Donald Trump has always backed oil and gas, and U.S. industry giants donated $7.3m to his campaign, three times more than for his 2020 run. Joe Biden has introduced green energy policies and other transition legislation, though he has also overseen an increase in domestic oil production and promised motorists he will keep petrol prices low. Both candidates know that U.S. voters are particularly sensitive to the price of their gasoline, in a land … [Read more...]
The Fossil Fuel system wastes 2/3rds of its energy before it gets to you. Inefficiency is driving it out (not just emissions)
Today’s fossil energy system is very inefficient: almost two-thirds of all primary energy is wasted in energy production, transportation, and use, before fossil fuel has done any work or produced any benefit. That’s almost 400 EJ wasted, worth over $4.5tn, or almost 5% of global GDP. Two activities - fossil fuel power plants and internal combustion engines - are responsible for almost half the energy waste globally. Daan Walter, Kingsmill Bond, … [Read more...]
REPowerEU gas reduction is exceeding targets. But that means the same 2025 target can see gas rise again
The REPowerEU policy has done well so far in its aim of ending Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. The target of 15% reduction in gas use, compared to the average consumption between April 2017 and March 2022, was exceeded in both 2023 and 2024. The Commission has again set the same 15% target for the coming year. However, by doing so the very many EU countries that have succeeded so well in exceeding that target are effectively … [Read more...]
European support for U.S. gas pipelines can cut inflation, strengthen the energy transition and thwart Putin
Inflation isn’t just politically destabilising. It’s also the enemy of the energy transition, explains Joseph Webster at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. President Putin understands this, which is why he uses Russia's oil and gas production to stoke global inflation. Hence, to thwart his aims, nations should increase short-term energy production from all sources, including hydrocarbons. Lower energy prices lower inflation and interest … [Read more...]
Why isn’t Methane included in the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism?
Robert Kleinberg at CGEP explains why methane isn’t included in the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which imposes a carbon tax on imported goods. Basically, CO2 emissions are easy to estimate accurately, whereas methane emissions are not. Many methane emissions, even the largest ones, are intermittent and of highly variable duration. Gas leaks vary over many orders of magnitude, and once diffused in the atmosphere leave no local … [Read more...]
Credit Rating Agencies downgrading Coal, Oil, Gas: climate change is now a clear risk category
Credit rating agencies now clearly recognise that climate change has become its own risk category, explains Tom Sanzillo at IEEFA who summarises his 43-page report. Financially, the coal, oil and gas sectors have served the world for decades. But due to regulatory, legal, economic, financial, political and social concerns, coal is credit negative and oil and gas is no longer positive. Sanzillo’s report charts the gradual erosion of the sector’s … [Read more...]
Half of fossil fuel Methane reduction targets can be met at no net cost. Why isn’t it happening?
We need to cut global methane emissions from fossil fuels by 75% by 2030 to be on target to limit warming to 1.5°C. That equates to 90 Mt of the current total of 120 Mt of annual fossil fuel methane emissions. The IEA says 80 Mt can be avoided through the deployment of known and existing technologies, often at low – or even negative – cost. And the 75% cut needs $170bn in spending to 2030, a very achievable sum given it represents less than 5% of … [Read more...]
Study: universities worldwide are still producing far more graduates for fossil fuels than for clean energy
Universities worldwide still produce more workers for fossil fuels than for renewable energy industries. Roman Vakulchuk and Indra Overland at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs summarise their new study on the energy transition in global higher education, published by the Energy Research & Social Science journal. The study is based on a review of 18,400 universities in 196 countries. 68% of the world’s energy educational … [Read more...]
Two years on, how is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine driving energy security and decarbonisation?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has boosted anxiety and therefore action on energy security and dependence on oil and gas. Sanctioning Russian oil and gas imports is an opportunity to replace fossil fuels with low or no carbon alternatives, an opportunity that is being taken. And renewables like wind and solar are by their nature local and therefore good for energy security (though with notable exceptions). Charles Hendry, Ellen Wald, Olga Khakova, … [Read more...]
Deadly loophole: third countries are refining Russian oil and exporting it to EU and G7 perfectly legally
There is a loophole in the sanctions imposed by EU/G7 countries that prohibit the importation of Russian crude oil and oil products. Third countries not imposing sanctions can import Russian crude, refine it into oil products and legally export them to price cap coalition countries (PCC). An analysis by CREA reveals that €8.5bn of PCC imports of oil products in the 13 months to the end of 2023 were made from Russian crude. Also, in 2023, there … [Read more...]
Is global energy security being used as an excuse to build more U.S. LNG export capacity?
Europe’s energy security is being used as an excuse in the U.S. to build more LNG terminals than are actually needed, argues Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz at IEEFA. European gas demand is expected to keep falling. Even with U.S. projects that are currently under construction, its LNG export capacity in 2030 will be 76% higher than Europe’s forecast demand. The U.S. should seriously re-evaluate its strategy or risk overinvestment, says … [Read more...]
EU’s fossil fuel CO2 emissions drop to levels last seen in the 1960s
The EU’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels (including power generation, industry and transport) dropped 8% in 2023 year-on-year, reaching levels last seen in the early 1960s, reveals an analysis by CREA. More than half of that decline came from an impressive 25% year-on-year reduction in CO2 emissions from power generation. The cleaner electricity mix is thanks to the continuous rise of wind and solar as well as a rebound in hydropower and nuclear. … [Read more...]
Germany: Carbon Prices could phase-out Coal by 2030 without a new law
The upward trend in the carbon price since 2015 has already seen coal generation decline significantly. Last year, total generation was a little over 100 TWh; it was 263 TWh in 2003. Sebastian Ligewie at Energy Brainpool looks at the prices of hard coal, lignite and the EUAs (EU emission allowances). It’s around €37 per MWh for hard coal and €8 for lignite. But emissions costs of around €63 per MWh for hard coal and €84 for lignite are added to … [Read more...]
Most investors still aren’t factoring in climate risks. Oil and Gas firms face virtually no additional borrowing costs
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change. At the same time, global decarbonisation is changing the economics of the energy sector. Yet credit ratings agencies aren’t consistently factoring in the risk of climate-related change into borrowing costs, explains Matt Burke at the University of Oxford. For example, oil and gas firms are facing virtually no additional borrowing costs. It’s a similar story for governments … [Read more...]
How to manage price risk as the EU shifts from Russian Gas to Renewables
Europe is phasing out Russian gas and replacing it with more renewables. That means there will be greater demand variability and a resulting impact on European spot gas prices. The problem is that long-term contracting, the traditional way for buyers to mitigate spot price risk, is incompatible with Europe’s climate objectives of reducing long term consumption of gas. Kong Chyong at the Center on Global Energy Policy proposes alternative policy … [Read more...]
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