWN OUT Federal lawsuit over western Md. wind farm ends

April 18, 2014 (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

“A legal dispute over a western Maryland wind farm has ended…A U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore dismissed…The citizen group Save Western Maryland filed the lawsuit in 2010 against developers of the 28-turbine Criterion wind farm in Garrett County. The project owned by Chicago-based Exelon Corp has been operating since 2010… In December, the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] approved operational changes Exelon had proposed to minimize harm to the bats…” click here for more

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