European consumers actively chose to buy more than 550TWh of renewable electricity last year, 20% of all electricity consumption. Yet EU member states are not required to report on consumption of renewables, only  production. This gives a false picture of what is happening in the market, say business representatives involved in purchasing and producing green electricity. Dual reporting - of consumption and production - would show that some … [Read more...]
Chinese national oil companies: giants built on shaky foundations
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
Higher natural gas prices ahead in US after record demand and lower production
Gas production in the US is falling for the first time in years. At the same time, the US power sector is burning more natural gas than ever. This means gas prices are likely to rise this coming winter, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. … [Read more...]
How solar growth will wreck the economics of existing power markets
Continued solar growth could lead to significant decreases in wholesale electricity prices during most peak hours, writes Alex Gilbert, cofounder of US-based energy research platform Spark Library, in an article analysing the effects of solar power on electricity markets. While lower wholesale prices can impact solar’s growth they will also hurt other energy sources, particularly coal and nuclear but also natural gas and energy efficiency. … [Read more...]
Europe can retrieve its lost clean energy leadership by moving away from subsidizing renewables
Europe can win back its lost clean energy leadership by moving away from subsidy-powered renewables, writes Christopher Burghardt, Vice-President Business Development Europe at First Solar and a member of the Board of Directors of Solar Power Europe. Rather than subsidizing renewables, Burghardt argues, Europe should stimulate utility-scale energy production by independent power producers, just as other markets around the world are … [Read more...]
TTIP and energy security: do Europeans still want US LNG?
When TTIP talks were launched in 2013, Europeans were keen to tap into the United States oil and gas bonanza resulting from the country’s shale revolution to help reduce prices and shake off the continent’s too-heavy reliance on Russian hydrocarbons. But now US shale gas is arrriving in Europe, regardless of TTIP, writes Iana Dreyer, editor of Borderlex, an independent newsletter on EU trade policy. According to Dreyer, national politics in … [Read more...]
On track for a Golden Age of Gas?
The global energy industry must overcome significant new challenges if natural gas development is to achieve the vision of a Golden Age of Gas, writes Geoffrey Styles, Managing Director of independent US-based consultancy GSW Strategy Group. Low energy prices and reduced investment are only half the battle as regulations complexify and organized opposition grows. … [Read more...]
Greener in Europe? Four reasons the EU can’t be trusted on the environment
Those in favour of Britain’s continued membership of the European Union – although strangely not the UK government’s official campaign to remain in – are increasingly highlighting the contribution Brussels has made to protecting the natural environment. There is some justification for this, writes Professor Steffen Böhm of the University of Exeter, but in several key areas the influence of the EU on UK's environmental policy has been negative … [Read more...]
Saudi Arabia needs realism – not a 2030 vision
The recently published economic reform plan for Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030, is completely unrealistic, writes ex-Shell geoscientist Jilles van den Beukel.  He argues that it should be seen in the light of Mohammed bin Salman’s grab for power. The deputy crown prince, the King's favourite and de facto ruler of the country, has a limited time span to solidify his power base, given the frail health of his father. Van den Beukel argues that only … [Read more...]
Globalisation of the gas market: it has been going on longer than you think
The general view among analysts is that gas prices in North America, Europa and Asia diverged in the period 2005-2014. This was always a bit odd, since regional markets were becoming more interconnected in those years through increased LNG trade, increased market related pricing and gas hub development. Now it turns out that, according to new research from Floris Merison at the Energy Delta Institute, the conventional view of price divergence is … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- Next Page »