As a result, Chinese companies are testing several emerging technologies with significantly higher efficiencies compared to modules which are currently in production

By Kaavya Chandrasekaran, Economic Times Energy World

BENGALURU: The gap between solar manufacturing in India and China has been increasing with leading Chinese manufacturers making aggressive investments in capacity expansion and new technology, according to a recent report by renewable energy consultancy firm, Bridge To India.

“Long-term viability of the Indian manufacturing sector depends on its capacity to compete with leading Chinese manufacturers on cost of production, scale and technology,” the report on solar manufacturing said. It also noted that it would be challenging for Indian manufacturers to bridge the cost disadvantage with the Chinese players. “Indian companies are banking mainly on tariff barriers and incentives in form of capital and/or operating cost subsidies,” it said. The biggest risks they face are those of policy uncertainty and lack of in-house technology.

Indeed the Indian government attempted to address the policy uncertainty issue when it announced earlier this year that it would impose a basic customs duty on solar cells and modules as part of the bigger “Make In India” scheme. But the industry is growing impatient because the government has not provided any details such as a timeline since then, although the announcement was made in June.

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The East Troublesome Fire is the second-largest wildfire in Colorado state history (Fox News)

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Snow hits Cameron Peak fire, should move to East Troublesome fire Sunday afternoon

The northern parts of the Cameron Peak fire saw between three and five inches of snow

By SHELLY BRADBURY | sbradbury@denverpost.com | The Denver Post

Snow started falling on Colorado’s two biggest wildfires Sunday in a much-needed storm that is expected to dampen the fires and slow their ferocious spread for at least a few days.

The northern parts of the Cameron Peak fire saw between three and five inches of snow by Sunday morning, while the southern parts of the fire saw about two to four inches, incident meteorologist Dan Byrd said in a morning update.

The snow hadn’t reached Estes Park by 9 a.m., he said, and temperatures around the East Troublesome fire remained in the 40s early Sunday morning.

However, the cold front will move to the south as the day goes on, Byrd said, and the area around the East Troublesome fire should see temperatures drop by Sunday afternoon, and then see some snow in the afternoon and evening.

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The French trading firm Engie had been poised to sign the $7 billion, 20-year contract.

By BEN LEFEBVRE, Politico

The French government stepped in to force a domestic company to delay signing a potential $7 billion deal with a U.S. liquefied natural gas company last month over concerns that its U.S. shale gas was too dirty, two people familiar with the situation told POLITICO.

The incident was first reported by a French news site but independently confirmed to POLITICO by two people with direct knowledge. The delay highlights a growing concern among some U.S. natural gas exporters that the regulatory rollbacks pushed by the Trump administration, especially those easing Obama-era limits on the potent greenhouse gas methane, plus the industry’s overall failure to rein in emissions, are making it more difficult to sell their product overseas as a cleaner alternative to oil or coal.

The French trading firm Engie had been poised to sign the $7 billion, 20-year contract to buy LNG to be delivered from Next Decade’s planned Rio Grande export facility in Brownsville, Texas, one person with knowledge of the discussions said. That deal would be a boon for NextDecade, which has been trying to line up customers to take at least 11 million tons of LNG a year before it makes a final decision to build the plant.

The French government, which is a part owner of Engie, stepped in to tell Engie’s board of directors to delay, if not outright cancel, any deal because of concerns that U.S. natural gas producers emit too much methane at the West Texas oil and gas fields that will supply gas to the NextDecade plant, said Lorette Philippot, head of private finance campaigns for French environmental group Les Amis de la Terre,a French affiliate of the green group Friends of the Earth that met with French government officials to oppose the deal.

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