New York Times (August 13)
“Across the country, a profound shift is taking place that is nearly invisible to most Americans. The nation that burned coal, oil and gas for more than a century to become the richest economy on the planet, as well as historically the most polluting, is rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels.” The energy transition is further along in other places like Europe, but “the United States is catching up, and globally, change is happening at a pace that is surprising even the experts who track it closely.”
Tags: Coal, Economy, Energy transition, Europe, Fossil fuels, Gas, Invisible, Oil, Pace, Planet, Polluting, Profound shift, Richest, Surprising, U.S.
Washington Post (May 11)
The EPA is proposing “the tightest limits ever on power plants’ planet-warming pollution” in order “to meet President Biden’s pledge to halve U.S. emissions by 2030 compared with 2005 levels.” The proposal “would encourage gas- and coal-fired plants nationwide to meet tighter emission-reductions standards by either closing or adopting technology to run cleaner, accelerating one of the fastest transitions underway in energy.”
Tags: Biden, Cleaner, Coal-fired plants, Emission reductions, Emissions, Energy, EPA, Gas, Pledge, Pollution, Technology, Transitions, U.S.
Oilprice.com (January 9)
“The last month has been a month of celebration in the European Union. Gas demand is down because of the unusually warm weather. As a result, prices are down, and the crisis, according to analysts, appears to be averted.” Nevertheless, “these prices are not going to go much lower for the very simple reason that LNG could never be as cheap as pipeline gas.”
Tags: Analysts, Averted, Celebration, Cheap, Crisis, Demand, Down, EU, Gas, LNG, Prices, Warm weather
Fortune (September 24)
“Nowhere is this crisis more pronounced and more dangerous than in Europe, where a long-standing gambit on cheap Russian gas has backfired.” With winter, it looks certain to get even worse. “Even the slightest uptick in energy demand… could push entire sectors of Europe’s manufacturing industry to shut down entirely, devastating European economies with a wave of unemployment, high prices, and in all likelihood public unrest and divisions between European nations.”
Tags: Backfired, Cheap, Crisis, Dangerous, Devastating, Economies, Energy demand, Europe, Gas, High prices, Manufacturing, Pronounced, Russia, Unemployment, Uptick, Winter, Worse
Financial Times (September 5)
“The euro dropped on Monday to a new 20-year low after Russia’s decision to shut a major gas pipeline to Europe intensified the energy crisis that has dealt a heavy blow to the region’s economy.” The currency blew past parity, going as low as $0.988 in London. Stocks fell and energy prices surged while “European capitals struggle to contain growing concerns over Russia’s ‘weaponisation’ of gas supplies.”
Tags: $0.988, 20-year low, Blow, Currency, Economy, Energy crisis, Energy prices, euro, Europe, Gas, London, Parity, Pipeline, Russia, Shut, Stocks, Surged, Weaponisation
GCaptain (July 11)
“The hurdles African countries face in transitioning to gas or green energy mean millions of people are burning dirtier fuels such as charcoal instead, breathing in deadly fumes and generating more emissions. The IEA estimates that the number of people in sub-Saharan Africa without access to clean cooking fuel will grow by 6% a year from 2020 to 2030.”
Tags: Access, Africa, Breathing, Burning, Charcoal, Clean, Cooking fuel, Deadly fumes, Dirtier, Emissions, Gas, Green energy, Hurdles, IEA, Transitioning
Investment Week (June 22)
“UK inflation has hit another 40 year high of 9.1% in May, up from 9% in April. The slight increase from already record high inflation rate came largely from rising food and non-alcoholic beverage prices,” while gas and diesel prices rose to “the highest on record.” The “top financial priority” for 58% of UK adults is now “day to day costs, like paying bills and for food.”
Wall Street Journal (June 3)
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine calls into question the wisdom of the environmental, social and governance movement’s policy centerpiece: restricting oil and gas investment.” Moreover, “the coordinated effort to depress oil and gas production is potentially a violation of American antitrust law. This combination of bad policy and legal risk will likely” cause the movement to “lose much of its support.”
Tags: Antitrust law, Coordinated, ESG movement, Gas, Invasion, Investment, Legal risk, Oil, Policy, Production, Restricting, Russia, Support, U.S., Ukraine, Violation
Deutsche Welle (March 25)
Before the war in Ukraine, “Germany received 50% of its coal, 55% of its gas, and 35% of its oil from Moscow.” The country now plans “to almost completely end Russian energy imports by the end of the year.” Achieving the plan means “a considerable amount of progress would be made in a short space of time, as the West is rushing to wean itself off Russian energy amidst the invasion of Ukraine.”
New York Times (March 9)
“A week after a chorus of Western executives from Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other companies… pledged to pull their companies out of Russian ventures, it appears the turbulence for Russia’s energy industry has only begun.” The industry now looks poised to undergo a “wrenching reworking…. because Russian oil and gas have suddenly become toxic to many buyers.”
Tags: BP, Energy, Exxon Mobil, Gas, Oil, Pledged, Reworking, Russia, Shell, Toxic, Turbulence, Ventures, Western, Wrenching
