A proposed natural gas pipeline to supply the B.L. England power plant in Cape May County that would have run through the environmentally-sensitive Pinelands region was rejected last week. The power plant is switching from coal to natural gas and it’s unclear whether an alternative supply source has been identified. [New York Times] Kenya is… Keep reading →
Scotland will vote on a referendum to secede from the UK this September. A major component of that decision involves the future of the massive Grangemouth refining and petrochemical complex and oil reserves located in the Scottish portion of the North Sea. “Mr. Salmond, Scotland’s first minister, is banking on North Sea oil to underpin… Keep reading →
We are at a transformational moment in energy history. Just a few years ago, all energy projections forecast increased imports, increased scarcity, and increased natural gas prices. Today, we’ve shifted from scarcity to abundance. U.S. oil production has increased by 2.5 million barrels per day (B/D) since 2010. This year, the United States overtook Saudi… Keep reading →
A music video of the 80’s classic song “Africa” by Toto reportedly made by oil field workers aboard the “Bourbon Peridot” vessel in Equatorial Guinea is making the internet rounds, and while it’s very entertaining, little information about the operation is available. The You Tube post states, “Our own version of the music video for… Keep reading →
In a departure from the large-scale infrastructure proposals that dominate international development politics, a thinktank, Fuel Freedom Foundation, funded by tech entrepreneurs Joseph Hollander and Eyal Aronoff proposes smaller scale investments to leverage local fuel availability, although early models rely on numbers from developed economies. The UN Secretary General’s Sustainable Energy for All campaign and… Keep reading →
The closing of the American West just over a century ago was thought to be the end of a long chapter of human exploration that was as inspiring and enriching as it often was destructive and painful. New evidence that the far northern reaches of the globe are becoming increasingly passable and habitable means that… Keep reading →
Over a billion people people worldwide have no access to the electricity that is a crucial facilitator of modern education, human health, economic development, etc.
The UN estimates that universal access to electricity by 2030 could be achieved for less than $50 billion per year – which is roughly equivalent to a $1.5 billion annual investment per OECD member country, 0.3% of 2011 US GDP, or approximately 10% of ExxonMobil’s 2011 revenue. Keep reading →
On a continent with many of the world’s poorest countries, it seems perfectly normal that a smart grid would not be on the plate for those nations’ governments. But Africa, a collection of 48 mainland countries and six island nations, is a far different place from the smart grid hotbeds of the U.S., China and Europe.
A number of those countries are working to adopt several aspects of smart grid to bring their economies out of the muck of troubled histories and into an era of development and smart, sustainable energy futures, even though the odds appear terrible. Several countries on the African continent are taking a chance. Keep reading →
While many countries are trying to wean themselves off expensive and dirty fossil fuel energy, much of the world is still waiting on any type of electricity. Some 1.4 billion people lack access to electricity, and rather than start them down the same path we’re trying to get off, the hope is that they can forgo the journey and just relax at the renewable-energy finish line.
However, as one would expect, it’s not as simple as installing huge wind and solar farms throughout parts of Africa and Asia. Most of the people in need of electricity live in rural areas, lacking infrastructure to connect to a power grid or the upfront money to install solar locally. Keep reading →
