Yesterday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bills 1168 and 1319 (both Pavley, D-Agoura Hills) and Assembly Bill 1739 (Dickinson, D-Sacramento), which together establish the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The Act comprehensively regulates groundwater for the first time in California’s history.
Bank of America Chairman Charles Holliday speaking on behalf of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate asked the audience at yesterday’s American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Summit in Washington DC how many people anticipated the US shale gas production revolution 10 years ago. No one in the 500-plus crowd raised their hand. US… Keep reading →
Washington should keep pressuring Baghdad to make early, ungrudging goodwill gestures toward the Kurds instead of reverting to hardball negotiations and broken promises. A vital first step in defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is the consolidation of a base of operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is ideally positioned as a launch… Keep reading →
Long doubted in many quarters as a competitor with conventional sources – and even with wind power – U.S. government scientists say new research shows that solar is making up ground, both at utility scale and on rooftops. For example: “The price of electricity sold to utilities under long term contracts from large-scale solar power… Keep reading →
Europe’s biggest economy marches towards a greener future. Aug 18 was a Sunday like any other in Germany. At 2 pm, the country’s renewable generation capacity peaked at 41 GW while demand was around 53.5 GW – meaning that renewables accounted for roughly 75% of generation capacity, a new record for Europe’s biggest economy. At… Keep reading →
Argentina needs foreign technical and financial assistance to tap its considerable shale resources. Unable to access international debt and capital markets after a recent default, the country is restructuring legislation to make investment opportunities more attractive to international oil companies. [Reuters] Global accounting firm Ernst & Young released its latest quarterly Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness… Keep reading →
WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Energy today announced expansions of its Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative in support of the American manufacturing sector and a new initiative to support President Obama’s goal of doubling energy productivity by 2030. By advancing the development of innovative manufacturing technologies, investing in substantial energy efficiency upgrades at production plants… Keep reading →
On September 12, 2014, the United States issued another round of targeted sanctions against the Russian financial, defense, and energy sectors. Today’s measures were a combination of new measures and modifications of prior measures issued pursuant to Executive Order 13662 (EO 13662), including:
– Financial Services Sector – Directive 1 has been modified to further restrict prohibited “new debt” with a maturity exceeding 30 days.
– Defense Sector – New Directive 3 prohibits “new debt” with a maturity exceeding 30 days issued by listed defense companies.
The energy industry – oil & gas sector in particular – is bracing itself for a massive wave of retirements over the short to medium term, which has been dubbed “The Great Shift Change.” As the industry prepares for this turnover, companies are looking to the next generation of candidates with skills ranging from finance,… Keep reading →
It’s Palen, not Palin, but it’s still proving to be controversial and unpredictable. Seemingly dead in December, then indicted in the press last month as a likely wanton bird incinerator, the Palen Solar Electric Generating System now looks like it might get the go-ahead. A California Energy Commission committee recommended approval of a scaled-down version… Keep reading →
