QUICK NEWS, July 7: PRES UPS BACKING FOR SOLAR; WHY AN OIL & GAS BILLIONAIRE WANTS WIND; NAT GAS BOOM TO BUST

PRES UPS BACKING FOR SOLAR Many Americans still lack access to solar energy. Here’s how Obama plans to change that

Chris Mooney, July 7, 2015 (Washington Post)

“…[The White House] announced an array of new measures to extend access to the most rapidly growing source of U.S. energy — solar — to a much broader group of Americans, including low-income communities and individuals who rent, rather than owning their own homes…That includes a new initiative to ramp up so-called “community solar” projects across the country — programs in which one solar installation supplies energy to multiple different homes or individuals – with a focus on serving low- and middle- income Americans. It also includes a pledge to install a total of 300 megawatts of solar and other renewables in federally subsidized housing developments by the year 2020…The announcements came just a week after the administration pledged, in a joint agreement with Brazil, that the United States will get 20 percent of its total electricity from renewable sources by the year 2030 — a target that would require tripling renewables…” click here for more

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WHY AN OIL & GAS BILLIONAIRE WANTS WIND How a Conservative Billionaire Is Moving Heaven and Earth to Become the Biggest Alternative Energy Giant in the Country; Philip Anschutz wants to turn his 500-square-mile cattle ranch into the world’s largest wind farm…

Gabriel Kahn, June 29, 2015 (Pacific Standard)

“…[In 2006, a] buyer was prepared to pay roughly $50 million for [the 500-square-mile high-desert [Overland Trail cattle ranch] in south-central Wyoming where the wind blows so fiercely people have to brace against it just to stay upright…[Owner Philip Anschutz] had become one of the richest men in America—with a fortune of nearly $12 billion—by figuring out an abundance of ways to churn wealth out of real estate, from oil wells and railroads to sports arenas and cattle ranches…[T]he market for wind energy was growing …[A]long the ridges of the Overland Trail Ranch are some of the only Class 7 winds in the nation…[and they start in the morning and gain force just when demand is peaking. With the TransWest Express transmission system to take wind-generated electricity straight from Wyoming across Colorado, Utah, and Nevada into a substation on the California-Nevada border] wind had all the markings of another Anschutz triumph…” click here for more

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NAT GAS BOOM TO BUST Energy Companies That Stake Their Future On Gas May Be In For A Big Surprise

Mike Scott, July 7, 2015 (Forbes)

“Almost $300 billion of planned LNG (liquefied natural gas) projects could be surplus to requirements, suggests…[Carbon Supply Cost Curves] from the respected think tank Carbon Tracker Initiative…[T] here is some room for gas demand to grow while we remain within the ‘carbon budget’ that will keep temperature increases to safe limits, but not as much as the gas industry believes…The study finds that over the next 10 years $82 billion of potential capex in LNG plants will not be needed in Canada, $71 billion in the United States and $68 billion in Australia if demand is lower than companies project because of tighter carbon regulations, the introduction of carbon prices around the world, improved energy efficiency, the development of energy storage and the greater use of renewable energy. The value of unneeded LNG projects rises to $379 billion by 2035…” click here for more

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