Oil investors shake-off jitters in advance of Gustav’s approach; Barack Obama lays out his energy policies, and a sneak peek at the new Chevy Volt.

Gulf oil braces for Gustav: Industry analysts say that while a major strike by Gustav on the central Gulf Coast would cause disruptions in regional oil production, petroleum facilities are generally less vulnerable than just a few years ago. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita virtually shut down Gulf platforms and transit facilities in 2005, but since then, measure have been taken to harden both land-based and offshore installations. New rigs have been built higher and are better anchored, old platforms have been reinforced, and pipelines are now buried deeper to improve their survivability. Friday morning computer models of Gustav’s possible track have moved eastward, reducing the immediate danger to Texas and Louisiana facilities. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency moved Thursday to calm investor jitters by promising to release petroleum reserves in the case of major supply interruptions. (CNN Money)

FACTBOX - Energy and tax proposals in Obama speech: In his Thursday evening speech accepting the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, Barack Obama laid out his vision for energy reforms in the United States. Topping the list: a ten year, $150 billion investment in wind, solar, and biofuel development. Obama pledged to end U.S. dependence on Middle eastern oil within a decade, stepping up deployment of so-called “Clean Coal” technologies and nuclear power. The Illinois Senator promised aid to American automakers in the creation of smaller, more efficient vehicles, and said that green investment would yield up to 5 million high-quality jobs by 2018. (Reuters/EcoDiario.es)

BREAKING: Is this the production Chevy Volt in Transformers 2?: General Motors is expected to officially unveil the final production-ready prototypes of the Chevy Volt plug-in car sometime in September, but it appears their hand may already have been tipped. Autoblog Green has a gallery of video screen captures from the filming of the upcoming movie Transformers 2 which appears to show a production Volt in all its purple glory. The overall look is more streamlined than earlier concepts, and agrees with the small teaser photographs recently circulated by GM. (Autoblog Green)

ExxonMobil Chemical Completes Manufacturing Facility to Produce New Specialty Compounds for Energy Efficient Tires: An Exxon manufacturing facility in Pensacola, Florida, is set to begin production of a new tire compound designed to improve fuel economy. The Exxcore™ tire liner reduces air loss between fillings, reducing rolling resistance. The new vulcanized compound also provides higher tire durability. Exxon engineers estimate that improved tire inflation could save 700 million gallons of gasoline each year reduce greenhouse gases by over 6 million tons. (Press Release)

What’s Your Solar Potential?: A new web service allows homeowners and businesses to model the potential efficiency of solar installations at their location using a sophisticated overlay of Google Maps’ satellite view. RoofRay calculates the amount of energy that could be produced on a given roof surface, based on panel size, orientation toward the sun, and roof pitch. By inputting estimated or actual energy usage, solar customers are also able to approximate the return on investment of proposed installations. (RoofRay)

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