Energy news
Adverse Market conditions forces Brightsource Energy to back off from its IPO
Brightsource Energy has abandoned its IPO. Citing adverse market conditions stemming from a lack of public interest/funding in greentech solar companies, the company withdrew its plans to become listed and offer shares on the NASDAQ last month. Brightsource Energy, based in Oakland, California, is considered the United States leader in the development and application of solar energy for large-scale power plants.
BrightSource Energy Going Public
BrightSource Energy Inc., a California solar-power developer, plans to go public, in spite of an unenthusiastic market for solar companies and an uncertain outlook for renewable-energy firms. A 392-megawatt solar-thermal power plant is being built by BrightSource in the California desert and BrightSource also plans to build several similar facilities in the U.S. Southwest.
Japan will Restart First Reactors since Fukushima
Yukio Edano, Japan’s Economy and Industry Minister said Monday that two nuclear reactors tentatively met government safety standards although completing the improvements might take several years. But, Japan’s Nuclear reactors are in process of paving the way for final approval for their startup soon.
China Sets Up Rare Earths Industry Group
China has set up a rare earth association. China still continues to face criticism over its policies for this. But China will continue to clean up the rare earth industry, enlarge rare earth environmental controls, toughen environmental checks, and execute stricter rare earth environmental policies.
PetroChina Outshines Exxon Mobil in oil production
Big Oil is experiencing a big shift. And this makes the American giant now rank behind a Chinese upstart. For the first time, that distinction belongs to a 13-year-old Chinese company called PetroChina.
Truth about Oil & Gas Prices and the Economy
Oil and gas prices have been going up, and the whole thing continues to take up an important piece of the spotlight. Because we know that the average gallon of gasoline is hovering around $4, it is considered that either some left-wing conspiracy must be promoting alternative energy or proofing that is enough to develop our own resources, according to the right wing claims.
Problems at San Onofre Nuclear Plant Could Reduce Power Supply
San Diego County and Southwest Riverside County would chiefly be at risk of blackouts in the event of a hot summer and if a continued shutdown of two nuclear reactors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station hang around.
China Challenged Over Rare Earths Limits
U.S. plans to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization over Chinese limits on exports of rare earths used in high-tech products, deepening a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. It seems rash and unfair for the U.S. to file a complaint against China before the WTO, which may hurt economic relations between the world’s largest and second-largest economies. This makes it obvious that China won’t hesitate to defend its legal rights in trade disputes.
Abound Solar Will Lay off Nearly 300 Employees
Longmont-based Abound Solar, a leading manufacturer of thin-film cadmium telluride photovoltaic modules, is laying off nearly 280 workers and setting back a new factory in Indiana. The layoff constitutes to 70 percent of the workers at the company’s production facility along the Interstate 25 Frontage Road near Firestone.
TransCanada to Continue with Southern Part of Keystone Pipeline
TransCanada said it would initiate building a segment from the storage hub of Cushing, Okla., to Gulf Coast refineries in Texas, referring the need to ease an ongoing supply surplus at Cushing. TransCanada Corp would do it by providing an outlet for the Canadian crude oil to get to the Gulf.
Climbing Costs Weaken Natural Gas Supplies
The natural gas industry is facing a crisis of its own. The piercing boom in the supplies of natural gas that came nearly five years ago has probably being slowed down by the diminishing values in the industry itself.
Japan’s Trade Deficit Amplifies with Drooping Exports
Japan recorded high trade deficit in January, as it faced a shutdown of all the reactors immediately, after Japan’s nuclear crisis. The strong yen also affected exports and weakened the demand for commodities. The nuclear reactors were shut for a tough check, sending fuel imports rolling.
Greece is Confident Even as Crude Oil Prices Rise on Iran Worries
A high rise in the oil market shot the crude oil prices above $ 102 a barrel in Asia. The rise in the crude oil prices come as Iran decided to increase threats to cut the supply of crude oil to many of the European countries from the region after sanctions were imposed by the European Union against the Iranian energy and banking sectors.
NASA’s Biofuel Project to Help Solve World Fuel Needs
The interest for creating biofuels from algae and other sea-water plants have been increasing off late. Scientists at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland have been trying to fill the skies with algae and explore new means to create alternative energy source for commercial aviation. It seems like Bilal Bomani, a scientist at NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, has tied the future of space exploration to sub-aquatic life.
Apache to Acquire Cordillera Energy for $2.85 Billion
Apache Corporation’s access to the 254,000 acres of potential energy reserves in the Granite Wash, has received billions of dollars in investment in recent years. This area is also known for its shale formations. Well shale formations are sedimentary rocks from which hard-to-recover natural gas and oil can be extracted using fracking technology.
Keystone XL Pipeline Project trashed by Obama Government.
The Obama Administration on Wednesday rejected plans for Keystone pipeline, a massive oil pipeline project, blaming that authorized deadlines forced on Obama administration by the Republicans left very little time to allow a fair review. Energy magazines fear that the Obama Administrations decision of denying permits to Keystone pipeline will ruin a key energy initiative, which would actually have created a flood of badly-needed U.S. jobs.
U.S. Sanctions Against Chinese Oil Traders Over Iran
U.S. imposed sanctions on China’s state-run Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, along with two other firms, for trading refined oil products to Iran. The move took place just days after US Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, made a trip to Beijing to press for Chinese support on Iran sanctions. This has definitely created a chaos among other oil traders in the industry. And not to forget, this has surely been the talk of the town for quite a few energy magazines around the globe.
Iran’s Long-Range Missile test poses a threat to key Oil waterway
Iran’s announcement arrived in the middle of the rising tension between Iran and the U.S. over Iran’s disputed nuclear program which U.S. believes has been working on developing nuclear weapons. Mahmoud Mousavi, deputy navy Commander told the official news agency IRNA, “We have test fired a long-range shore-to-sea missile called Qader (which means capable), which managed to successfully destroy predetermined targets in the Gulf.”
US Ends Ethanol Tax Break; Brazil Sees Opening
Corn-based fuels have been subsidized by the U.S Congress for more than three decades, ever since the Energy Tax Act of 1978. But, this week, when Congress adjourned for the winter recess, they didn’t renew the ethanol tax breaks for industry leaders.
