Chinese state-owned enterprises, China’s national oil companies foremost among them, have incurred phenomenal debts – higher than the country’s total GDP. So far they have been bailed out by the government, but this just shifts the problem one level up, to China Inc as a whole, writes geophysicist (ex-Shell) Jilles van den Beukel. Van den Beukel explains how China’s national oil companies Sinopec, CNPC and CNOOC got into this fix and why the … [Read more...]
South Africa’s rapid energy transition derails its giant nuclear and coal projects
South Africa shows how quick an energy transition can be. In four years, the country’s renewable energy program has mushroomed, while the building of coal power stations and the planning of a $50-$100 billion nuclear power project have come to a grinding halt. Recent events, however, have raised some uncertainty for renewables, writes South African based science writer Leonie Joubert. Article courtesy of the Energy Transition blog. … [Read more...]
How Paris will change global emissions accounting
The Paris Agreement will lead to important changes in the way greenhouse gas emissions are accounted for and how they could be traded internationally. David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor with Royal Dutch Shell, looks at the implications of the Paris Agreement and concludes that it will probably lead to a more robust and enduring carbon market. … [Read more...]
Energy policies of the U.S. presidential candidates
“There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of ‘climate change’”, says one. “When it comes to climate change, the science is crystal clear”, says the other. “Save the coal industry”, says one. “Quickly move to make a bridge from coal to natural gas to clean energy,” states the other. Allan Hoffman, author of the blog Thougts of a Lapsed Physicist, investigates the positions of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on climate and … [Read more...]
Energy prices, not capacity mechanisms, are key to ensuring reliability at the lowest cost
Electricity generators often claim that prices cannot fully reflect the value of the reliability they offer the market. Hence they insist they need separate capacity payments to justify investments. But according to Mike Hogan of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), the current energy market design is fully able to reflect the value of reliability, even if it doesn’t always do so in practice. In a new report, he describes a smarter approach, … [Read more...]
UK government approves Hinkley Point C
The UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy announced this morning that the government goes ahead with the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project. This is a very important decision for the nuclear energy sector in Europe, especially EDF, and energy policy in general. … [Read more...]
IEA sees “major shift” – but not major enough
“A major shift in investment towards low-carbon sources of power generation is underway”, according to a first-ever detailed analysis of investment across the global energy system from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Yet, in non-OECD countries, “investment in conventional generation remains strong”, with over 75 GW of coal-fired power plants starting operation in 2015 in “developing Asia” – “as much as all renewable capacity additions in … [Read more...]
Success of EU foreign policy hinges on climate and energy security
Europe's global strategic interests have become inseparable from managing climate risk and the global energy transition, write Luca Bergamaschi, Nick Mabey, Jonathan Gaventa and Camilla Born of the independent climate and energy think tank E3G. In a new report, EU foreign policy in a changing climate, they set out how Europe can make these themes a central thread in its foreign policy. "The new energy economy is now at the heart of Europe’s … [Read more...]
China’s continuing renewable energy revolution – can it save the world?
China has made strategic choices favouring renewables over fossil fuels that are still not widely understood or appreciated, writes John A. Mathews, Professor of Management, Macquarie University, Australia. In this article he gives an overview of the latest trends in Chinese eletric power generation, which shows that the system is still "greening" faster than it is becoming black. But whether it is changing fast enough to save the world, is still … [Read more...]
Nuclear power deserves a level playing field
Today we offer two expert perspectives on subsidizing nuclear power. Here’s the argument for ongoing support by Arthur T. Motta, Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
Compete or suckle: should troubled nuclear reactors be subsidized?
Today we offer two expert perspectives on subsidizing nuclear power. Here’s the argument against providing economic support by Peter Bradford, Adjunct Professor Vermont Law School. Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
How millennials could bring the oil industry to its knees
There is a growing disconnect between the world of Big Oil and the world of the “millennials”, writes Julianne Geiger of Oilprice.com. Ignoring this generation, could be a costly mistake, she warns. What do the millennials want anyway? New ways of doing things, that is for sure. … [Read more...]
Jean-Paul Chabard, Scientific Director at EDF’s R&D: “Electrical storage is the grail for an electricity producer”
In this exclusive interview with Energy Post, the man in charge of EDF’s flagship new research centre just outside Paris, Jean-Paul Chabard, explains where the company sees its future opportunities. With an R&D budget of €650 million, EDF has the largest R&D effort of any utility in Europe. The EDF Lab at Paris-Saclay, which opened in March, houses half the company’s 2,000-strong R&D staff. Chabard says “electrical storage is the … [Read more...]
Slashing dividends: only option left for Big Oil?
The oil majors will have an extraordinarily difficult time trying to maintain their hefty dividends in today’s oil market environment, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. Already they are piling on huge debts to enable them to keep up payouts to shareholders. Unless oil prices rebound substantially, they may have no choice but to slash them. Which would be a major blow to their reputation as cash generators. … [Read more...]
Paris deal, rapid transition means deepening doldrums for energy incumbents
Even as the earth is heating up, established oil, gas and nuclear companies are increasingly feeling the heat of the energy transition, writes famous author and entrepreneur Jeremy Leggett. Signs are everywhere that the fossil fuels game is almost up. This article was republished from Leggett's blog. … [Read more...]
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