[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
EU carbon drops below 13 eur/t to 7-week low
Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:34pm EST
LONDON (Reuters) - European carbon emissions futures fell below 13 euros on Friday to a seven-week low as industrial selling broke a key technical level and weak energy prices failed to support, traders said.
The benchmark contract for EU Allowances (EUAs) were down 35 cents or 2.54 percent to 13.05 euros ($19.41) a tonne by 1607 GMT, after dropping to 12.98 euros earlier.
EUAs last traded below 13 euros on October 5, when prices sank to 12.92 euros.
"We saw more industrials selling this morning, which was amplified by financials through stop loss selling triggered this afternoon," said Emmanuel Fages, carbon analyst at Societe Generale.
"We could finish the day down at around 12.80 euros."
Traders said prices were free to fall sharply when they broke a technical support level of 13.30-13.40 euros this morning.
British gas prices were lower on Friday as mild weather looked to keep heating demand down, while there was plenty of supply, including LNG cargoes heading for the country.
U.S. crude oil fell toward $76 a barrel on Friday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and as falling equities raised concerns about the economy and outlook for energy demand.
German Calendar 2010 baseload power on the EEX was down 25 cents or 0.54 percent at 45.85 euros per megawatt hour.
Certified emissions reductions (CERs) under the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism were down 17 cents or 1.38 percent to 12.18 euros a tonne.
The paper and pulp industry looks set to have quite a surplus of EUAs to 2012 as its emissions in the EU fell by almost 6.5 percent in 2008, according to data released by the Confederation of European Paper Industries.
The industry's emissions fell to 37.26 million tonnes in 2008 from 39.83 million in 2007, due to reduced output because of the economic slowdown and energy-saving measures.
(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Additional reporting by Michael Szabo; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
[Green Business]
Pennsylvania residents sue over gas drilling
Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:56pm EST
By Jon Hurdle
DIMOCK, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Residents of a small rural Pennsylvania town sued Cabot Oil & Gas Corp on Friday, claiming the company's natural-gas drilling has contaminated their water wells with toxic chemicals, caused sickness and reduced their property values.
The lawsuit accuses the company of violating state environmental laws by allowing drilling chemicals to escape from gas wells, where they are used in a technique called hydraulic fracturing.
A Cabot spokesman said the company had not had time to study the lawsuit in detail but said Cabot was in full compliance with Pennsylvania's environmental laws and "disappointed" by the lawsuit.
"We don't see merit in these claims," Cabot spokesman Ken Komoroski said.
The company, like others in the industry, has argued that its drilling processes are safe because chemicals are heavily diluted and are injected into the ground through layers of steel and concrete thousands of feet below the aquifers that are used for drinking water.
The industry says there has never been a documented case of ground water contamination because of hydraulic fracturing.
The case is one of the first to confront the industry over the technique, which critics claim pollutes aquifers with chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious illnesses.
Cabot's drilling allowed methane to escape into private water wells and in two cases caused wellhead explosions due to a gas build-up, the 15 families in the lawsuit claim.
Pat Farnelli, 46, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, told reporters on Friday that some of her eight children suffered stomach cramps after drinking water from the family's well, which is a few hundred yards from a gas well. She ruled out water-borne bacteria because boiling the water didn't help.
'WE WANT JUSTICE'
The suit is the culmination of complaints by residents of the northeastern Pennsylvania community where Cabot has drilled dozens of gas wells in its efforts to develop the Marcellus Shale, a massive gas formation that underlies about two-thirds of Pennsylvania and parts of surrounding states.
"These releases, spills and discharges caused the plaintiffs and their property to be exposed to such hazardous gases, chemicals and industrial wastes," said the complaint.
The complaint says residents have suffered neurological, gastrointestinal and dermatological symptoms from exposure to tainted water. They also say they have had blood test results consistent with exposure to heavy metals.
Victoria Switzer, a plaintiff who lives about a mile from Carter's home, said she had joined the lawsuit because she had failed to get satisfaction from the state Department of Environmental Protection or her elected representatives.
"Lawyers were the last thing I wanted," she said. "We are not greedy people, we just want some justice."
The lawsuit accuses Cabot of negligence and says it has failed to restore residential water supplies disrupted by gas drilling. It seeks a permanent injunction to stop the drilling processes that are blamed for the contamination, as well as unspecified compensatory damages.
Residents of many gas-drilling areas in the United States say the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are contaminating ground water. However, they have been unable to prove that, in part because energy companies are not required to disclose the composition of their drilling fluids.
Gas deposits such as the Marcellus Shale offer the United States an opportunity to reduce dependence on overseas oil imports and reduce carbon emissions, advocates say. But development could slow if fracturing is shown to be environmentally damaging.
(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Michelle Nichols, Richard Chang and Steve Orlofsky)
[Green Business]
Electric carmaker Tesla preparing IPO: sources
Fri Nov 20, 2009 4:38pm EST
By Poornima Gupta
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. electric sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, two sources familiar with the matter said, amid growing interest in green technology and battery-powered vehicles.
An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric Roadster, is expected any day, said one of the sources. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months.
Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes declined to comment on what he called "rumor or speculation."
Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since Henry Ford's Ford Motor Co debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.
The company's chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an IPO was a possibility in either late 2008 or 2009.
But the financial market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Bros. in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year with a robust pace of new filings.
Tesla's IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on Sept 25.
Analysts have said that the success of A123, the first green technology IPO this year, would encourage more venture capital-backed green companies to go public.
Tesla will compete with established automakers like Ford, General Motors and Nissan Motor Co, all of which are racing to launch electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. Tesla, by contrast, is a small player with a high-end market and limited production.
A combination of factors has driven the recent interest in developing electric, or partially electric vehicles, including the Obama administration's push to have one million rechargeable vehicles on US roads by 2015 and low-cost Department of Energy loans for manufacturers.
VENTURE FUNDS BACK GREEN CARS
The carmaker is developing a second, lower-cost model, an electric sedan known as the Model S, which will have a base price of $49,900.
Tesla said in September it delivered 700 Roadsters since February 2008. The Roadster, which is built on a Lotus frame, can go from zero to sixty miles an hour in less than four seconds, making it faster than a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari Spider.
The electric car start-up was offered $465 million in low-cost loans by the U.S. Department of Energy to help build the new Model S. Tesla said it will build the new car in California.
Tesla's investors include Google Inc founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Other investors include Daimler AG; Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments, which owns a stake in Daimler; and venture capital funds Valor Equity Partners, Technology Partners, The Westly Group and Compass Venture Partners.
Tesla said it had achieved overall corporate profitability in July with about $1 million of earnings on revenue of $20 million.
But like established automakers, survival in the hyper-competitive U.S. automotive market has not been easy for Tesla. The company had to face cost overruns and production delays for the Roadster.
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Derek Caney)
[Green Business]
EU carbon drops below 13 eur/t to 7-week low
Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:34pm EST
LONDON (Reuters) - European carbon emissions futures fell below 13 euros on Friday to a seven-week low as industrial selling broke a key technical level and weak energy prices failed to support, traders said.
The benchmark contract for EU Allowances (EUAs) were down 35 cents or 2.54 percent to 13.05 euros ($19.41) a tonne by 1607 GMT, after dropping to 12.98 euros earlier.
EUAs last traded below 13 euros on October 5, when prices sank to 12.92 euros.
"We saw more industrials selling this morning, which was amplified by financials through stop loss selling triggered this afternoon," said Emmanuel Fages, carbon analyst at Societe Generale.
"We could finish the day down at around 12.80 euros."
Traders said prices were free to fall sharply when they broke a technical support level of 13.30-13.40 euros this morning.
British gas prices were lower on Friday as mild weather looked to keep heating demand down, while there was plenty of supply, including LNG cargoes heading for the country.
U.S. crude oil fell toward $76 a barrel on Friday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and as falling equities raised concerns about the economy and outlook for energy demand.
German Calendar 2010 baseload power on the EEX was down 25 cents or 0.54 percent at 45.85 euros per megawatt hour.
Certified emissions reductions (CERs) under the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism were down 17 cents or 1.38 percent to 12.18 euros a tonne.
The paper and pulp industry looks set to have quite a surplus of EUAs to 2012 as its emissions in the EU fell by almost 6.5 percent in 2008, according to data released by the Confederation of European Paper Industries.
The industry's emissions fell to 37.26 million tonnes in 2008 from 39.83 million in 2007, due to reduced output because of the economic slowdown and energy-saving measures.
(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Additional reporting by Michael Szabo; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
[Green Business]
Pennsylvania residents sue over gas drilling
Fri Nov 20, 2009 2:56pm EST
By Jon Hurdle
DIMOCK, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Residents of a small rural Pennsylvania town sued Cabot Oil & Gas Corp on Friday, claiming the company's natural-gas drilling has contaminated their water wells with toxic chemicals, caused sickness and reduced their property values.
The lawsuit accuses the company of violating state environmental laws by allowing drilling chemicals to escape from gas wells, where they are used in a technique called hydraulic fracturing.
A Cabot spokesman said the company had not had time to study the lawsuit in detail but said Cabot was in full compliance with Pennsylvania's environmental laws and "disappointed" by the lawsuit.
"We don't see merit in these claims," Cabot spokesman Ken Komoroski said.
The company, like others in the industry, has argued that its drilling processes are safe because chemicals are heavily diluted and are injected into the ground through layers of steel and concrete thousands of feet below the aquifers that are used for drinking water.
The industry says there has never been a documented case of ground water contamination because of hydraulic fracturing.
The case is one of the first to confront the industry over the technique, which critics claim pollutes aquifers with chemicals that can cause cancer and other serious illnesses.
Cabot's drilling allowed methane to escape into private water wells and in two cases caused wellhead explosions due to a gas build-up, the 15 families in the lawsuit claim.
Pat Farnelli, 46, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, told reporters on Friday that some of her eight children suffered stomach cramps after drinking water from the family's well, which is a few hundred yards from a gas well. She ruled out water-borne bacteria because boiling the water didn't help.
'WE WANT JUSTICE'
The suit is the culmination of complaints by residents of the northeastern Pennsylvania community where Cabot has drilled dozens of gas wells in its efforts to develop the Marcellus Shale, a massive gas formation that underlies about two-thirds of Pennsylvania and parts of surrounding states.
"These releases, spills and discharges caused the plaintiffs and their property to be exposed to such hazardous gases, chemicals and industrial wastes," said the complaint.
The complaint says residents have suffered neurological, gastrointestinal and dermatological symptoms from exposure to tainted water. They also say they have had blood test results consistent with exposure to heavy metals.
Victoria Switzer, a plaintiff who lives about a mile from Carter's home, said she had joined the lawsuit because she had failed to get satisfaction from the state Department of Environmental Protection or her elected representatives.
"Lawyers were the last thing I wanted," she said. "We are not greedy people, we just want some justice."
The lawsuit accuses Cabot of negligence and says it has failed to restore residential water supplies disrupted by gas drilling. It seeks a permanent injunction to stop the drilling processes that are blamed for the contamination, as well as unspecified compensatory damages.
Residents of many gas-drilling areas in the United States say the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are contaminating ground water. However, they have been unable to prove that, in part because energy companies are not required to disclose the composition of their drilling fluids.
Gas deposits such as the Marcellus Shale offer the United States an opportunity to reduce dependence on overseas oil imports and reduce carbon emissions, advocates say. But development could slow if fracturing is shown to be environmentally damaging.
(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Michelle Nichols, Richard Chang and Steve Orlofsky)
[Green Business]
Electric carmaker Tesla preparing IPO: sources
Fri Nov 20, 2009 4:38pm EST
By Poornima Gupta
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. electric sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, two sources familiar with the matter said, amid growing interest in green technology and battery-powered vehicles.
An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric Roadster, is expected any day, said one of the sources. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months.
Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes declined to comment on what he called "rumor or speculation."
Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since Henry Ford's Ford Motor Co debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.
The company's chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an IPO was a possibility in either late 2008 or 2009.
But the financial market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Bros. in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year with a robust pace of new filings.
Tesla's IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on Sept 25.
Analysts have said that the success of A123, the first green technology IPO this year, would encourage more venture capital-backed green companies to go public.
Tesla will compete with established automakers like Ford, General Motors and Nissan Motor Co, all of which are racing to launch electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. Tesla, by contrast, is a small player with a high-end market and limited production.
A combination of factors has driven the recent interest in developing electric, or partially electric vehicles, including the Obama administration's push to have one million rechargeable vehicles on US roads by 2015 and low-cost Department of Energy loans for manufacturers.
VENTURE FUNDS BACK GREEN CARS
The carmaker is developing a second, lower-cost model, an electric sedan known as the Model S, which will have a base price of $49,900.
Tesla said in September it delivered 700 Roadsters since February 2008. The Roadster, which is built on a Lotus frame, can go from zero to sixty miles an hour in less than four seconds, making it faster than a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari Spider.
The electric car start-up was offered $465 million in low-cost loans by the U.S. Department of Energy to help build the new Model S. Tesla said it will build the new car in California.
Tesla's investors include Google Inc founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Other investors include Daimler AG; Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments, which owns a stake in Daimler; and venture capital funds Valor Equity Partners, Technology Partners, The Westly Group and Compass Venture Partners.
Tesla said it had achieved overall corporate profitability in July with about $1 million of earnings on revenue of $20 million.
But like established automakers, survival in the hyper-competitive U.S. automotive market has not been easy for Tesla. The company had to face cost overruns and production delays for the Roadster.
(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Derek Caney)
※コメント投稿者のブログIDはブログ作成者のみに通知されます