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Bush Praises the Mighty Babassu Nut

Daniel Englander: March 5, 2008, 12:02 PM
Speaking at WIREC today, President Bush announced his amazement with big nuts. "I was interested to see that Virgin Atlantic flew a 747 from London's Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam, fueled partly by coconuts and Brazilian babassu nut," Bush said, continuing "I've never seen a babassu nut, but it's amazing that it helped power an airplane the size of a 747." I'm not even making this up. The money quote and a moment of clarity, after the jump.
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Another Stay of Execution for Hoku

Daniel Englander: March 5, 2008, 10:13 AM
Hoku's Pocatello, ID, dream plant is slowly becoming my favorite money pit. Except Dustin Shindo does a lousy Tom Hanks impression. This morning Global Expertise Wafer Divison, a subsidiary of Solar Fabrik AG, announced it will amend its supply agreement with Hoku, granting the Hawaii company a two month extension to complete financing for the Pocatello poly plant. You'd think I'd get tired of reporting this story? The extension moves Hoku's financing deadline to May 31, making it consistent with two previous extensions accorded with Sanyo and Suntech. As Shindo drowns his sorrows in a pink Mai Tai, I consider how we ended up here.
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GE Takes on the EV Market

Daniel Englander: March 5, 2008, 7:59 AM
About a month ago I posted a response to Xconomy's William Taylor, arguing (along with my homey Andy Grove) that GE should get into the electric vehicle game. Well, it turns out my mother isn't the only person reading this blog. Announcements made today at WIREC and the Geneva Auto Show by GE, A123 Systems, and Think Global point to a significant investment and development relationship in the works among the three companies. To date, GE Energy Financial Services has invested nearly $20 million in A123, making it the battery company's largest cash investor. GE has also invested $4 million in Think Global to support Think's commercialization using A123 batteries. After the jump, it's electric!
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The Morning Feedstock

Daniel Englander: March 5, 2008, 4:30 AM
  • French offset company Eco-Carbone has raised roughly $3.2 million in PE funding. The company, which traps methane from Chinese coal mines, is the latest in a line of recent carbon offsetting and trading companies to form or receive funding over the last few months. The difference between Eco-Carbone and the rest of the offsetting crowd can be found in its unassailable business model. Because, if there's one thing the Chinese are really good at, it's trapping things in mines.

  • Tesla head Elon Musk is unmasked as one of the backers of Climos, the ocean seeding firm. Climos received $3.5 million in Series A funding a few weeks ago, having overcome the vast anti-algae conspiracy that plagued its rival. Musk, along with EnerNOC-backer Braemer Energy Ventures, were reportedly torn away from throwing vast sums of money down an Eco-Carbone owned coal pit long enough to take up this way more creative way of blowing wads of cash.

  • The EPA is in rebellion! 19 union heads, representing nearly 10,000 EPA employees, have filed a sternly worded letter to EPA chief Steven Johnson saying he falls to his knees "whenever political direction from other federal entities or private sector interests so direct." The employees' frustration goes beyond Johnson's refusal to let California regulate its own emissions, including failure to regulate "mercury emissions from power plants" and general "abuses of our good nature and trust." Johnson could not be reached for comment yesterday, as he was speaking on a panel entitled "The Economic and Environmental Benefits of Renewable Energy" at WIREC. Don't worry - his fingers were crossed the whole time.

  • The Energy Information Administration predicts the U.S. will fall 3.5 billion gallons short of the 36 billion gallon Renewable Fuel Standard target set for 2022. EIA chief Guy Caruso told the Senate Energy Committee the U.S. would need to repeal the ethanol tariff and begin importing ethanol to make up for the shortfall. Dependence on foreign oil doesn't count if it's foreign bio-oil. Ha! After their busy day, Caruso and Johnson went out for a Coke.

  • And finally today... It's time to play Who's Got The Better Secret Agenda?

Latest Update: Today 12:54 AM

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