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Cows Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn’t Emit Stones

Biofuels Digest | Posted on September 1, 2016

This month in Finland, a team of intrepid researchers herded one thousand European cows one-by-one into a glass “metabolic chamber” to measure their methane emissions, digestion, production characteristics, energy-efficiency, metabolism, and the microbial make-up of their rumens. The Project is known as RuminOmics, but if it had been titled The Truman Show II: When the Cows Come Home, we wouldn’t have been a bit surprised. The ultimate aim of the study was to find an optimal, low-emission, high-yield cow, and the team noted in its premise that of all greenhouse gases produced by humans, five percent comes from cattle. The study identified areas in the cow’s genotype, the variation of which was linked to the amount of methane produced per kilo of milk produced. So, can a Super Low-Carb cow be identified and can this genotype be bred for.


New NRECA chief hopes bipartisan clout will protect customers

Agri-Pulse | Posted on September 1, 2016

Jim Matheson, a Democrat who was elected to seven terms in the U.S. House from a reliably Republican district in Utah, knows something about what it takes to work across party lines and buck political headwinds. He'll need that experience in his new job as CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which argues that the Obama administration's climate regulations will drive up consumer costs and put some of its many coal-dependent co-ops out of business. President Obama's Clean Power Plan is the cornerstone of the U.S. pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris accord. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has pledged to implement the regulations if she's elected, and has called for taking additional steps to reduce carbon emissions. Donald Trump opposes the regulations. For now, the Supreme Court has put a hold on the plan while lower courts consider a lawsuit in which NRECA is a lead plaintiff. But if the courts eventually allow the rules to take effect, the threat to co-ops is so serious that NRECA may have to go to Congress, or to the next administration, to seek some form of relief, Matheson says.


The Climate Success of the US Model

Energy Tomorrow | Posted on September 1, 2016

In recent months we’ve posted a number of times on the “U.S. Model” of domestic energy and economic growth – coupled with greenhouse gas reductions. Let that sink in: The United States is simultaneously the world’s No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas and the world leader in reducing emissions. Energy growth and climate progress together. That’s the U.S. Model.  It’s important to grasp the impacts of the U.S. model – and also how it came about. These surges in home-grown oil and gas production are making the United States stronger economically and more secure in the world, reducing our dependence on others for the fuels that run our economy and support our standard of living.


States Are Leading Winds Of Change In U.S. Renewable Energy Revolution

Huffington Post | Posted on September 1, 2016

Some are calling recent clean-energy actions by New York, Massachusetts and Iowa “game-changers.” That might very well prove true in the medium-term. But we can say with confidence that they are immediate game-advancers. Why? Energy markets are affected by policy, but they are driven by price. The underlying business reality is that the real cost of wind power has dropped below that of new fossil-fuel generation. And it’s making wind and renewables a no-brainer choice for major corporations, utilities and power producers of almost every stripe.  Today, states are at the epicenter of America’s renewable energy revolution. And, because we have 50 state energy markets, big positive advances in state policy can accelerate the pace of this historic shift.


New $3.6B Project in Iowa Could Be One of Many ‘Mega’ Wind Orders

Green Tech Media | Posted on September 1, 2016

The Iowa Utilities Board approved MidAmerican Energy’s $3.6 billion plan to build up to 2,000 megawatts of wind power -- a major step toward realizing the company’s goal of supplying Iowa customers with 100 percent renewable energy at no additional cost.  The "Wind XI" project is the largest wind energy project approved in the U.S. to date, and may be just the first in a series of mega wind projects to advance in the coming months. With last week’s approval notice, MidAmerican said it is now finalizing plans to begin construction of the 1,000 wind turbines. Wind XI will consist of multiple project sites across Iowa that will be placed into service over a three-year period, from 2017 through 2019. Upon completion of the project, renewable energy will support 85 percent of MidAmerican’s annual customer sales in Iowa.


Native Americans Protest New Oil Pipeline In North Dakota

NPR | Posted on September 1, 2016

A fight over the route of a new pipeline is gaining momentum while it plays out in court. Hundreds of Native Americans from tribes across the United States are protesting in North Dakota. They're setting up camp at the site where the pipeline is slated to cross under the Missouri River. Reporter Amy Sisk of the public radio collaboration Inside Energy says the group is finding an eager ally in environmental groups.


Iowa Utility Board denies permanent stay of Dakota Access pipeline construction 3-0

radio iowa | Posted on August 31, 2016

The Iowa Utilities Board has unanimously denied a request from landowners for a permanent stay to stop Dakota Access from building the Bakken oil pipeline until a court decides if the company can use eminent domain to get access to their land.  The three-member board heard roughly 45 minutes of testimony from each side and asked several questions before going into a close meeting to deliberate.


California lawmakers approve extension of climate change law

Capital Press | Posted on August 31, 2016

California lawmakers voted to extend the state’s landmark climate change law — the most aggressive in the nation — by another 10 years, resisting fierce opposition from oil companies and other business interests to keep the program alive at least through 2030.  Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, a strong advocate of the state’s climate initiatives, has said he’ll sign the bill when it comes to his desk. The move keeps alive the legal framework that underpins California’s wide-ranging efforts to fight climate change, from a tax on pollution to zero-emission vehicle mandates and restrictions on the carbon content of gasoline and diesel fuel. 


Man-made “wind trees” will finally make it possible to power homes using turbines

Quartz.com | Posted on August 24, 2016

Picture a steady breeze blowing through the leaves of a tree. Now imagine these leaves could do more than simply churn in the current of air—what if they could capture the wind and transform it into renewable energy? Last December, two “wind trees”—or arbres à vent—quietly churned in a plaza in Paris, as world leaders met for the historic climate talks at the Le Bourget conference center nearby. Developed by a French company called New Wind, the “trees” had plastic “leaves” painted green, with curves that held dozens of tiny blades soundlessly harnessing the wind no matter which way it blew. Unlike larger industrial turbines, which need winds of over 22 miles per hour to function, the leaves captured energy from wind speeds of less than five mph.


Obama Rule Could Take Wind Out of Renewable Power on Public Land

Bloomberg | Posted on August 24, 2016

It was supposed to be the largest wind farm in North America, with 1,000 turbines spinning above 320,000 acres of southern Wyoming. But after investing more than $50 million and nearly a decade seeking approval to build a wind farm on public lands, the Power Company of Wyoming’s landmark project is still tied up in required scrutiny of its environmental impact.  "We understood that this is a complex process," said the company’s vice president Rocanne Perruso. "We did understand that it was going to be several years. We did not anticipate nine."  The Wyoming project is hardly an outlier. Although the Obama administration has given initial approvals to 46 wind and solar projects on 216,356 acres of public lands since 2009, just 15 are in operation. Others have been abandoned, are still being built or are undergoing years of required environmental analysis.


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