President Obama’s wide-ranging climate change action plan announced today starts the clock on formulating long-awaited regulations restricting emissions from existing US coal-fired plants. Given a lack of congressional appetite for such measures, the president released a 21-page action plan designed to address climate change with domestic and international actions. Building on the carbon pollution standard… Keep reading →
The Washington, DC-based Institute for Energy Research’s message is clear: Government intervention in energy markets is counter-productive. The organization believes this to be the case even in dealing with climate change. The IER is a think tank with an emphasis on a free market approach to energy. Its papers cover issues ranging from carbon taxes… Keep reading →
The North American gas shale revolution’s medium-term impact on global markets will be realized through exports of the fuel itself, rather than the technology to access it, according to International Energy Agency Executive Director Maria Van Der Hoeven. “The unconventional gas revolution in the US will impact gas markets over the medium term more by… Keep reading →
The next ten years are likely to bring dramatic and surprising changes to the US energy sector, and solar could become a much larger part of the mix, said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at the Energy Information Administration 2013 conference in Washington, DC on Monday. Moniz’s speech focused in large part on the intersection of… Keep reading →
The US is at an energy crossroads of sorts, with decisions to make about how best to fuel our vehicles, businesses and homes in an era of abundant fossil fuels, falling alternative energy prices, climate change concerns and economic uncertainty. These are the issues Michael Levi dissects in his new book, “The Power Surge –… Keep reading →
China has enacted new measures to improve air quality, including a mandate that heavy polluters, such as coal-fired power plants, reduce emissions by 30% per unit of economic output by the end of 2017, and publicly release environmental information. Certainly seems like a step in the right direction for a country whose capital city’s pollution… Keep reading →
Texas is a surprising poster-child for robust investment in renewable energy generation. “No other State comes close to Texas’ more than 12 GW [gigawatts] of installed wind capacity,” says economic and financial research firm the Brattle Group in a report for the Texas Clean Energy Coalition, Partnering Natural Gas and Renewables in ERCOT. Both gas and wind… Keep reading →
Pipeline transportation and energy storage giant Kinder Morgan is expanding its terminal business into owning, leasing and acquiring natural resource properties. Despite coal being a dirty word with regard to power generation and climate change, Kinder Morgan will purchase coal reserves and lease them to mining companies for development and royalty compensation. While Kinder Morgan… Keep reading →
Competition between coal and natural gas is intensifying When the price of natural gas dipped below $2/MMBTUs in April 2009, the dash for gas set off in earnest. Any utility who could switch did switch from coal to natural gas. Not everyone could, of course, either because of the logistics, long-term fuel contract obligations or… Keep reading →
It is not just coal’s future that depends on the price of gas, but nearly everything else. With so few new reactors under construction – outnumbered by those expected to be shut down for technical, safety-related or economic reasons – the prognosis from the Energy Information Administration (IEA) in its 2013 Annual Energy Outlook is… Keep reading →
