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...]
The Age of the Lithium Barons has arrived
We've gone electric, and there's no going back at this point, writes James Stafford of Oilprice.com. Lithium is our new fuel, which will power pretty much everything on which our economy is built. But like fossil fuels, the reserves we're currently tapping into are finite. Those who start tapping into them now will be extremely well positioned in the future. … [Read more...]
100% solar?
Some argue that the world can be 100% powered by solar energy, but this is too simplistic, writes David Hone, Chief Climate Change Advisor for Royal Dutch Shell. He points out that solar PV delivers only electricity, which makes up just 20% of final energy use, and argues that other energy demands are better served by other low-carbon options, such as hydrogen and synthesis gas. A recent Shell publication indicates that 30% solar power by 2100 is … [Read more...]
Britain is only just beginning to exploit its vast resources of offshore wind
A new study finds that the UK can install up to 675 GW of economically feasible offshore wind, writes Simon Watson, Professor of Wind Energy at Loughborough University. This could provide more than six times the UK’s present national electricity demand.  As current capacity is only 5 GW, there is ample room for growth. Yet there are also still major challenges to overcome. Article courtesy of The Conversation. … [Read more...]
A reality check on renewable energy potential
On a global level, the potential for renewable energy is more than sufficient, writes researcher Schalk Cloete. However, on a regional level, this is not the case, especially in developing Asia and Africa. Renewable energy technology forcing in these regions can have serious socio-economic consequences. … [Read more...]
A turning point looms for electricity and climate
To prevent catastrophic global warming, the world may have to issue a moratorium on new fossil-fuel power plants, writes David Fullbrook, senior consultant with DNV GL Energy’s Clean Technology Centre in Singapore. If that turns out to be politically impossible, project developers must start protecting electricity infrastructure from the impacts of a warming climate. … [Read more...]
Eiffel Towers in the North Sea – Shell’s decommissioning plans another Brent Spar PR disaster?
Shell is preparing to start the decommissioning of its four gigantic oil platforms in the famous Brent field in the Scottish part of the North Sea – a huge undertaking. Unfortunately, write Professor Alex Russell of the Oil Industry Finance Association and Professor Peter Strachan of Robert Gordon University, the company plans to dismantle only the topsides of the platforms. It wants to leave the Eiffel-tower sized legs, including 64 giant … [Read more...]
France, how can you square your ban on fracking with the import of shale oil?
The latest data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that exports of shale oil from the US are destined for France and other European countries that have banned fracking, points out shale gas expert Nick Grealy. This is hypocritical, notes Grealy. If fracking is really that bad, why don’t the Europeans care when it’s done in Texas or North Dakota? … [Read more...]
The hydrogen economy is much nearer than we think Â
For over 30 years promoters of green energy have proclaimed the hydrogen economy is around the corner. Now this could finally become true. While some energy experts claim that hydrogen from renewable energy is prohibitively expensive, companies like ITM in the UK are proving in the market that this technology is already competitive. They produce hydrogen for use in cars and in the form of power-to-gas to be used in the gas network. Energy … [Read more...]
Interview Sir John Scarlett, advisor Statoil, ex-head MI6: “The role of old-fashioned geopolitics will become less important in energy”
Thanks to new energy policies, technologies and market trends the potential to use energy for political purposes has decreased in recent years, says Sir John Scarlett, former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service MI6 and now Chairman of the Strategy Advisory Council at Statoil, in an interview with Energy Post. At the same time he notes that instability in North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe has grown and energy security should … [Read more...]
It will take more than a share in shale gas profits to sway public opinion on fracking
The UK government has proposed a scheme under which households in communities affected by shale gas production would be paid directly out of a Shale Wealth Fund financed by company revenues. Joseph Dutton, Research Fellow at the Energy Policy Group, University of Exeter, points out it is impossible to estimate how much they would get paid. According to Dutton, in the absence of a social license to operate, the promise of payments will do little … [Read more...]
Christoph Frei, World Energy Council: “Grand transition” requires new vision of energy security
The energy sector is going through a “grand transition” that will radically change the way energy security should be approached, says Christoph Frei, Secretary General of the World Energy Council, on the eve of the ONS Summit, a high-level meeting on energy security in Stavanger‎ on August 28-29, hosted by the Munich Security Conference and the ONS Foundation‎. In particular, the role of gas in the European energy system will change, says Frei. … [Read more...]
The elusive gas connection between Spain and France
The French energy regulator has recently said that a long-awaited gas interconnector between Spain and France, which the European Commission says would help reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, is not needed and too costly in the current market environment. Juan Vila, President of the Spanish company Gasindustrial, disputes the CRE’s assumptions and calls its viewpoint short-sighted. “The people and industries in Spain and Portugal need to … [Read more...]
Ukrainian crisis can be solved – with an Energiewende
A Ukrainian Energiewende could go a long way to resolving the current geopolitical crisis around the country, writes Oleg Savitsky of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine in a new report for the Succow Stiftung. According to Savitsky, it would reduce Ukraine’s dependence on Russian gas and uranium as well as on coal from the breakaway regions, while at the same time reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and the risk of a nuclear … [Read more...]
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