http://www.realclearenergy.org/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 18 May 2013 10:51:53 -0400 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Finland's Olkiluoto nuclear reactor, now nearly 300 percent over budget and still under construction after eight years, is generally considered a nuclear disaster. Originally scheduled for completion in 2009, it is now hoping to open by 2016. Costs have soared from the original $4.2 billion to $11.1 billion and still rising. Yet the Olkiluoto reactor will generate electricity at only ONE-FOURTH the cost of Germany's growing complex of solar installations over the lifetime of both, according to a recent study by the Breakthrough Institute. Authors Alex Trembath, Jessica Lovering,... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/18/german_solar_4x_as_expensive_as_finnish_nuclear_107026.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/18/german_solar_4x_as_expensive_as_finnish_nuclear_107026.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/18/2013/00/00/00 Sat, 18 May 2013 10:51:26 -0400   TODAY'S TAKEAWAY: WILL OBAMA BE THE FOSSIL FUELS PRESIDENT? The ironies abound as those preparing to determine President Obama's begin to size up his second term. The President came to office promising to convert our energy system to "wind, solar and soil" (meaning biofuels). He may leave office after presiding over the biggest fossil fuel bonanza since Spindletop. Ken Braun, a political consultant writing on Michigan Live, says all the President has to do is sit back and let it happen. "He tried and failed with the best "green energy" pitch... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/17/the_daily_bulletin_107024.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/17/the_daily_bulletin_107024.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/17/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 17 May 2013 09:45:10 -0400 189523 The Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana contain significantly more oil-and-gas resources than previously thought, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reassessment. The survey found an estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable shale oil (resources that can be recovered with current technology but whose precise location is unknown), double its 2008 assessment. The reassessment also found three times as much recoverable natural gas than previously believed to exist. North Dakota, which leads the nation in job... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/16/north_dakota_proves_obama_doesnt_get_energy_107020.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/16/north_dakota_proves_obama_doesnt_get_energy_107020.html Thomas Pyle Thomas Pyle 2013/05 05/16/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 16 May 2013 17:33:52 -0400 187264   TODAY'S TAKEAWAY: WHAT'S THAT PRICE-FIXING SCANDAL ALL ABOUT? The European Union is all abuzz over the story that major oil companies may have been submitting inaccurate prices to Platts in compiling the daily Market on Close (MOC) pricing process. Bureaucrats are talking of another LIBOR scandal and British Prime Minister David Cameron is threatening jail sentences for oil company executives. Shell and BP, both European countries, are particular targets. You can see what's going on here. It's the annual beat-up-on-the-oil-companies festival. The... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/16/the_daily_bulletin_107021.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/16/the_daily_bulletin_107021.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/16/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 16 May 2013 11:22:04 -0400 189343 READ THE MANN-LOVINS DEBATE IN THE ATLANTIC You couldn't find a better overview of our energy situation than Charles Mann's cover story in Atlantic this month, "We Will Never Run Out of Oil?" The title is provocative and also slightly off-kilter. Mann's main point is that the methane hydrates now being explored by Japan are a fossil fuel resource that dwarf conventional oil supplies- which are proving to be far more abundant than anyone anticipated anyway.  What fracking has done for conventional gas methane hydrates may do for overall energy supplies... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/15/the_daily_bulletin_107019.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/15/the_daily_bulletin_107019.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/15/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 15 May 2013 14:43:33 -0400 189165 IS TESLA REALLY THE GREATEST CAR EVER? It's not often that a respectable magazine such as Consumer Reports goes out on a limb, but the venerable reviewer of consumer products seems to have outdone itself with its review of the Tesla Model S. If it didn't call the $100,000 EV "the best car ever," it came close. In any case, investors are taking the review seriously. Boosted by the report that Tesla scored a profit in the 1st quarter, they have pushed Tesla's stock up 57 percent. So what's going on? The news from the EV front certainly isn't all good. ... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/14/the_daily_bulletin_107017.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/14/the_daily_bulletin_107017.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/14/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 14 May 2013 09:33:24 -0400 188956 Tax reform may involve simplifying the tax code, but actually achieving such a thing promises to be a terrifyingly complicated process. The battle over how (and by how much) to reduce the various tax deductions, credits and exemptions that litter the code will be contentious enough; reaching agreement on how to divvy up the revenue generated by this exercise between reducing the debt and lowering tax rates seems almost intractable. Republicans face a dual problem. The fiscal reality is that revenue gains from reducing tax deductions won’t be as substantial as they desire and,... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/14/why_you_just_may_come_to_like_a_carbon_tax_107016.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/14/why_you_just_may_come_to_like_a_carbon_tax_107016.html Ike Brannon Ike Brannon 2013/05 05/14/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 14 May 2013 07:18:27 -0400 78845   WILL THE EIS KILL GAS EXORTS? Doug Ehrman on Motley Fool has a very interesting take on the gas export controversy this morning. He points out that while the Obama Administration is making encouraging noises about allowing natural gas exports, it may have one last trick up its sleeve in the old environmental maxim, "Think globally, act locally." Environmentalists have perfected the art of appearing to support supposedly favorable technologies while opposing them in practice. The Sierra Club, for instance, never stops promoting "renewable energy" but quietly... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/13/the_daily_bulletin_107014.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/13/the_daily_bulletin_107014.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/13/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 13 May 2013 19:01:04 -0400 130700 A new language was introduced in Washington when President Barack Obama began his first term in office. For a time, it flummoxed his observers, including many Republicans, who were caught off-balance by the combination of the president's soaring rhetoric and his Chicago-style politics. The language is newspeak. Introduced by George Orwell, it is characterized by using familiar words and phrases in unfamiliar ways. In the president's parlance, "fair" means skewering the upper middle-class and redistributing their wealth. "Necessary investments" are excuses to... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/13/obama_repeats_energy_mistakes_of_the_past_107013.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/13/obama_repeats_energy_mistakes_of_the_past_107013.html Bob Beauprez Bob Beauprez 2013/05 05/13/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 13 May 2013 05:40:05 -0400 101715 $11M PER GREEN JOB BUT STILL NOT ENOUGH FOR WOMEN The Institute for Energy Research did a little interesting research last week. Looking at the latest government reports, it found that the Department of Energy is claiming that it has created 2,300 new "green jobs" since 2009. But in that space of time it has spent $26 billion in its Section 1703 and 1705 loan programs. That calculates to $11 million per green job created. Is the program a success?  The Atlantic's Joan Bryna Michelson doesn't think so. She complains that too manyof these green jobs are going to... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/10/the_daily_bulletin_107012.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/10/the_daily_bulletin_107012.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/10/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 10 May 2013 16:21:42 -0400 188439   TODAY'S TAKEAWAY: IS KLEINER PERKINS SORRY IT EVER MET AL GORE? It was the biggest story in energy six years ago. Former Vice President Al Gore sitting in the Kleiner Perkins board room, making quick calls to Washington and piloting Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firm into the Next Big Thing - clean energy! Well the dust has cleared and KP is now, as The New York Times puts it, "humbled." Gore didn't make out badly as a senior partner. Recent reports said his net worth increased by $100 million from his various energy investments. But... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/09/the_daily_bulletin_107007.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/09/the_daily_bulletin_107007.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/09/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 09 May 2013 10:49:37 -0400 188238   IS ENVIRONMENTALISM KILLING THE ECONOMY? Marita Noon tackles the difficult question of just how far environmentalists will go before they begin to damage the U.S. economy. She quotes the Christian Science Monitor's recent Earth Day coverage in noting that tremendous progress has been made since the 1970s and that things may no longer be at a crisis level. Quoting Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore, now an advocate of nuclear energy, she writes: "Moore says: 'What happened is environmental extremism. They've abandoned science and logic altogether.'... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/08/the_daily_bulletin_107003.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/08/the_daily_bulletin_107003.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/08/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 14 May 2013 15:39:47 -0400 113634 Last month, Earth Day came and went. Perhaps you missed hearing about it. For 2013, the theme was "The Face of Climate Change." Other than a change in the Post Office cancellation mark on your letters from the usual wavy lines, to the four stick-like wind turbines and a sun symbol, there was little note of what was once an event celebrated by 20 million Americans. Tim Wagner, Utah representative for the Sierra Club's Our Wild America Campaign, groused: "Media coverage of global warming has virtually disappeared." According to EarthDayCentral.com, one of the goals of... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/08/environmentalists_are_killing_the_us_economy_107001.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/08/environmentalists_are_killing_the_us_economy_107001.html Marita Noon Marita Noon 2013/05 05/08/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 08 May 2013 09:37:15 -0400 113634 TODAY'S TAKEAWAY: OBAMA LEANS TOWARD GAS EXPORTS President Obama may be about to weigh in on the issue of whether we should allow natural gas exports. Speaking in Costa Rica, he suggested that the benefits from commerce and our support of free trade in the world should outweigh the arguments of major manufacturers that exports will raise gas prices at home. Environmentalists, of course, who are opposed to everything involving fossil fuels, are taking the side of the manufacturers. The argument that exports are going to cause huge increases in domestic prices doesn't really weigh... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/07/the_daily_bulletin.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/07/the_daily_bulletin.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/07/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 07 May 2013 10:18:00 -0400 187421 TODAY’S TAKEAWAY. IS THE GREEN ERA OVER? Somewhere in the early years of the first Obama Administration an editorial cartoonists drew a picture of President Obama felling a huge tree called the “US Economy.” On the tree stump he was watering a little sprout called “green jobs.” That’s pretty much the way things went the first four years. But suddenly things are turning around. New drilling techniques are producing a flood of new fossil fuels and now it’s beginning to reflect in the economy. The latest upsurge in jobs... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/06/the_daily_bulletin.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/06/the_daily_bulletin.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/06/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 07 May 2013 10:18:32 -0400 186783 There's no getting around it. America is experiencing an oil boom, a revival in drilling technology that no one ever anticipated. Is it possible that President Barack Obama, who began his Presidency proclaiming an era of wind and sunshine will be remembered for presiding over the revival of fossil fuels? Don't bet against it. What's also happening is a subtle revival of the working-class ethic. Jordan Weissmann tells us in The Atlantic that the Bakken Boom in North Dakota is making the working-class rich. There haven't been this kind of frontier blue-collar... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/03/the_daily_energy_106997.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/03/the_daily_energy_106997.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/03/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 03 May 2013 08:54:16 -0400 187296 Is coal dead? Well maybe not entirely. Coal's share of the electric grid has declined to 43 percent but companies are finding they can sell their surpluses abroad. Europe is moving back to coal after being stretched to the limit by Gazprom on natural gas prices. Illinois reports a record year for exports and Oklahoma is talking about a coal comeback. The railroads are gaining on new shipments. But Patriot Coal, one of the largest domestic producers, is caught in a vice with its unions and facing bankruptcy. Nuclear continues to thrive abroad and wither at home. Mitsubishi and Areva... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/02/the_daily_energy_106996.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/05/02/the_daily_energy_106996.html Editors Editors 2013/05 05/02/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 02 May 2013 09:28:28 -0400 187096 Japan's President Shinzo Abe is beginning a tour of world energy capitals with his mind on resources - particularly natural gas. With Japan shutting down nuclear and with the promise of methane hydrates far over the horizon, Japan needs resources. He's in Moscow today negotiating a deal for Siberian natural gas. Then it's on to the Middle East where he is already talking of Saudi Arabia as a "strategic partner." Meanwhile, two Canadian companies have just signed agreements to ship LNG across the Pacific. Is there anyone left out? Ah yes, the US is still dithering... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/30/the_daily_energy_106991.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/30/the_daily_energy_106991.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/30/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:33:51 -0400 186753 Some people can always find a silver lining and some can find the dark side of he cloud. Benjamin Alter and Edward Fishman of Foreign Affairs are among the latter. They are there will be a "dark side" to American energy independence. If American really becomes independent of petrostates around the world, those countries will experience declining oil prices which will disrupt their economies which will cause civil unrest which will require America to intervene in their affairs. Is that gloomy or what? Chris Paine, the filmmaker who make the dubious documentary, "Who Killed... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/29/the_daily_energy_106989.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/29/the_daily_energy_106989.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/29/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:59:22 -0400 186557 Natural gas prices have reached a two-year high as the unusually cold spring takes its toll. Inventories did not increase as much as expected this week and futures have moved over $4. Is this the beginning of a long-expected rebound in gas prices? It's hard to tell. There is mounting pressure to export gas and world demand is strong. But as Dunstan Prial notes on AOLEnergy, gas prices are always an enigma. Coal may be making a comeback as well as Japan starts building new coal plants and hunting for imports. Australia is interpreting a sale to power companies at $95 a ton as the end... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/26/the_daily_energy_106988.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/26/the_daily_energy_106988.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/26/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:04:19 -0400 186236 Renewables hit a one-day record in Germany last week, providing nearly half of Germany's electricity, but that's not the real story. The problem is that renewables are always given preference over coal and gas when they are available. As a result, coal and gas plants are constantly forced to eat their production. This has driven them all into the red. Now the utilities are saying they may mothball these generators because they're all losing money. That will leave Germany without electricity. Chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to rescue the situation by offering coal and... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/25/the_daily_energy_106987.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/25/the_daily_energy_106987.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/25/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:20:35 -0400 186055 Google has confounded all expectations and asked to pay more for clean energy. That's what it says in a white paper in which it requests utilities offer a wider menu of options, including a "renewable energy tariff" that would allow it to pay more to access renewable resources. Duke Energy is doing everything it can to meet Google's requests for its North Carolina data center (above) but Google is looking to improve its public image by requesting more. Senator Lindsay Graham has put a hold on the confirmation of Secretary of Energy-designee Ernest Moniz but it has... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/24/the_daily_energy_106985.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/24/the_daily_energy_106985.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/24/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:17:40 -0400 185868 It's Earth Day 2013 and time to reminisce about previous Earth Days. Mark Johanson takes us down memory lane in International Business News, noting it was the year Jimmy Hendrix died and the Beatles produced their last album. (Weirdly, the story lacks a headline.) NBC News discovers Denis Hayes, the original Earth Day founder, still hard at work in Seattle pulling the wraps off the new headquarters of his Bullitt Foundation, which will get all its electricity from solar panels. Senator Mark Warner and Tom King, president of U.S. National Grid, say we need a reboot around greater... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/22/the_daily_energy_106981.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/22/the_daily_energy_106981.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/22/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:42:17 -0400 185516 Liquid natural gas (above) is suddenly emerging as a world market as nations realize that the barriers of crossing oceans have been surmounted. More countries are switching to gas as coal comes under pressure and the demand for energy increases. Nations with plentiful supplies are considering sending their surpluses overseas. Japan is practically begging Russia to keep it supplied across the Sea of Japan. and Australia is planning to become the world's #1 exporter.  Now  Alaska is looking into unloading all the "stranded" natural gas at Prudhoe Bay by... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/19/the_daily_energy_106979.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/19/the_daily_energy_106979.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/19/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:42:16 -0400 167430 Researchers at the University of Illinois are claiming a huge breakthrough in battery technology - a lithium-ion battery that is "micro-architectured" (above) so that it can store 2000 times the charge and recharge in seconds. The team, led by William P. King, Bliss Professor of mechanical science and engineering, says it has used 3-D design to produce a vast increase in surface area between individual anode and cathode units, multiplying the storage capacity by orders of magnitude. They're talking about jumpstarting your car with a cell phone. Will it all work or is it just... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/18/the_daliy_energy_106974.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/18/the_daliy_energy_106974.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/18/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:09:24 -0400 185044 The Keystone Pipeline issue may be about to come to a head before Congress as Secretary of State John Kerry prepared to testify today before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the issue. How did Kerry ended up worrying about a pipeline when North Korea is rattling nuclear weapons? Well, somebody has to decide whether Keystone can cross the border from Canada. Pipeline foes were sharpening their weapons with a new report that says Keystone will be the equivalent of 46 coal plants. But House Republicans are determined to move forward and may try an end run around the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/17/the_daily_energy_106973.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/17/the_daily_energy_106973.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/17/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:33:24 -0400 184861 Energy Futures Holdings rolled out a bankruptcy plan that will allow it to exchange much of its $32 billion debt for equity while keeping the Luminant and TXU portions of the company separate. The company's earnings have dropped 32 percent with low gas prices and the promise of three years ago has all but vanished. The first take is that debt holders aren't too happy wit the new proposal, either. Microsoft is touting its new Redmond campus (above) as a "smart city" designed to conserve energy in every conceivable way. The company has even come up with a unique... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/16/the_daily_energy_106968.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/16/the_daily_energy_106968.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/16/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:00:10 -0400 184715 The coal industry is in more trouble than people realize, says the Washington Post. A study from Duke University seems to agree, saying that coal can't compete anymore with natural gas. Motley Fool reports that a new study from the Potential Gas Committee says there's 26 percent more gas than previously realized, even though gas futures just hit a 21-month high. But Christine Todd Whitman (avove), writing on Politico, says there's a downside in the dash to natural gas, namely in the loss of fuel diversity. On the oil side, demand seems to be slowing as China slackens off,... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/15/the_daily_energy_106967.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/15/the_daily_energy_106967.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/15/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:18:59 -0400 184561 World oil prices are sagging as demand slumps and the US shale oil boom starts to compete. The Brent-WTI gap is narrowing but Steve LeVine on Quartz says that pipeline construction into the Bakken is about to end those $28-a-barrel discounts. Huffington Post asks why gas prices are still rising but Bloomberg says maybe they'll be coming down sooner than you think. Things are happening rapidly in Washington as President Obama's nominations approach a vote and his energy budget comes under inspection. Al Gore's proposal for a $35 million satellite to monitor global warming... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/12/the_daily_energy_106963.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/12/the_daily_energy_106963.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/12/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:07:16 -0400 184239 President Obama’s budget would raise $4 billion more from the oil industry to fund a 40 percent increase in spending on green energy.  Royalties on federal oil leases would be raised by $2.5 billion. Additional revenues would come from eliminating the Section 199 tax break, which allows oil companies and some other manufacturers to deduct 6% of their qualifying income. The oil industry protested that the so-called “tax break” is not unique to oil. The budget proposals fulfilled the promises of his State of the Union Address but may meet some... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/11/the_daily_energy_106960.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/11/the_daily_energy_106960.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/11/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:59:42 -0400 184063 Professor Ernest Moniz of MIT seemed well on his way to becoming the new Secretary of Energy. His first day of hearings went smoothly with impressive testimony on natural gas and nuclear. Moniz lauded the fracking revolution but said that gas exports should be considered on a case-by-case basis - a classic hedge. He called the nuclear clean-up at Hanford "unacceptable" and echoed Dwight Eisenhower by promising "I will go to Hanford." (Eisenhower promised "I will go to Korea," which is something even President Obama isn't proposing these days.) Finally,... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/10/the_daily_energy_106958.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/10/the_daily_energy_106958.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/10/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 10 Apr 2013 09:52:14 -0400 183921 The Energy Information Administration has issued a report that contains both good news and bad. The good news is that carbon emissions (above) declined again to their lowest level since 1994. The bad news is that this may be due in part, at least, to a decline in manufacturing production. The industrial consumption of energy has dropped but that is mainly the result of the continuing recession. A boost in the economy could send them back up again. Another tidbit is that foreign investors are clamoring into US shale, since the technology doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/09/the_daily_energy_106956.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/09/the_daily_energy_106956.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/09/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:42:48 -0400 183759 You know you must be getting somewhere if you reach a compromise and both extremes say they're unhappy. That's what's happening with the agreement worked out by the Center for Sustainable Shale Development last week. The Pittsburgh-based group got major environmental organizations and drilling companies to agree on a set of protocols for continued development of the Marcellus in Pennsylvania. But now the Sierra Club is crying foul and the pro-drilling Marcellus Drilling News website is accusing Shell and Chevron of selling out to "eco-nuts." Sounds like it must be... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/08/the_daily_energy_106955.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/08/the_daily_energy_106955.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/08/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:02:53 -0400 183611 NASA has confirmed what the original advocates of nuclear energy argued in the 1950s - that it reduces air pollution and saves lives. A study released this week says 1.8 million lives have been saved worldwide and 7 million more can be saved if nuclear construction continues. GlobalResearch.org immediately disputed the study, saying nuclear raises carbon dioxide levels by discouraging the production of renewables. In a lengthy analysis, Matthew Stepp, writing in the Washington Post, says that a recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory actually illustrates how difficult it... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/05/the_daily_energy_106952.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/05/the_daily_energy_106952.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/05/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:17:42 -0400 170943 The Arkansas oil spill continues to stoke the Keystone controversy as opponents seize upon it to warn of new dangers. Meanwhile US News & World Report says that Americans want to the Keystone Pipeline but are more ambivalent about fracking. Nicholas Loris on The Foundry argues that we are paying more for gasoline because of EPA regulations but Michael Levi at the Council of Foreign Relations says there's another side to the story. Things may be thawing in the eastern Mediterranean as Israel has offered to build a pipeline through Turkey to carry offshore gas claimed by three... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/03/the_daily_energy_106950.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/03/the_daily_energy_106950.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/03/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 03 Apr 2013 09:11:12 -0400 183018 This week, the 2013 Pacific Energy Summit will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, from April 2-4. The Summit provides a forum for leaders across the world to discuss and collaborate on topics revolving around energy security and climate change. This year’s theme, “Forging Trans-Pacific Cooperation for a New Energy Era,” focuses on realizing the potential for energy trade and investment between Asia and North America. As an attendee of this year’s discussion, I seek to highlight and promote the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/02/lng_transforming_the_us_into_an_energy_hub_106949.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/02/lng_transforming_the_us_into_an_energy_hub_106949.html Charles Boustany Charles Boustany 2013/04 04/02/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:14:16 -0400 158796 A "neighborhood" oil spill Arkansas (above) pipeline has once again raised the stakes in the Keystone debate. ExxonMobil has lost thousands of gallons from the leaking pipeline and wildlife has been affected.  The incident has immediately prompted Keystone foes to point to the "nightmare scenario" that could occur with the larger Keystone operation. Canadian crude oil prices fell on the news and Steve LeVine on Quartz asks if this will permanently derail the project? Robert Bryce argues that Peak Oil Theory has just about had it as new supplies gush forth.... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/02/the_daily_energy_106948.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/02/the_daily_energy_106948.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/02/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:31:00 -0400 182863 Israel began a new era with the opening of the Tamar gas fields off Haifa. Production began flowing over the weekend. This gives Israel the first domestic source of energy in its history. Press commentary called it “an historic day” and “the beginning of independence.” Will it be that significant? Stay tuned. The Sierra Club now rates the chances the Obama Administration will approve the Keystone Pipeline at 50-50. The Senate’s non-binding approval last week has reignited the debate, although there is no indication that the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/01/the_daily_energy_106947.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/04/01/the_daily_energy_106947.html Editors Editors 2013/04 04/01/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:02:33 -0400 127789 Are we too dependent on natural gas for electricity? It's a question that has been nagging at utility executives for quite some time. Prices are low, environmental opposition is minimal, but the potential for overextension is great. Meg Handley tackles the question in US News & World Report. Writing in Quartz, on the other hand, Steve LeVine notes that the next decade could be disastrous for OPEC and Big Oil. A Citicorp report has predicted that oil demand may decline 18 percent and export-heavy countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia could be left hanging. Energy policy is... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/29/the_daily_energy_106946.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/29/the_daily_energy_106946.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/29/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:01:30 -0400 180041 The International Monetary Fund has come out with a study saying that the $1.9 trillion that governments around the world spend on energy subsidies are a huge problem and are negatively affecting global warming. IMF says that governments could balance their budgets and do the world a favor by cutting them right now. Easy enough to say. The problem is that this is one place where developed countries are not at fault. Most of these subsidies are in the developing world (Iran is the worst) and are used by governments to placate their restless populations. This may be just another case of the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/28/the_daily_energy_106943.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/28/the_daily_energy_106943.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/28/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:25:14 -0400 178373 With parts of the country buried in snow (above), Britain is suffering through a gas crisis that has consumers and politicians up in arms. The unexpected cold weather has strained gas supplies, which run thin anyway because of low storage capacity. Christopher Booker in Mail Online is livid because the government is pursuing green energy policies in the midst of the crisis. But Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey says the government's policies will reduce utility bills by 11 percent. Meanwhile, Britain seems to have stolen a march on the rest of Europe by getting into... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/27/the_daily_energy_106942.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/27/the_daily_energy_106942.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/27/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:24:13 -0400 182049 As the time approaches when President Obama can no longer avoid making a decision on the Keystone Pipeline, the very real possibility arises that the connection between Alberta Tar Sands and Texas refineries may not get built. What will happen if Keystone isn't approved? Jared Anderson of AOL Energy poses the question to Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes. The fight over renewables has moved to the states, writes Brad Plumer in the Washington Post. The conservative American Legislative Exchange Council has taken aim at renewable energy standards, arguing that they are rushing the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/26/the_daily_energy_106940.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/26/the_daily_energy_106940.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/26/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:58:22 -0400 181881 In a reprise of the old Communist Bloc, Russia and China have inked a whole clutch of energy agreements that will put the two Asian giants on a coordinated path to energy development. Basically, Russia has the resources in its vast Siberian hinterland while China has the population and the demand. The Chinese have been circling the glove trying to lock up energy resources but now they may have found it in their back yard. Rosneft, the Russian oil giant, will double crude deliveries to China over the next few years. (China, by the way, just passed the US as the world's largest... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/25/the_daily_energy_106938.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/25/the_daily_energy_106938.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/25/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:10:02 -0400 181707 Gazprom’s promise to bail out Cyprus is losing steam as parties on both sides begin to question the particulars of the deal. Europe frets the Cypriots are putting the Mediterranean into Russian hands while the Russian press is expressing skepticism over the value of the deal. The Guardian reports that there are doubts among experts about the offshore reserve’s potential and Turkey is making claims on the same fields.  So maybe it will be back to dealing with banks tomorrow. President Obama’s nominees for Energy and the EPA are running into the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/22/the_daily_energy_106937.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/22/the_daily_energy_106937.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/22/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:54:59 -0400 181361 If there’s one trend in the world worth watching today it’s the growing power and influence of Russia and China in the world of energy resources. Yes, the old Communist giants who were going to make the world recite the teaching of Lenin and Mao Tse-Tung have morphed themselves into powerful, resource economies that are just learning to throw their weight around. And while Western observers may want to cry “Foul!” because of the heavy state involvement in these enterprises, in fact China and to a certain extent Russia are showing a great deal of... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/21/the_daily_energy_106936.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/21/the_daily_energy_106936.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/21/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:20:16 -0400 181193 Last year’s western drought is finally starting to reverberate on ethanol prices and the picture is not pretty. Refineries are screaming that there’s none available and are bidding up ethanol credits to unprecedented levels. This is driving up the price of gasoline. The industry is begging the Environmental Protection Agency to cut back on the mandate but so far the EPA isn’t budging. Next stop for this debate, Capitol Hill. The effort to export American natural gas received a boost when Japan asked to be included in the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/20/the_daily_energy_106934.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/20/the_daily_energy_106934.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/20/2013/00/00/00 Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:22:49 -0400 181018 President Obama’s Energy Trust idea is meeting mixed reactions, both in Congress an in the industry. Ken Silverstein, writhing on EnergyBiz, says both sides of the auto industry are wincing at the plan. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, a conservative Democrat, is not happy about the idea of taxing the oil industry. Georgia Tea Party Republican Paul Broun, Jr., has an even simpler suggestion – abolish the Department of Energy. James Greenberger on the Energy Collective urges the President to think outside the box, but Sharon Kelly on the deSmogBlog, wonders if the... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/19/the_daily_energy_106931.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/19/the_daily_energy_106931.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/19/2013/00/00/00 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:36:48 -0400 180687 President Obama used his Saturday radio address to double down on alternative energy and ask the nation to “break the cycle of dependence” on oil. The President proposed $2 billion for new research on alternative fuels and said it was essential to get the nation’s cars and trucks off oil. His plan will use royalties from oil production to wean the nation off oil. Does the President know what he’s talking about? Joel Kotkin, writing in the Orange County Register, says the real revolution in America is taking place in the heartland where the oil and... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/18/the_daily_energy_106930.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/18/the_daily_energy_106930.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/18/2013/00/00/00 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:27:34 -0400 180687 President Obama (above) will pick up the torch from Presidents George Bush, Jr., Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon in trying to cure the nation’s “addiction to oil” with federal subsidies. This time he proposes taking offshore oil royalties and creating an “Energy Security Trust” that will fund research in electric vehicles, natural gas cars and biofuels, including the inevitable switchgrass. Didn’t George Bush, Jr. once mention switchgrass in a State of the Union? The amazing thing is that the one idea that seems to... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/15/the_daily_energy_106928.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/15/the_daily_energy_106928.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/15/2013/00/00/00 Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:37:49 -0400 180341 Now that world oil supplies are gushing forth again and conservation measures are taking hold, the International Energy Agency sees a long-range softening of prices. IEA says the US oil boom will be particularly effective in cushioning supply shocks. Venezuelan production has been languishing under Hugo Chavez’s mismanagement but that doesn’t seem to make much difference. In fact the real problem in the Americas may be Canada facing a downturn in the value of its tar sands. The Toronto Star discusses the prospect. Japan’s discovery that it can extract... http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/14/the_daily_energy_106926.html http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2013/03/14/the_daily_energy_106926.html Editors Editors 2013/03 03/14/2013/00/00/00 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:42:54 -0400 180157