Marcellus shale gas producer Range Resources reported record production of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day equivalent of natural gas, but getting that gas to higher-value markets is proving a bigger challenge than producing it. “Executives quoted forecasts showing that between mid-2015 and 2018, pipeline companies are expected to add 34 Bcf/d of midstream capacity. And between 2015 and 2020, demand for natural gas is expected to increase by 15 Bcf/d from several sources: exports of liquefied natural gas, exports to Mexico, the transportation and petrochemical sectors and power generators switching from coal to natural gas.” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

The Scottish budget may provide a limited number of offshore wind subsidy contracts, which could reduce the size of the projects and thus deter the speed at which economies of scale can reduce offshore wind costs. “Those offshore wind farms that do get built in coming years will be unnecessarily expensive because ministers are effectively forcing companies to build smaller projects, preventing them from developing economies of scale, he claimed. As a result the Government would miss its own target for cutting offshore wind’s costs by 2020, Mr Anderson, the former head of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, forecast.” [The Telegraph]

Sweden’s state energy company Vattenfall plans to sell coal mines and power plants it owns in Germany, but Greenpeace wants the operations shut instead of sold. “Lignite is the most polluting form of coal and Vattenfall is one of Europe’s largest lignite burners. It is an uncomfortable image problem for a company which is trying to sell itself at home and abroad as a leader in clean energy.” [The Guardian]