Author Archives
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Has Permian Productivity Peaked?
The U.S. shale industry might have just received a huge windfall with the nine-month extension of the OPEC cuts. Shale output was already expected to come roaring back this year, but the extension of the cuts provides even more room… Read More ›
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Microgrid Goes Online At Schneider Electric’s North American HQ
Project partners have announced completion of a new microgrid at the North American headquarters of energy management and automation company Schneider Electric. Located at the company’s Boston One Campus (BOC) in Andover, Mass., the microgrid was built by Schneider Electric… Read More ›
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California is getting so much power from solar that wholesale electricity prices are turning negative
The extraordinary success of solar power in some pockets of the world that combine sunshine with high investment in the technology mean that governments and energy companies are having radically to rethink the way they manage—and charge for—electricity. California is… Read More ›
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Drivers Behind Flattening CO2 Emissions
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently reported that carbon dioxide emissions from energy use remained flat in 2016, the third year in a row. This is a noticeable departure from the 21st century trend which has seen global carbon dioxide emissions… Read More ›
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As PACE Financing Grows Up, the Industry Grapples With Lending Standards and Consumer Protections
By many measures, the financing programs referred to as PACE — or property-assessed clean energy — are among the most successful energy-efficiency financing tools in U.S. history. The programs, which fund building efficiency upgrades and rooftop solar panels through loans… Read More ›
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Is Elon Musk’s Model 3 Production Plan Too Ambitious?
Elon Musk, Silicon Valley’s automotive visionary, loves to wow the world with grandiose visions that serve primarily to reinforce his position at the top of the list of tech titans. That said, at some point we suspect his shareholders… Read More ›
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Climate Change Policies Working: CO2 Emissions Flat For 2 Years In A Row
The International Energy Agency gave environmentalists cause for celebration earlier this month when it reported that carbon dioxide emissions in 2016 remained unchanged from the levels reached in 2014 and 2015. Analysts are hopeful that this could represent the… Read More ›
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Where have drilling costs dropped the most? Midland Basin, of course
The costs of producing oil in the major U.S. shale fields have dropped by almost half over the past two years, but none as much as West Texas’ Midland Basin, a part of the prodigious Permian. Drillers in the Midland,… Read More ›
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The Lowdown on Hydrogen, Part 1: Transportation
After more than two decades of hype about the imminent arrival of a transformative “hydrogen economy”, many veteran technology watchers — myself included — had concluded that hype was pretty much all it was. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, in particular,… Read More ›
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Too Much of a Good Thing? An Illustrated Guide to Solar Curtailment on California’s Grid
The end of California’s drought is exposing the full effect of the state’s move to renewable energy. A wet winter has loaded up the hydroelectric system, while solar generation rose by 33 percent in the past year. These increases, combined… Read More ›
