The new US president Donald Trump has quickly removed any reference to former president Obama’s Climate Action Plan on the website of the White House. It is not clear yet whether Trump will be able to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, which was part of Obama’s wider climate action program. According to Frederick Weston of the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) policies in the electricity sector have always been determined by the US States rather … [Read more...]
Turning point: solar cheaper than wind
It was bound to happen, and apparently it has: utility-scale solar-generated power, certainly in sunny parts of the world, appears to be cheaper than wind and both are cheaper than fossil-fuel generated power, writes Fereidoon Sioshansi, president of Menlo Energy Economics and publisher of the newsletter EEnergy Informer. … [Read more...]
U.S. energy under Trump
Today’s presidential inauguration will trigger the biggest policy and regulatory shift for the US energy industry in at least ten years, writes Geoffrey Styles, Managing Director of independent US-based consultancy GSW Strategy Group. That’s how long it has been since energy policy was set by a Republican president and Congress. Donald Trump is a different kind of Republican, though, and his goal does not seem to be a return to scarcity and high … [Read more...]
Energy Quiz 2016 – the answers!
Thanks to all our readers who took part in our Energy Quiz in December. We still owe you the answers. Here they are. … [Read more...]
What is holding renewable energy back?
For all the enthusiasm about renewables, there are glaring weaknesses being overlooked, writes Todd Royal, an independent strategic consultant, researcher and author based in southern California. According to Royal, for renewable energy to truly break through numerous obstacles such as costs, back-up generation power, storage, and – above all – grid modernization will need to be solved. Article courtesy of OilPrice.com. … [Read more...]
The geopolitics of energy: renewables are not in the race yet
At the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on 12-13 January, oil executives, Middle Eastern energy ministers and experts in the geopolitics of energy came together to discuss the geopolitical implications of “the energy transformation”. Yet no one presented a vision of what a new global order, based on renewable energy, would look like, writes Karel Beckman, Energy Post’s editor-in-chief. The oil players all embrace renewable … [Read more...]
The year coal collapsed: 2016 was a turning point for Britain’s electricity
Socially and politically, 2016 was a momentous year for Britain. It was also a record breaking year for energy and the environment, but thankfully for all the right reasons, write Grant Wilson of the University of Sheffield and Iain Staffell of Imperial College London. Britain’s electricity was the cleanest it had been in 60 years, as coal collapsed and renewables rose to record levels. Courtesy of the Conversation. … [Read more...]
The top 10 advanced energy stories of 2016 – and how they will shape 2017
From the first American offshore wind power to the economic power to employ millions of people, "advanced energy" is a major growth market that shows no signs of stopping, writes Lexie Briggs, social media manager at Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a US-based national association of business leaders promoting clean energy technologies. Briggs identifies the ten major advanced energy stories of 2016 in the US - and looks at how they will help shape … [Read more...]
Despite the hype, batteries aren’t the cheapest way to store energy on the grid
There are many different kinds of energy storage technologies, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. Lithium ion batteries are the most popular form of storage at the moment, but according to Roger Dargaville, Deputy Director of the Melbourne Energy Institute, they are not always the cheapest option. Nevertheless, lithium ion will probably be the dominant option, not because of economics, but because of human behavior. Courtesy of The … [Read more...]
The End of the Energiewende?
The prominent German economist Heiner Flassbeck has challenged fundamental assumptions of the Energiewende at his blog site makroskop.eu. According to Flassbeck, the former Director of Macroeconomics and Development at the UNCTAD in Geneva and a former State Secretary of Finance, a recent period of extremely low solar and wind power generation shows that Germany will never be able to rely on renewable energy, regardless of  how much new capacity … [Read more...]
Australians can have zero-emission electricity, without blowing the bill
Australia, which already has the highest solar PV concentration in the world but still relies heavily on fossil fuels, can move to a zero-emission electricity system while keeping prices low, writes Paul Graham, Chief Economist at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). Courtesy The Conversation. … [Read more...]
10 energy surprises in 2017
Peter Tertzakian of Oilprice.com zooms in on 10 not-so-obvious issues that may turn out to be key influencers in energy markets in 2017. … [Read more...]
Open letter to policymakers: make Europe Renewable Energy World Leader by 2020
Europe should embark on a collective project to become the world leader in renewable energy by 2020, write Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute, Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council and President of the European Policy Center and Bertrand Piccard, pilot of the Solar Impulse, in an open letter to policymakers. Such a leadership effort would go a long way to addressing a multitude of challenges facing … [Read more...]
How utilities can deal with the threat of community energy
Community energy is the next big threat to utility companies – unless they manage to become part of this emerging energy economy. They still have a window of opportunity, says Craig Cavanaugh of software services company Omnetric Group, who spent six months researching the energy community market in Europe and the US. He sees three main opportunities for utilities: they can become “collaborative partner”, “community energy service provider” or … [Read more...]
Energy may be ripe for the sharing economy, thanks to Bitcoin’s blockchain technology
The marriage of blockchain technology with microgrid applications could transform the way communities and organisations use renewable energy, writes Lexie Briggs of Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), an association of businesses in the US that includes companies such as Vestas, Siemens, Microsoft, GE and Schneider Electric. Siemens has just launched a project in Brooklyn, New York, that allows neighbours to purchase solar power from each other’s … [Read more...]
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