JLN Environmental Energy, March 29, 2016 Why Power Markets Tilt Toward Renewables Even With Cheap Oil; China to More Than Triple Solar Power Capacity in Five Years; FactCheck Q&A: is Australia the world leader in household solar power?

Guest commentary — Carbon pricing – the time is now
By Ann Scott - Petoskey News
A common misperception to carbon pricing is, “That would hurt our economy.” Well, there is plenty of evidence that this is not so.
http://bit.ly/1SpUmls

Israeli Court Strikes Down Natural Gas Development Deal
By Isabel Kershner and Stanley Reed - The New York Times
Israel’s High Court of Justice struck down on Sunday a deal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached in December to enable the development of a major offshore natural gas field.
http://nyti.ms/1UwnGKU
The Fracking Lanes
By Daniel Gross - Slate
The story of the history of the United States is one of innovations and infrastructure working in tandem to forge new trade channels and routes. Some were abhorrent, like the triangle trade, which involved slaves and agricultural materials.
http://slate.me/1RvS8P7
Self-Bonding for Mines: The Coal is the Ultimate Collateral
By Jude Clemente - Forbes
For well over a century, coal has been America’s most reliable and affordable source of electricity.
http://onforb.es/1pEMX80
Big Coal dealt a big blow: Montanans shut down largest mine in North America
By Nick Engelfried - Waging Nonviolence
Montana communities won a victory against one of the world’s biggest coal companies earlier this month, when Arch Coal abandoned the Otter Creek mine – the largest proposed new coal strip mine in North America.
http://bit.ly/25rOY8y

Coal Suffering Bleak Year in China on Weakening Industrial Use
Bloomberg News
China’s coal use is forecast to fall a third year as industrial output slows, adding force to President Xi Jinping’s drive to cut overcapacity and dimming the hopes of global miners for an uptick in demand by the world’s biggest consumer.
http://bloom.bg/1UwpeV2

The $2.5 Billion U.S. Power Line That No State Can Stop
By Jonathan Crawford and Jim Polson - Bloomberg News
A $2.5-billion transmission line carrying wind power to the U.S. Southeast is coming -- whether state regulators there like it or not.
http://bloom.bg/1XXsk26
***LB: Also in this story "On Friday, the U.S. Energy Department used a decade-old statute to clear Clean Line Energy Partners LLC’s 705-mile (1,134-kilometer) power line for construction over any objections from the states involved."
FactCheck Q&A: is Australia the world leader in household solar power?
By Anna Bruce, Iain MacGill and Kylie Catchpole - The Conversation
Solar photovoltaics (PV) technology produces electricity directly from solar energy.
http://bit.ly/1RJlcYF
Focus on local demand to win WTO solar dispute, says Timothy Meyer
By Sanjay Vijayakumar - The Hindu
India may succeed in its solar dispute with the U.S. at the World Trade Organisation if it takes steps to develop its manufacturing capacity to serve domestic demand which is not addressed by global companies, according to Vanderbilt University Law School Professor, Timothy Meyer.
http://bit.ly/1TdBJU5
***LB: Also in this story "Last month, WTO Dispute Settlement Panel ruled India’s requirement for companies that sell solar power to the government use only locally-made parts and components in its national solar power program discriminated U.S. manufacturers."

Rooftop Solar Booms in Japan as Market Moves Beyond Rich Nations
By Chisaki Watanabe - Bloomberg News
Japan’s home rooftops are emerging as the next hot spot in what for years has been one of the biggest solar markets in the world, marking a move beyond the utility-scale projects in rich industrial nations that have fueled most of the industry’s growth.
http://bloom.bg/1XXtjPR

JSW Said to Offer Guarantees to Fund Jindal Power Plant Purchase
By George Smith Alexander - Bloomberg News
JSW Energy Ltd., controlled by the owners of India’s third-largest steelmaker, will offer little upfront cash in its planned acquisition of an electricity project from Jindal Steel & Power Ltd., people with knowledge of the matter said.
http://bloom.bg/1RvSOUG
***LB: Also in this story "JSW aims to reach an agreement by the end of March on the purchase of Jindal Steel’s 1,000-megawatt plant in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private."

GCL System Eyes Australia's Solar Market Amid Output Expansion
Bloomberg News
GCL System Integration Technology Co., the Chinese solar-panel maker whose production rose fivefold in 2015, is targeting growth in Australia’s solar market as it pushes to expand overseas.
http://bloom.bg/1pENMOj

India Opens Market for Solar Battery Makers Such as Tesla
By Anindya Upadhyay - Bloomberg News
India plans for the first time to include energy storage as a requirement when a solar project is tendered this month, opening what could become a significant new market to battery makers such as Tesla Motors Inc., Samsung SDI Co. and Panasonic Corp.
http://bloom.bg/1PzTp5s

Is India facing its worst-ever water crisis?
By Soutik Biswas - BBC News
On 11 March, panic struck engineers at a giant power station on the banks of the Ganges river in West Bengal state.
http://bbc.in/25rQJm4
Saudi Land Purchases Fuel Debate Over US Water Rights
By Elliot Spagat and Aya Batrawy - Associated Press
Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company will soon be unable to farm alfalfa in its own parched country to feed its 170,000 cows.
http://abcn.ws/1pEOjzw
Climate Change Is Killing Off a 5,000-Year-Old Iraqi Culture
By Daniel Oberhaus - Mother Board
As our species finds itself staring down the barrel at widespread environmental collapse due to climate change, some of us have more to worry about than others.
http://bit.ly/25rO4c8