Energy
German backlash grows against coal power clampdown
German energy companies say that construction of over half the country’s planned power plants could be scuppered if the country goes ahead with a leaked plan to set emissions budgets for the country’s biggest polluters. The proposed law would impose stiff financial penalties for the oldest and most inefficient coal and lignite plants, to be paid in the form of emissions trading certificates. (altro…)
Cheap Oil Can’t Crack European Refiners’ Woes
Europe’s refining sector is getting a break from its misery. But this spell of relief might not be good for its well-being in the long run. Lower crude-oil prices have given a fillip to those companies that process it into products like gasoline. European refining margins more than quadrupled from the first to the last quarter in 2014, according to French oil major Total , hitting their highest levels in two years. (altro…)
Oil Prices Edge Higher
Oil prices edged up in volatile trade on Monday as investors continued to bet that the seven-month-long rout in prices is bottoming out. Brent, the global benchmark, has registered gains in the last three weeks and is up more than 30% from its mid-January low. But analysts caution that the combination of ample supplies and tepid demand that led to oil’s dramatic slump last year shows little signs of abating. (altro…)
New Report Urges Western Governments to Reconsider Reliance on Biofuels
Western governments have made a wrong turn in energy policy by supporting the large-scale conversion of plants into fuel and should reconsider that strategy, according to a new report from a prominent environmental think tank. Turning plant matter into liquid fuel or electricity is so inefficient that the approach is unlikely ever to supply a substantial fraction of global energy demand, the report found. It added that continuing to pursue this strategy — which has already led to billions of dollars of investment — is likely to use up vast tracts of fertile land that could be devoted to helping feed the world’s growing population. (altro…)
EU adviser: Energy Union should take ‘holistic approach’
Europe’s energy policy is no longer based on a difficult balance between competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply. It has now become a holistic project which includes all these dimensions in a multi-disciplinary approach, argues Jean-Arnold Vinois. Jean-Arnold Vinois is adviser on European Energy Policy at Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute. He is honorary director of the European Commission – Directorate General for Energy, and he continues to act occasionally for DG Energy to promote the internal market for energy and related initiatives. Since 1 April 2013, he has acted as special adviser to Günther H. Oettinger, the Commissioner responsible for energy. (altro…)
Fotovoltaico in Africa, energia pulita per un Continente
Più del 70 % della popolazione dell’Africa sub-sahariana rimane al buio dopo il tramonto. Il continente più assolato è quello a cui manca maggiormente la luce. Questo deficit è ancora un grosso freno per lo sviluppo e talvolta per la stessa sopravvivenza delle popolazioni locali. L’Africa è rimasta, in questo senso, il continente nero. Forse in Occidente ci siamo troppo abituati per rendercene conto; non solo l’energia elettrica è fondamentale per la nostra vita quotidiana, ma è stata essenziale per il nostro sviluppo. (altro…)
Natural Gas Glut Isn’t Deterring Southwestern Energy
Across the giant Fayetteville shale gas field here, country roads that were clogged by truck traffic just a few years ago are empty again. Once aglow at night from the bright lights twinkling on drilling rigs, the roads are now dark under the starry Arkansas sky. Virtually all of the few remaining rig and frack crews belong to one survivor:Southwestern Energy, a stubborn believer in the future profitability of natural gas. “I’d rather have the gas to myself with no one following,” Steven Mueller, Southwestern’s chief executive, said last month as he watched his rig hands pull pipe and mud from a new natural gas well here in northern Arkansas. (altro…)
U.S. Oil Prices Rise Off Multiyear Lows
Oil prices rallied Wednesday as traders closed out positions following a dramatic plunge in prices in recent months. Light, sweet crude for January delivery recently rose $2.12, or 3.8%, to $58.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as low as $54.21 a barrel in early trading. Brent, the global benchmark, recently rose $2.43, or 4.1%, to $62.44 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. (altro…)
Here’s why oil companies should be a lot more profitable than they are
The 40 percent plunge in oil prices since July, when Brent crude peaked at $115 a barrel, is almost certainly good news for the world economy; but it is surely a crippling blow for oil producers. Oil prices below $70 certainly spell trouble for U.S. and Canadian shale and tar-sand producers and also for oil-exporting countries such asVenezuela, Nigeria, Mexico and Russia that depend on inflated oil revenues to finance government spending or pay foreign debts. On the other hand, the implications of lower oil prices for the biggest U.S. and European oil companies are more ambiguous and could even be positive. (altro…)
NRG Seeks to Cut 90% of Its Carbon Emissions
NRG, which built a leading electricity business from coal and other conventional power plants, is aiming to reduce its carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050, the company said on Thursday. David Crane, the company’s chief executive, made the announcement at a ceremony breaking ground for the company’s new headquarters in Princeton, N.J., conceived as a green-energy showcase that will open in 2016.“The power industry is the biggest part of the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, but it has the potential to be an even bigger part of the solution,” Mr. Crane said in an interview before the announcement. (altro…)