To mark this year’s World Water Day, UNESCO and UN Water released the 2014 World Water Development report highlighting the key role that water and energy play in economic development. According to the report, some 768 million people do not have access to an improved source of water, while 2.5 billion people do not have… Keep reading →
On March 22 in Tokyo, UN-Water will release its World Water Development Report in conjunction with its annual World Water Day 2014 celebrations. This annual event is meant to raise awareness for water – indispensable for human life on earth. This year’s theme is “Water & Energy”. Despite its apparent importance, the issue of water rarely… Keep reading →
A Rolling Stone article has been getting much attention for suggesting that as domestic fossil fuels markets for products like coal and petroleum coke diminish, companies increasingly seek overseas markets – often aided by US government offices – much like tobacco companies pushed their product overseas a couple decades ago. “Even as our nation is… Keep reading →
Last Friday the U.S. Department of State released its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Keystone XL pipeline project. Instantly, many media outlets were only too eager to suggest that with this report the Keystone decision to be made by President Obama is a foregone conclusion; namely, in favor of the controversial project.… Keep reading →
President Obama proclaimed in his 2014 State of the Union address that his “all the above” energy strategy is working. He then directed the focus to one specific renewable energy source, stating the following: “Now, it’s not just oil and natural gas production that’s booming; we’re becoming a global leader in solar too. Every four… Keep reading →
The possibility of the Obama administration lifting the crude oil export embargo, to allow U.S. energy companies access to the world market, is finally a reality. Alaska Republican, and head of the Senate energy committee, Lisa Murkowski, drove the discussion this month when she called the ban “antiquated, and at times, absurd.” I couldn’t agree… Keep reading →
The long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline and whether President Obama will agree with a strong majority of Americans who believe that the full project is in the U.S. national interest landed on a couple of year-ending lists of top energy issues, here and here, no doubt reflecting the politics surrounding the pipeline’s five-year federal review. Much of politicizing has been fueled… Keep reading →
The final chapter in one of early post-Soviet Russia’s most high-profile oil industry shakeups appears to be coming to a close with the largely symbolic pardon of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, former head of Yukos. The company was one of Russia’s largest oil companies by reserves and production during the free-wheeling privatizations of the 1990’s when Soviet… Keep reading →
You’ve probably heard that the United States is experiencing an unprecedented energy boom that is transforming our economy, enhancing our energy security, and creating a manufacturing renaissance — all thanks to hydraulic fracturing and the development of America’s massive oil and natural gas resources. But what you probably haven’t heard is that shale development has… Keep reading →
Cleantech 2.0: It’s Time to Get Lucky
By Wal van LieropFor many of us who have been in the cleantech industry for the past decade, together we are trying to build the new energy economy. We are coming from an era where an adolescent industry tried to push technologies that weren’t mature into the hands of early adopter customers who were willing to pay a… Keep reading →