Analysts at brokerage Sterne Agee find coal stocks moving upward based on several supporting factors including US natural gas/coal pricing dynamics, Chinese industrial data, European economic improvement and a bounce in emerging market currencies relative to the dollar. While overall US power generation is down year-on-year, more coal than natural gas was burned to generate… Keep reading →
An examination of liquid biofuels published in Strategic Studies Quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal for security professionals, has concluded that they fail to provide meaningful benefits when pitted against petroleum products. “The United States cannot achieve energy security through biofuels, and even the attempt is ironically achieving effects contrary to ‘clean’ and ‘green’ environmental goals and… Keep reading →
Bad news for Gazprom: sources say that Russia is going to break the gas giant’s monopoly on LNG exports. “[State-controlled oil giant] Rosneft signed an agreeement with ExxonMobil to develop a LNG project in Russia’s Far East. [Independent gas producer] Novatek clinched a deal with CNPC for a joint development of the Yamal LNG project.” [Natural Gas Europe] Bad news for… Keep reading →
Many assume that it’s cheap labor that gives Chinese companies an edge at producing solar panels that cost less than those that come out of Europe or the United States. But a new study says uh-uh. Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and MIT said a bottom-up cost model they developed shows that a plant… Keep reading →
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) provides on its web site many claims about the great progress and benefits achieved by promoting and subsidizing wind energy in the state – an initiative kicked off by former Governor Pataki and followed slavishly by each succeeding administration and legislature. Unfortunately, like other promoters of… Keep reading →
The American Petroleum Institute today unveiled a new study that details recent US oil and gas industry greenhouse gas emissions reduction success. The trade group also announced a new national print ad campaign that illustrates the industry’s petroleum development commitment and ways tax policy can impact oil and gas development. API President and CEO Jack… Keep reading →
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has alluded to the promise of small modular reactors (SMRs) multiple times over the past few months, noting that they may offer benefits in terms of financing, costs and security, but warning that realistic expectations suggest these reactors are unlikely to come onstream for almost a decade. “We remain very… Keep reading →
Ryan Lizza has written a very balanced, comprehensive article for the New Yorker about the politics behind the Keystone XL pipeline debate. It suggests that one driving force behind a loss of certainty about the pipeline’s approval has more to do with an ineffective Congress than with actual environmental concerns. The piece offers at least… Keep reading →
WASHINGTON: Budget crunch be damned, the Defense Department’s effort to get more energy-efficient is still in business, said the assistant secretary in charge. Even without the free-flowing supplemental funds and the flexibility of the “rapid equipping” initiatives that allowed for speedy spending at the height of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon is still trying to reduce its… Keep reading →
Norway’s colossal sovereign wealth fund – reportedly the world’s largest at $750 billion – is known as the ‘oil fund’ as it was created largely from the country’s prudent oil and gas resource revenue management. Less than 1% of the fund is currently invested in real estate, but that’s quickly changing. The fund managers are… Keep reading →
