Six of the world’s sunniest countries on earth are on the African continent. But with the notable exception of South Africa, Morocco and a few others, progress in scaling up solar energy in Africa has been disappointingly slow. However, 2015 may see a breakthrough in solar power in many countries across Africa, writes Terje Osmundsen, Senior Vice-President of the independent Norwegian solar power producer Scatec Solar. A number of African … [Read more...]
The myth of expensive offshore wind: it’s already cheaper than gas-fired and nuclear
Analysing public data on offshore wind in Denmark, energy consultant Mike Parr concludes that existing offshore wind is already cheaper than gas-fired power plants. Future offshore wind farms will be cheaper still – and up to 60% less expensive than the proposed nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point C in the UK. This means, writes Parr, that government support for offshore wind can be quickly and substantially reduced. … [Read more...]
Russia’s Grand Gas Strategy – the power to dominate Europe?
For Russia, energy resources, especially gas, are viewed as a tool to project power beyond its borders. However, Russia’s room for “gas games” is constrained by its own capacities, the gas strategies of other players, and the EU’s ability to project its regulatory power, write Zuzanna Nowak and JarosĹ‚aw Ćwiek-Karpowicz of the Polish Institute of International Affairs (PISM) and Jakub Godzimirski of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs … [Read more...]
Big Oil’s broken business model: the real story behind the oil price collapse
The underlying cause of the oil price collapse is to be found in the collapse of Big Oil’s production-maximizing business model, writes Michael Klare, professor at Hampshire College and author of many books on the geopolitics of energy. According to Klare, the oil companies were operating according to a business model that assumed an ever-increasing demand for their products, no matter their cost. They also assumed that concern over climate … [Read more...]
Interview chief climate negotiator for France Paul Watkinson: “COP21 will not solve everything”
The COP21 climate conference in Paris in December needs to lead to a “binding agreement” that will provide “a long-term basis for the future”, says Paul Watkinson, head of the Climate Negotiation Team of France, in an interview with Energy Post. “We cannot continue negotiating. We need to decide on something that will last and will become stronger as time goes on”. But Watkinson warns that COP21 will “not solve everything.” It will also be “a … [Read more...]
Statoil’s big dilemma: should it continue to go for oil and gas – or transform itself into an energy service provider?
Norwegian oil giant Statoil, owned 67% by the Norwegian State, readily acknowledges the need to take drastic measures against climate change. But it nevertheless persists in a strategy aimed at expanding its oil and gas production globally. According to Anders Bjartnes, editor of the website Energi og Klima, the company cannot forever embrace these opposing views, “where verbal concerns go in one direction while strategy and cash go in the … [Read more...]
Everyone is guessing when it comes to oil prices
Oil price forecasters base their predictions on a multitude of different factors, writes Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com. When you take all these into account, he says, it becomes clear that nobody really knows which way oil prices are heading. … [Read more...]
Meet the world’s number 1 R&D player in sustainable energy: the Chinese Academy of Sciences
In a global study of top academic and research centers in a wide range of sustainable energies, the surprising winner is the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Among industrial innovators the number 1 is engineering company ABB. The in-depth study, conducted by KIC InnoEnergy and Questel Consulting, shows that Chinese research institutions are considerably ahead of their European and US peers in sustainable energy innovation, including wind, ocean and … [Read more...]
In the oil heartlands of the planet, solar now beats oil and gas
One of the biggest banks in the Middle East and the oil-rich Gulf countries says that fossil fuels can no longer compete with solar technologies on price, and that the vast bulk of the $US48 trillion needed to meet global power demand over the next two decades will come from renewables. Meanwhile, in Dubai, Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power, has won the world’s largest ever solar tender with the cheapest ever price: one-third below the cost of gas-fired … [Read more...]
Here’s what will send oil prices back up again
Oil's rapid decline since August of last year has been dramatic. To listen to some commentators you would also think it is unprecedented and irreversible. Those claiming that oil will continue to fall from here and remain low for evermore, however, are flying in the face of both history and common sense. The question we should be asking ourselves is not if oil prices will recover, but when they will. … [Read more...]
To make European climate policy work, we need to put a carbon price on imports
European institutions are struggling to reform the failing EU Emission Trading System (ETS) – “the cornerstone of EU climate policy”. But all reforms will be inadequate, writes Emil Dimantchev, senior carbon market analyst at Thomson Reuters, unless we address the system’s key defect: the failure to impose equal rules on all producers, including those from outside the EU. According to Dimantchev, EU policymakers will never allow carbon prices to … [Read more...]
Offshore wind in the Kattegat: a unique opportunity for Europe
New figures show that the Anholt offshore wind farm in the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden had an impressively high capacity factor of 50% last year. This is all the more impressive since, as Mike Parr, Director of energy consultancy PWR points out, 2014 was a year with unusually low wind speeds. In an average year the capacity factor would have been more like 75%. This means, writes Parr, that if just 10% of the Kattegat region were … [Read more...]
Back to a nuclear future: the Abe government restarts Japan’s energy policy Â
The renewed mandate Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received from voters in the snap election in December will have big implications for the Japanese energy industry. Abe is set on re-starting closed nuclear reactors - and scaling back renewables subsidies. A recent report from the Institute of Energy Economics in Tokyo backs him up, saying that “renewable power generation capacity has increased too rapidly”. But a majority of Japanese are … [Read more...]
New Silk Roads and the “Chinese Dream” of a Brave New (Trade) World
Seen from the Chinese capital as the Year of the Sheep starts, the malaise affecting the West seems like a mirage in a galaxy far, far away. On the other hand, the China that surrounds you looks all too solid and nothing like the embattled nation you hear about in the Western media, with its falling industrial figures, its real estate bubble, and its looming environmental disasters. Prophecies of doom notwithstanding, as the dogs of austerity and … [Read more...]
Waiting for the next oil crisis
Many commentators have pointed out that, as current low oil prices make it difficult for oil companies to invest in exploration and production, we can expect lower supply in future, and therefore a return to high prices. But according to Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com, the reality is much worse. He notes that even when oil prices were high, over the past years, oil companies were struggling to replace their reserves. The world, he warns, will … [Read more...]
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