In the wake of President Obama’s speech last week about a Climate Action Plan that would seek to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, opponents of new emissions standards have warned of the potential negative impact on electricity costs and economic growth. The Natural Resources Defense Council has sought to counter those claims with the… Keep reading →
Heading into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, the trade group representing the US refining industry had some choice words about the impact of US regulations on gasoline prices. “Our industry and the economy are taking a hit with RFS [renewable fuel standards], air pollution regulations and Cafe [corporate average fuel efficiency] standards, which all… Keep reading →
The big story in crude oil markets over the past few years was the historic price divergence between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent, the world’s 2 most-widely traded crude oil contracts. However, after blowing out to an unprecedented $27 per barrel Brent premium in summer 2011, the story is now about Brent-WTI contraction and… Keep reading →
The Department of Energy looks set to award $8 bln in loan guarantees to limit greenhouse gas emissions produced from the oil & gas and coal sectors. The DOE’s proposal would apply to both downstream carbon capture – such as from coal-fired power plants – and to upstream emissions mitigation. Perhaps not what the world… Keep reading →
It’s not just the old stuff. By itself, the ceiling fan in your house isn’t much of an energy suck. But the number of ceiling fans in the U.S. is going up as more people move into homes in warmer climates. All of those spinning fans are adding up to nearly as much energy use… Keep reading →
Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority – the state’s Green Bank, and the first of its kind of the country – has established a new solar financing system in a bid to expand capacity in the state. CT Solar Lease II seeks to avoid some of the most frequently-cited criticisms of renewable energy finance,… Keep reading →
The US Senate introduced the STORAGE 2013 Act in early April 2013 as a follow-up to the STORAGE 2011 Act. The proposed act offers a 20% investment tax credit for grid-tied systems up to $40 million per project along with a 30% investment tax credit for on-site systems up to $ 1 million per project. Notably,… Keep reading →
Breaking Energy recently toured Anadarko Petroleum Company’s natural gas drilling, completion and production operations in the heart of the Marcellus Shale in Central Pennsylvania. The tour was organized by the American Petroleum Institute. Over the past few years, unconventional natural gas production surprised many industry observers and surpassed many expectations, significantly altering communities where the… Keep reading →
Arbitrage opportunities created by wide disparities between peak and off-peak power prices can offer strong returns, but data transparency is the key to capitalizing on those opportunities, said speakers at New York Energy Week’s Energy Data Jam, hosted by Google. Genscape has made a business of amassing and analyzing energy data, and “where that data… Keep reading →
A couple of firsts, and one sloppy second… Some citizens of Sub-Saharan African countries may get access to reliable electricity for the first time. President Obama has announced plans to invest $7 bln over five years to expand access to electricity in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania, mostly as loans to buy US… Keep reading →
