OTEC uses the temperature difference between cooler deep and warmer surface ocean waters to run a heat engine and produce electricity. Global warming needs to be put on a permanent hiatus at […]
Swan Song Wish List
I began posting on TOD in 2008 when I was a PhD student working with Charles Hall on basically everything energy but focusing specifically on the connections between EROI (energy return on […]
Why Ron Binz Is a Good Choice for Running FERC
Most people find it tough to get excited about regulators. But President Obama’s nomination of Ron Binz to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is reason to sit up and take […]
A Look at Unconventional Oil and Gas Regulations
This piece provides a basic insight into the way climate change in conjunction with environmental and public health concerns have triggered a regulatory response by National, State and Local Governments. It will […]
Renewables Account for Almost 50% of all New US Energy in 2012
In 2012 renewable energy — largely wind and solar — accounted for nearly 50 percent of all new electric generation put on the U.S. grid. According to a new Ernst & Young […]
Can the World Banks’ Green Bonds Become a Scalable Climate Solution?
Earlier this month, the World Bank announced the launch of US$ 550 million dollars of Green Bonds. Are Green Bonds a way forward for climate finance, or will the World Bank’s Green […]
Wind Power Surge in Texas Curbing Utility Profits
For the first time, Texas is connecting most of its wind farms to its largest cities. That’s bringing cheap electricity into the service area of Energy Future Holdings Corp., bad news to […]
The Recessions of 1973,1980,1991,2001,2008 Were Caused By High Oil Prices
In Libya strikes by oilfield workers have reduced daily production of crude oil dramatically from 1.6 million barrels a day to an estimated 250,000 barrels a day. In Iraq there have been […]
Tech Talk – the difference between fracking and acidizing a well
It turns out that in the end I wrote some 929 posts on The Oil Drum, over the course of its eight-year life, 92 of them in the past two years. The […]
Kerogen Oil Shale: The Next Rock of Ages?
As with everything else, it’s all about economic feasibility. This is the story of kerogen (oil shale), and could be a huge one, or it could just stay in the ground for […]
Prometheus Institute 