Breaking ground: Construction has begun on infrastructure improvements at the Alexandria Port to accommodate incoming tenant Cool Planet Energy Systems. The Town-Talk reports Tudor Inc. has started work on the improvements, which include an operations center and other related infrastructure enhancements. The project is expected to cost $6.4 million and take a year to complete. The plant, which is projected to employ 24 people, is Cool Planet’s first commercial facility. It will convert wood biomass into ready to use transportation fuel. Read the full story.
Here’s the plan: Lafayette’s unified development code, now in its final draft, could go before the City-Parish Council for adoption by early May, officials say. The Advertiser reports Lafayette Consolidated Government officials and consultants summarized the UDC’s updated draft before more than 100 members of the Acadian Home Builders Association and the Realtor Association of Acadiana on Monday. The UDC is a rulebook for zoning and development standards meant to simplify regulations by making them clearer for developers in the metro area, officials say. Read the full story.
Around the bend: The price of oil is poised for a “relatively swift” recovery following the recent collapse to under $50 a barrel, but it will not come close to returning to the highs of past years, the International Energy Agency predicts. In a report released this morning, the Paris-based organization of 29 major oil-importing nations says the rebound in recent days of the oil price “will be comparatively limited in scope, with prices stabilizing at levels higher than recent lows but substantially below the highs of the last three years.” The U.S. benchmark oil contract fell from nearly $110 a barrel last summer to under $45 this year before a recovery to around $53 in recent days. The Associated Press has the full story.
