From Acciona wins 1,300 MW in new U.S. projects:

Spanish construction firm Acciona, the world’s largest wind power developer, says it has won rights to develop 1,300 megawatts (MW) of wind assets in Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.

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Acciona is to supply its own wind turbines for the development projects from its new U.S. production facility in Iowa.

Peter Duprey, CEO of Acciona Energy North America, said the deal “fits extremely well with the addition of our wind turbine manufacturing facility in Iowa and leveraging the local support for wind energy in the Midwest.”

Once again: Renewable energy typically means localized manufacturing, installation, and maintenance jobs, with no money leaving the country to buy fuel.

From 2007 seen as second warmest year as climate shifts:

This year is on track to be the second warmest since records began in the 1860s and floods in Pakistan or a heatwave in Greece may herald worse disruptions in store from global warming, experts said on Friday.

“2007 is looking as though it will be the second warmest behind 1998,” said Phil Jones, head of the Climatic Research Unit at Britain’s University of East Anglia, which provides data to the U.N.’s International Meteorological Organization.

“It isn’t far behind … it could change, but at the moment this looks unlikely,” he told Reuters, based on temperature records up to the end of April.

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Almost all climate experts say that the trend is towards more droughts, floods, heatwaves and more powerful storms. But they say that individual extreme events are not normally a sign of global warming because weather is, by its nature, chaotic.

“Severe events are going to be more frequent,” said Salvano Briceno, director of the Geneva-based secretariat of the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

The 10 warmest years in the past 150 years have all been since 1990. Last year ranked number six according to the IMO. NASA, which uses slightly different data, places 2005 as warmest ahead of 1998.

No doubt the global warming denier spin on this will be: The warming trend already reversing! Scientists admit bad weather not proof of global warming!

Just sayin’.

From New hybrids will help clean up SUVs’ act:

While Chrysler Group is convinced the love affair many North American consumers have with large SUVs isn’t going to fade away any time soon — even with high fuel prices — the gas-guzzling reputation those vehicles have earned is about to take a hit.

Chrysler provided a sneak peek into the future of large SUVs during a media preview of its 2008 lineup at its Chelsea proving grounds. Journalists were given an opportunity to drive a Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and a Dodge Durango Hybrid, both powered by a two-mode hybrid system the company is developing in conjunction with General Motors and BMW.

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Klegon says the Hemi hybrid system will give buyers “the best of both worlds — renowned performance and significantly improved fuel economy … the ultimate combination of fuel efficiency, overall performance and capability in a full-sized SUV.”

Overall fuel efficiency is expected to improve by about 25%, while fuel consumption in city use will be reduced by about 40%, compared with the Hemionly Durango, which is rated at 16.5 litres/100 km in the city and 11.2 on the highway.

See the article for a semi-detailed description of the two-mode hybrid system.

And as for those fuel efficiency numbers… 16.5l/100km = 14.3MPG, and 11.2l/100km = 23.4MPG. Adjusting for the claimed benefits of the hybrid system gives us a city rating of 20MPG.

You will forgive me if I find the willpower not to rush to my nearest dealer and put down a deposit.

But seriously, folks–this has to be one of the most absurd examples you can find of a company trying to find any means possible to hang on to “business as usual”. Yes, I know that such instincts are a critical part of our energy future, as they will spur more innovation which can often be applied in other areas, such as using this two-mode hybrid system on, say, a PT Cruiser, until they can convert to something truly exciting, like a plug-in series hybrid platform. But it still makes my head hurt to see the tortured route some companies take to the obvious, inevitable, and superior solution.

From Peak Oil Theorists Gush Obfuscation!:

I know its too much to expect that determined peak oil theorists like ASPO co-founder Steve Andrews will suddenly admit they’re wrong-no matter how many times their predictions of doomsday come and go without the world coming to an end. Sometimes all you can do is to shake your head at the stubborn denial. But Mr. Andrew’s rejoinder here on the Huffington Post, to my “Peak Oil is Snake Oil!” piece of 6/25/07 requires some untangling to get at the pertinent facts.

Oh, yippee–the Learsy/ASPO slapfight has legs and will drag on for who knos how many rounds, with no one convincing anyone and the only “winner” being Huffington Post for hosting this debacle and drumming up more web traffic.

Public hint to ASPO: Arguing with some people is like trying to teach your cat algebra. You look silly for trying and the cat learns nothing.