Much has been made about natural gas serving as a bridge fuel until more renewable energy can be fed into the US power grid. While that’s a somewhat controversial concept – with hard-core environmentalists preaching zero fossil fuels and hydrocarbon industry folks pooh-poohing renewables for multiple reasons – this National Journal piece explains the wind-to-gas… Keep reading →
More than 150 years ago, inventors began working on a bright idea that would have a dramatic impact on how we use energy in our homes and offices. This invention changed the way we design buildings, increased the length of the average workday and jumpstarted new businesses. It also led to new energy breakthroughs… Keep reading →
Fifty cents a watt? Wow. That’s the module cost claim for utility-scale installations that Cogenra is making with its new T14 PV system. The emphasis on the system’s ability to deliver low-cost benefits with low-concentration photovoltaics is a bit of a shift for Cogenra, which had long sold itself as uniquely able to combine PV and… Keep reading →
Renewable transportation fuels like ethanol have been under the microscope lately, as fighting over the Renewable Fuel Standard ratcheted up in the days leading up to EPA’s proposed 2014 blending requirements. While corn-based ethanol received most of the attention – due to an investigative report highlighting some of the industry’s negative environmental impacts – the… Keep reading →
The US Energy Information Administration puts out reams of data on US and international energy, covering almost the full spectrum of sources – oil, gas, nuclear, renewables – as well as consumption, production, imports, exports, prices, storage, etc. But energy markets are vast, often disjointed, and sometimes lacking in transparency. And there may be some… Keep reading →
The big news over the weekend was the temporary deal the US and its allies struck with Iran over the country’s nuclear program. The deal – recently predicted in an exclusive Breaking Defense interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif – has been called the biggest diplomatic breakthrough with Tehran since the 1979 hostage crisis. The… Keep reading →
President Obama’s Senior Advisors today recommended he veto two new energy bills which respectively seek to block Interior Department regulations on hydraulic fracturing and speed up oil and gas drilling permits. On November 19th, 2013, the White House Administration issued a pair of statements strongly opposing two new energy bills: (1) H.R. 2728 – Protecting… Keep reading →
Iran has agreed to an initial nuclear deal that will involving the country dialing back its nuclear program in exchange for six months of sanctions relief. Iran will gain access to over $4 billion in frozen oil revenues, as well as a suspension of sanctions on petrochemical exports. [Bloomberg] The deal will also “eas[e] of the… Keep reading →
Yesterday the US Department of Energy hosted a debate on the subject of Nikola Tesla versus Thomas Edison – who was more important and more inventive? The results are now in and the winner is… Well, it may not be that cut and dry. They both played integral parts in developing one of the most… Keep reading →
A new study says it traces two-thirds of industrial emissions from fossil fuels burned over the last 150 years to just 90 entities – many of these the oil and gas companies that extracted the fossil fuels in the first place. A press release accompanying the study suggests that these companies bear the responsibility for climate… Keep reading →
