For the first time on an industrial scale, hydrogen produced using wind power is being injected into the natural gas grid in Germany. It’s a development that could enhance the value of wind power […]
How to Value Grid Storage, Case by Case
Grid-scale batteries — are they worth it? That seemingly simple question is in fact incredibly hard to answer. To be sure, batteries can serve a whole variety of functions with value to […]
Oil and Gas Limits Underly Syria’s Conflict
In my view, oil and gas resource limits are major contributors to the conflict in Syria. This is happening in several ways: 1. Syria is an oil exporter that is in increasingly […]
A Call for Cost Comparisons: How Can the US Achieve a Renewable Energy Transformation?
Carnige Melon University’s Climate and Energy Decision Making Center’s recent study, “Regional variations in the health, environmental, and climate benefits of wind and solar generation,” is a testimony to the difficulty of […]
With Rooftop Solar on Rise, U.S. Utilities Are Striking Back
Issues of electricity regulation typically play out in drab government hearing rooms. That has not been the case this summer in Arizona, where a noisy argument – featuring TV attack ads and […]
Social Cost of Carbon Emissions Has Risen 60 Percent in Three Years
In 2010, 12 government agencies working in conjunction with economists, lawyers, and scientists agreed to work out what they considered a coherent standard for establishing the social cost of carbon. This “social […]
The Evolution of the Climate Debate: Business vs Business
This is where it gets really interesting. Since I first engaged in the climate debate in the late 1980’s it’s all been fairly slow and predictable. Environmentalists argued for action, big business […]
IEA Sankey Diagrams
The International Energy Agency has taken its share of abuse from The Oil Drum over the years for its rather optimistic forecasts. But it deserves a hearty shout-out for an invaluable resource […]
7 Important Cleantech Price Points Worth Remembering
Irish writer Oscar Wilde defined a cynic as a “man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” But a sentimentalist, Wilde wrote, “is a man who sees an […]
Energy Storage Is Cost-Effective but Needs a Clear Market Signal
California’s electricity system has reached a transforming regulatory milestone. On September 3, Commissioner Carla Peterman of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authored a proposed decision ordering a 1.325-gigawatt utility energy storage […]
Prometheus Institute 