France has issued a radical ban on the exploitation of shale gas. Yet French companies ENGIE, in which the State has a large share, and EDF, which is 75% state-owned, will soon import and handsomely profit from shale gas imported from the United States, notes UK-based shale gas expert Nick Grealy. This is like banning sweatshops but importing cheap clothes made by child labour, says Grealy. … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2016
The end of coal: good riddance or dangerous gamble?
Scotland has become the first part of the UK to stop burning coal to supply electricity following the closure of Longannet, its largest power station, on March 24. According to Paul Younger, Professor of Energy Engineering at University of Glasgow, the closure of coal-fired power plants in the UK may lead to serious problems with voltage control. Prepare for power interruptions and flickering lights. … [Read more...]
European dash for gas at odds with climate ambitions
European energy and European climate policies, although often portrayed as being two sides of the same coin, are still not sufficiently harmonised, writes Stefan BöĂner, Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute. The EUâs new LNG and gas storage strategy serves as a prime  example where EU energy security concerns work against climate protection efforts. The strategy is likely to lead to costly investments into infrastructure which … [Read more...]
Wake up call for oil companies: electric vehicles will deflate oil demand
The major oil companies greatly underestimate the impact electric vehicles will have on their market, write independent energy advisors Salman Ghouri and Andreas de Vries. According to Ghouri and De Vries, the trends currently underway in the auto industry are likely to have a substantial impact on oil demand in the medium term, and even a devastating impact in the longer term. … [Read more...]
The oilman who loved dictators – or: how Texaco supported Fascism
Author Adam Hochschild tells the forgotten story of how Texaco and its CEO Torkild Rieber helped the Nationalists of General Franco achieve victory in the Spanish Civil War â and then went on to support Hitler. It serves as a chilling reminder of the power that oil companies have had â and still have â in shaping our world. Courtesty of TomDispatch.com. … [Read more...]
The German conundrum: renewables break records, coal refuses to go away
Last year was undoubtedly historic for the German power sector â for the first time in GermanyÂŽs modern history renewables accounted for a third of the countryÂŽs electricity consumption and secured their position as the number one power source defeating lignite (but not lignite and coal together). If nothing untoward happens and the Germans stick to their plans, bituminous coal and lignite will never be restored to their former glory, writes … [Read more...]
Dispelling the nuclear baseload myth: nothing renewables can’t do better
The main claim used to justify nuclear is that itâs the only low carbon power source that can supply âreliable, base load electricity. But not only can renewables supply baseload power, they can do something far more valuable: supply power flexibly according to demand, writes Mark Diesendorf, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at UNSW Australia. That, says Diesendorf, makes nuclear power really redundant. (This article … [Read more...]
Barclays: Germany’s coal generation may be worthless by 2030
Reneweconomy.com The 46,000MW of black and brown coal fired generation currently in service in Germany will be worthless in little more than a decade if the country adopts the targets embraced at the Paris climate change conference, a new analysis from Barclays says. … [Read more...]
Carbon capture for natural gas as the missing climate solution
Natural gas with carbon capture and storage could be an ideal long-term cheap and reliable low-carbon energy source, writes Albert Gilbert, cofounder of US-based energy research platform Spark Library. Compared to coal, using carbon capture for natural gas is both cheaper and cleaner. However, much more needs to be done to make commercial development of natural gas with CCS possible. … [Read more...]
Oil won’t stage a serious rebound until this happens
Oil prices have shown signs of life over the past few weeks, as production declines raise expectations that the market is starting to adjust. But according to Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com this price rally may be short-lived: prices won't recover until global inventories are reduced substantially. … [Read more...]
The inexorable shift of the US power sector
The growth of renewable energy in the US is based on fundamental economic, environmental and security benefits that it provides, writes David Littell of the Regulatory Assistance Project. This is why the renewables train canât be stopped anymore. … [Read more...]
How much can the next president influence the US energy system?
There have been dramatic changes in the U.S. energy system under our current president â a big drop in the use of coal, a boom in domestic oil and gas development from fracking, and the rapid spread of renewable energy. But in terms of influencing energy technology deployment, the next president will have a lot less influence than you might expect, writes Carey King, Research Scientist at the University of Texas. … [Read more...]
US shale oil: the day of reckoning will come
The financial state of the US shale oil industry is much worse than the still impressive production figures would lead us to believe, writes energy expert Jilles van den Beukel, a former geophysicist with Shell. Shale oil producers and investors have managed to postpone the day of reckoning, but the fundamentals of the industry make a shake-out inevitable. … [Read more...]
Brexit Britain: the balance sheet on energy and climate policy
In the energy sector, the disadvantages of EU membership overwhelmingly outweigh the advantages, the Business for Britain lobby group has argued. David Buchan and Malcolm Keay of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES) and authors of a new book on the Energy Union, conclude, however, that EU constraints on UK energy policy have been minimal and benefits have been many. The consequences of a Brexit for the UK energy sector are not clear, … [Read more...]
Delusions or lies? The UK governmentâs five spurious reasons to back Hinkley Point C
The UK's Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) on 12 March published a short list of reasons why the proposed 3.2 GWs of nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point should be built. The publication, 5 Reasons why we are backing Hinkley Point C, is a mix of truth, unprovable assertions and omissions which could also be construed as lies, writes independent energy consultant Mike Parr. … [Read more...]