** The Biden administration has proposed limiting environmental reviews surrounding power lines, large-scale batteries and solar farms as part of a larger effort to develop more renewable energy. The Energy Department said it is proposing the changes “to promote the development of clean energy and supporting infrastructure.”
** Chevron Corporation (CVX) is in the initial stages of evaluating alternatives for approximately 70,000 net acres of land in East Texas’ Haynesville shale formation, following a temporary development pause earlier this year, per a Reuters report.
** California regulators voted to cut incentives for schools, apartment buildings and farmers to install rooftop solar panels, delivering another blow to an industry reeling from a slowdown in sales.
** During a raucous meeting attended by many fracking opponents, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission OK’d several parcels for fracking by outside entities — all of them owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Transportation — that include state parks and designated wildlife areas.
** The US sanctioned three shipping companies located in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly violating the $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil in its second round of penalties for apparent breaches of the measure.
** There’s good news for natural gas customers in part of the Kansas City area. Spire Energy and the Missouri Public Service Commission announced Wednesday that natural gas rates are going down in Spire’s West region.
** A U.S. House committee said it is investigating the Federal Trade Commission’s planned rules to require new consumer protections for car buyers that are sharply opposed by auto dealers.
World
** Japanese companies are dropping out of offshore wind projects in Taiwan, one of fastest growing markets for the technology, as rising costs and worsening delays plunge the industry into deeper trouble worldwide.
** Germany was already struggling to keep up with its climate goals. Now that effort appears to be even further out of reach after a court ruling this week. Judges at the constitutional court in Karlsruhe struck down €60 billion ($65 billion) in off-budget funding for clean energy and industrial projects. Government officials fear that similar financing vehicles — perhaps as much as €770 billion — may also need to be changed.
** The United Arab Emirates inaugurated on Thursday one of the world’s biggest solar plants, two weeks before the oil-rich Gulf state hosts UN climate talks. The Al Dhafra plant, south of the capital Abu Dhabi, stretches over 21 square kilometres (eight square miles) of desert, an area about one-fifth the size of Paris.
** South Africa’s supply of natural gas is set to plunge within the next three to four years and there’s a risk of a shortfall triggering the country’s next economic crisis, the head of an industry body warned.
** The Swedish government pledged to take an active role in securing financing for a “massive” buildout of nuclear power to meet an expected surge in electricity demand.
** The gap between liquefied natural gas prices in Asia and Europe is increasing as tighter restrictions at the drought-stricken Panama Canal threaten to make journeys costlier from mainly US suppliers.
** Unbeknownst to one of Poland’s highest courts, someone was running a crypto mining rig directly under a government building — and stealing its electricity to boot. As Poland’s TVN24 reports, the rig’s computers under the Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw were discovered at the end of August by a maintenance worker, prompting an investigation that revealed the nature of the operation.