EnergyWright

04/02/2023

The fossil fuel industry has provided the energy to grow our economy and nation for generations. But decades of resistance to change has taken us to the point where a rapid shift to much cleaner fuels is needed.

Any pain caused by this shift is one way to identify a need to make adjustments to the climate plan, but not put it on hold.

People just want reliable comfort and reasonable cost for their buildings, not any particular fuel.

Those who have brought us our fossil fuels for generations should receive career retraining to work in the new energy industries that are replacing the old ones so they can continue their family legacy of delivering comfort.

This story first appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit newsroom investigating how power works in New York state. Sign up for their newsletter here. “We are facing an existential threat the likes […]

03/29/2023

China is well positioned to take advantage of the global need for clean energy technologies. The U.S. could do much better by ramping up to meet world demand over the next 30 years.

https://elements.visualcapitalist.com/where-are-clean-energy-technologies-manufactured/

As the market for low-emission solutions expands, China dominates the production of clean energy technologies and their components.

12/23/2022

NY State Climate Action Council plans require all new residential home projects have zero emissions heating systems starting in 2025, and existing homes that need a replacement heating system after 2030 will be required to replace it with a zero emissions system. These new policies will require changes to the state building code and energy code.

The state Climate Action Council today approved policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

12/05/2022

Laptops and phones are light loads, so easy pedaling to charge them up.

At the library in Utrecht, Netherlands you can recharge your electric devices by cycling 🚲.

04/02/2022

📸 Credit

03/05/2022

Why drilling now won’t lower fuel prices

After Republicans blamed Biden for increased fuel prices, I looked into it more. A lot of small operators went bankrupt due to the Covid pandemic causing a large drop in fuel consumption. Multiple sources in the industry have stated they won't be changing their production plans.

The Biden administration approved more than 3,500 oil and gas drilling permits in its first year, nearly 900 more than the Trump administration did in its first year.
�Last fall, Biden officials put 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico up for auction in the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history. But only about 1.7 million acres were bought. Oil companies only bought 2% of the offered drilling rights.

Oil and gas companies have 26 million acres of leases on federal public lands on their ledgers and baked into their long-term plans. Of these, 50 percent have never been drilled.

It’s possible prices will still climb, but that hasn’t changed oil companies’ calculations on production levels. “Whether it’s $150 oil, $200 oil, or $100 oil, we’re not going to change our growth plans,’’ Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield told Bloomberg Television. “If the president wants us to grow, I just don’t think the industry can grow anyway.’’ The largest US fracking companies reiterated in earnings calls in February that they intend to keep output roughly flat, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

In other words, now that companies are making handsome profits, they’re using that extra cash to reward investors and pay down debts, not invest in new production.

In 2015, Congress passed a law signed by President Obama that lifted the crude oil export ban in place since 1975, with the goal of reducing the glut of excess gas.

“The reason we’re experiencing higher natural gas prices right now is we’re exporting more,” Energy Finance Analyst Clark Williams-Derry said. “It’s not that we’re consuming more. It’s not that we’re producing less. It’s that we’re exporting.”

Excerpts from these sources:

https://www.vox.com/22959903/russia-ukraine-oil-gas-price-europe-us-exports-climate-change

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/01/27/oil-gas-leasing-biden-climate/

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/josh-axelrod/course-correction-federal-oil-and-gas-leasing-needs-fixing

The Biden administration came into office promising to shift the country away from its dependence on fossil fuels. But faced with political and legal challenges, oil drilling and coal mining on public lands have continued unabated and Biden officials have even taken steps that benefit the industries...

03/05/2022

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/03/03/coal-mines-solar-farms-climate-change-video

Six old mining sites owned by the Nature Conservancy will be some of the first utility-scale solar farms in the region — and the nonprofit group hopes the model can be replicated nationwide.

11/18/2021

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/14/1054942590/solar-energy-colorado-garden-farm-land

The newly passed infrastructure bill could lead to a boom in solar production requiring a lot more land, including farmland. But research is showing solar panels might actually help grow some crops.

08/10/2021

We can all pull in the same direction together or sink together.

An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. The tran...

03/22/2021

Might we be in for a massive correction?

Overinflated fossil fuel investments might be a ‘worthless’ bubble waiting to trigger the next crash, while renewables seem more appealing than ever.

02/21/2021

Cutting power to gas suppliers shut down Texas.

When the Texas power grid was on the brink of collapse and its operator plunged thousands into darkness, it didn’t make an exception for the oil and gas field.