Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

CNET NEWS -- Wind-generated electricity is growing rapidly in the United States but the pace still lags far behind that in China, the organizer of an industry conference in North Carolina said.

"With the right policies in place, we can see explosive growth...It's a global footrace," said Jeff Anthony, business development director of the American Wind Energy Association.

Although the United States has the largest amount of installed wind power capacity in the world, the wind power industry is "fighting to get on a level playing field" with other government-subsidized power providers, Anthony told a conference of parts manufacturers, suppliers, wind project developers, and economic development officers from around the southeastern United States.

"What the wind industry looks like in the U.S.  (go to article)

Reuters -- The U.S. pay czar will slash the number of top General Motors Co executives who will receive base salaries of more than $500,000 this year.

Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg said he plans to release the 2010 compensation decisions next week on the five large U.S. companies that are under pay restrictions as part of their government bailouts.

The rules restrict the top 25 executives from receiving more than $500,000 in base cash salary unless a company can prove a good reason for the higher pay.

GM is more than 60 percent-owned by the U.S. Treasury after a government-funded bankruptcy and reorganization in 2009. The U.S. government also holds a small stake in Chrysler, which is under management control of Italy's Fiat SpA.  (go to article)

Forbes.com -- The energy pits were a gauntlet Friday, as a stronger dollar put a dent in crude prices and oil stocks followed black gold lower.

Crude settled at $80.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 1.9% after a run-up earlier this week when prices approached $84 a barrel. Traders have been hoping that growth in emerging markets like China and India could help the commodity continue its surge off its February 2009 lows, but tighter monetary policy in those nations threatens to cool their economic growth.  (go to article)

KHON2 -- It has been a slow and gradual climb for the cost of a gallon of gas in Honolulu, across the state for that matter, as the numbers have inched noticeably higher.  (go to article)

N.Y. Times Letters to the Editor -- Toyota objects to the picture of the situation at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, Calif., that Bob Herbert presents (“Workers Crushed by Toyota,” column, March 16).  (go to article)

Auto Spies -- General Motors Co. supports legislation to require so-called black boxes in vehicles, to collect crash data, and it is willing to support additional "reasonable" auto safety legislation.
In a roundtable interview with reporters today, GM's new vice president for government relations, Robert E. Ferguson, said the company backs legislation in the works from Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, to mandate event data recorders.

"I think EDRs ought to be in every car," Ferguson said. "Devices ought to be readily available so that law enforcement can find out what happen to vehicles involved in crashes."

This is the Complete story, see articule for Blog.  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- Internal Toyota Motor Corp. documents released by a congressional committee show the automaker developed a "game plan" in 2007 to handle federal safety regulators' urgent concerns about floor mats on its Lexus ES350.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee posted a series of documents that are part of its probe into Toyota's recall of 8.5 million vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's eight separate investigations into the issue that resulted in the recall of 55,000 floor mats in 2007.

The five pages of e-mails included a discussion between Toyota's top Washington regulator officials, Chris Santucci and Chris Tinto, and company officials in Japan.

"NHTSA has apparently decided to demand further action from Toyota,"
 (go to article)

The Detroit News -- Federal investigators say last week's highly publicized accident involving a suspected runaway Toyota Prius in New York was caused by human error, not bad brakes.

"Information retrieved from the vehicle's onboard computer systems indicated there was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open," NHTSA said Thursday in a statement about a Harrison, N.Y., crash.

NHTSA officials said the findings mean the accident was caused by the driver.

Toyota sent six investigators and the NHTSA sent two investigators to look at the vehicle, driven by a housekeeper, that crashed into a stone wall in the New York City suburb March 9.

The housekeeper had blamed the incident on the vehicle, saying it wouldn't stop.
 (go to article)

REUTERS -- States want EPA to reopen endangerment hearings

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - At least 15 U.S. states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to stop it from issuing rules controlling greenhouse gas emissions until it reexamines whether the pollution harms human health.

Florida, Indiana, South Carolina and at least nine other states filed the petitions in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, states said.

They joined petitions filed last month by Virginia, Texas and Alabama.

The Obama administration has long said it would attack greenhouse gas emissions with EPA regulation if Congress failed to pass a climate bill.

The EPA is set to issue regulations later this month that would require autos and light trucks to increase energy efficiency.  (go to article)

Detroit News -- Washington -- General Motors Co. supports legislation to require so-called "black boxes" in vehicles, to collect crash data, and it is willing to support additional "reasonable" auto safety legislation.

In a roundtable interview with reporters today, GM's new vice president for government relations, Robert E. Ferguson, said the company backs legislation in the works from Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, to mandate event data recorders.

 (go to article)

New York Times -- The recession also precipitated a milestone for Saudi Arabia and the global energy market. While China’s successful economic policies paved the way for a quick rebound there, the recession caused a deeper slowdown in the United States, slashing oil consumption by 10 percent from its 2005-7 peak. As a result, Saudi Arabia exported more oil to China than to the United States last year.

While exports to the United States might rebound this year, in the long run the decline in American demand and the growing importance of China represent a fundamental shift in the geopolitics of oil.

The American talk about energy independence rankles Saudi officials, who maintain that the goal is unrealistic and could end up damaging energy markets by undermining investment now, thus leading to higher price  (go to article)

CNBC -- Oil prices fell nearly 1 percent on Friday as the U.S. dollar firmed against foreign currencies, slashing investment flows into oil and other commodities.

Oil prices fell below $80 a barrel as the dollar gained against the euro on worries over Greece's debt, and after a Reuters poll forecast over-supply in the oil market this year.  (go to article)

Aerospace & Defence News -- British Airways says it will use sustainable jet fuel
Print this page Send to friendPublished on ASDNews: Feb 15, 2010
LONDON, Feb 15, 2010 (AFP) - British Airways on Monday said it would use low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014 once Europe's first sustainable jet-fuel plant was built by US biofuels specialist Solena Group.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the "unique partnership" with Solena would put the airline on the road to realising its target of reducing net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

"We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene," Walsh said in a company statement.

"We are absolutely determined to reduce our impact on climate change and are proud to lead the way on aviation's environmental initiat  (go to article)

Reuters -- The hydrocracking unit at Chevron Corp's 279,000 barrel per day (bpd) Los Angeles-area refinery in El Segundo, California, was shut on Friday after a fire in an electrical substation, according to a notice filed with California pollution regulators.  (go to article)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/ -- Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen Inc. said Friday it has made a "significant" oil discovery in the eastern Gulf of Mexico  (go to article)

Wall Street Journal -- Crude futures briefly dipped below $80 a barrel Friday, as the week's gains evaporated on a stronger dollar and a decline in equities.

Oil prices have this month begun to sound out a new, extremely narrow trading range between $80 and $83 a barrel. Expectations that global oil demand will continue to improve have kept prices from falling. But concern about the pace of recovery, and high supply levels, are limiting gains.

Futures traded below $80 a barrel for only a few seconds before returning to a precarious perch just above that psychologically important price.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery recently traded $1.85, or 2.3%, lower at $80.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.75 lower at $79.73 a barrel.  (go to article)

Detroit Free Press -- The return of warmer weather and big incentives were luring car buyers back into auto dealerships during the first half of March and has put the automotive industry’s recovery back on track, according to two automotive forecasting firms.

For the first half of March, the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate, or SAAR, reached 12.1 million in the U.S., according to J.D. Power and Associates.

In fact, the last time the industry’s annual sales rate topped 12 million without a federal incentive program was in September 2008  (go to article)

Associated Press -- NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices dropped Friday, tumbling close to $80 a barrel as continued uncertainty about Greece's economy helped lift the dollar higher.

Benchmark crude for April delivery dropped $2 to $80.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil is traded in U.S. currency, and its price tends to fall as the dollar rises and makes contracts tougher to buy with foreign currency. Investors also will move money out of commodities and into the greenback as the dollar rises.

Crude prices rallied earlier this week after the Fed promised to hold interest rates at record lows in a move that was expected to help the economic recovery. Prices crested Wednesday, and they've been falling since then as worries about Greece's debts forced the euro lower.

Greece, which has strugg  (go to article)

New York Times -- When the Soviet Union introduced its Alfa class submarine — at the time, the world’s fastest — the subs were the bane of American sailors. Now, the reactors that powered those submarines are being marketed as the next innovation in green power.

The promise of miniature reactors powering homes, offices and schools is still years from being realized. The first Russian design, a pontoon-mounted reactor intended to be floated into harbors in energy-hungry developing countries, is already being built. But most promoters expect small reactors to come online at the end of this decade.  (go to article)

Globe and Mail -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC has launched a spirited defence of its oil sands investments against shareholder critics who want the Anglo-Dutch company to pull back from the Alberta fields.

In a report posted on its website, Shell said the oil sands have been hugely profitable for the company and, despite cost inflation, remain attractive at prices higher than $75 (U.S.) a barrel.

But the company is also signaling that the new investments in bitumen production and upgrading face high thresholds, including consideration of environmental factors.

“The timing of new development, such as low capital-intensive mining and upgrading debottlenecking opportunities, will be driven by economic and environmental factors in Alberta, and the ranking of these opportunities in Shell's world-wide portfoli  (go to article)

Reuters -- The United States should not discriminate against the Canadian oil sands industry, Canada's ambassador in Washington said on Thursday, warning that trade restrictions could cause the top energy supplier to U.S. markets to seek out other customers.

Canada's abundant oil sands resources have been threatened in the U.S. market with proposed climate change policies that would place additional costs on fuels that emit higher levels of carbon dioxide.

The policies are unfair to Canada's oil sands industry, Ambassador Gary Doer said in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, especially since both countries have signed on to an international agreement to lower carbon emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Nexen Inc. made a “significant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, adding to finds in the area last year.

Shell and Nexen found oil in the Mississippi Canyon blocks 391 and 392 at the Appomattox prospect at a depth of 2,200 meters (7,218 feet), the company said in a statement published on its Web site today. Additional appraisal activities are planned later in the year, it said.  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- March Madness is upon us. Not only are there more basketball games than I can take in for an entire year in the next few weeks, but there have been and will continue to be rising gas prices. March Madness basketball is a tradition to many across America, but are rising gasoline prices each spring as well known? They could be- rising gas prices aren't new, and have increased every year during this time. Some years we see huge "upsets" in gas prices that no one was able to predict, but if we're scoring brackets (or should I say gas price predictions), I'm still feeling comfortable half way through the first twenty minutes.

Spring time gas price increases are predicted by many analysts and prices are likely influenced by a majority of...  (go to article)

USA Today -- One of the more impressive aspects of General Motors' Project Driveway, which put 120 Chevrolet Equinox fuel-cell vehicles on the streets, is that it was pretty clear from the start that some might get in accidents. With that many vehicles it was bound to happen. But how would a hydrogen vehicle hold up?

This fuel cell vehicle took a good smack in front. CAPTIONBy GMSo far, so good. Five GM fuel-cell vehicles have been involved in accidents over the years, and none has resulted in any sort of catastrophic hydrogen explosion, says Charlie Freese, who is charge of GM's fuel-cell program...  (go to article)

CBC News -- A proposal by Alberta First Nations to build and operate their own upgrader and refinery could be good news for gas stations and consumers, according to Canada's largest independent fuel supplier.
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"More supply and more supply options should help all of us when there is a shortage and prevent out-of-fuel situations," said Ken Grandin, a spokesman for Parkland Income Fund.
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"We had very few of those in the past couple of years, but, more refinery, more supply could help us and the market potentially in terms of pricing."
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The upgrader, which would carry a pricetag of more than $6 billion, would create thousands of much-needed jobs and economic development for Alberta's aboriginal people, said Eddy Makokis, Treaty Six grand chief.

 (go to article)

Wheels 24 -- A surprise is something that catches you off guard, throws you off a little bit. Kia’s marketing slogan carries the phrase, "The Power to Surprise" and, as someone who's made a fair number of promises before, I know you had better make good on your promises. And that’s exactly what Kia's Cerato is - a rather surprising package.

According to Kia, the new Cerato has been recreated from the ground up and the engineers concentrated on a few key areas - styling, fuel economy and competitive performance.  (go to article)

The Atlanta Business Chronicle -- Corn-based ethanol is making a comeback in Georgia, while efforts to launch the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol plant in the Peach State are moving more slowly than expected.

First United Ethanol LLC, which was facing bankruptcy last summer, recently reported a fourth-quarter profit of nearly $7 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After early fits and starts, the company’s plant near Camilla, Ga., is running at its full capacity of 100 million gallons of corn-based ethanol per year.  (go to article)

NPR.org -- Toyota's recent, aggressive efforts to offer incentives and special deals to get customers into showrooms and buying cars seem to be working. The latest data show that Toyota sales are rising sharply.

Sales had been down with all the gas-pedal recall news. Cars were piling up at dealerships. And now, as they say in the car business, Toyota wants to "move the metal" — meaning it wants to sell a lot of those cars....  (go to article)

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH -- By Robert Vitale -- Red-light cameras would go up at twice as many Columbus intersections and two portable camera units would be used to catch school-zone speeders under a plan headed to the City Council.

But the plan does not call for modifying the 20 current red-light cameras to catch motorists who drive too fast, Department of Public Safety officials said yesterday. They don't plan to add that capability to the 20 red-light cameras that would be added under the proposal, either.

Doing that, they fear, would risk a voter revolt similar to those that unplugged cameras last fall in Chillicothe and Heath.

"It's a pragmatic recommendation on our part," Deputy Public Safety Director George Speaks said.
 (go to article)

Seeking Alpha -- Back in the days when US oil demand controlled the price of oil, a massive recession in the United States would have sent oil to 12.00 dollars a barrel. That era, which ended last decade, was defined by ongoing spare capacity in OPEC, low-cost oil in Non-OPEC, and nascent demand for oil in the developing world. That was then, and this is now. And so it’s rather quaint that the energy analysts from that previous era still gather each week on American financial TV, to discuss the inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma. Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma? The US has been removing discretionary demand for oil for years, starting back in 2004. And current unemployment in California is at 13.2%–another new post-war high. Yet oil is at 82.00 dollars? Get these analysts off TV. Please. We need analysis of  (go to article)

the wa -- Crude-oil futures are lower Friday as traders continue to take their cue from a firm dollar in the absence of bullish economic news.

The euro resumed the downtrend against the dollar in Europe Friday morning mainly due to growing concern over Greece's debt problem. Traders are worried the Greek debt crisis, as well as deficit problems in other European countries, may continue to pressure the euro for a long time.

Partly due to this, traders have been reluctant to push crude oil higher despite the fact that the fundamentals of crude oil have been improving.

"The trade remained very technical, and no one was willing to buy on fundamental news alone, instead keeping an eye on the currency market," said Andrey Kryuchenkov, vice president of commodities research of VTB Capital.

 (go to article)

Alternate Energy Stocks -- "...It will come as a shock to many EV evangelists who expected the Leaf from Nissan Motors (NSANY) to be a cheap plug-in vehicle, but an article in Wednesday's Mainichi Daily News reported that Nissan has set the price for the Leaf at around 4 million yen, which works out to roughly $44,000 at current exchange rates. Given the earlier known price points of $40,000 for the GM Volt and $51,000 for the i-MiEV from Mitsubishi Motors (MMTOF.PK), I would have been surprised by a lower number. I may be wrong, but I just don't see consumers lining up around the block....

One of my longest standing objections to the plug-in vehicle mania has been an almost total absence of long-term testing by normal people in real world conditions...."  (go to article)

www.rd.com -- America is spending more money to build, maintain, and improve the roads, and it’s paying off—give or take a few stretches of pavement and a few bridge spans. Rural interstates are shaping up, for instance, but their heavily traveled urban counterparts are getting worse. The percentage of deficient bridges has increased for the first time in 25 years, and as almost any driver will attest, congestion isn’t going away. But these trends are more than offset by good news about fatalities—sharply down year over year from 2006 to 2008 (though in 2008, 37,261 Americans died in accidents—more than double the number who died from homicides).

See article for rankings.  (go to article)

firstcoastnews.com -- AUSTIN, Texas -- More than 100 Austin car buyers had their vehicles disabled or triggered to continuously honk after police said a former employee hacked into the company's account.

Police said the terminated Texas Auto Center employee accessed the computer system to disable the online account that allows the company to deactivate the starters and activate the horns and GPS of many of the vehicles.

The company said they had more than 80 customers who complained they lost work, missed school or complained of towing expenses and vehicle repairs.

Police arrested Omar Ramos-Lopez, 20, and charged with breach of computer security.  (go to article)

Bloomberg Business Week -- March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded near $82 a barrel after falling as a stronger dollar trimmed demand for commodities as an alternative investment.

Oil declined for the first time in three days yesterday as the dollar gained against the euro amid concern Greece will fail to secure financial assistance from the European Union. Crude oil inventories rose last week to the highest level since August, according to a U.S. government report. Total fuel demand dropped by 4.2 percent to 18.8 million barrels a day, the biggest one- week decline since the week ended Nov. 6.

“There are some further concerns about the prospects for Greece so the euro fell against the U.S. dollar,” said Ben Westmore, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne. The Energy Depar  (go to article)

inhabitat.com -- by Ariel Schwartz

It sounds like a strange combination: zinc oxide crystals, water, and noise pollution. But scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that the mix can efficiently produce hydrogen without the need for a dirty catalyst like oil.

By submerging a new type of zinc oxide crystal in water, the scientists claim to be able to harvest hydrogen using vibrations from passing traffic and crashing waves.

Excerpts

The mechanism, dubbed the piezoelectrochemical effect,converts 18% of energy from vibrations into hydrogen gas (compared to 10% from conventional piezoelectric materials).


And since any vibration can produce the effect, the system could one day be used to generate power from anything that produces noise — cars whizzing by on the highway,  (go to article)

Wall Street Journal - Business -- WASHINGTON--The Obama administration on Thursday indicated that it is moving on two fronts to gain information about a key oil and natural-gas production technique that is viewed as essential for boosting gas supplies but that critics fear could contaminate drinking water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a study to determine whether "hydraulic fracturing" is contaminating water supplies. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a House panel that he is considering requiring oil and gas companies that drill on federal lands to disclose the chemicals used in the practice, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals under pressure into deep underground wells. The technique breaks open underground rock, releasing the gas within.

"It is an issue that we are looking at,"  (go to article)

Rig Zone -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has repeated Russia's claims to the Arctic continental shelf, thought to be rich in oil and gas reserves, officials said.

Rising temperatures have meant a reduction in sea ice, making hydrocarbon deposits under the Arctic Ocean more accessible, RIA Novosti reported Monday.

The Arctic lands have been the subject of dispute among the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark, the news agency said. Each of the five Arctic Circle countries has a 200-mile exclusive economic zone in the Arctic Ocean under international law. But if a country can show its continental shelf extends beyond the 200-mile limit, it can claim rights to more of the ocean floor, RIA Novosti said.
 (go to article)

Oil and Gas Journal -- Iraq’s December 2009 auction of rights to develop 60 billion bbl of crude oil reserves in 10 fields will lift the country’s production to 9.6 million b/d by 2017 if several major obstacles can be overcome, a new Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. (EPRINC) report concluded.

“By any standard, the Iraqi auction represents a major event in the history of the world oil market: It is the largest single transfer of reserves into the production stream since the beginning of the petroleum era,” the report maintained, saying the supply effect might lower oil prices enough to strain alternative fuels.

The report suggested that, although a wide range of external and internal threats and more traditional obstacles could derail Iraq’s prospects for a massive crude oil production increase.  (go to article)

Oil Voice -- The Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board has approved Suncor Energy's application to develop three additional stages of its Firebag in situ oil sands project. Firebag stages four, five and six each have a planned production capacity of approximately 62,500 barrels per calendar day. Cost estimates for stages four to six are expected to be detailed as each stage receives final approval from Suncor's Board of Directors. Preliminary work is currently underway on Firebag stage four, with production targeted in late 2012.

The planned facilities will employ steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) technology, a thermal recovery process that allows development of deeper oil sands deposits while limiting surface land disturbance.  (go to article)

US NEWS -- The next time you’re pulled over for speeding, you might be surprised by what you see in the rearview. Ford recently unveiled its replacement for the Crown-Victoria-based Police Interceptor -- and it’s a Taurus.
“Ford first introduced its police package in 1950 and today the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor is the industry leader,” explains Jalopnik. “The automaker's dominated the streets to the point that over the last five years, Ford's controlled more than 70% of the patrol cars sold. … Unfortunately, the Crown Vic's Panther-platform's getting a little long in the tooth — it hasn't seen a redesign in over 15 years
 (go to article)

bloomberg.com -- Australia is attracting more than $130 billion of investment in some of the world’s richest natural gas fields to supply buyers in Japan and China. Domestic customers, including Alcoa Inc., will have to wait.

Alcoa’s stalled alumina refinery expansion in Western Australia “will not be back on the agenda until we can secure long-term competitive gas supply,” Michaela Southby, a Perth- based spokeswoman for the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, said in an e-mailed response to questions. The project may cost $4 billion, according to a 2008 estimate by ABN Amro Holding NV.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to deploy a production vessel larger than an aircraft carrier off the coast of Western Australia to feed the liquefied natural gas boom that may see annual exports hit almost A$40 billio

 (go to article)

bloomberg.com -- Renewable energy companies may tap financial markets for more funds this year instead of looking to mergers with utilities as a way of funding expansion, said Morgan Stanley, manager of the most initial public offerings for the industry in 2009.

“The big utilities have significant capital spending plans so it’s unlikely they’ll be big contributors to M&A activity,” Chris Thiele, head of European power and utilities investment banking at Morgan Stanley, said in an interview. “Equity and debt capital markets could be busier areas.”

Morgan Stanley managed $2.85 billion in IPOs for wind, solar and biomass companies in 2009, surpassing the previous leader Credit Suisse Group AG, according to a study released today by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London. Credit Suisse last year  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- Carmakers around the world continue to improve the long-term durability of cars sold in America, though many consumers fail to recognize those improvements, according to a study released this morning by J.D. Power and Associates.

In the 2010 Long-Term Dependability Study, 25 of 36 brands improved their overall quality. The study measures problems original owners experience with their cars and light trucks over three years.

Although brands such as Ford, Cadillac, Lincoln, Hyundai and Mercury all bested the industry average for long-term dependability, consumers avoid them because of perceived poor quality, according to the study. In fact, seven of the 10 models with the lowest number of problems were built by either General Motors Co. or Ford Motor Co., the report stated.
 (go to article)

The Detroit News -- Ford Motor Co. today announced that it will invest $2.5 billion in its four British facilities over the next five years to produce more environmentally friendly powertrains and vehicles.

The move came after the Dearborn automaker received $550 million in loan guarantees from the British government. That was expected to secure Ford's $689 million application to the European Investment Bank.

"Ford welcomes this positive support from the government," said Ford of Britain Chairman Joe Greenwell. "It greatly assists in delivering Ford's commitment to invest $2.5 billion in new, affordable, volume-produced, low CO2 technologies."

Ford's research-and-development center in Dagenham in Essex will receive funds to pay for the research, development and manufacture of low-carbon technology  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- The Congressional Budget Office says in a new report today that the government's $85 billion auto bailout will cost taxpayers $34 billion.

The new estimate is about $3 billion higher than estimates from the Obama administration, which predicted earlier the government would lose $30.8 billion on its investments in General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC, Chrysler Financial LLC and GMAC Inc.

But the CBO's estimate of auto losses fell from $47 billion to $34 billion because automakers "demonstrated some measure of financial stability and an improved business outlook."

GM has said it plans to repay the outstanding $5.7 billion balance of its $6.7 billion in government loans by June 30.

 (go to article)

Modesto Bee -- Gas prices have begun their annual, gradual climb upward, with forecasters predicting that Modesto's prices will hover around $3.30 a gallon for regular unleaded through the end of April.

A month ago, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gas in Modesto was $2.84. Early Tuesday, AAA showed it at $3.01.
 (go to article)

The Huffington Post -- J.D. Power and Associates annual report on vehicle reliability was released today -- and the results may surprise Toyota owners worried over the recent recall news....  (go to article)

Breitbart -- WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. military is growing increasingly concerned that proposed wind farms can disrupt or block radar designed to detect threats and protect America's skies, a problem that is stalling the alternative energy projects around the country.
A top U.S. general told Congress on Thursday that federal agencies need to work better together on a formal vetting process for the wind projects to prevent them from being built where they will interfere with radar defenses.
Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, head of U.S. Northern Command, said a number of projects raise "real concerns" involving radar interference, and he suggested that requiring companies to do early checks during the approval process for such obstruction may be needed.

"We've heard concerns that wind turbines may interfer  (go to article)

Reuters -- U.S. investigators looking into the claim of a runaway Toyota Motor Corp Prius in New York last week said on Thursday no brakes had been applied before the vehicle hit a wall.  (go to article)

CNBC -- Oil prices slid on Thursday, snapping a two-day advance, as the dollar strengthened and the euro remained under pressure amid concerns about Greece's debt problems.

Trading sources expressed caution about oil's recent rise, which may not be justified by fundamentals. An analyst report forecasting that OPEC exports would rise in the four weeks to April 3 also helped keep oil futures pinned to the downside.

 (go to article)