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Archive for February, 2012
SolarCity IPO expected in third quarter: source
Posted by Reuters: Nichola Groom on February 3rd, 2012
Reuters: Solar power company SolarCity is expected to debut on U.S. markets in the third quarter this year and has hired Goldman Sachs to underwrite its initial public offering, a source close to the company said on Thursday.
The San Mateo, California-based startup will file its IPO plans with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission "within a few weeks," the source said. The deal is expected to value the company at around $1.5 billion.
Spokesmen for both SolarCity and Goldman would not comment....
How the Sierra Club Took Millions From the Natural Gas Industry—and Why They Stopped
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2012
Time: Mainstream environmental groups have struggled to find the right line on shale natural gas and the hydraulic fracturing or fracking process. Gas has a much smaller carbon footprint than coal--according to most scientists--and produces far fewer air pollutants. That was enough for many major green groups to give support to gas as a "bridge fuel" to a cleaner energy future--the next best domestic alternative to coal as an electricity source while alternatives like wind and solar scaled up. But for...
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Posted by Guardian: Lizzy Davies on February 3rd, 2012
Guardian: Opening the door to the animal house, passing a rhino on the way and patting the giraffe inside, Sarah Forsyth points out small white boxes that dot the walls. "Everywhere you look there's a detector or a motion sensor," she says, chuckling in front of one that presented the security firm with a peculiarly zoo-specific problem. "These are the ones the giraffe were licking."
She can laugh about it now, but two months ago, when Colchester zoo decided to put in place the £300,000 alarm system, Forsyth's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Zoos tighten security as threat of animal poaching growsWorld soy supplier Argentina needs wider rains
Posted by Reuters: Hugh Bronstein on February 3rd, 2012
Reuters: Farm analysts living in Argentina's capital city went to sleep on Thursday soothed by the welcome sound of rainstorms, but the showers failed to relieve many of the country's drought-hit soy fields.
While the streets and wide avenues of Buenos Aires were deluged late Thursday, causing traffic jams and a breakdown in train service, some key soy producing areas remained dry after months of below-average precipitation.
Argentina supplies nearly half the world's soymeal, used for animal feed, and...
Kenyan drought puts traditional weather forecasters on the defensive
Posted by AlertNet: Abjata Khalif on February 3rd, 2012
AlertNet: Nomadic communities living off the dry terrain of northern Kenya have relied for generations on the powers of village elders to predict the weather. But the divinations of traditional forecasters were confounded by an unexpectedly severe drought in 2011, threatening herders' livelihoods.
Now pastoralists and meteorological experts are trying to find better ways to cope with regional weather that is increasingly difficult to anticipate - a situation some believe is linked to climate change.
Herders...
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Posted by Independent: Tim Moynihan on February 3rd, 2012
Independent: Britain is lying in wait for widespread snow this weekend after another bitterly cold day in which temperatures in some places struggled to get above freezing.
North Dartmoor recorded a temperature of minus 2.6C at midday, while High Wycombe recorded a temperature of minus 0.7C at 3pm this afternoon.
Temperatures in the South West, London and East Anglia did not get any higher than 2C or 3C, and forecasters are warning that central and eastern areas of England and Wales should expect 5-10cm...
Glaciers now under attack from ice thieves: UN
Posted by New Kerela: None Given on February 3rd, 2012
New Kerela: Criminal gangs are becoming a threat to the world’s glaciers, which are already receding as a result of climate change, the United Nations said on Thursday, citing a case in Chile where police are investigating the theft of some 5,000 kilograms of millennia-old ice from the Jorge Montt glacier.
Mining for ice could pose a major additional threat to the 454 square-kilometre glacier, which is situated in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins National Park, and is part of the 13,000-square kilometre Southern...
Coal mines shut as Australia evacuates flooded towns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 3rd, 2012
Reuters: Heavy rains shut four coal mines in eastern Australia on Friday as military helicopters evacuated stranded residents from inundated towns, and authorities warned of further flash flooding.
More than 11,000 people in Queensland state have been isolated by the flooding and thousands had been evacuated, emergency services authorities said.
The town of Moree, the centre of the region's cotton growing, has been cut in half by record floodwaters, while authorities are using helicopters to relocate...
Europe is too emotional about fracking, says Shell chief
Posted by Press Association: Tom Bawden on February 3rd, 2012
Press Association: Shell's chief executive, Peter Voser, called on Europe for a less "emotional" response to fracking, as he outlined plans to accelerate the oil giant's use of the controversial technology used to release hydrocarbons from rocks.
Mr Voser said Shell would invest $6bn (£3.8bn) to appraise, explore and develop gas and oil reserves contained in rocks this year, as it looked to significantly expand the volume of hydrocarbons it produces.
About $3bn of the total will be invested developing sites in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Europe is too emotional about fracking, says Shell chiefFamine ends in Somalia, as drought looms in West Africa
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Scott Baldauf on February 3rd, 2012
Christian Science Monitor: Somalia’s seven-month-long famine – which killed tens of thousands and forced nearly 4 million people dependent on food aid for survival – has finally come to an end, according to the United Nations.
In a study of weather patterns, improved local harvests, and availability of food aid, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Mark Bowden told reporters today that “famine conditions are no longer present.”
The victory is a fragile one, however, as an internationalized war in Somalia rages...
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