Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (180720)	11/20/2009 3:24:30 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362458

Valero Closes Delaware Plant, the Third Shut in U.S. (Update1) By Aaron Clark and Nidaa Bakhsh Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Valero Energy Corp. said it will permanently close its Delaware City, Delaware, refinery because of “very poor economic conditions.” The 190,200 barrel-a-day plant is the third U.S. refinery to shutter because of weak fuel demand. bloomberg.com == UPDATE: BP CEO Says US Gasoline Demand Peaked In 2007 NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. gasoline demand, hammered by the recession, will never return to 2007's peak, as greater use of biofuels and increased engine efficiency cut consumption of the fossil fuel, BP PLC (BP) Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Thursday. "We will never sell more gasoline in the U.S. than we sold in 2007," Hayward said in an interview with Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. U.S. Department of Energy data show consumption of motor gasoline fell 3.2% in 2008, from a peak average of 9.3 million barrels a day ... paywall online.wsj.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (180720)	11/20/2009 3:28:44 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362458

China goin' way massive Beijing to Boost Alternative Energy, Electric Cars (Update1) By Bloomberg News Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Beijing plans to build a 70 megawatt solar power plant and a 50 megawatt biomass power plant as part of the city’s focus on expanding the use of alternative energy, the capital’s Development and Reform Commission said today. The government will also develop wind power, nuclear power and geothermal power, according to a statement by the commission issued before a news briefing. “We aren’t going to build a nuclear power plant,” Fei Xiang, division chief for high-technology industries at the commission told reporters. “We will provide technology services to the nuclear power industry, taking advantage of the presence of big nuclear power producers in Beijing.” The number of electric buses on the city’s roads will also be increased and by 2011 the capital will have 3,000 vehicles powered by electricity in the public services sector, he said. The government is also considering a policy to subsidize the purchase of electric cars, Zhu Xiaolong, an official with the city’s automotive industry development department, told the briefing. To contact the reporter on this story: Ying Wang in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net bloomberg.com == China May Increase Wind Turbine Exports, Morgan Stanley Says By Dinakar Sethuraman Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China may increase wind turbine sales to the U.S. and Europe because of lower domestic demand and an overcapacity in manufacturing, threatening global makers, an official at Morgan Stanley said. Power grid constraints in China may leave as much as 4 gigawatts of wind power generation capacity lying idle, slowing further additions in producing electricity from wind, said Sunil Gupta, managing director for Asia and head of clean energy at Morgan Stanley in Singapore. As much as 40 percent of China’s wind power generating capacity may be unutilized, he said. Growth in Chinese wind power output capacity “will slow unless the grid is fixed,” Gupta said at the Clean Energy Expo today. “We will see an onslaught of wind turbines exports from China to the U.S. and Europe hurting foreign makers.” Vestas Wind Systems AS, General Electric Co. and Suzlon Energy Ltd. dominate the global market for wind turbines, while Dongfang Electric Corp., Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co. and Sinovel Wind Co., which supply the Chinese market, have about a 4 percent share, Gupta said. India and China’s wind power generating capacity growth rates are “significantly” higher than the rest of the world and those “growth premiums” will vanish, he said. The rate of return on wind projects in India are less than 12 percent in many cases and are not very attractive for investors, while China’s inability to link the transmission networks to wind farms are crimping growth, Gupta said. Chinese wind turbine makers may consolidate because there are too many of them, he said. Solar Power Prices of solar components and modules may decline further after they fell last year even as growth of solar power installations in the third quarter has Asian solar equipment makers displaying sold-out boards, Gupta said. Prices of polysilicon, the raw material used in solar panels, has dropped from about $450 a kilogram in 2008 to less than $70 and may stay at such levels until 2013, Michael Liebreich, chairman of New Energy Finance, a London-based consulting firm, said in a presentation at the event. Overcapacity may persist for the next couple of years, he said. With further declines in solar cell component prices, which may fall to less than $3 per watt next year from $3.70 currently, solar power generation prices will move closer to grid parity in Japan, Portugal, Italy and perhaps Singapore, Gupta said. That means solar power generation prices may be competitive against some fossil fuels without any government subsidies. To contact the reporter on this story: Dinakar Sethuraman in Singapore at dinakar@bloomberg.net. bloomberg.com