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More Banks Take Hits on Energy Loans

15 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Wall Street Journal) Months of low oil prices are starting to take a toll on banks. Large U.S. banks reporting earnings Friday said they saw more energy loans go bad in the fourth quarter. Many lenders also added millions of dollars to reserves in anticipation that more oil-and-gas loans will sour.

This technology may be the future of solar energy

15 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Washington Post) In the solar energy sphere, scientists and economists alike will note that coming up with cheaper, most efficient solar cells is key to the industry’s growth. And now, many experts are arguing that an emerging type of technology, known as the “perovskite” solar cell, is the face of the future.

The Most Energy-Efficient Skyscraper Ever?

14 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Huffington Post) New York City scored a major coup when it successfully lured Cornell University to build a campus for Cornell Tech , its applied sciences program, on Roosevelt Island, smack in the middle of the East River. (Check it out in this video). What better place to demonstrate how cutting-edge energy efficiency techniques can blend with architectural advances to yield beautiful buildings that run like finely tuned machines?

Global growth will be disappointing in 2016 - IMF’s Lagarde

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Reuters) Global economic growth will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has also deteriorated, the head of the International Monetary Fund said.

Carmakers Forge Ahead With Electric Vehicles

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(NY Times) Las Vegas — Although sales of electric and hybrid vehicles have struggled, automakers are charging ahead to bring new battery-powered vehicles to market.

US coal production falls to lowest level in nearly 30 years

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(AP) U.S. coal production has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 30 years as cheaper sources of power and stricter environmental regulations reduce demand, according to preliminary government figures.

Solar energy jobs double in 5 years

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(CNN) Solar energy is having a moment. The number of solar jobs in the U.S. has more than doubled in five years. In fact, there are more people working in solar now than at oil rigs and in gas fields.

Solar Surges Past Wind, Hydropower as California’s No. 1 Renewable Energy Source

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

Solar Surges Past Wind, Hydropower as State’s No. 1 Renewable Energy Source

(KQED) In just a few short years, solar power has gotten big in California, and now it’s at the top of the renewable energy heap.

How Will San Diego Reach Its 100% Renewable Energy Goal?

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(KPBS) How the city of San Diego will reach its 100 percent renewable energy goal remains an open question that could generate political battles over who controls the city’s energy in the years ahead.

Getting To 100% Renewable Energy In the US

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(CleanTechnica) A report suggests a framework on how the US can get to 100% renewable energy sources by 2050.

Is this sunny state trying to kill solar power?

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(MarketWatch) Nevada has turned into a sunny battleground for the future of solar in the U.S., with regulators there moving to make solar power less attractive to homeowners and businesses and pitching utilities against solar-power companies.

A new way to store solar heat

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(MIT) Imagine if your clothing could, on demand, release just enough heat to keep you warm and cozy, allowing you to dial back on your thermostat settings and stay comfortable in a cooler room.

IEA: World’s Power Mix Is Seeing Unprecedented Transformation

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Power) A significant transformation of the global power mix is under way, noted the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its newly released World Energy Outlook.

From Poop To Power: Colorado Explores New Sources Of Renewable Energy

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(NPR) The wastewater treatment plant in Grand Junction, Colo., takes in 8 million gallons of raw sewage — what’s flushed down the toilet and sinks.

US uses more energy on Christmas lights than some nations do all year

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(AOL) Overall, the amount of electricity used to power Christmas lights in the U.S. each year is pretty minimal; Just 6.6 billion kilowatt hours — or 0.2 percent — of our yearly electricity consumption. But that’s more than a lot of countries use in an entire year.

NYC Architect’s Revolutionary Plan to Make Old Buildings Energy Efficient

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

One Architect's Revolutionary Plan to Make Old Buildings Energy Efficient

(dnainfo.com) One Architect’s Bold Vision on How to Retrofit NYC’s Affordable Housing

Selling Solar to Rural Africa is Emerging as a Hot Market

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Fortune) Will electricity in developing rural areas spread more like cell phones than land lines? These startups think so.

Minnesota program empowers energy-efficiency investments you can bank on

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

Conservation Improvement Program empowers energy-efficiency investments you can bank on

(MinnPost) Recently we sat down in Senate District 67 with Minnesota State Sen. Foung Hawj and Rep. Sheldon Johnson to share some insights into our statewide energy future, grounded firmly in our local present.

Oil price rout sends inflation to lowest levels witnessed since Great Depression

13 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(The Telegraph) Advanced economy inflation is at its weakest levels since the Great Depression-era Inflation will fall back to levels not seen since before the Second World War across the advanced world this year.

Obama just released the biggest energy efficiency rule in U.S. history

11 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Washington Post) They dribble out regularly — Energy Department rules or “standards” that require ever improving levels of energy efficiency for dishwashers, refrigerators, and much more.

America lifts its ban on oil exports

11 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(The Economist) For decades, the word “market” has been a misnomer for global trade in oil. Not only has the business been manipulated by an international cartel, OPEC, with varying degrees of success. Since 1975 America has also distorted it by banning the export of almost all crude oil.

San Diego - Biggest U.S. City to Go All in on Clean Electricity

11 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Fortune) San Diego’s city council has unanimously voted to power its electricity with 100% renewable energy sources by 2035. The city also approved proposals to eliminate half of all greenhouse gas emissions, and in doing so, has become the first city to make a legally binding pledge

Northwest can meet power needs with energy efficiency, plan says

11 January 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(Bend Bulletin) Portland — The Pacific Northwest can meet nearly all of its power demand over the next 20 years with energy efficiency and voluntary reductions of power use during periods of peak demand, according to the draft power plan by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

PG&E’s Pay-for-Performance Pilot Is a Big Deal for Energy Efficiency

2 December 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(GreenTech Media) Pacific Gas & Electric is hammering out the final details of a pay-for-performance energy-efficiency program for homes that will launch next year pending regulatory approval. This is not a tweak to an existing program. It is a wholesale change in how to deliver and pay for efficiency upgrades.

Wealthy Investors Target Dramatic Increase in Clean-Energy Funding

1 December 2020By energyxNews, Notable Posts

(MIT Technology Review) Starting off the Paris climate talks with a bang, an international group of investors headed by Bill Gates announced a new funding initiative, called the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, that will invest in clean-energy technologies.

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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.

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