A Dozen States File Suit Against New Coal Rules

Twelve states filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration on Friday seeking to block an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to regulate coal-fired power plants in an effort to stem climate change. The plaintiffs are led by West Virginia and include states that are home to some of the largest producers of coal and consumers of coal-fired electricity.

Oil spill damage to Gulf was deeper, wider than thought, say scientists

Four years after a BP oil rig exploded and flooded the Gulf of Mexico with an estimated 170 million gallons of oil, scientists have discovered further evidence of coral communities affected by this environmental disaster. Scientists at Pennsylvania State University, in State College, Pa., found coral communities that show signs of damage from 2010’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill more than 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the disaster site. The new findings suggest that the oil spill’s footprint is both deeper and wider than was previously thought.

 

Biofuels Power Corp Announces Plans to Build Gas-to-Liquids Pilot Plant in Houston, Texas

Biofuels Power Corporation (OTCBB:BFLS) announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Africa) (Pty) Ltd (“ThyssenKrupp”) and Liberty GTL, Inc. (“Liberty”) to build a small-scale gas-to-liquid demonstration facility in Houston, Texas (“GTL Pilot Plant”). The parties have established a non-binding target date to complete installation and commissioning of the GTL Pilot Plant on or before December 31, 2014. The purpose of the GTL Pilot Plant is to commercially demonstrate converting stranded natural gas resources to synthetic crude oil.

 

Jacksonville CNG station for entire public on its way, prompting forecasts for revolution in local truck fuel

The rush to make Jacksonville one of the leading players in the natural gas industry took another step Wednesday, when work began on a publicly accessible compressed-natural-gas station.

 

Jobs in gas, oil: Almost 1 in 7 private-sector N.D. jobs tied to the industry

North Dakota’s thriving oil and gas industry accounts for nearly one in seven private-sector jobs covered by unemployment insurance, according to data that could have a big impact on how tax revenue flows to oil-impacted cities, counties and school districts.

Chinese company to build methanol complex in Louisiana

Yuhuang Chemical Inc, a North American subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co Ltd, is trying to cash in on the low shale gas and energy costs in Louisiana by producing methanol for the growing Chinese market