Having looked at the major alternatives to fossil fuel energy production (summarized here), we come away with the general sentiment that the easy days of cheap energy are not evidently carried forward […]
World Energy Consumption – Beyond 500 Exajoules
Today’s post goes into the global consumption of energy and provides a dataset in Excel for researchers on global primary energy consumption from 1830 to 2010. In other words, the energy contained […]
More evidence of consumer electric vehicle angst
Summary: Whether it is range anxiety or safety fears, 87 percent of U.S. adults have some sort of nagging concern about EV technology. Apparently close to 90 percent of us have some […]
Warm weather, low natural gas prices hold down wholesale power prices this winter
Average daily power prices in the Northeast and Midwest from the beginning of November 2011 through the first week of February have been unusually low. The driving factor is warm weather. Warm […]
Overinvesting in energy efficiency, on purpose
Let’s briefly review what we’ve covered so far in my rebound series: Climate change means we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a lot, beginning immediately. There are two ways to reduce […]
Coal Powered Electric Cars – Fact and Fiction
“The electric car doesn’t do any good because it’s just powered by coal” gets repeated by the oil industry, by news pundits who ignore fact checking, and even by some environmentalists. In […]
Munich Re Sees $658 Million in Renewable Energy Insurance Sales
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) — Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, may generate 500 million euros ($658 million) in annual revenue within five years from insuring renewable energy projects, including protecting against the […]
China Shale Delay to Boost LNG Imports in Boon for Exxon: Energy
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — China’s ambitions to unlock the natural gas trapped in shale rocks are likely to take longer than planned, boosting the nation’s reliance on overseas suppliers from Exxon Mobil […]
Hawaii Asks Some Big Questions About Solar Penetration
In an annual report to the Public Utilities Commission, Hawaii’s utility Hawaii Electric Company (HECO) noted there were increased costs to ratepayers as the result of a net metering policy put in […]
How Distributed Solar Can Reduce Electricity Prices
What if installing more solar could reduce electricity prices? It’s already happening in Germany, world leader in solar power, and it’s likely to happen in the U.S., too. Right now the idea […]
Prometheus Institute 