It took a lobbying blitz and a little bit of luck, but the wind industry eventually got its hoped-for reprieve in Tuesday’s fiscal cliff deal. As part of the bargain, Congress extended […]
PI News Feed
Lots of Solar Power May Reduce, Not Increase, Electricity Prices
Whether German feed-in tariffs or U.S. tax incentives, opponents of solar rail at its perceived high cost. But a story making rounds this week, “why power generators are terrified of solar,” presents […]
Solar Power: The Killer App
Solar power reduces electricity prices. As more solar is added to deregulated power grids, power prices fall lower. The secret sauce is the markets. Deregulated power markets are invisible to many Americans, […]
IMF study: Peak oil could do serious damage to the global economy
The world isn’t going to run out of oil anytime soon. But there’s still concern among various geologists and analysts that our oil supply won’t grow as quickly or as easily as it […]
Electric cars to become inevitable, cost competitive, by 2020ish says report
A study released recently by McKinsey & Company says that, because of falling battery prices, electric vehicles are inevitable. Shifting prices will make electric cars cost-competitive with gasoline in the 2020’s. That […]
New DOE study fuels debate over LNG exports
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) engaged the controversy over exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) with its December 5 publication of Macroeconomic Impacts of LNG Exports from the United States. Prepared for DOE […]
Want to Solve the Fiscal Crisis? Solve Oil prices.
As Washington looks for a deal to avoid the pending fiscal cliff, it is important for policymakers to solve the root problems of our nation’s economic troubles. Oil dependence is one such […]
Cheap natural gas doesn’t mean we should stop investing in alternative energy
There’s a pernicious argument being made against energy efficiency, and it goes like this. Last winter was one of the warmest on record, so people had to spend less to heat their […]
IMF study: Peak oil could do serious damage to the global economy
The world isn’t going to run out of oil anytime soon. But there’s still concern among various geologists and analysts that our oil supply won’t grow as quickly or as easily as it […]
New EIA data show total grid-connected photovoltaic solar capacity
Using new information, EIA combines data on utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity with customer-sited PV capacity, as reported in the graphic. EIA’s utility-scale electric generator survey has a threshold of 1 MW […]