News

Researchers discover how to mimic plants for solar production

30 November 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Christian Science Monitor) Researchers at Florida State University say they’ve developed a method that could make solar power cheaper by copying the process of photosynthesis used in plants. A study published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry lays out a new technique that uses less material to capture sunlight, allowing it to to covert light into electricity at a faster rate.

Tesla’s Gigafactory will produce as much renewable energy as it uses

16 November 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(TreeHugger) The battery ‘Gigafactory’ that Tesla is building in Nevada is the centerpiece of its whole mass-market electric car strategy. Without it, the company will have trouble securing enough battery supply to make hundreds of thousands of EVs (which they plan to do for the upcoming, more affordable Model 3, to be unveiled in March 2016), and it will have trouble reducing its prices enough to attract Mr. and Mrs. Everybody

Oil and gas companies are edging toward default

13 November 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Business Insider) Banks have an energy problem. In a note on Friday, JPMorgan’s Vivek Juneja broke down the results from the 2015 Shared National Credits exam, a Federal Reserve initiative to review and classify large syndicated loans.

Harvesting more energy from photons

5 November 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(MIT) Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a way to significantly boost the energy that can be harnessed from sunlight, a finding that could lead to better solar cells or light detectors.

Transition Economics-Vermont

Guests:

Ken Jones – economic analyst, Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development; lead author, Vermont Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy
Darren Springer – chief of staff, Office of Governor Peter Shumlin; former deputy director, Vermont Department of Public Service
Jon Erickson – professor of ecological economics, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources; fellow, Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont

Saudi America? - The U.S. Oil Boom in Perspective

Guests:

John Staub – Team Lead for Exploration & Production Analysis, Energy Information Administration, US Dept of Energy
Tad Patzek – Director, Upstream Petroleum Engineering Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
Art Berman – Consulting Petroleum Geologist, Labyrinth Services

Energy Transitions - Understanding the Challenge

Guests:

Scott Tinker – director, Bureau of Economic Geology, and professor, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas; chief advisor, Switch Energy Film and Education Project
Steven Koonin– director, Center for Urban Science & Progress, New York University; former undersecretary for science, U.S. Department of Energy
Jesse Ausubel – director and senior research associate, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University; science advisor, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Energy, Economic Growth, and Geopolitical Futures

What is Energy Security? - Definitions & Scenarios

Guests:

Charles Ebinger – senior fellow and former director, Energy Security and Climate Initiative, Brookings Institution
Guy Caruso – senior fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies; former administrator, Energy Information Administration
Evan Hillebrand – professor of international economics (retired), Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky; co-author (with Stacy Closson), Energy, Economic Growth, and Geopolitical Futures (MIT Press, 2015)

Oil and the Global Economy

Guests:

Stephen P.A. Brown – professor of economics and director, Center for Business and Economic Research, Lee Business School, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; visiting fellow, Resources for the Future; associate editor, Energy Policy
Mark Lewis – senior analyst for energy, climate, and sustainability research, Kepler Cheuvreux ; former head of energy commodities research, Deutsche Bank
Jim Hansen – president, Ravenna Capital Management

4 sustainable investing myths, debunked

(GreenBiz) Enthusiasm for sustainable investing is surging. Already, more than $8.7 trillion (PDF) of investment capital is managed using environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in U.S. markets alone, according to the U.S. SIF Foundation. That’s a 184 percent increase since 2010. This pot of money increasingly includes investments in green infrastructure, renewable energy, affordable housing and more, as well as investments that more holistically integrate broad ESG factors.

However, amid this hype, a certain amount of confusion , doubt and outright skepticism endures. WRI’s new paper, “Navigating the Sustainable Investment Landscape,” is based on interviews with 115 investment professionals — including asset owners with $1.26 trillion under management — and found that the prospects for sustainable investing are strong and overcoming key roadblocks will help the market reach a tipping point.

Getting the Measure of Sustainable Economic Growth

(The Ecologist) The new Index of Sustainable Economic Growth shows there is a shift to strike a healthier balance between support for the economy, and care for essential social and environmental systems. But can it ever replace GDP as a measure of progress? JAMES CURRAN explores the idea.

It looks like there is a shift to strike a healthier balance between support for the economy, and care for essential social and environmental systems “It’s time to go beyond GDP” claimed Manuel Baroso, President of the European Commission in 2007, but for over 60 years GDP has remained the obsession, and some have said fetish, of most Governments and most commentators.

Getting real with renewable energy

(Vermont Digger) Many people believe that 100 percent of our electricity can come from renewable energy. Such a goal is not only unachievable, it also diverts action from realistic strategies that will benefit the environment and our energy future.

Electric utilities in Vermont try hard to present an image of being green and providing clean energy. But since the electricity that we use is part of a large interconnected system, it is better to think regionally instead of locally. Vermont is connected to the New England electric grid operated by ISO New England. It is this regional electricity grid that really matters when examining the environmental impact of the electricity that we use.

Report Ranks Top States for Corporate Renewable Energy Procurement

(Green Tech Media) Not all states are equal when it comes to renewable energy policy — particularly when it comes to how well states accommodate corporate clean energy procurements, according to a new report by the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Information Technology Industry Council.

The commercial and industrial renewable energy market currently totals around 5 gigawatts of contracted wind and solar power, with these large-scale customers planning to procure an additional 60 gigawatts by 2025, according to the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA). Whether or not companies will be able to meet their procurement goals relies heavily on state-level policies, which some leading corporations are actively trying to make more favorable .

Majority of Americans Want Renewable Energy, Not Fossils

(Sustainable Business) As Trump prepares to unleash a new era of fossil fuels and take a hard turn away from renewable energy, a Pew Research Center poll shows that’s not what Americans want. A strong majority of 65% want the US to focus on renewable energy. Only 27% say fossil fuels should be the priority.

The divide remains stark between parties, however, with 81% of Democrats and 45% of Republicans preferring renewables. There’s also a generational difference: 73% of people under 49 years-old want renewables over fossils, compared with 50% for people over 50. Two other polls conducted after the election, show that Americans’ concern about climate change is at the highest levels since 2008. 64% are either “very worried” or “somewhat worried”, up from 57% in 2015.

Real Discourse - All Too Rare These Days

We didn’t call this initiative The Energy Xchange just because we thought it sounded catchy. The name evolved from a conviction that real discourse—not just debate, but conversations where different perspectives actually seek mutual understanding—is too often missing in coverage of the issues with which we are concerned. Consequently, we as a nation are making plans and decisions without sufficiently critical examination of fundamental changes that may lie ahead. To coin a phrase, the future we are planning for may not be the future that we are heading for.

5 Key Questions about Energy and the Economy

One of the key goals of The Energy Xchange is to provide a platform for information-sharing and critical discourse about a broad issue that, in our assessment, has been grossly under-examined relative to its importance to our future. That issue is the interconnection between energy and the economy.

Even within the academic and professional field of energy economics, most attention is focused on economic analysis of the energy industry and energy markets—not on the implications of energy issues for the broader macro-economy.

Exporting U.S. Oil - The Long View

The United States has been enjoying a sharp increase in domestic oil production over the past several years, nearing its historic peak of 10 million barrels per day that was reached way back in 1970. Oil production had declined by almost half before the recent surge—few had imagined such a reversal was possible.

This boom has prompted industry voices and political leaders to re-examine the federal ban on exports of crude oil (the ban does not include refined petroleum products). The United States continues to be a net importer of petroleum—i.e. we still consume substantially more than we produce.