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Oil Sands Producers Make Greatest Environmental Commitment to Date

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Canada’s oil sands industry has taken a major leap toward greening their operations and their image. The 12 largest producers – accounting for 80% of oil sands production – have come together to form Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, which has committed to accelerating the pace of environmental improvement, COSIA CEO Dan Wicklum told Breaking Energy recently.

Numerous environmental oversight organizations sprung up organically over time to ensure oil companies were honoring their commitment to the environment. While these ad hoc sustainability initiatives made positive strides, the public wanted more. As a result, COSIA was formed and the chief executives of each member company signed a charter on March 1st committing them to specific activities and behavior. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 29, 2012 at 2:30 PM

Total Extends Chesapeake Partnership To Ohio Reserves: Oil Price Link Key

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Foreign companies continue to take a strong interest in US shale assets, with French oil firm Total’s $2.32 billion payout for a 25% share of a Utica Shale play in Ohio owned by Chesapeake Energy a recent highlight.

Some of the acreage for the new joint venture, which underlies all or most of ten counties in the latest region targeted by firms for both natural gas and oil or natural gas liquids was provided by Houston-based Enervest. The deal, announced December 31, 2011, covers 619,000 acres that Chesapeake says is in the “liquids-rich area of the Utica Shale,” and underlies all or a portion of ten counties in the Eastern part of the state. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 4, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Hope Shines Through Bankruptcy Clouds For US Solar Sector

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A spate of bankruptcies in US solar manufacturers is not a sign of imminent industry collapse, but the inevitable result of competition in a new and evolving market, according to industry representatives.

Solar manufacturer Solyndra announced its intention to file for bankruptcy on the final day of August, following bankruptcy filings by Evergreen Solar on August 15 and SpectraWatt on August 19. The three firms’ failures prompted a flurry of commentary about the challenges facing US solar manufacturing, and prospects for the sector’s survival. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 6, 2011 at 1:00 PM

AOL Energy Week In Review

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All hopes have been dashed that a settlement to the debt crisis, which plagued American politics and global markets through the final weeks of July, would result in smooth sailing through August.

Prices for energy commodities were whipsawed amid wild volatility as indicators for the broader economy showed signs of weakening even as Congress finally signed a debt deal. Oil prices, so often a proxy for the broader energy sector, fell sharply on August 8. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 12, 2011 at 3:30 PM

SunPower Builds Cash Pile As Losses Mount

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As prices for individual photovoltaic (PV) panels fall and company revenue numbers drop, solar power may be facing a long and difficult transition on the path towards grid parity.

Released Tuesday morning, SunPower’s second quarter 2011 results illustrate the broader struggles that is many of the players in the global solar business. The company lost $147.9 million for the quarter, as compared with only a $2.1 million loss the in the first quarter of 2011 and a $6.2 loss million in the second quarter of 2010. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 11, 2011 at 9:45 AM

Exporting Solar Solutions

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Rising demand for energy efficiency solutions abroad may offer new, and expanding, opportunities for US renewable energy firms.

Omani state-owned oil firm Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has awarded California-based GlassPoint a contract to build a pilot 7MW solar enhanced oil recovery (EOR) system at a an existing thermal EOR project in southern Oman. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 5, 2011 at 6:00 AM

The Geographic Realities Of Abundant Sunlight

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The popular image of oil derricks place them in sunny locales, in deserts and at sea. But with the search for new oil reserves spreading, the ability to use solar power for enhanced oil recovery faces some elemental challenges.

Southern California, where GlassPoint Solar operates a facility, satisfies the two main requirements for solar thermal enhanced oil recovery –abundant sunlight and heavy oil. But these requirements limit the technology’s application in other areas of the country. Within the US, GlassPoint CEO Rod MacGregor mentioned only West Texas as prospective for solar thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) use. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 29, 2011 at 6:00 AM

The Solar Powered Oil Rig

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Oil companies using steam-driven enhanced oil recovery now have a cheaper and greener option.

Instead of using natural gas to generate the steam that is injected into reservoirs to force oil to the surface, GlassPoint Solar, a Fremont, California-based company has developed a new technology that utilizes solar power. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 14, 2011 at 6:00 AM
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