In the United States, the official “social cost of carbon” (SCC) enters into many rules and regulations, such as fuel economy standards. According to Amir Jina, the SCC, which currently is calculated to be $36 per ton, shows that the U.S. fossil fuel sector gets $200 billion a year in hidden subsidies. The government should use the SCC to increase the carbon price, argues Jina, but the Trump administration is hardly inclined to do so. First … [Read more...]
Is President Trump headed for a war with China?Â
The brewing conflict around the South China Sea, with its large oil and gas resources, could easily turn into a catastrophic war between the US and China, writes Rajan Menon, international relations specialist at City College New York and Columbia University. Menon explains what is behind the territorial claims on the South China Sea and why it will be extremely risky for the US to try to confront China there. Courtesy of TomDispatch. … [Read more...]
New President, new electric grid?
As the new Trump administration considers measures to enhance roads and bridges, they should also focus on America’s ageing electricity infrastructure, writes Dick Munson of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The U.S. electricity system is shockingly unreliable compared to every other developed nation, notes Munson, and the regulation of the industry is “byzantine”. By focusing on investment, efficiency, and markets, the U.S. could have a … [Read more...]
Separating fact from fiction in newest U.S. federal ethanol study
The latest ethanol study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture mixes facts with fictions, writes John DeCicco of the University of Michigan. The study contains fundamental errors that undermine its claims that the use of corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions. … [Read more...]
Green power revolution grinds forward, an unstoppable glacier
Webster’s defines revolution as “a sudden, radical or complete change.” The ongoing revolution in the United States electric utility industry fits that definition to a T, writes Washington-based energy reporter Dennis Wamsted. The changes have been unbelievably quick (at least by company standards, if not by activists’ desires), and the long-term impacts are going to be both radical and complete. Importantly, in today’s political climate, the … [Read more...]
Trump administration needs to be watched closely
The first actions of the new Trump administration raise grave concerns, both with regard to their energy policies and their policies in general, writes Allan R. Hoffman, author of the blog Thoughts of a Lapsed Physicist and formerly with the U.S. Department of Energy. We need to be vigilant to safeguard our democratic system. … [Read more...]
Theft of refined oil products threatens global stability
The theft of refined oil products, such as petrol and diesel, poses significant threats to the global economy and to the stability of states and regions in which it is prevalent, according to a first-ever in-depth study of global downstream oil theft, conducted by Ian M. Ralby for the Atlantic Council. The report shows that refined oil theft is becoming ever more sophisticated and increasingly involves those who are supposed to guard against it. … [Read more...]
States, not Trump, will decide future of U.S. electricity sector
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...]
Gazprom plays ball: the depoliticization of the European gas market
Gazprom’s gas supplies to Europe and Turkey reached an all-time record in 2016. This might suggest Europe is becoming more dependent on Gazprom, but according to Danila Bochkarev, Senior Fellow at the EastWest Institute, the Russian company gained market share by playing by the rules of the market. The European gas market is finally becoming depoliticized. … [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...]
Nuclear deal or not, Trump will turn Iran into a hot spot
Donald Trump could easily annul the Iran nuclear deal, writes Rajan Menon, Professor of International Relations at City College of New York and Senior Research Fellow at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute. However, whether or not he will do so, is not the most important question, writes Menon. The real question is what he will do to Iran – and how disastrous that could turn out to be. Courtesy of Tomdispatch. … [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...]
Energy efficiency rate has to double to meet climate targets
The annual improvement in energy efficiency has slowed down from 1.6% in the period 2000-2008 to 1.3% in 2009-2015, according to a comprehensive new report published by the World Energy Council and the French public agency ADEME. To meet the Paris climate targets, the rate should double to 2.5% per year to 2030, says  François Moisan, Scientific Director of ADEME. According to Moisan, price signals are key to achieving this goal, although … [Read more...]
The new outlook for oil: prepare for a bumpy ride in 2017
After two and a half years of opening up the taps (or rather: not closing them) OPEC has changed course in what is looking to be a gamechanger for the oil market. Market sentiment has shifted and the oil price has gone up. But that doesn’t mean we can go back to the status quo ante, writes geophysicist (ex-Shell) Jilles van den Beukel. Some things have changed permanently. Saudi Arabia’s position within OPEC has weakened, Iran’s has strengthened. … [Read more...]
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