UK shale explorer IGas says that its licence area in northwest England could hold more than 170 trillion cubic feet of gas, up from previous estimates of 9 tcf. However, the new estimates also suggest that the licence could hold as little as 15 tcf. That’s still a lot of gas, but the range suggests… Keep reading →
By Javier E David In a country where oil wealth has typically been controlled up by oil companies, the concept of the U.S. harnessing its energy boom to shore up its frayed public finances may be hard to conceive. Although state control of natural resources tends to evoke images of authoritarian countries like Venezuela or… Keep reading →
Why are costs so much lower for Chinese centralized inverters? Module producers aren’t the only ones feeling intense pressure in the solar market. Inverter companies are also facing a looming shakeout as they deal with continued shifts in global demand and strong downward pricing trends. According to a forecast from GTM Research, inverter prices will fall 10… Keep reading →
Barclays is forecasting a long-term US natural gas price of $4.75 per million Btu, asserting that the $4.50-$5.00/MMBtu range is the golden mean that can both drive demand growth and ensure sufficient supply. “Natural gas prices at $4.50-5.00/MMBtu are high enough to motivate sufficient gas drilling to meet projected demand in the long run: a… Keep reading →
California’s oilmen and farmers have begun to clash over the potential dangers of fracking, and perhaps over money, as well. “Many farmers do not own the underground rights to their property but would be compensated for access to the surface.” [New York Times] Also in California, Southern California Edison’s failure to inform regulators of the… Keep reading →
Methane leakage – specifically its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions – has made headlines in the news as a potential downside to the US natural gas boom. While much of the attention has been focused on the gas production process, leakage at the regulated natural gas transmission and distribution level also has the potential to raise… Keep reading →
Almost every aspect of energy – sources, financing, scalability and policy – tends to spark spirited debate among stakeholders across the sector. And the United States Association for Energy Economics seeks to bridge the gap between academics, industry professionals, and the government officials and regulators that set the tone for energy investment. Breaking Energy spoke… Keep reading →
Oil companies love to say that their ownership is the average American retiree, and utilities can often claim the same. Look at your retirement account or, should you be so lucky as to have one, your company’s pension plan. Odds are that it is heavily invested in the US energy sector. Shifts in the parameters… Keep reading →
Electric car manufacturer Tesla has announced plans to dramatically expand its electric vehicle charging network – the company claims that within six months, it will connect most major metropolitan areas in the US and southern Canada. [Forbes] In somewhat related but perhaps slightly less dramatic news, the US Navy has unveiled its first solar-powered EV… Keep reading →
Quick Take: Australian developer and system integrator DiUS has published a report documenting the results from a six-month pilot of smart charging — the process of letting the utility remotely control when and how fast electric vehicles (EVs) are charged. Happily, the pilot in the Australian state of Victoria was a success, showing clear benefits both… Keep reading →
