10.01.22- Ditching Russian Nuclear Fuel Is Easier Said Than Done
Tyler Durden

Russia's dominance in the global nuclear fuel market presents another massive challenge for Washington, especially the liberal hawks in the Biden administration, who are trying to wean Western countries off Russian energy supplies.

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said President Biden is redoubling efforts to break the US reliance on Russian nuclear fuel, indicating domestic uranium-enrichment capacity could be increased with upcoming key legislation.  Read More

09.30.22- The U.S. Plan To Power 100% Of Its Flights With Renewable Jet Fuel
Felicity Bradstock

Several world powers are launching renewable jet fuel initiatives in the race to be the first to provide a greener way to fly. With strict decarbonization policies being introduced by governments around the globe, several airlines are looking to decarbonize, as well as become more competitive in response to mounting public pressure to be more environmentally friendly. But when will airlines be able to deliver on renewable jet fuel promises?  Read More

09.29.22- Russia Is Flaring Less And Keeping Natural Gas In The Ground
Tsvetana Paraskova

When the breakup between Russia and the European Union began earlier this year, one of the reasons for the severity of the EU’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the assumption that Russia could not afford for its gas exports to drop.

The assumption was an enduring one for oil and gas both. A number of analysts toured the media, arguing that if production at an oil or gas field is suspended, this field eventually risks becoming unproductive forever. Read More

09.28.22- Hurricane Ian nears Florida landfall with 155 mph winds
Curt Anderson

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., (AP) — Hurricane Ian rapidly intensified as it neared landfall along Florida’s southwest coast Wednesday morning, gaining top winds of 155 mph (250 kph), just shy of the most dangerous Category 5 status. Damaging winds and rain lashed the state, and forecasters said the heavily populated Fort Myers area could be inundated by a storm surge of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters)

Air Force hurricane hunters confirmed Ian gained strength over warm Gulf of Mexico water after battering Cuba, bringing down the country’s electricity grid and leaving the entire island without power. Ian was centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) west-southwest of Naples at 7 a.m., swirling toward the coast at 10 mph. Read More

09.27.22- A New Design
For Faster Hydrogen Storage
Brian Westenhaus

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers have announced a new design for solid-state hydrogen storage that could significantly reduce charging times.

Hydrogen is gaining significant attention as an efficient way to store ‘green energy’ from renewables such as wind and solar. Compressed gas is the most common form of hydrogen storage, however it can also be stored in a liquid or solid state. Dr Saidul Islam, from the University of Technology Sydney, explained solid hydrogen storage, and in particular metal hydride, is attracting interest because it is safer, more compact, and lower cost than compressed gas or liquid, and it can reversibly absorb and release hydrogen. Read More

09.26.22- Europe’s Energy Crisis Will Not Be
“A One Winter Story”
Tsvetana Paraskova

Reduced energy supply due to the sanctions against Russia and Moscow shutting down key pipeline gas export routes will leave Europe scrambling for oil and gas well after the coming winter as the current crisis is not “a one winter story,” according to analysts at consultant Energy Aspects.

“This is not a one winter story, let’s just make it very, very clear,” Amrita Sen, founder and director of research at Energy Aspects, told Bloomberg television in an interview on Friday. Read More

09.24.22- Organic Solar Cell Breakthrough Improves Performance And Stability
Brian Westenhaus

Morphology control is essentially about making and placing very small particles in their working position. Albeit somewhat a simplified description, as miniaturization becomes micro miniaturization and now molecule, crystal and sometimes even atom placement, the process engineering efforts are getting very challenging indeed. The efforts have been ongoing for decades. These are basic problems that sometimes simply stop great ideas from getting to market.

Until now a lack of morphology control of the active layer made it challenging to develop organic solar cells (OSCs) with large active areas. Read More

09.23.22- Lithium resource squeeze could put the brakes on decarbonization
Loz Blain

As the EV revolution speeds up, and big battery projects ramp up to stabilize power grids running on intermittent renewables, global demand for lithium batteries will rise sixfold in the next 10 years. But can the world actually supply the materials?

There are many potential emerging alternatives to lithium batteries, but for the time being, lithium remains the best commercially available option for a wide range of use cases, and it's unclear what will rise to replace it, or when. We're already getting a small taste of a lithium squeeze, thanks to a freak heat wave that disrupted supply in China's Sichuan province last month. Read More

09.22.22- Carbon nanotubes boost efficiency in "nanobionic" bacterial solar cells
Michael Irving

Engineers at EPFL have found a way to insert carbon nanotubes into photosynthetic bacteria, which greatly improves their electrical output. They even pass these nanotubes down to their offspring when they divide, through what the team calls “inherited nanobionics.”

Solar cells are the leading source of renewable energy, but their production has a large environmental footprint. As with many things, we can take cues from nature about how to improve our own devices, and in this case photosynthetic bacteria, which get their energy from sunlight, could be used in microbial fuel cells. Read More

09.21.22- A Natural Gas Shortage Is
Looming For The U.S.
Irina Slav

Last week, the media rushed to report that natural gas prices in the United States had fallen sharply after trade unions and railway companies reached a tentative deal that averted a potentially devastating strike.

Indeed, natural gas prices fell by nearly a dollar per million British thermal units, helped by a respectable build in inventories. And yet, inventories remain below the seasonal average, exports are running at record rates, and producers are beginning to struggle to meet demand, both at home and abroad. Read More

09.20.22- Germany's (and Europe's) Self-Inflicted Upcoming Energy Crunch
Weimin Chen

At the end of September 2021, the Nord Stream 2 project was a reality after many years of uncertainty. At that time, there were only a few more regulatory hurdles remaining for Germany and Russia to seal the deal on the long-awaited and highly controversial natural gas pipeline. Achieving such a feat would have been a milestone in energy cooperation between the two countries. Sadly, the regional order has tilted hard and quick off that track, and Europe has plunged into a perilous future of uncertainty. Read More

09.19.22- Here's Why Toyota Isn't Going All-In On Electric Vehicles
Tyler Durden

While many automakers have committed billions of dollars in recent years to develop all-electric vehicles, Toyota has approached the technology with far more caution - opting instead to continue investing in a portfolio of hybrid "electrified" vehicles, such as the Prius.

And while the Japanese automaker was a darling of US environmentalists and 'eco-conscious' consumers when the Prius came out two decades ago, given that it was among the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicles ever produced - Toyota has fallen out of favor with the 'green' crowd thanks to its hesitancy to jump into the fray with fully electric vehicles. Read More

09.17.22- Why “Global Warming” Did Not Cause Today’s Economic Disasters...
Governments Did
David A. Stockman

“The Chief of the European Central Bank (ECB) has said that climate change is behind soaring inflation, stating that droughts and famines are driving up prices.

“If more and more climate disasters, droughts, and famines occur throughout the world, there will be repercussions on prices, on insurance premiums, and on the financial sector,” Lagarde said.

“We need to take that into account.” Read More

09.16.22- "Brick toaster" aims to cut global CO2 output by 15% in 15 years. Seriously.
Loz Blain

Rondo's "brick toaster" heat storage system is 98% efficient, and stores cheap renewable energy for industrial use at 20% the cost of an electrochemical battery

Industrial heat consumes a huge proportion of global energy. Rondo Energy says its brick-toasting heat storage device is so cheap and efficient that it makes decarbonization an instant no-brainer across a huge range of industries. Read More

09.15.22- The Energy Market’s Next Crisis: Oil Tanker Shortages
Irina Slav

In the new era of energy shortages, one aspect of the situation has tended to get overlooked: the transport of energy.

Demand for tankers has been on the rise since the European Union slapped sanctions on Russia in the spring, and this trend is only going to intensify in the coming months as the EU embargo on Russian oil and fuels enters into effect. Read More

09.14.22- Energy storage in renewable-based residential energy hubs
Mohammad Hossein Barmayoon

Energy storage systems are expected as a near-term solution for renewable energy application in the residential energy hubs. Within this context, this study investigates the feasibility of using storage systems in improving the technical and financial performance of the residential renewable-based energy hub. A new approach has been proposed in this study in which economic dispatch problem has been formulated for an energy hub including both electrical and heat storage system. The proposed approach determines the optimal supply of energy demand and storage system operation to minimise the total energy cost of the hub. Read More

09.13.22- Climate-Policy Is A Much Greater Threat Than Climate-Change
Mike Shedlock

A global financial crisis is brewing. The easy scapegoat is Putin. The biggest problem is policy everywhere you look...

The Federal Reserve, Bank of England and European Central Bank, among others, want to know how global temperature variations a century hence might weigh on Citi’s or Barclays’ or Deutsche Bank’s capital and risk weightings today. The fad is for quantifying, with preposterous faux-precision, the costs of reinsuring flood risks, or fire, or the depressed corporate profits of a dystopian hotter future. Read More

09.12.22- Satellite Image Reveals 'Agriculture Wasteland' Across California's Rice Capital
Tyler Durden

New satellite imagery shows a large swath of California's rice fields has been left barren without harvest as fears of a 'mini dust bowl' emerge due to diminishing water supplies. 

Kurt Richter, a third-generation rice farmer in Colusa, the rice capital of California, told San Francisco Chronicle that fields upon fields of the grain have already transformed into a "wasteland." Read More

09.10.22- Magnetic Breakthrough Could Help Save Electricity
Brian Westenhaus

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted an in-depth investigation of the Kagome layered topological material TbMn6Sn6 to understand it and its magnetic characteristics better. These results could impact future technological advancements in quantum computing, magnetic storage media, and high-precision sensors. Read More

09.09.22- T-Omega re-thinks floating offshore wind turbines for huge cost savings
Loz Blain

Floating offshore wind turbines don't need to scale up to gargantuan proportions to provide cheap energy, says T-Omega – they just need a ground-up redesign that's not driven by on-shore thinking

All the world's greatest wind power resources are offshore – often a long way offshore, where the water's so deep that it's impractical to build typical fan-on-a-stick wind turbines with bases sunk deep into the sea floor. Floating wind, at this stage, is so vastly expensive to build, deploy and maintain that it ends up costing two to three times as much per kilowatt-hour of energy as fixed-bottom offshore installations. Read More

09.08.22- CalWave concludes 10-month test of its submerged wave energy generator
Loz Blain

CalWave has been working on its xWave clean power technology for many years now, and has announced the successful conclusion of an extended open-ocean test off the coast of San Diego, in which the device demonstrated over 99% system uptime.

Wave energy is one of the less common renewable energy sources, and while there are many wave energy projects under development, the industry itself can be considered more or less embryonic at this stage. There's some promise in it; as CalWave points out, "ocean waves are 20-60 times more energy-dense, predictable and consistent compared to other forms of renewable energy." Read More

09.07.22- New Storage Tech Will Elevate The Role Of Hydropower
Oxford Business Group

As the world strives to meet net-zero emissions goals amid geopolitical and supply chain disruptions that threaten energy imports, emerging markets are turning to hydropower investment and storage to facilitate their energy transitions. Read More

09.06.22- Rechargeable aluminum: The cheap solution to seasonal energy storage?
Loz Blain

Aluminum, used in a redox cycle, has a massive energy density. Swiss researchers believe it could be the key to affordable seasonal storage of renewable energy, clearing a path for the decarbonization of the energy grid.

Aluminum has an energy density more than 50 times higher than lithium ion, if you treat it as an energy storage medium in a redox cycle battery. Swiss scientists are developing the technology as a renewable energy stash for the European winter. Read More

09.05.22- Europe's Energy Crisis Was Created By Political Interventionism
Daniel Lacalle

An energy policy that bans investment in some technologies based on ideological views and ignores security of supply is doomed to a strepitous failure.

The energy crisis in the European Union was not created by market failures or lack of alternatives. It was created by political nudging and imposition. Read More

09.03.22- Aluminum-gallium powder bubbles hydrogen out of dirty water
Loz Blain

A new powder identified by UCSC researchers can be dumped into seawater to rapidly release 90% of its theoretical maximum of hydrogen 

“We don’t need any energy input, and it bubbles hydrogen like crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said UCSC Professor Scott Oliver, describing a new aluminum-gallium nanoparticle powder that generates H2 when placed in water – even seawater. Read More

09.02.22- Why No Politician Is Willing to Tell Us the Real Energy Story
Gail Tverberg

No politician wants to tell us the real story of fossil fuel depletion. The real story is that we are already running short of oil, coal and natural gas because the direct and indirect costs of extraction are reaching a point where the selling price of food and other basic necessities needs to be unacceptably high to make the overall economic system work. At the same time, wind and solar and other “clean energy” sources are nowhere nearly able to substitute for the quantity of fossil fuels being lost. Read More

09.01.22- Infrared laser charger wirelessly beams power to devices 100 ft away
Michael Irving

We’re all used to receiving data wirelessly, but transmitting power over the air has been much trickier. Now Korean engineers have demonstrated a new system that uses infrared lasers to beam power as far as 100 ft (30 m), which could eventually lead to technology that automatically charges your phone as soon as you walk into a room.

Wireless charging is already a feature on current phones and other devices, but it’s functionally not much better than just plugging in a cord. The device usually needs to sit in a dock or make contact with a special surface, and can’t be moved far while charging. Read More

08.31.22- This is an attack on your autonomy
Tucker Carlson

View Video

08.30.22- Oil Surges As Supply
Takes Center Stage
Tyler Durden

Oil’s recent rebound has the potential to run further as traders will turn their focus to the upcoming OPEC+ meeting now Jackson Hole is out of the way, Bloomberg's Sungwoo Park writes.

Crude is sharply extending gains on Monday, suggesting oil is now focused more on supply dynamics following the recent Saudi pivot than on a hawkish Powell. Indeed, the medium-term outlook for crude has improved since the Saudi energy minister’s comments on potential supply curbs last week, with more OPEC+ members aligning themselves with the kingpin.Read More

08.29.22- Is The Food Crisis Over
Or Just Getting Started?
Chris Macintosh

Are you hungry? Good, according to the central planners.

The folks over at the UN stopped destroying the world for a brief few minutes to publish a piece (snapshot below) justifying their behavior and explaining the “benefits” of the famine they’ve engineered.

Not making this up. Read More

08.27.22- Hydrogen-powered trains enter passenger service in Germany
Paul Ridden

Four years after embarking on a two-year operational trial run in Germany, a bunch of Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel-cell trains have entered passenger service along a 100% hydrogen route in Lower Saxony.

The passenger service trial, which began in September 2018 and ran for almost two years, involved the successful operation of two pre-series Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel-cell trains along an existing route operated by Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe. Read More

08.26.22- "I'm Afraid" - Czech President Blames "Green Madness" For Energy Crisis
Paul Joseph Watson

Czech President Miloš Zeman has blamed “green madness” for the energy crisis and warned that the abolition of cars with internal combustion engines will only prolong the agony.

Zeman said the primary cause of the crisis was not the Ukraine war, but “green fanaticism” that has left European countries dependent on energy sources that cannot meet demand. Read More

08.25.22- Battery made of aluminum, sulfur and salt proves fast, safe and low-cost
Michael Irving

Engineers at MIT have developed a new battery design using common materials – aluminum, sulfur and salt. Not only is the battery low-cost, but it’s resistant to fire and failures, and can be charged very fast, which could make it useful for powering a home or charging electric vehicles. Read More

08.24.22- Must Watch: The Politics of Green Energy
Robert Bryce

View Video

08.23.22- Powder brushed onto electrodes brings high-capacity batteries closer
Nick Lavars

Of the many different designs being explored by scientists in pursuit of better batteries, lithium-metal is an architecture that holds great potential. One problem holding the technology back, however, is the formation of tentacle-like growths called dendrites that quickly cause battery failure. Scientists at Rice University have put forward a promising solution to this problem in the form of fine powder that can be brushed onto electrode surfaces to ensure their survival. Read More

08.22.22- Demand Fears Fail To Keep Oil Prices
Under $90
Michael Kern

Bearish sentiment has taken hold of oil markets recently as fears of demand destruction and rumors of a new nuclear deal pushed prices down. Strong inventory draws in the U.S. have since sent prices back up, but downward pressure persists.

Oilprice Alert: This month's Intelligent Investor column, now available for Global Energy Alert members, compares two of the most promising Canadian oil stocks on the market. If you're an investor in the energy space then now is the time to sign up for Global Energy Alert. Read More

08.20.22- Europe Looks To Reduce Dependence On China’s Critical Minerals
Charles Kennedy

While the European Union and the UK are trying to shake off dependence on Russian oil and coal in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe is also taking steps to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals and rare earth elements that are crucial to the energy transition.

China is the dominant player on the markets for the materials used in solar panels, batteries, and magnets. European countries have recently ramped up efforts to establish local supply chains and diversify imports away from one dominant supplier, especially if this supplier is Russian ally China. Read More

08.19.22- UK Charging Infrastructure Is Struggling To Keep Up With Soaring EV Sales
CityAM

Just 107 local authorities across the UK have successfully applied for on-street charging points in the UK, despite claims that the government is trying to drive forward electric vehicle growth.

According to data released by the Department for Transport (DoT) today, just 2,869 charging points have been installed as part of the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme.  Read More

08.18.22- Gas-To-Oil Switch May Not Be A Huge Catalyst For EU Crude Demand
Alex Kimani

Last week, oil prices finished the week in the green, gaining 3.5% after tumbling nearly 10% a week earlier thanks to a weakening dollar after better-than-expected inflation data altered interest rate expectations from the Fed. Unfortunately, the oil price rally has been snuffed out in a dramatic fashion. WTI and Brent crude have both declined more than 5% in Monday’s morning session to trade at $87.31/bbl and 93.16/bbl on demand fears as disappointing Chinese economic data renewed global recession concerns. China's central bank cut key lending rates in a bid to revive demand as the latest data showed the economy unexpectedly slowing in July–and the market wasn’t expecting it.  Read More

08.17.22- Nuclear And Hydropower Falter As Droughts Grip Europe
Tyler Durden

As Europe looks to secure alternative energy sources to Russian gas in light of the war in Ukraine, Statista's Anna Fleck warns, a new threat to energy security is stirring, this time from droughts.

The droughts hitting Europe are impacting everything from food to transportation to the environment.  Read More

08.16.22- Oil Drops 5% On Disappointing Economic Data From China
Julianne Geiger

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday, dragged down by disappointing economic data from the world’s largest crude oil importer and the world’s second-largest crude oil consumer.

The price of WTI and Brent crude fell by more than 5% as China’s central bank cut lending rates to light a fire under demand, as its July economic data soured on the back of China’s restrictive zero-Covid policy. Further dragging down China’s July economic data is its property crisis, which saw property investments fall by 12.3% in July—the fastest rate this year.  Read More

08.15.22- A Green Hydrogen Economy Depends on This Little-Known Machine
David R Baker

The electrolyzer, obscure for decades, sees its sales soar. Here’s how the technology works.

Solar power depends on the solar cell. Wind power, the wind turbine.

The key to the green hydrogen economy is a little-known machine with a name out of 1950s sci-fi — the electrolyzer. And after a century of obscurity, the electrolyzer’s moment has come.  Read More

08.13.22- TAE ahead of schedule on billion-degree hydrogen-boron fusion
Loz Blain

Some fusion projects aim to create hundred-million degree working temperatures in magnetically confined plasma. The CEO of TAE Technologies tells us his team's aiming for 10 times that temperature, targeting cheaper, easier and safer boron fuel. Read More

08.12.22- Are Gas Stations Really Inflating Prices For Profit?
Alex Kimani

About a month ago, American consumers were confronted with the highest retail gas prices in history when gas prices soared past $5 per gallon for the first time ever. Not surprisingly, Americans were treated to another round of political bluster and ivory tower jousting, with Republican lawmakers blaming  President Biden and his energy policies while Democrats rolled out new bills, investigations, and even sent letters to the heads of oil companies accusing them of price gouging. “Profit margins well above normal being passed directly onto American families are not acceptable," President Joe Biden declared as he called on congress to suspend gas tax for at least three months. Read More

08.11.22- US climate bill includes massive, game-changing green hydrogen incentives
Loz Blain

The US Inflation Reduction Act is poised to kickstart a global hydrogen revolution. Among the bill's many climate-focused provisions are tax credits that will make American green hydrogen the cheapest H2 in the world, as low as US$0.73 per kilogram (2.2 lb).

Dirty "gray" hydrogen, produced using coal and/or natural gas, currently retails for around US$1-$2 per kilogram, according to KPMG. From the same report, "green" hydrogen – produced with zero emissions using renewable energy, water and electrolyzers – costs between $2.50-$6.  Read More

08.10.22- Influit moves to commercialize its ultra-high density liquid batteries
Loz Blain

Illinois Tech spinoff Influit Energy says it's coming out of stealth mode to commercialize a rechargeable electrofuel – a non-flammable, fast-refuelling liquid flow battery that already carries 23% more energy than lithium batteries, at half the cost.

Very much targeted at vehicles and aircraft, Influit's "nanoelectrofuels" offer an alternative to current battery tech with what appears to be a pretty compelling list of pros and cons.  Read More

08.09.22- The Global Diesel Crunch Is Going To Get Worse
Tsvetana Paraskova

Despite signs of weakening economic growth globally, regional diesel markets are tight and could tighten even further when winter comes and when Europe bans imports of Russian crude and fuels.  Distillate fuel inventories are low in the United States and Europe. Stockpiles in the U.S. haven't increased this summer as usual, and in one month since the end of June, they have seen the biggest drawdown for this time of the year in at least 32 years. The fuel market in Europe is even tighter as industries and utilities look to switch to oil products from natural gas, whose prices are at record highs after Russia slashed deliveries to the EU and showed it could not be considered a reliable energy supplier. Read More

08.08.22- Recession Fears Take Hold Of Oil Markets
Josh Owens

Oil prices are back around the levels they were at before Russia invaded Ukraine, highlighting that a global recession and demand destruction are now the central focus of traders.

Oilprice Alert: This month's Intelligent Investor column, now available for Global Energy Alert members, compares two of the most promising Canadian oil stocks on the market. If you're an investor in the energy space then now is the time to sign up for Global Energy Alert. Read More

08.06.22- The Green Ammonia Boom Is Coming
Felicity Bradstock

Green ammonia is a little-known contender to become a major renewable fuel over the coming decades. It has around nine times the energy of lithium-ion batteries and its denser nature makes it easier to transport than liquid hydrogen. As oil majors race to find innovative renewable energy alternatives, green ammonia is gaining more international attention for its potential as an emissions-free fuel.  Despite being little-talked-about compared to hydrogen, ammonia is catching the eyes of energy firms worldwide for its potential as a clean fuel. Ammonia is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen that can be used as fuel. Just like hydrogen, there are several different types of ammonia, depending on the energy used for its production. Read More

08.05.22- Toyota's INSANE NEW Engine SHOCKS The Entire Car Industry
Future Unity

View Video

08.04.22- Powdered sodium battery design promises a 15% leap in energy density
Nick Lavars

With real uncertainty clouding the world's supply of lithium, alternative battery chemistries will be crucial as we continue our uptake of electric vehicles and mobile devices. One exciting candidate in this space is sodium-ion, and a research team in Russia has developed a battery of this ilk that boasts impressive energy density, and may also be resistant to low temperatures. Read More

08.03.22- US nuclear regulator greenlights its first small modular reactor
Loz Blain

The first generation-IV nuclear reactor design has been approved for certification by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). NuScale's small modular reactor design promises safe, clean energy at radically reduced cost, land use and installation time. Read More

08.02.22- Demand Destruction Could Help America Refill Its Oil Inventories
Tsvetana Paraskova

U.S. petroleum inventories are still sitting at multi-year lows for this time of the year despite record releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), reports of weakening gasoline demand over the past weeks because of high prices, and a slowing economy.   Commercial crude and product stockpiles have failed to rebuild over the last few months, and the low levels point to continued tight markets for gasoline and diesel in the short term, potentially supportive of oil prices.  Read More

08.01.22- Blowhole wave energy generator exceeds expectations in 12-month test
Loz Blain

The UniWave 200 has been making reliable, clean energy for Australia's King Island for a year now, delivering better performance than expected.

Wave Swell Energy's remarkable UniWave 200 is a sea platform that uses an artificial blowhole formation to create air pressure changes that drive a turbine and feed energy back to shore. After a year of testing, the company reports excellent results. Read More

07.30.22- U.S. Refiners Haven't Seen Fuel Demand Destruction
Tsvetana Paraskova

U.S. refiners say there is no indication across their channels that America's fuel demand is weakening, contrary to recent data about gasoline consumption.

The weekly inventory reports from the EIA at the beginning of July pointed to faltering demand after nationwide gasoline prices hit an average of $5 a gallon in the middle of June. During earnings calls this week, however, some of the largest U.S. refiners said they hadn't seen any signs of demand destruction. Read More

07.29.22- How Renewable Forests Could Solve A Major Electric Vehicle Problem
Felicity Bradstock

Automakers and energy companies are racing to find innovative options to boost electric vehicle (EV) battery technology as governments around the world attempt to curb the sale of diesel and petrol cars, increasing EV uptake. The latest experiment in this space is the use of wooden components in lithium-ion batteries, as companies invest in making their EVs greener. Finish-Swedish firm Stora Enso and Volkswagen-backed Northvolt have partnered in the development of a sustainable battery that uses an anode manufactured from lignin-based hard carbon, which is sourced from renewable wood from Nordic forests. Read More

07.28.22- Renewables Falter As Texas Power Grid Sees Record Demand
Tsvetana Paraskova

Wind and solar power generation in Texas was much lower than its potential during this month's heatwave due to weather patterns, straining the Texas power grid at times of record demand.  As Texans crank up air conditioners in the scorching heat, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has asked residents a few times since May to voluntarily conserve energy during peak demand hours in the afternoons and evenings. Read More

07.27.22- All-in-one solar tower produces jet fuel from CO2, water and sunlight
Loz Blain

Taking sunlight, water and carbon dioxide as inputs, this solar tower in Spain produces carbon-neutral jet fuel and diesel

Taking carbon dioxide, water and sunlight as its only inputs, this solar thermal tower in Spain produces carbon-neutral, sustainable versions of diesel and jet fuel. Built and tested by researchers at ETH Zurich, it's a promising clean fuel project. Read More

07.26.22- Lithium Refining Is a ‘License to Print Money,’ Musk Says
Annie Lee

Electric auto giant insists there’s still not enough global capacity to process raw materials into ingredients needed for lithium-ion batteries.

Elon Musk has called for more investment in global lithium refining to ease shortages in battery materials — and promised those who seize the opportunity it’s as lucrative as “basically minting money.”  Read More

07.25.22- The Middle East Oil Bonanza Will Slow In 2023
Tsvetana Paraskova

Slowing global oil demand growth next year, spiking food prices, and fears of recession in major oil-importing countries are set to slow economic growth in the Middle East, whose major oil producers are enjoying this year a windfall of oil revenues and the highest growth in years.   Economies in the Arab Gulf states that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—are on track for the fastest economic growth in years and for budget surpluses, for some of them the first surpluses in a decade. Read More

07.23.22- Too Hot For Solar Power: Europe's Heat Wave Makes Solar Panels Less Efficient
Jon Rappoport

The record-breaking heat wave in Europe doesn't mean record solar power generation, as extremely high temperatures actually reduce the efficiency of solar panels.  

As temperatures in the UK hit the highest-ever on record at over 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) this week, solar power output hasn't set records and is unlikely to do so amid very high temperatures, scientists say. Read More

07.22.22- Another hydrogen transport powder emerges, promising double the density
Loz Blain

Stir this silicon-based powder into water, and hydrogen will bubble out, ready for immediate use. Hong Kong company EPRO Advance Technology (EAT) says its Si+ powder offers an instant end to the difficulties of shipping and storing green energy.

This is the second powdered hydrogen advance we've learned about this week, designed to solve the same problems: transporting hydrogen is difficult, dangerous and expensive, whether the costs are for cryogenic cooling in a liquid hydrogen system, or for compression to around 700 times the normal sea-level air pressure. Read More

07.21.22- Film captures wasted wavelengths of light to boost solar cell efficiency
Michael Irving

A new thin film captures blue photons from sunlight and converts them into red ones that silicon solar cells can use to produce electricity

Solar cells are one of the most important technologies in the transition to renewable energy, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Researchers at New York University (NYU) Tandon have now developed a thin film that boosts solar cell efficiency by converting wasted wavelengths of light into ones that can be used to produce electricity. Read More

07.20.22- Mechanochemical breakthrough unlocks cheap, safe, powdered hydrogen
Loz Blain

Deakin researchers have described a novel mechanochemical process that can store gases safely in powders, using very little energy, in a repeatable process

Australian scientists say they've made a "eureka moment" breakthrough in gas separation and storage that could radically reduce energy use in the petrochemical industry, while making hydrogen much easier and safer to store and transport in a powder. Read More

07.19.22- Solar Experts Warns Of Overreliance On Chinese Panels
AG Metal Miner

Some experts say that initiatives aimed at creating a zero-carbon future are being impacted by dependence on Chinese solar panels. Recently, the International Energy Agency announced a less-than-favorable outlook regarding China’s dominance in solar panel manufacturing. According to the IEA, the US’ high demand for solar panels has increased its dependency on China. In fact, the United States’ PV (photovoltaic) solar demand exceeds China’s by more than twice. Cost-efficiency plays a considerable role in outsourced solar panel production. However, this could have unseen consequences. The fast-growing demand for solar panels in the US poses an issue in and of itself. Read More

07.18.22- Who Really Controls
The World's Oil Reserves?
Irina Slav

Big Oil majors in the United States have found themselves the target of much pressure to boost production lately, as prices go wild amid a tight—and tightening—market. At the same time, the U.S. government, as well as the EU, have been looking all over the world for more supply. Wood Mackenzie just had some bad news for them. According to new researchfrom the energy consultancy, more than half—65 percent, to be precise—of the world’s discovered oil and gas reserves are under the control of national oil companies. Read More

07.16.22- Texas Heatwave Highlights A Major Problem With Wind Power
Irina Slav

Texas is suffering a major heat wave. Three-digit temperatures are straining the state’s grid and earlier this month prompted ERCOT, the Lone Star State’s grid operator, to ask Texans to conserve energy. It also severely affected wind power generation. Read More

07.15.22- Oil Plunges To Post-Putin Lows, Breaks Key Technical Support
Tyler Durden

As Fed-induced recessionary fears soar, so oil prices are reversing their recent gains fast.

"The price action in crude oil continues to be dictated by the battle between traders looking for an economic slowdown and the physical market which continues to signal tightness. Demand, however, has started to show signs of weakness with the EIA reporting a counter-seasonal drop in US gasoline consumption to the lowest on a seasonal basis since 2000," Saxo Bank said in a note. Read More

07.14.22- Hedge Funds Are Unloading Oil Futures In A Hurry
John Kemp

Investors dumped petroleum-related derivatives last week at one of the fastest rates of the pandemic era as recession fears intensified.

Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 110 million barrels in the six most important petroleum-related futures and options contracts in the week to July 5. Read More

07.13.22- Oil Price Crash Undermines OPEC’s Optimistic Demand Forecast
Tsvetana Paraskova

Global oil demand is expected to slow down from 3.36 million bpd of growth this year to a growth of 2.7 million bpd in 2023, OPEC said on Tuesday in its first demand estimates for next year. These demand estimates appear particularly optimistic on Tuesday morning as concerns about an economic slowdown and renewed Covid lockdowns in China sent oil prices crashing by more than 7%. Read More

07.12.22- World's first commercial sand battery begins energy storage in Finland
Loz Blain

A new type of battery being put to use in Finland is exploring the potential of sand as an energy storage medium

Wind and solar power are intermittent, generating power when it's available rather than when it's needed, so the green energy transition will require huge amounts of energy storage. This could end up taking many forms, from conventional lithium-based "big battery" installations, to flow batteries, silicon phase-change batteries, molten salt batteries, iron-air batteries, gravity batteries, carbon dioxide expansion batteries, and other more unusual ideas like buoyancy batteries. Read More

07.11.22- The Green Ammonia Boom Is Coming
Felicity Bradstock

Green ammonia is a little-known contender to become a major renewable fuel over the coming decades. It has around nine times the energy of lithium-ion batteries and its denser nature makes it easier to transport than liquid hydrogen. As oil majors race to find innovative renewable energy alternatives, green ammonia is gaining more international attention for its potential as an emissions-free fuel.  Despite being little-talked-about compared to hydrogen, ammonia is catching the eyes of energy firms worldwide for its potential as a clean fuel. Ammonia is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen that can be used as fuel. Just like hydrogen, there are several different types of ammonia, depending on the energy used for its production. Read More

07.09.22- Methanol as fuel: An accessible early step toward clean shipping
Loz Blain

Massive cargo ships are an essential part of the world economy, but belch out bulk pollution. Could methanol fuel help with the giant decarbonization effort ahead?

The global shipping industry drastically needs to clean up its game, but dragging these massive machines through the ocean requires extraordinary amounts of energy. Cheap, plentiful, filthy marine diesel will be extremely hard to replace. Last year we examined a promising high-density clean fuel candidate in green ammonia, but now we're learning that the industry is starting to potentially tilt toward methanol as the solution instead. So let's take a look at why, and examine methanol's potential as a clean fuel. Read More

07.08.22- Millions Of Barrels From US Emergency Oil Reserve Sent Abroad, Including To China
Tyler Durdan

With a growing number of people realizing that the Biden administration has drained more oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve, which is meant to be used during real emergencies not fake, made up ones such as Democrats facing a catastrophic failure at the midterm elections...

... more people are starting to ask the next big question: where is this furious liquidation of US black gold going? Read More

07.07.22- Coal Emerges Victorious As Sanctions
And Green Policies Backfire Spectacularly
Tyler Durden

When historians look back on this chaotic and turbulent period, they will find that few individuals inflicted as much damage on the environment and promoted the interests of the “dirty fossil fuel” lobby as Greta Tunberg, who by shaming and forcing “serious” politicians to pivot toward green energy at a time when there was nowhere near enough green capacity to replace existing sources of energy, sparked what may be the most spectacular self-own in history. And today, the WSJ, Bloomberg and Reuters all wrote about it. Read More

07.06.22-And Now, for Something Entirely Different: Mystry Moon Rocket
Joseph P. Farrell

Quite a few people spotted and shared this story, but frankly, I probably would have blogged about it anyway even if it was only one person who saw it and shared it. When I saw what it was about, it vaulted straight into the “finals” folder right way, no need to wait for my normal “Sunday email sort-and-blog” routine, for it immediately conjured all sorts of high octane speculations. But before we get to those, first, the story itself: Read More

07.05.22- Global oil prices could QUADRUPLE to $380 a barrel if Putin cuts supplies even further in revenge for Western sanctions, experts warn
Jacob Thornburn

Global oil prices could hit an eye-wateringly high of $380 a barrel if Vladimir Putin responds to sanctions with cuts to crude oil output, financial experts have warned.

JPMorgan Chase analysts fear the ‘stratospheric’ rise, which would almost quadruple the current price of a barrel of Brent crude, could be fuelled by a retaliation against continued US and European penalties levied against Russia. Read More

07.04.22- Running Out of Spare Oil Capacity -
What's Next?
Adam A. Rozencwajg and Leigh R. Goehring

On Between 2010 and 2020 the world grew accustomed to cheap, abundant conventional energy. Global energy markets were so well supplied for so long that neither investors nor consumers gave energy markets much thought. We were one of the few warning that an impending energy shortage and crisis would emerge in the next several years. The calm of the past decade has been turned upside down seemingly overnight. Conventional wisdom holds that today’s energy shortage is the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; however, we strongly believe this is incorrect. While Russia’s invasion has made the energy shortage much worse in the short term, the underlying problems have been building for many years and cannot be easily remedied. Read More

07.02.22- Oil Markets Could Face A Doomsday Scenario This Week
Cyril Widdershoven

Global oil markets are going to be very volatile in the coming months if news emerging from OPEC’s main producers about production capacity constraints turns out to be true. OPEC will be meeting again in the coming days to discuss its export agreements, while today the oil group is presenting its Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) 2022. While the media is likely to be focused on rumors in the next 24 hours of a possible change in the export strategy of OPEC+, the real focus should be on whether or not the oil cartel is even capable of substantially increasing its production. Read More

07.01.22- Bacteria-made biofuel packs higher energy density than jet fuel
Michael Irving

As effective as fossil fuels may be, their impact on the planet cannot be overstated. Now researchers at Berkeley Lab have coaxed bacteria into directly producing a new biofuel with an energy density significantly higher than jet fuel.

The new fuel candidate molecules are known as polycyclopropanated fatty acid methyl esters (POP-FAMEs), and they’re made up of seven sets of cyclopropane rings. These are rings of three carbon atoms bonded into triangular shapes, which forces the bonds into a 60-degree angle. The strains of that sharp angle holds high potential energy that can be released during combustion.  Read More

06.30.22- First perovskite solar cell to cross
30-year expected lifespan
Michael Irving

Perovskite is poised to become a major material for solar cells, but before then it needs to overcome a major durability issue. Engineers at Princeton have unveiled a new perovskite solar cell design that tests suggest could last as long as 30 years of real-world use.

Silicon has been the go-to material for solar cells for decades, but in the last 15 years or so perovskites have been quickly catching up. They’re approaching the efficiency of silicon but are cheaper to make, lighter and more flexible. Read More

06.29.22- The Future Is Bright For Green Hydrogen
Felicity Bradstock

Many oil majors and several governments around the world are betting big on the future of green hydrogen, viewing it as a major new replacement for fossil fuels. Numerous European countries, as well as international energy firms, have already invested heavily in the development of green hydrogen projects, with more looking to follow over the next decade as an energy shift takes place. Read More

06.28.22- G-7 to Throw Out Another $200 Billion for Third-World ‘Green’ Boondoggles
Monica Showalter

Amid all the partying and gladhanding and making Vladimir Putin a figure of fun, the G-7 summit in Germany managed to avoid the important topics, such as where the hell greenie Germany is going to get energy from and just what it means when it says it's going to support Ukraine forever.

Instead, it moved into its comfort zone, which was "infrastructure" and greenie energy for the Third World, as if the Third World needed more corruption and energy shortages, as greenie Germany is experiencing.  Naturally, its idea was to throw money — mostly American money — at the problem.  Doddering Joe Biden was all in for this idiocy and has touted this bad idea as some kind of success story. Read More

06.27.22- The World Is Failing In Both Energy Affordability And Climate Goals
Alex Kimani

Global energy investment is on the rise and expected to grow by 8 percent annually this year, pushed up by record spending on clean energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its new reportWorld Energy Investment 2022.  

On the face of it, that’s great news for global energy supply and climate goals. But in reality, the rising trend is a function of galloping inflation, a deepening divide between developed and emerging economies’ investment trends, and an increase in coal investments as the biggest economies in Asia prioritize energy security amid soaring energy prices and upended energy markets following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Read More

06.25.22- Will Soaring Lithium Prices Spark Demand Destruction?
Irina Slav

While everyone has been watching the price of oil and how high it might go, one other commodity that is now considered critical for our future has been on a much stronger rally. Last year, lithium prices rose by some 400 percent and are still rising. Some analysts expect them to peak this year, but with supply slow to respond to robust demand, that peak is far from certain. And this may slow down the energy transition that many governments are eager to help along. Read More

06.24.22- A Warning About The Coming Shortages Of Diesel Fuel, Diesel Exhaust Fluid And Diesel Engine Oil
Michael Snyder

What I am about to share with you is a developing situation, and I hope to share more once the facts become clearer.  It appears that a very serious diesel crisis is coming in the months ahead, and that will have a dramatic impact on our economy.  As you will see below, we are being warned that there will be shortages of diesel fuel, diesel exhaust fluid and diesel engine oil.  Most diesel vehicles require all three in order to run, and so a serious shortage of any of them would be a major disaster.  Needless to say, simultaneous shortages of all three could potentially be catastrophic. Read More

06.23.22- First plasma propels Zap Energy's plans for garage-sized fusion reactors
Nick Lavars

Nuclear fusion is an incredibly complex scientific problem that researchers are coming at from all sorts of angles, and Zap Energy is starting to make waves through one of the lesser-known approaches. The Seattle-based startup has achieved a major milestone for its Z-pinch fusion technology, and is now working to make it a commercial reality via modular, garage-sized reactors that could be scaled up to bring this experimental form of energy to the grid. Read More

06.22.22- Solar Industry Lashes Out As Biden Lifts Tariffs On Chinese Panels
AG Metal Miner

For US President Joe Biden, it’s a Hobson’s choice on Chinese solar panel imports. His new move to pause tariffs on imported Chinese-made silicone solar panels for two years has been either hailed or criticized.

The announcement came in the middle of an ongoing investigation by the US Commerce Department. Possible trade agreement violations are being discussed, which surprised many in this sector. Read More

06.21.22- Texas Turns To Renewables As Electricity Demand Soars To Record Highs
Haley Zaremba

Texas is sweating out a massive heat wave unusually early in the year – and sweating potential blackouts as all those air conditioning units put extra strain on the state’s infamously fragile grid. Already, before the hottest months of the year have even hit, Texans have annihilated previous records for all-time high electricity demand, surpassing 75 gigawatts in a single day. Read More

06.20.22- Energy Transition Goals At Risk As EU May Label Lithium As Toxic
Rystad Energy

A potential European Commission (EC) act to classify lithium as a Category 1A reproductive toxin in this year’s fourth quarter could undermine the European Union (EU)’s attempt to create and support a domestic battery materials supply chain.

The EU currently relies heavily on imports of lithium to supply its nascent electric vehicle (EV) production sector and the classification may increase its reliance on other regions, at a time when the union is focused on energy security and reducing emissions. Europe has announced plans to expand lithium battery-grade Li Carbonate production from nothing today to 8.3% of global production by 2025, according to Rystad Energy research. Read More

06.18.22- Fast-deploying solar/hydrogen nanogrid wheels emergency power off-grid
C.C. Weiss

Michigan energy systems company Sesame Solar announced this week what it calls the world's first 100-percent renewable mobile nanogrid. Powered by both its wing-like solar panel spread and green hydrogen, the next-generation modular nanogrid gets transported into off-grid emergency zones and goes live in a matter of minutes, delivering weeks of autonomous electricity where it's desperately needed. 

Sesame's nanogrids can be transported to location by a variety of vehicles, deployed in about 15 minutes, and used to supply power for emergencies and off-grid situations  Read More

06.17.22- The Petrochemical Industry
Is Set To Explode
Felicity Bradstock

As countries around the globe are setting ambitious targets to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels, many will remain reliant on oil and gas for petrochemical production for decades to come. However, the decarbonization of oil and gas operations may well become key to the success of the industry, as many governments strive to keep their climate pledges while also responding to global demand.  A recent petrochemical report suggests that the petrochemical market size will reach around $1 trillion by 2030, increasing at a CAGR of 6.2 percent over the next eight years. The increase in demand will be mainly centered around the construction, textile, medical, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, automotive, and electronics industries. Read More

06.16.22- China tests world-first full-function space solar verification tower
Loz Blain

In many ways, space is the perfect place for a solar energy array. There are no clouds in the way, no seasonal variability, no atmospheric filtering, and your solar panels can operate at peak efficiency around the clock, since the planet doesn't block the Sun. Put a solar panel in space, according to some estimates, and it'll generate 6-8 times more energy than it can down here on Earth.

Getting the power back down to the surface? Now there's the problem. Geosynchronous orbit, in which a satellite stays more or less right above a single point on the Earth, is about 36,000 km (22,500 miles) up in the air. That's nearly three times the width of the Earth, and a bit further than most extension leads can reach. Transmission, plus the hideous expense of space launches, has been the problem. Read More

06.15.22- Guyana Could Overtake Brazil As South America’s Top Oil Producer
Matthew Smith

Global energy supermajor ExxonMobil and its partners Hess and CNOOC have made an astonishing number of high-quality oil discoveries in offshore Guyana. In April 2022 Exxon announced that it made three more discoveries in the 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block, where it is the operator holding a 45% interest with 30% owned by Hess and the remaining 25% held by CNOOC. Read More

06.14.22- How To Play Suriname’s Oil Boom
David Messler

The South American country of Guyana is undergoing rapid development as a result of a string of offshore oil discoveries by ExxonMobil, NYSE:XOM). Announcements by the company since 2017 have added more than 8 bn barrels of reserves, spread over 18 discoveries in the deep waters of that country. Thus far one FPSO has been ordered to serve the Liza Phase-1 subsea development with four separate drill centers and up to 30 wells. At peak production, Liza Phase-1 will pump out 220K BOEPD. Read More

06.13.22- Researchers run a gas turbine on pure hydrogen in world first
Loz Blain

Gas turbines are found in aircraft, trains, ships, generators, pumps, compressors and all sorts of other places. They can run on a variety of fuels, but some 90 percent of them currently run on natural gas, a fossil fuel that produces carbon dioxide when you burn it, while also escaping into the atmosphere everywhere you pull it out of the ground, to create greenhouse conditions some 80 times worse than CO2 over a 20-year time frame. Read More

06.11.22- The Future Is Bright For U.S. Natural Gas Producers
Tsvetana Paraskova

As global demand for non-Russian natural gas is soaring after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the short to medium-term prospects for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developers and exporters are becoming brighter.    Europe is racing to replace as much Russian gas as soon as possible and to be independent of that gas by 2027. LNG demand is going through the roof, boosting the development of new U.S. export liquefaction capacity as the demand prospects of the European market suddenly became much brighter than a year ago. Read More

06.10.22- Lightyear 0 production solar car could run for months without charging
Loz Blain

Dutch company Lightyear has unveiled what it claims is the world's first production-ready solar car. The Lightyear 0 is a family sedan with 5 sq m (53.8 sq ft) of solar panels built in, capable of generating up to 70 km (44 miles) of charge-free driving a day. 

Having scaled its workforce up to 500 people and hooked up deals with more than 100 suppliers, Lightyear is deadly serious about this venture and ready to start manufacturing. Its first car is this four-door fastback electric sedan, with enough onboard battery to deliver a very solid 560 km (348 miles) of freeway driving at 110 km/h (68 mph), even without the sun shining. Read More

06.08.22- The Biggest Reshuffle Of Oil Flows Since The 1970s
Tsvetana Paraskova

The biggest reshuffle of oil trade flows since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s is underway—and things may never return to normal. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian oil exports are changing global oil trade routes. Over the past nearly five decades, oil flowed more or less freely from any supplier to any customer in the world, except for sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in recent years. 

This free energy trade is now over, after the Russian aggression and the Western sanctions that followed, plus Europe’s irreversible decision to cut its dependence on Russian energy at any cost. Read More

06.07.22- Self-charging battery generates electricity from moisture in the air
Loz Blain

Half of the solar energy that bathes the Earth in warmth goes into a single process, according to some researchers: evaporating the water that covers some 71 percent of our fragile blue marble. Australian company Strategic Elements wants that energy back, and it's working with the University of New South Wales and the CSIRO to develop a flexible, self-charging battery technology that harvests electrical energy from moisture in the air to directly power devices without ever needing to plug them in. Read More

06.06.22- And Now, for Something Entirely Different: Rapid Cultural Decline and What Comes Next
Doug Casey

International Man:Nations in decline often experience cultural degeneracy. We saw that in the Roman Empire and Weimar Germany, for example.

Today, in the US, we see increasing signs of cultural degeneracy in Hollywood, advertisements, academia, science, corporations, politics, and other areas of life.

What is your take? Read More

06.04.22- Europe’s Far-Flung Energy Woes
Sohrab Ahmari

In its commitment to sanctioning Russia and moving away from nuclear power, the E.U. will even pay a price for South Africa's internal troubles.

At some point, you have to believe European leaders simply enjoy energy suffering—or rather, that they take a perverse pleasure in inflicting the pain of high-priced, unreliable, unclean energy on their own manufacturers and populations. A story in Monday’s Financial Times nicely illustrates this. It concerns the failure of South-African coal miners to capitalize on rising coal prices in Europe amid an import ban against Russian coal. Read More

06.03.22- Central U.S. May Face Power Outages During Peak Summer Demand
Charles Kennedy

Expectations of higher electricity demand this summer and possible supply reductions have raised concerns that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) balancing authority could face tight reserve margins during peak summer demand, the EIA said on Friday.

Balancing authorities have to ensure that wholesale electric power markets have enough electric generation capacity to meet consumer demand, both in real time and over several years. Read More

06.02.22- Citi: Oil Is Overvalued By $50 Per Barrel
Tom Kool

Brent crude, trading Wednesday at over $116 per barrel, should be closer to $70, according to Citi’s global head of commodity research, Ed Morse, in an interview with Bloomberg. 

Morse, which has been one of the most bearish pundits saw demand growth at 3.6 million bpd at the beginning of the year. Citing recession fears and economic slowdown, Citi is now estimating that demand growth for oil stands at 2.2 million bpd year-on-year, down 1.4 million bpd from the beginning of 2022.  Read More

06.01.22- Where Are Oil Prices Headed?
David Messler

Energy prices are top of mind for most people now. From a couple of years ago when fuel prices were low, the rapid rise has helped put a crimp on the economy and raised driving costs for retail consumers. The signs of this rise are everywhere as service station operators adjust prices higher on an almost daily basis. The national average for 87 octane gasoline has reached $4.50 a gallon for the first time ever. Diesel is nearing $6.00 per gallon and raising shipping costs for everyone. Read More