The only way for utilities to meet demand as they retire coal-fired power plants will be to build a host of new natural-gas fired units, Deutsche Bank Vice President and Climate Change Research Analyst Nils Mellquist says in this Breaking Energy podcast.
Mellquist speaks here with Breaking Energy’s Felicity Carus after a presentation at the Ceres conference in California where he said the US had the potential to become the “Saudi Arabia of gas.” Keep reading →
For decades, the coal industry has hummed quietly along, producing half of the electricity used in the U.S. We’ve kept ourselves out of the media, comfortable with our role as one of the country’s key energy resources. We “knew” that, despite the occasional bit of bad press, no one would ever seriously consider getting rid of coal-based energy.
Something has changed. Keep reading →
Coal remains the workhorse of the US electricity sector, but its future is murkier than ever.
The industry has been on a campaign for nearly a decade to educate Americans about the extent to which their electricity comes from coal, but have had difficulty turning that into a wider recognition of the contributions comparatively cheap power have made in boosting US economic performance. Keep reading →
Leveraging biomass and biofuels may provide a unique opportunity for developing countries to join the energy race.
In a global first, the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) announced today that its 17 participating countries had agreed on a set of 24 voluntary sustainability indicators that would aid countries in developing bioenergy. Keep reading →
Electricity: the fuel of electric vehicles (EVs). The price of electricity: a key determinant of their economic viability. Policies to support renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions tend to push electricity prices up. Under what circumstances will the mass scale deployment of EVs in the United States – supported by McKinsey research findings – help to mitigate or reinforce these upward pressures on power prices? Keep reading →
Hybrid and electric cars are increasingly becoming the hottest new cars of the future. And while Japan may seem to be leading the way, AOL Autos shows that judging fuel efficiency of cars may be a bit more complicated than it seems.
Rather than judge a car by its general reputation or even its government-measured Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), the savvy consumer should check miles per gallon (mpg) numbers. Keep reading →
BP will build a fourth wind farm in Texas, the oil giant announced on May 4, just days after the anniversary of the Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.
This latest renewable energy project from a troubled oil company has illuminated controversial disagreements over the real costs and benefits of wind power. Keep reading →
The nearly five million commercial buildings in the United States are responsible for approximately 20 percent of both the nation’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion annually. Keep reading →
Google says “no” as often as it says “yes” as it expands its profile in the energy business. Keep reading →
Regarding the notion that the impending EPA regulations will create jobs:
A recent Institute for Energy Research blog posting deftly debunks the laughably simplistic notion proposed in a recent Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) report. In an amazing twist of logic, the PERI report actually argues that impending EPA greenhouse gas regulations will not only not harm industry and the economy, they will actually benefit the economy by creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Keep reading →
