QUICK NEWS, March 20: The Big Climate Change Legal Battle Looming; Three Solar Buys To Look At; New Wind Technologies To Protect Wildlife

The Big Climate Change Legal Battle Looming Big oil faces big test in climate-change court showdown with SF, Oakland

Kurtis Alexander, March 19, 2018 (San Francisco Chronicle)

“A San Francisco judge who must decide whether to hold the world’s largest oil companies responsible for global warming is ordering up what many are calling the most comprehensive, and unusual, debate on climate change that the courts have seen…Fossil-fuel corporations including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell are scheduled to present their views on climate science in federal court [March 21] alongside attorneys for San Francisco and Oakland. The two cities are among several communities suing the oil giants for their alleged role in sea- level rise...U.S. District Judge William Alsup has given both sides eight questions to answer…[that] cover the basics of climate change and the latest scientific findings on what’s driving the phenomenon…Alsup appears to be searching for [ways to put on the oil companies on the record that climate change is happening and what is causing it. The cities] argue that the extraction and production of fossil fuels has heated the planet and begun lifting ocean levels above roads, homes and utilities’ infrastructure…[They] also claim that the oil and gas industries knew of the harm they were causing but sought to cover it up, much the way tobacco firms undermined research into lung cancer in past decades…” click here for more

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Three Solar Buys To Look At 3 Growth Stocks in Solar Energy; Growth isn't equally distributed in the solar energy industry and there are three companies that stand out from the competition, each in their own way.

Travis Hoium, March 19, 2018 (Motley Fool)

“The solar energy industry is on a massive growth swing, increasing installations from 7.7 GW to over 100 GW annually over the past decade…Three companies that I think have the right strategy behind them and growth ahead of them in 2018 are SolarEdge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SEDG), SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR), and Vivint Solar Inc (NYSE:VSLR)…[SolarEdge has] arguably been the best value creator for investors over the last few years…[R]evenue has nearly tripled since 2014 and it has generated consistent profits…[SunPower] finally seems to have a strategy it can grow with long term…Residential solar has stagnated in the U.S., but that doesn't mean Vivint Solar isn't going to grow significantly in 2018. Growth will be driven by a transition from solar leases…to cash and conventional loan sales, where cash is received upfront and the developer no longer owns the panels themselves. The financial impact is that Vivint Solar's revenue can grow even if megawatts installed stay flat…[I]nvestors should keep in mind that growth hasn't always been the only measure of value creation to pay attention to in the solar industry long term. Keep an eye on margins and profitability…” click here for more

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New Wind Technologies To Protect Wildlife New deterrent system may help prevent eagle deaths caused by wind turbines

Kale Williams, March 19, 2018 (The Oregonian)

“Researchers at Oregon State University are working on a system [developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy that] uses a vibration sensor at the base of the blade, an acoustic sensor on the generator housing and a camera on the base of the tower…[T]he camera will be able to detect when a bird is approaching, determine [the type of bird,] and…the computer would trigger a deterrent in the form of a brightly colored facsimile of a person designed to play into [the bird’s] aversion to human beings…To test the system, [the researchers] used a compressed air launcher to fire tennis balls at wind turbine blades equipped with the sensors…When a strike is detected, video recordings of the moment of impact can be analyzed to determine exactly what hit the blade [to improve the detector’s] success rate…” click here for more

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