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05.17.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: How One Contrarian ‘Broke’ Jeopardy! and Won $1.7 Million
For all practical purposes, the manner in which contestants have played “Jeopardy!” has not changed since Art Fleming provided the game show’s first “answer” 55 years ago. That is, until James Holzhauer took his place behind the podium earlier this year. After winning 22 consecutive games by an astounding average margin of $64,913, one question must be asked: Had every one of these contestants been playing this game the wrong way? Read More |  |
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05.15.19- The IEA's Dire Warning For Energy Markets
Higher spending on oil, natural gas and coal was offset by declines in fossil fuel-based electricity generation and even a dip in renewable energy spending. China was the largest market for energy investment, even as the U.S. closed the gap. Read More |  |
05.14.19- Tight Oil Markets Could Be About To See A ‘Violent’ Price Spike
Two Saudi Arabian oil tankers were reportedly attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this weekend, sending crude futures sharply up Monday morning. Commenting on the incident, Bjørnar Tonhaugen, Head of Oil Market Research at Rystad Energy, says: Read More |  |
05.13.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: More Ridiculous Civil Asset Forfeiture Shenanigans
Chicago police run a vehicle impound racket Imagine dropping your car off at the local mechanic because you need to get your engine tuned up. A few days later you come back to pick up your car, only to find out that it has been impounded by the police. Read More |  |
05.11.19- U.S. Warns Iran May Attack Oil Tankers In The Persian Gulf
“Since early May, there is an increased possibility that Iran and/or its regional proxies could take action against U.S. and partner interests, including oil production infrastructure, after recently threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz. Iran or its proxies could respond by targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers, or U.S. military vessels in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, or the Persian Gulf,” says the U.S. Maritime Administration’s advisory which is effective until early November 2019. Read More |  |
05.10.19- The Shale Boom Is About To Go Bust
For years, companies have deployed an array of drilling techniques to extract more oil and gas out of their wells, steadily intensifying each stage of the operation. Longer laterals, more water, more frac sand, closer spacing of wells – pushing each of these to their limits, for the most part, led to more production. Higher output allowed the industry to outpace the infamous decline rates from shale wells. Read More |  |
05.09.19- The Biggest Catalyst In Oil Markets Is Going Unnoticed
It may be hard to maintain attention to any one conflict, with so many now raging around the world. Last week, the Trump administration was all-in on Venezuela. But with the coup failing, Washington has turned its sights on Iran Read More |  |
05.08.19- Tesla Starts Price War
Tesla entered the solar power with the acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, sparking concern among investors and industry observers that it was stretching itself too thin. Read More |  |
05.07.29- Oil Soars On Venezuela Coup Attempt
Standing alongside soldiers at a military base, opposition leader and self-proclaimed president of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, launched a military uprising to oust Maduro. Notably, he stood with Leopoldo Lopez, another opposition leader who had been jailed by the government, but who said he had been released by elements of the military that had turned on Maduro. Both urged the military to rise up and called for the whole country to mobilize in the streets. Read More |  |
05.06.19- Why Your Gasoline Won’t Take You As Far As it Used To
The EIA doesn’t directly tabulate the energy content of gasoline. But they do provide two pieces of data that let us calculate it ourselves from two relevant tables in the April 2019 Monthly Energy Review. Read More |  |
05.04.19- What if Iran Retaliates and Shuts Down the Strait of Hormuz?
The effort on the part of the Trump administration to shut down Iran’s ability to export oil is predicated on the false notion that the rest of the world will fall in lockstep with U.S. policy. But has President Donald Trump really thought through what would happen to the economic health of the world if Iran retaliates, shutting the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil flows daily? Read More |  |
05.03.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: Who Owns You?
“Think about it. There are really only two choices. Either you will own you, or someone else will.” I’ve subscribed to Richard’s “U.S & World Early Warning Report” for years. I re-read the section about capitalism and socialism. Here are some tidbits: (my highlights) “Laissez-faire (less-aa-fair) is from the French laissez nous faire – leave us alone. It means the government does not meddle in free enterprise, free trade, free markets. It allows economic freedom. Read More |  |
05.02.19- How The Renewable Revolution Is Reshaping Geopolitics
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04.30.19- 19 Historical Oil Disruptions, And How No.20 Will Shock Markets
Einstein would then point out that the policymakers are consistently wrong. A hefty price boost has followed every disruption. Read More |  |
04.29.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: NWO: Globalists Want to Annihilate
The NWO and globalization has been happening for some time now, but there always appears to be a moment when the agenda’s rhetoric is ramped up to disturbing levels, complete with apocalyptic death. Even leftist totalitarian comedians like Bill Maher have joined in the horrific agenda pushing by saying he just wants people to, “Not have kids, DIE, and stay dead.” Read More |  |
04.27.19- A Wave Of Clean Energy Policies Are Killing Coal
A wave of clean energy policies have recently washed through state capitols across the country, a trend that has come despite, or because of, the federal deregulation effort. Read More |  |
04.26.19- Trump’s Removal Of This 100-Year Old Law Is Good News For Natural Gas
Bloomberg reported this week, citing unnamed sources, that Donald Trump had discussed the possibility of canceling the Merchant Marine Act from 1920 with industry insiders and other stakeholders in response to pressure from the Puerto Rican government and the energy industry. However, officials in his administration are divided. Read More |  |
04.25.19- Driving Toward A Greener Future
Everyone who drives a vehicle is aware there is a growing problem with fossil fuel depletion. As the price at the pumps continue to rise, the law of supply and demand, as well as many top analysts predict our crude oil resources are running out. Crude oil is not a renewable resource, so once it’s gone… it’s gone for good. After nearly 150 years of drilling and fracking, fossil fuel experts believe oil production could be nearing its peak and the hunt is on for a viable replacement. Read More |  |
04.24.19- Solar Stocks Are Booming This Year
So far this year, according to “multimedia financial services company” the Motley Fool, “First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR), Sunrun (NASDAQ:RUN), and Vivint Solar (NYSE:VSLR) are all up over 40% [as of April 21] and Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS) has nearly doubled.” Read More |  |
04.23.19- New Electric Vehicles Contain Much More Lithium
The Dutch-Canadian research company, which tracks EV registrations and battery chemistries in more than 80 countries, says among all metals and materials found in EV battery cathodes, lithium use saw the greatest gains. The surge in lithium use per kWh of battery capacity deployed is due to an ongoing shift from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) to nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathodes among Chinese vehicle makers — Adamas Intelligence. Read More |  |
04.22.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: Google's Sensorvault Can Tell Police Where You've Been
In a new article, the New York Times details a little-known technique increasingly used by law enforcement to figure out everyone who might have been within certain geographic areas during specific time periods in the past. The technique relies on detailed location data collected by Google from most Android devices as well as iPhones and iPads that have Google Maps and other apps installed. This data resides in a Google-maintained database called “Sensorvault,” and because Google stores this data indefinitely, Sensorvault “includes detailed location records involving at least hundreds of millions of devices worldwide and dating back nearly a decade.” Read More |  |
04.29.19- Hydrogen’s Role In The Energy System Of The Future
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04.19.19- Artificial Intelligence Could Solve Nuclear Fusion's Biggest Problem
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04.18.19- This Tweak Could Be A Gamechanger For Lithium-Ion Batteries
Researchers from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this month announced they had achieved much faster charging rates in lithium ion batteries by replacing the usual cobalt oxide used together with lithium in the cathode with vanadium disulfide. Read More |  |
04.17.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: From Jesus Christ To Julian Assange: When Dissidents Become Enemies Of The State
When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are being ruled by criminals. In the current governmental climate, where laws that run counter to the dictates of the Constitution are made in secret, passed without debate, and upheld by secret courts that operate behind closed doors, obeying one’s conscience and speaking truth to the power of the police state can render you an “enemy of the state.” Read More |  |
04.16.19- Snow-powered nanogenerator works where solar panels don't
The team calls the new device a snow-based triboelectric nanogenerator, or Snow TENG. As the name suggests it works off the triboelectric effect, meaning it uses static electricity to generate a charge through the exchange of electrons. These kinds of devices have been used to make generators that pull energy from body movements, touchscreens, and even footsteps on floors. Read More |  |
04.15.19- Brent Could Hit $80 This Summer As Hedge Funds Lose Steam
Brent Crude topped $71 and WTI Crude rose above $64 a barrel in the middle of this week as supply reductions outweighed fears of slowing economic growth. Following the crash in Q4 2018, oil prices have already increased by more than 30 percent so far this year. Read More |  |
04.13.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: This Will Be the Breakout Tech of 2019
Turing is a name you might recognize. Born in London in 1912, he was a mathematician, cryptanalyst (one who studies cryptographic security systems), and early computer scientist – among other things. He was a prominent figure during World War II, as he developed a method to crack the cryptographic codes used by the Germans. The story of Turing and the importance of his work were brought to life in the 1983 novel Alan Turing: The Enigma, as well as the 2014 film The Imitation Game. Yet, in the years to come, I believe that Turing will be most remembered as the father of artificial intelligence (AI). Read More |  |
04.12.19- The U.S. Oil Story Nobody is Telling
The mainstream media has been all over the story. They should be. After all, what the entrepreneurial U.S. oil and gas industry has done to free oil long-trapped in shale rocks has been incredible. But… What not so many people know is that the shale producers are pumping the wrong kind of oil. U.S. refineries are desperately short of a different kind of oil than what the shale producers are delivering. Read More |  |
04.11.19- The World’s Cheapest Natural Gas
Unlike in other places, such as the Marcellus and Utica shales, natural gas in West Texas is produced as a byproduct. This “associated gas” is essentially an afterthought, a surplus and almost irrelevant product that comes out of the ground due to the relentless pursuit of crude oil. Precisely because the natural gas is not the target is exactly why more gas continues to be produced regardless of what prices do. Read More |  |
04.10.19- The Geopolitics Of Oil In The Trump Era
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04.09.19- PV inverter leader Sungrow’s energy storage revenues up 500% year-on-year
Chinese solar inverter manufacturer Sungrow not only continues to lead the global market for inverter shipments, the company’s energy storage business enjoyed huge growth in revenue during 2018. In a blog for our sister site PV Tech, senior news editor Mark Osborne writes that in its recently-published annual report for 2018, Sungrow reported global inverter shipments of 16.7GW, a 1.2% year-on-year increase with cumulative global shipments topping 79GW. Revenue generation in the fourth quarter surpassed “anything any PV company has ever experienced”. Read More |  |
04.08.19- Saudi Arabia Threatens To Drop Dollar For Oil Trades
Reuters reports, citing unnamed sources, that the switch from U.S. dollars to other currencies had been discussed in senior Saudi circles and that it had also been shared with U.S. government officials from the energy department. Read More |  |
04.06.19- The Massive Increase Of Central Bank Paper Assets Warns Of Financial Danger Ahead
And these trillions of dollars worth of paper IOU’s can only get their value from the burning of energy… a critical factor overlooked by mainstream financial analysts. Without growing global oil production, most of these “supposed” assets would see their values plummet. Unfortunately, the world is heading towards a collapse of global oil production due to the Falling EROI – Energy Returned On Investment and the Thermodynamics of oil depletion. Read More |  |
04.06.19- The Energy Solution That Could End The Border Wall Debate
So far, the fight over the wall has led to heated debate, a highly controversial declaration of national emergency, and even the longest U.S. government shutdown in the nation’s history. While politicians fight over the terms and the funding of the wall/fence/barrier and constituents remain highly divided on the issue, some factions of the scientific community are getting down to business. Read More |  |
04.04.19- Coal Fueled Teslas
About 30.4% of electricity in the United States is generated from coal. About 19.7% is generated from nuclear. So over 50% of the US power is from coal and nuclear. The remaining is as follows: natural gas = 34%, hydro = 6.5%, wind = 5.6%, biomass = 1.5%, solar = <1% plus other misc. sources. Read More |  |
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Climate Change Technologies, also known as CCT Energy Storage, has launched its TED (Thermal Energy Device) with a set of remarkable claims. TED is a modular energy storage unit that accepts any kind of electricity – solar, wind, fossil fuel-generated or straight off the grid – and uses it to heat up and melt silicon in an insulated chamber. Read More |  |
04.02.19- Scientists discover "angel particle" that is its own antiparticle
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04.01.19- Expect Higher Oil Prices As OPEC Clashes With Trump
With a barrage of accusations, Trump has resorted again to Twitter to call upon OPEC+ to reopen its valves and bring more crude on to the market to counter increasing prices. The reaction of OPEC+ has been muted, which goes to show that Saudi Arabia, Russia and the UAE are not at all inclined to answer Trump’s demands any longer. At the same time, the effects of Trump’s Twitter war with OPEC and Russia are also waning, as analysis is showing that the market reacts violently to a Trump tweet on OPEC but very quickly recovers to its old price levels. Trump’s anti-OPEC rhetoric is clearly losing importance and impact. Read More |  |
03.30.19- Midwest Apocalypse: According To Satellite Data, “At Least 1 Million Acres Of U.S. Farmland” Have Been Devastated By Floods
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03.29.19- Lithium metal battery prototype boasts 3 times the capacity of lithium-ions
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03.28.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: How America Becomes a Police State
That’s because people are essentially the same the world over, regardless of their culture, religion, race, or what-have-you. A certain percentage of them are sociopaths. There is a standard distribution of sociopaths across time and space. It’s a function of Pareto’s Law, better known as the 80-20 rule. 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Another 20% are responsible for 80% of the crime. 20% of the population always winds up with 80% of the wealth. Read More |  |
03.27.19- Onboard Hydrogen: Is This The Future Of Zero Emission Vehicles?
In general, one should apply a healthy dose of skepticism, and then ask a number of critical questions. This press release didn’t go into enough details to ascertain the credibility of the technology, but I was contacted by the company to clear up my questions. Read More |  |
03.26.19- Electric Vehicles
Simon Moores' testimony on supply chains of key battery raw materials before US Senate: Read More |  |
03.25.19- How Big Oil Could Become
It was only a matter of time, really. Integrated oil companies know the importance of covering the whole supply chain in an industry, so it only made sense to grow into power generation once you’ve established a presence in one of the biggest growth segments in power demand: electric vehicles. Read More |  |
03.23.19- Rumors Of Chinese Subsidy Cuts Send Shockwaves Through Solar Markets
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03.22.19- Qatar Leverages LNG In Geopolitical Stroke Of Genius
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03.21.19- U.S. ‘’Oil Weapon’’ Could Change Geopolitics Forever
Monthly net trade of crude oil in the Gulf Coast region (the difference between gross exports and gross imports) fell from a high in early 2007 of 6.6 million b/d of net imports to 0.4 million b/d of net exports in December 2018. As gross exports of crude oil from the Gulf Coast hit a record 2.3 million b/d, gross imports of crude oil to the Gulf Coast in December—at slightly less than 2.0 million b/d—were the lowest level since March 1986. Read More |  |
03.20.19- Silicon-perovskite solar cell cracks
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03.19.19- The Billionaires Battling It Out Over Biofuel
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03.18.19- Solid-state, ion-drive airplane silently flies with no fuel or moving parts
The principle behind the MIT team's 10 recent test flights is called "electroaerodynamics" and uses an ionic wind to create thrust. The idea isn't new. The effect was first observed in the 1920s, and thanks to the work of Major Alexander de Seversky and others, it has gained a niche following in aeronautical and hobbyist circles. Read More |  |
03.16.19- This Is the Next “Space Race”
It successfully launched Sputnik I into Earth’s orbit, the first-ever artificial satellite to make the trip. Not only was the Soviet Union first to launch a satellite, it managed to put the first human into space in 1961 with Yuri Gagarin’s historic spaceflight. Thus, began a race for technological superiority between the United States and the Soviet Union – the “Space Race.” It was a tremendous time in human history. Read More |  |
03.15.19- OPEC Threatens To Kill U.S. Shale
The oil minister of the UAE, Suhail al-Mazrouei, reportedly told lenders at the meeting that if the bill was made into law that made OPEC members liable to U.S. anti-cartel legislation, the group, which is to all intents and purposes indeed a cartel, would break up and every member would boost production to its maximum. Read More |  |
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03.12.19- Global Warming A "Hoax And Scam" Pushed By Greedy Government Scientists:
Moore, who recently made headlines for calling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a "pompous little twit" and "garden-variety hypocrite" on climate change, sat down with SiriusXM's Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak. Read More |  |
03.11.19- And Now for Something Entirely Different: Constitution of the Confederate States of America ~ March 11, 1861
Much of the Confederate Constitution mirrored the Constitution of the United States as it existed at the time, with bigger differences in the matters of slavery and states’ rights. Read More |  |
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How much longer will the middle class politely tolerate its own destruction? A middle class that outnumbers the combined poor and aristocracy is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back to around 1900. The rise of the middle class was the result of Industrial Revolution capitalism. It has been one of the most significant and epochal developments in history, yet the intellectual reaction for the most part has been to either ignore it or treat it with disdain. Now the project to destroy the middle class is well under way, with unpredictable and uncontrollable consequences that promise to be just as epochal as its creation. Read More |  |
03.08.19- Should We Rethink Nuclear Power?
Despite high-profile nuclear disasters like Chernobyl in Ukraine (then the Soviet Union), Fukushima in Japan, and Three Mile Island in the United States, the deaths related to nuclear meltdowns are actually very few. In fact, climate scientists Pushker Kharecha and James Hanson discovered that overall, nuclear energy actually saves lives--their study found that up until now, nuclear power has already saved nearly two million lives that would have been lost to air pollution-related deaths from the contamination that would have been produced by other, more traditional, sources of energy. Read More |  |
03.07.19- U.S. Will Soon Export More Oil, Liquids Than Saudi Arabia
The U.S. has for decades relied on large-scale imports to satisfy its thirst for oil, but this is about to change. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that the United States exported more crude and petroleum products than it imported. Read More |  |
03.06.19- The Myth Of Water As A Fuel
I am, nevertheless, naturally skeptical until convinced otherwise. Such was the case this week when I received a press release from Australian-Israeli startup Electriq-Global. The press release read in part: Read More |  |
03.05.19- Russian LNG Is About To Transform European Gas Markets
However, in the month of February, Russian LNG flows played a pivotal role in price formation within Europe. Many analysts have attributed the increased dependence on Russian LNG imports to the combined factors of weak Asian demand, driven by unseasonably warm winter temperatures, and the earlier-than-anticipated start of the Yamal LNG project. This article reviews whether this is an anomaly, or, if it is the ‘new normal’, and the potential ramifications for European natural gas security. Read More |  |
03.04.19- When Bubbles Burst - Tesla, The Everything Cycle, & The End Of Global Warming
Religions die hard. It takes an orgy of evidence to change a person’s mind on a subject that is integral to their moral and ethical structure. In the case of Tesla, the mania surrounding it over the past decade has been inextricably bound up with the hysteria of global warming. Read More |  |
03.02.19- Miners Eye The Moon For
The goal is to place a lander on the lunar surface to mine and process regolith for useful materials such as water, oxygen, metals and an isotope called helium-3, which may prove useful for fueling future fusion reactors. Regolith, Universe Today reported, is a dust-like material that covers the lunar surface and is the result of billions of years of meteor and comet impacts. If anyone ever lives on the moon, they could use the regolith to build habitats for a base. Read More |  |
03.01.19- Electric Vehicle And Battery Metal News
1) Amazon Invests in Rivian, a Tesla Rival in Electric Vehicles
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Since Netanyahu and his wife have become embroiled in multiple scandals over the past few years, seemingly all of which have yielded recommendations of prosecution, let us pause a moment for a quick refresher on the most serious allegations. Read More |  |
02.27.19- Natural Gas Prices To Remain Low…
Henry Hub gas prices have been wallowing below $3/MMBtu for much of this winter, after briefly trading at multi-year highs late last year. Low prices are remarkable for several reasons. First, the U.S. entered the peak winter demand season with gas storage at its lowest level in 15 years. Indeed, a thin cushion of gas sitting in storage helped spark the price rally in November. Read More |  |
02.26.19- Hydrogen Cars Struggle To Compete With Electric Vehicles
The smallest and most abundant particle in the Universe has been branded as an alternative environmentally friendly technology compared to EVs. Hydrogen has several pros and cons regarding its application for transportation and energy storage purposes. Read More |  |
02.25.19- 12 Empty Supertankers Tell Us Everything We Need To Know About
The tankers have been traveling a route spanning thousands of miles with no cargo other than some seawater needed for ballast. Of course, in normal times, the ships would be filled with heavy Middle East oil for delivery to refineries in places like Houston or New Orleans. Read More |  |
02.23.19- The Fate Of Venezuela’s President Could Be In The Hands Of A US Judge
Last week, opposition leader Juan Guaido appointed new directors at the two companies in a challenge to Nicolas Maduro and in an effort to take control over Venezuela’s oil assets—pretty much the only assets that generate hard currency for the struggling Latin American country sitting on top of the world’s largest crude oil reserves. Read More |  |
02.22.19- The Empire: Now or Never
The reason of course is empire, the desire for which is an ancient and innate part of mankind’s cerebral package. Parthian, Roman, Aztec, Hapsburg, British. It never stops. Read More |  |
02.21.19- New battery design for electric cars would stack up to 1,000-km range
Electric cars don't have a single battery, but a collection of battery packs made of hundreds or thousands of individual battery cells that are packed in and wired together. These separate battery cells each require a housing as well as terminals, wiring, cables, and electronic monitors, which all combine to take up 50 percent of the space of a whole battery pack. Read More |  |
02.20.19- U.S. Nuclear Has A Tough Road Ahead
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02.19.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: How 1984 turned into an
One of the key themes from George Orwell’s dystopic novel 1984 is that the Party can do and say whatever it wants. And more importantly, you must believe it, with all your heart. No matter how absurd. That’s doublethink. It is impossible for two plus two to equal three, four, and five simultaneously. But if the Party says it is so, it is so. Read More |  |
02.18.19- EXXONMOBIL U.S. OIL & GAS
ExxonMobil plans on expanding Permian shale oil production to 600,000 barrels a day (bd) by 2025, up from the 115,000 bd as of October (thanks to the data from Shaleprofile.com). Exxon’s Permian shale oil production shot up from less than 50,000 bd at the beginning of 2018, to over 115,000 bd in October:Read More |  |
02.16.19- Researchers Scramble To Find Better Biofuel Alternatives
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02.15.19- Brent Crude Hits 2019 High At $65
At 10:20 a.m. EST on Friday, WTI Crude was trading up 1.60 percent at $55.27. Brent Crudewas up 1.44 percent at $65.50. Read More |  |
03.14.19- Martin Armstrong Slams Al Gore's Deliberate Global Warming Fraud To Increase Governmental Power
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02.13.19- Solar supercapacitor creates electricity and hydrogen fuel on the cheap |  |
02.12.19- Chemical conversion process gives plastic waste new life as fuel
The United Nations estimates that more than 8 million tons of plastics flow into the oceans each year. A new chemical conversion process could transform the world’s polyolefin waste, a form of plastic, into useful products, such as clean fuels and other items. Read More |  |
02.11.19- The Achilles Heel For EV Makers
Despite the overwhelming abundance of EV news in the mobility sector, producers are not overly optimistic about their finances. General Motors, for example, doesn’t expect its electric vehicles to turn a profit in the coming years. European car makers are selling EVs for near-production value to maintain sales. The Achilles heel of the industry is the high production costs which need to be overcome to achieve the sustainable production and development of new models. Read More |  |
02.09.19- Energy Dominance Isn't Just A Trump Obsession
This is especially true of those vulnerable to a change in the status quo, namely Saudi Arabia. While some continue to believe the gyrations of the oil market over the past few months are evidence of our running up against the limit of the petroleum based global economy, I disagree. Read More |  |
02.08.19- The U.S. Faces A Catastrophic Food Supply Crisis In America As Farmers Struggle
“The farm economy’s in pretty tough shape,” said John Newton, chief economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation. “When you look out on the horizon of things to come, you start to see some cracks.” Average farm income has fallen to near 15-year lows under president Donald Trump’s policies, and in some areas of the country, farm bankruptcies are soaring. And with slightly higher interest rates, many don’t see borrowing more money as an option. Read More |  |
02.07.19- 2019 Is the Dawn of a New Era in Energy
Throughout time, the richest barons in history sold society its energy. Last century, oil fueled society. Barons like Jean Paul Getty made so much money supplying society with oil, the wealth became a burden. From the Rockefellers to the Saudi royals, the story is the same. Controlling the supply of energy is equivalent to a levy on the entire economy. Read More |  |
02.06.19- The Mobile Space Heater
The good news is the space heater doesn’t have to move the room down the road at 60 MPH, too. It’s also connected to the grid – not a battery. So while it costs a fortune to run, at least you won’t run out – of heat, that is. Range, on the other hand . . . Read More |  |
02.05.19- Could This Material Kill
The study, by researchers from the Nagoya Institute of Technology, found a way around the main obstacle for swapping lithium with sodium: the larger size of the ions in sodium and its different chemistry, Phys.org reports. They did this by finding a sodium compound that displayed a crystal structure that was compatible with battery use, along with a favorable electric structure and electrochemical properties. The compound yielded shorter charging times than lithium-ion batteries and a potentially longer battery life. Read More |  |
02.04.19- Virtual Power Plants – Time for Some Truly Whole-systems Thinking
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02.02.19- And Now, for Somethng Entrely Different: The Ruling Class &
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02.01.19- This Will Be the Biggest Winner of the EV Revolution
On Friday, the German auto giant said it’s going to spend €870 million (about $995 million) by 2020 to develop electric vehicle (EV) components. It did so because there isn’t a major battery manufacturer in Europe, which leaves European car makers at the mercy of Asian suppliers. This blockbuster announcement comes just two months after Volkswagen said that it plans to spend almost $50 billion on developing EVs, self-driving cars, and new mobility services. It’s gearing up its production capacity so it can manufacture one million EVs. Read More |  |
01.31.19- The Major Risk That Oil Markets Are Underestimating
The oil markets barely budged last week when the Trump administration first recognized Juan Gauidó as President of Venezuela, and prices hardly moved even after follow-up reportingshowed that the U.S.’ effort to topple Nicolas Maduro was a lot more coordinated than it may have seemed at first glance. Oil prices also largely shrugged when American sanctions on PDVSA were announced earlier this week. However, by Tuesday, oil traders finally woke up to the fact that the U.S. campaign to topple Maduro by essentially issuing an embargo on Venezuelan oil exports could lead to major disruptions in the market. WTI and Brent both rose sharply. Read More |  |
01.30.19- New Exploration Tech Finds 1.5 Billion Barrels Of Oil In Alaska
In Alaska, for instance, new technology in oil and gas exploration has led to the discovery of more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil in the North Slope in just two years, S&P Global Platts recently reported. These are deposits that were known to be there but the resources they held could not be mapped or measured, so the deposits were considered unproductive before digital tech, in the form of advanced 3D seismic surveys and new processing techniques, came along. Read More |  |
01.29.19- Oversold Lithium Could Be
The commodities market endured yet another annus horribilis, with just four commodities—natural gas, uranium, cocoa and wheat—recording any uptick at all. Last year’s 12 percent slide by the Bloomberg Commodity Index--spurred by 20 percent-plus declines by industrial bellwethers like West Texas Intermediate crude, steel and platinum—came in the wake of two years of modest gains. Read More |  |
01.28.19- Fueling the Future: How Batteries are Improving, in Three Ways
Solving those conundrums is the focus of hundreds of companies and thousands of scientists all over the world. And in that crowded field, Tesla Inc., a French billionaire and a startup in Massachusetts are pulling ahead. Read More |  |
01.26.19- Another EV Giant Enters The Battery Business
The Wolfsburg-based company said it would invest 870 million euros (about $985 million) by 2020 to develop e-vehicle components, adding that its components division, which makes engines and steering parts, will now be in charge of producing, packing and overseeing recycling of battery cells and packs. Read More |  |
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The THEAC system uses no mechanical moving parts, no refrigerants, no CO2, no precious metals or materials. Instead it uses Argon gas, which is plentiful and has zero global warming potential, and is totally sustainable, relying solely on the energy of incoming heat to produce cold. The technology is also claimed to make about as much noise as a running shower, and is scalable. Read More |  |
01.24.19- The 7 Factors Driving Oil Prices In 2019
Demand- OPEC estimates suggest that there will lower oil demand in 2019 due to various factors. In its most recent Monthly Oil report, the cartel revised its demand growth forecast down by 100,000 bpd. Goldman Sachs has also “slashed its oil price forecast” due to concerns regarding oversupply and relatively weaker demand. If these predictions are accurate then falling demand growth will likely impact prices throughout the year. Read More |  |
01.23.19- IEA Chief: EVs Are Not The End
According to Birol, analysts need to put things into perspective and consider that five million EVs globally is nothing compared to 1 billion internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. “This year we expect global oil demand to increase by 1.3 million barrels per day. The effect of 5 million cars is 50,000 barrels per day. 50,000 versus 1.3 million.” Read More |  |
01.22.19- Texas Now Produces More Oil Than Every Country in the World Besides Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq
As a result of the impressive, "eye-popping," and ongoing surges in Texas’s oil production over the last decade, the Lone Star State recently surpassed Canada’s oil output for the first time this year (except for a few previous outlier months when production in Canada dropped sharply, see chart below), and now produces more oil (4.6 million barrels per day) than all other countries except for Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq (see map below). Read More |  |
01.21.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: A Manifesto For A ‘Deplorable’ Party
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01.18.19- Land Market Predictions for 2019
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01.17.19- Why Saudi Arabia Can Never Be
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01.16.19- Harvard's new organic flow battery uses a long-lived recipe of Biblical proportions
Flow batteries are built with two liquid electrolytes that are stored in external tanks and piped into the cell as needed. During charging and discharging, they pass electrons back and forth through a membrane in the cell, and their storage capacity and power output can be tweaked by changing the size of the tanks and membrane, respectively. Read More |  |
01.15.19- Bearish Bets On Diesel Tell
Hedge funds and other money managers liquidated a lot of bullish positions in crude oil and in middle distillates in October, November, and December. By the end of 2018, the net long position—the difference between bets that prices will rise and bets on a drop—in U.S. diesel futures had flipped to a net short position, where bets on a drop prevail over bets on price increases. Read More |  |
01.14.19- The Shale Oil Revolution Actually Reflects a Nation in Decline
Here in the opening month of 2019, as the US consumes itself with hot debate over a border wall, far more important topics are being ignored completely. Take US energy policy. In the US press and political circles, there’s nothing but crickets sounding when it comes to serious analysis or any sort of sustainable long-term plan. Once you understand the role of energy in everything, you can begin to appreciate why there's nothing more important to get right. Read More |  |
01.12.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different:Ending the War on the Non-Drug
Prior to the War on Drugs, the United States had a long history of hemp production, going all the way back to the colonial era and Britain even before that. Before governments arrested people for growing hemp, they used to fine farmers for not growing it. In the sixteenth century, King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I fined English farmers who failed to contribute to the country’s hemp industry. Read More |  |
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01.10.19- Largest ever continuous oil and gas resource found in the United States
As the United States becomes a net oil exporter for the first time in 75 years, the US Department of the Interior has announced the discovery of the largest continuous oil and gas field ever found. Situated in the Wolfcamp Shale and overlying Bone Spring Formation in Texas and the Permian Basin in New Mexico, the new resource is estimated to contain 46.3 billion barrels of oil, 281 trillion cu ft of natural gas, and 20 billion barrels of natural gas liquids worth trillions of dollars. Read More |  |
01.09.19- U.S. Gasoline Prices Could Be
DeHaan said that right now, the average price per gallon of gasoline in the United States was at the lowest for the start of a year since 2016, when the metric was also falling sharply to end up at a low of US$1.66 per gallon. “Americans are spending $260 million less on gasoline today than they did some 80 days ago,” the analyst said. Read More |  |
01.08.19- What Apple’s Tailspin Means
The development comes a day after Apple chief executive Tim Cook wrote in a letter to investors that the company had not foreseen the extent of China’s economic deceleration, which was exacerbated by U.S.-China trade tensions. The company’s shares dropped 10 percent after the disclosure. Apple’s problems are also impacting the overall technology sector. S&P Technology companies, meanwhile, dropped 5.1 percent yesterday, its biggest drop since August 2011. Read More |  |
01.07.19- Geoengineering Watch
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01.05.19- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: President Xi Orders Chinese Army To "Prepare For War"
Earlier this week Xi Jinping, the Chinese emperor for life president provoked an angry rebuke from Taiwan's pro-independence president when he demanded during a landmark speech earlier this week that Taiwan submit to "reunification" with Beijing. Read More |  |
01.04.19- Oil Is At The Mercy Of Financial Markets
The price gains are not entirely convincing. WTI and Brent posted strong gains, each up more than 3 percent by midday in New York, but come largely after U.S. equity markets shook off an earlier bout of pessimism. In fact, the trajectory and health of the global economy has moved to the top of the list in terms of variables exerting influence on oil prices. On any given day, stock prices offer a clue into investor sentiment in this regard. “Energy markets are following lockstep with what the equity markets are doing here, and I think that’s going to continue to be the case,” Brian LaRose at ICAP Technical Analysis, told Reuters. Read More |  |
01.03.19- Future batteries, coming soon: Charge in seconds, last months and power over the air
Big technology and car companies are all too aware of the limitations of lithium-ion batteries. While chips and operating systems are becoming more efficient to save power we're still only looking at a day or two of use on a smartphone before having to recharge. Thankfully, universities are getting involved. Read More |  |
01.02.19- The New Oil Order
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01.01.19- Imagine if We Paid for Food
No, I really want you to try to envision it… Struggling? I am a family physician whose father worked in a grocery store, and I enjoy eating at Mexican restaurants, so maybe I can help. Read More |  |
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Snowy places aren't idealfor harvesting solar energy – panels can't do much if they're buried under blankets of snow, of course. Now a team from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has developed a new device that can produce electricity from snow itself. 
Everyone knows that American shale oil production is booming.
Natural gas prices fell into record negative territory in the Permian basin, dragged down by booming oil production and a limited ability to move gas out of the region.
Saudi Arabia has threatened the United States to stop using dollars for its oil trades in an attempt to discourage legislators from passing a bill dubbed NOPEC aimed at holding OPEC liable for cartel practices under U.S. law.
By purchasing increasingly worthless paper assets, we can thank the central banks for propping up the global economy for the past decade. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the top central bank’s have acquired $13 trillion worth of assets on their balance sheets. While the central banks label these balance sheet items as “Assets,” they are nothing more than glorified Paper IOU’s.
Since making his initial promises of a border wall on the campaign trail in 2015, United States President Donald Trump has been pushed to back down on the word “wall”. In the past year we’ve hear fence, barrier, and other fuzzier terms, but the one constant is that Trump wants some sort of physical buffer between the U.S. and Mexico, and he wants it now.
Several countries are making proclamations that state all new cars shall be electric by a certain date. Who decided on electric cars? I know they sound “clean” but where does that electricity come from?
The ongoing turf war between U.S. president Donald Trump and OPEC+ where the oil market needs to be heading is again heating up.
We have never seen anything like this before. According to satellite data that was just released by Reuters, “at least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland” were covered by water for at least seven days this month. That is an agricultural disaster without equal in modern American history, and yet the mainstream media is treating this like it is some sort of second class story. It isn’t. This is the biggest news story of 2019 so far, and people want to know what is going on. A few days ago, I posted a story entitled 
The high energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries has led to them powering everything from 
Last week I wrote an article — 
Caspar Rawles from 
When Big Oil majors started buying EV charging networks and battery producers, they probably earned some praise for venturing into new business directions away from their increasingly unpopular core business. Now, they are taking this a step further: supermajors have super utility plans.
Last year, China sent a shockwave through the global solar market after it cut subsidies and stopped approving new solar installations in the middle of 2018, aiming to curb a huge renewable subsidy payment backlog and push for subsidy-free solar power amid continuously declining costs. This year, China has yet to announce its policies for subsidizing solar photovoltaic (PV) installations and purchases of electric vehicles (EVs). 
By now it should be evident that the Saudi-led economic and political boycott of tiny, gas-rich Qatar has caused Doha to push back and chart its own course. A Saudi-led boycott was put in place in 2017 over allegations that Qatar had been funded terrorist groups and over claims that it has sought better ties with Saudi arch-rival Iran to underline Riyadh. Doha vehemently denies both claims. Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain have also taken part in the boycott. 
In a dynamic that shows just how far U.S. oil production has come in recent years, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has been under pressure from the Trump administration to put together a proposal for how they plan to overhaul the current system of biofuel credits trading, which has been denounced by many industry insiders as shady and volatile. The EPA has been working on a solution since last year, and has finally put together a draft proposal, which is currently being reviewed by White House officials and could be formally made public as soon as this week. 
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union made history…
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will once again become a nemesis for U.S. shale if the U.S. Congress passes a bill dubbed NOPEC, or No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, Bloomberg 
Volkswagen is taking matters into its own hands.
The U.S. campaign for regime change in Venezuela could drive up oil prices.
Digital technology adoption in all stages of upstream operations in the oil and gas industry has seen a steep rise recently. While a lot has been written about the benefits of digitizing various aspects of the well-drilling, extraction, and field maintenance processes, there is also another major field where digital tech is changing the game: before the well-drilling even begins.
It’s been a decade of lows for commodities after posting 7 declines in 11 years, but we’ve seriously underestimated lithium. It’s back with a vengeance in 2019.
In the race for the next generation battery, lithium-ion technology has made huge leaps in recent years. But the power packs continue to have drawbacks: they use raw material mined in unstable countries, they’re dangerous if they break and they could pack more power.
