The Sacramento Bee -- Roseville's Solar Power Inc. reported another quarterly loss today and warned shareholders again the company is in danger of going out of business.

The developer of solar projects across the company said it lost $3.1 million during the first quarter, compared to a $1.1 million loss a year earlier. The per-share loss doubled to 2 cents.

Revenue plunged to $1.8 million from $26.3 million.

Much of the solar-power industry has slumped badly, due mainly to over-building by Chinese manufacturers. LDK Solar Co., a Chinese company that owns 71 percent of the Roseville firm, is facing significant financial problems, which are affecting operations in Roseville.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today, Solar Power warned anew that there is "substantial doubt as to the company's abil  (read more)

U-T San Diego -- The mystery behind a fallen turbine blade at the Ocotillo Wind power plant east of San Diego has led the manufacturer to curtail operations at select wind farms around the world.

Siemens, a global leader in wind-turbine manufacturing, confirmed Monday that it has convened a team of experts at a wind farm outside the desert town of Ocotillo, where a 170-foot blade broke loose and fell to the ground. Residents of Ocotillo noticed the fallen blade on Thursday morning.

"Siemens does not yet know the root cause of this incident and is working to determine if and how this is related to a recent similar incident in Iowa," the company said in a written statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, Siemens is taking the step of curtailing all turbines with the B53 blade type globally."

On April 5,  (read more)

Bloomberg -- Canadian energy producers lobbying for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline are targeting undecided Democratic lawmakers in Washington in advance of a decision on the $5.3 billion project.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which represents more than 100 energy producers including Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (COS) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)’s Imperial Oil Ltd. (IMO), will travel to the U.S. capital next month to promote TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s plan to carry Alberta oil-sands crude to Gulf Coast refineries. A decision by U.S. President Barack Obama on the pipeline is expected this year.

The association’s focus is “primarily on what I would characterize as moderate Democrats, those who are perhaps on the fence, who are perhaps looking for more information as to what will.  (read more)

Motorsport.com -- Alongside the Vantage GT3 charger Aston Martin’s mould-breaking Hybrid Hydrogen Rapide S – designed and built with the support of hydrogen specialists Alset Global and based on the manufacturer’s new four-door, four-seat sports GT – achieved its ambitious goal of completing the world-famous 24-hour race.

“This is a historic day for two reasons,” explains Jose Ignacio Calindo, CEO of Alset Global. “Besides being the first hydrogen-powered race car to compete and undertake zero CO2 emissions laps in an international event, it has showcased the most practical technology available to fundamentally address the challenge of global emissions without disrupting the automotive industry.”

The #005 V12 Vantage, which encountered a minor electrical issue in the first few hours of the race, charged  (read more)

FORBES -- Overshadowed by the debate over natural gas exports, a battle is brewing in the Western United States over exports of coal to Europe and, especially, to the booming economies of Asia. Buoyed by rising overseas demand for American coal, big coal producers including Arch Coal and Peabody are seeking to build new ports and new shipping facilities, particularly along the West Coast, to send U.S. coal from the Powder River Basin, in Montana and Wyoming, across the Pacific.

Those plans have met with fierce resistance from local residents and environmental groups. ”I want to make it absolutely clear: I am vehemently opposed for a private, for-profit corporation to use eminent domain to condemn my private land for a rail line to export coal to China,” Clint McRae, a rancher whose family has...  (read more)

USA Today - One million plug-ins -- In 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama promised 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015. It seemed like a typical campaign-trail promise, but Obama stuck to it, reiterating the promise in his 2011 State of the Union speech.

Seems like the campaign promise will come up a bit short.

Despite numerous federal, state and local tax incentives, plug-in sales have trickled. Between December 2010, when the first Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf plug-ins went on sale, and April 2013, U.S. shoppers have bought just more than 95,000 plug-in cars, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association — this despite more than 10 plug-in cars on the market in at least some states.

A million plug-ins were "pie-in-the-sky," CNW Marketing Research President Art Spinella said.  (read more)

The Motley Fool -- Most people don't realize how much GM actually took from taxpayers, and how little it's given back. If I told you GM has repaid only $6.7 billion out of the $49.5 billion in loans it was given, would you be surprised? If I told you the expected loss to the U.S. Treasury of roughly $12 billion isn't even a fraction of the real cost, would you believe me? If not, you might be in for a nasty surprise.  (read more)

Go Erke -- What do the Chevrolet Cruze, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mazda6 have in common? Generally, not much.

But this year all three vehicles will be offered with optional diesel engines, an unprecedented proliferation of a technology traditionally offered by German automakers.

"There's no shortage of manufacturers investing in (diesel engines)," said Jeremy Acevedo, an industry analyst with Edmunds.com. "Now, they just need to resolve its image. For a lot of consumers here in America, they think of loud, gurgling cars pluming smoke."

Today's diesel is a far cry from Grandpa's. Billed as "clean" or, as Jeep calls it, "eco," modern diesel fuel is an ultra-low-sulfur formulation with dramatically lower emissions than previous-generation diesels while also offering a peppier driving experience and up  (read more)

msn auto -- Chances are it's been a few years since you bought a new car. In those years, 40 mpg has become the new 30 mpg, as smaller conventional cars are increasingly able to crack the magic 40 mpg barrier on the highway. And if you consider hybrids, 40 mpg is downright mainstream.

So, should you dump your current ride and buy a 40 mpg car? Sounds like a silly question. Who wouldn't love to pass up the pump on a more frequent basis and save money in the process? Let's consider all the costs and capability trade-offs to see if you'd do better to stick with Old Faithful out in the driveway for a couple more years or choose a new vehicle that gets close to 40 mpg.  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog -- It's been a perilous week for motorists in the nation's midsection as gasoline prices have soared. There's good news: relief may soon be on the way.

Spot gasoline prices, which have a strong and direct impact on retail prices, have seemingly begun to move lower. As spot prices move lower, the decreases are passed on to wholesale channels, and finally, allow gas stations to drop their retail prices several days later.

But it all comes too late, as many areas have set all time record highs for gasoline prices. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Oklahoma have all seen new statewide record high averages in the last week. Cities breaking their all time highs include Des Moines, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Fargo, Oklahoma City, Sioux...  (read more)

The Telegraph -- Up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil were previously produced by wells around the city of Raqqa and in the desert region to its east that are now in rebel hands - in particular Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda off-shoot which is the strongest faction in this part of the country.

Now the violently anti-Western jihadist group, which has been steadily extending its control in the region, is selling the crude oil to local entrepreneurs, who use home-made refineries to produce low-grade petrol and other fuels for Syrians facing acute shortages.

The ability of Jabhat al-Nusra to profit from the oil locally, despite international sanctions which have hindered its sale abroad, will be particularly worrying to the European Union, which has voted to ease the embargo but at the same time wants to...  (read more)

Post-Gazette -- You've heard of house flipping. Now, lease flipping has come to Pennsylvania's natural gas fields.

A wave of investment firms hoping to cash in on drilling in the Marcellus Shale is appearing in deed books across the region. They operate much like traditional land agents, negotiating with landowners to secure rights to the lucrative shale gas underneath the acreage.

The difference? The landowners have already leased access to the land to gas drillers, and signing away the rights now can mean forfeiting any future royalties that may come with gas production.

"It's a gamble," said Martin Schardt, executive vice president of the American Association of Professional Landmen. "The landowner can get the money right now, or the company could drill on that land and it could be a real barn-burne  (read more)

Bradenton Herald -- The oil industry is primed for resurgence in Southwest Florida.

Fueled by lofty oil prices, more efficient drilling techniques and the promise of untapped but also largely unproven reservoirs, at least a half-dozen companies plan to expand exploration across the region.

They've quietly spent between $10 million and $20 million over the last few years, by the estimate of one industry executive, to buy mineral rights covering massive swaths of Collier, Lee and Hendry counties.

Now, drilling is picking up, with companies reviving long-abandoned fields and low-producing wells in and bordering the Big Cypress National Preserve, the historic heart of oil operations that go back 70 years. They also aim to poke prospecting "wildcat" wells into new areas like a tomato farm in Immokalee and...  (read more)

NewsOK HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) -- A Hastings ethanol plant that announced in February that it would temporarily shut down will not reopen.
The Ag Processing Inc. cooperative said Friday that it is permanently shutting down the 55-million-gallon-a-year plant, citing the plant's age and high utility costs associated with running it.

Officials had cited a slowdown in the economy, high corn prices and low oil prices for the temporary shutdown.
Matt Caswell, vice president of corporate relations with AGP in Omaha, said the company didn't see "any turn-around in the industry anytime soon."
Most of the plant's 43 employees found jobs within AGP's other operations in Hastings. AGP also operates a soybean processing plant, vegetable oil refinery and an AminoPlus production facility in the city.
APG says none of those facilities...  (read more)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- As a paid engineering intern the last two summers at Exxon Mobil's Joliet Refinery in Channahon, Ill., Megan DeGraaf worked on projects that her full-time colleagues considered low priority. But the results she produced on equipment and pipe designs were solid enough that the oil giant offered her a permanent position.

In August, the recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh will join Exxon Mobil as a mechanical contact engineer at the Joliet downstream refinery where oil is processed for retail consumption.

Though she didn't set her sights on a career in energy when she enrolled at Pitt, Ms. DeGraaf joins a steadily growing number of women landing jobs in the burgeoning oil and gas industry.

Of 3,900 positions added in oil and gas nationwide in the first quarter of 2013, almost..  (read more)

WKYT -- PIKEVILLE - Officials say around 250 coal jobs are coming to eastern KY.

High Ridge Mining plans to develop seven deep mines in Pike County which will employ 36 miners each.

"We are probably still a month off from doing our major majority of our hiring," said Kyle Smith.

He says the prep plant has been idled for about 10 years, and they are working to get it ready. Right now, the seven mines are also idled.

“Every time our coal industry hits rock bottom, it’s not the big national companies that bring it back, it’s the local companies,” Carlton said.(Smith) is taking advantage of the need for coal in foreign markets. This won’t be the last we hear about our coal being exported to Asia and Europe because the market for our coal is no longer domestic. Washington has killed our domestic  (read more)

Forbes -- Chevron CVX +0.54% may be making a pact with the devil. On Thursday, Argentine energy producer YPF announced it had reached a “final agreement” with the global oil giant to develop the Vaca Muerta basin, considered by Chevron the second largest reservoir of unconventional oil in the world. The second largest U.S. oil and gas producer has pledged to invest $1.5 billion in the first phase of the project, which the Argentine government desperately needs after being forced to import energy for the first time in 17 years in 2012.

Facing runaway inflation and pressure on its precious foreign reserves, the administration of Cristina Kirchner forcibly nationalized YPF last year, throwing out Spain’s Repsol without compensation, which is an indication of the types of risks Chevron is willing to  (read more)

Yahoo News -- Tests and scientific experts have already claimed that many health and environmental concerns tied to hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, often voiced by opponents of the process, lack scientific backing. Now, yet another study has found that wells near fracking sites did not experience water contamination.
Duke University and members of the U.S. Geological Survey examined 127 drinking water wells for evidence of pollution from methane gas or chemicals. With more than 4,000 new gas wells drilled in Arkansas' Fayetteville Shale since 2004, researchers were looking for the presence of contamination from drilling, or from naturally occurring gas or ultra-salty liquids that seep up through pre-existing faults.  (read more)

Reuters -- Marathon Petroleum Corp said on Thursday that the 223,000 barrel-per-day crude oil pipeline from Wood River to Patoka, Illinois, remained shut after it leaked water and oil during testing over the weekend as part of routine maintenance.

In a filing with Illinois regulators, Marathon said the incident occurred near midnight on May 11 in the city of Greenville in Bond County, southern Illinois.

Marathon said that at the time of the leak the pipeline was shut for testing as part of routine maintenance and the company estimated the release at 2,500 barrels of hydrostatic test water and less than two gallons of crude oil.  (read more)

Downstream Today -- The construction of a natural gas pipeline from southern Texas to central Mexico for state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, will allow gas imports from the U.S. to triple, to around 3 billion cubic feet per day by 2015 to meet increasing demand by industry for the relatively cheap fuel, a Pemex official said Wednesday.

"The lack of gas means that our industries are having to burn fuel oil," which is currently about three times as expensive as natural gas, Mr. Martinez said.

The gas supply problem is expected to be alleviated with the Los Ramones project, a pipeline that will carry gas from southern Texas to the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, which is a hub for the Mexican auto industry.  (read more)

NBC -- A group of self-styled Robin Hoods who scamper around the streets of a New Hampshire city and feed expired parking meters for strangers has been hit with a harassment lawsuit.

The city of Keene says its three parking inspectors have been taunted, insulted and followed by the group — to the point that one of them says he has suffered heart palpitations and is thinking about quitting his job.

In its lawsuit, the city is asking a court to order the group not to come within 50 feet of the parking inspectors.

The suit names six defendants, most of them bloggers for Free Keene, which describes itself on its Facebook page as “your connection to the liberty activism movement in New Hampshire.”
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One of the six, Ian Freeman, told NBC News that “The Robin Hooders have always  (read more)

Fierce Energy -- Despite some high-profile scrutiny of the failures of some renewable energy companies, consumers still view solar and wind energy favorably, according to Navigant Research -- but not as favorably as they did in 2008.

"Since 2009, there have been steady declines in favorability for some clean energy concepts, particularly the areas that have traditionally enjoyed strong consumer support such as solar energy, wind energy, hybrid vehicles, and electric cars," said Clint Wheelock, managing director at Navigant Research. "Overall, support for clean energy concepts in our tracking survey held fairly steady from 2011 to 2012, but the decline for solar energy in particular was...  (read more)

CNBC.com -- Some of the most popular small SUVs have failed crash tests that simulate a common and deadly front end collision.

"These are troubling results," said Joe Nolan with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "These small SUV's are very popular and for the most part pretty safe, but with these tests most of them did not do well."

For the first time the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted small overlap crash tests with small SUV's. Eleven of the thirteen models tested received marginal or poor ratings.

"Too often many of these models did a poor job protecting the front occupant cabin," said Nolan.
 (read more)

The Deseret News -- Companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands will be required to disclose publicly the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations, the Obama administration said Thursday. The new "fracking" rule replaces a draft proposed last year that was withdrawn amid industry complaints that federal regulation could hinder an ongoing boom in natural gas production.

The new draft rule relies on an online database used by Colorado and 10 other states to track the chemicals used in fracking operations. FracFocus.org is a website formed by industry and intergovernmental groups in 2011 that allows users to gather well-specific data on thousands of drilling sites.

The proposed rule also sets standards for proper construction of wells and disposal of wastewater.  (read more)

USA Today -- It's been a rollercoaster year for gas prices, which began the year averaging $3.29 a gallon, then zoomed to $3.78 in February before dropping to $3.50 last month. Current average price: $3.60.
Troubles at several oil refineries are driving gasoline prices sharply higher in the Midwest, and the regional shortages are expected to boost pump prices nationwide.

While the USA may be dripping in new found crude oil deposits and early May supplies were at their highest levels since the early 1930s, issues at a handful of refineries that turn crude into gasoline and diesel fuel underscore how kinks in the supply chain can cause quick surges in what consumers pay at the pump.

Gas prices in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin have spiked  (read more)