Energy & Fuel

"Making high-quality bio-diesel is hard. Getting paid $100 million to not make it was kind of a snap."

"Energy companies in Colorado are spending millions of dollars to derail a push by environmentalists to put measures on November's ballot that would stifle oil and gas drilling in the state, according to a Reuters review of campaign finance records.

Environmental groups are now gathering signatures for two statewide initiatives that would transfer regulatory control of oil and gas development to local governments and create more stringent setback requirements to keep oil and gas activities away from occupied structures.

"BP said Thursday (July 14) it pegs its total cost of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster at $61.6 billion, the first estimate the company has provided since the spill. That includes a $5.2 billion pre-tax hit to profits for the second quarter this year."

"An airplane powered by energy from the sun arrived on Wednesday in Egypt, the penultimate stop on the first fuel-free flight around the globe."

"The Chinese government is trying to slow down the approval of new coal-fired power plants because of overcapacity, but projects already in the pipeline, as well as loopholes in policy, mean China is on track to add an average of one new coal-fired plant a week until 2020, according to a report released on Wednesday by Greenpeace East Asia."

"The Department of Transportation on Wednesday released proposed new spill-response rules for rail carriers carrying crude oil."

"In the energy business, natural gas is supposed to be one of the good guys — the cleaner-burning fossil fuel that can help wean the world from dirty coal during the transition to a low-carbon future. But when natural gas escapes unburned, as it often does during production and distribution, it is a big troublemaker."

"Dirtier rivers or higher electric prices. That's what environmentalists and utility officials say is at stake in an upcoming federal court ruling in Virginia could have far-reaching effects on how energy companies dispose of coal ash waste left over from decades of burning coal. Spurred by high-profile coal ash spills and new federal regulations, utilities are grappling with the disposal of vast amounts of the heavy-metal-laced waste."

"GOLDEN, Colo. -- Two months ago, the Department of Energy trailered in a white, fish-shaped, 210-square-foot house and a dark jeeplike vehicle to put them on display here. The vehicle had an electric motor, a battery and a small gas-fired generator that could power the house, and the house had solar panels integrated into its rooftop that could power the car."

"An experimental solar-powered airplane has left Spain for Egypt in the penultimate leg of its globe-circling voyage."