This past quarter was another tough one for the US economy. Industrial production sank to a record low in March below 70% of capacity. The resulting lower demand for fuels is sending storage levels toward record highs. The EIA reported this morning that natural gas rose another (more…)
Archive for April, 2009
Recession Demand Sends Fuel Inventories Toward Record Highs
Thursday, April 16th, 2009New Report: US emissions to fall another 2.5+% in 2009
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
In February, I shared that the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted lower greenhouse gas emissions from US energy consumption in 2009. Their earlier projection of ~2% lower emissions just shifted in their April report to a much lower (more…)
Report: 2008 US Wind Growth Even Faster
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
The American Wind Energy Assocation (AWEA) reported yesterday that their initial estimate of US wind growth was too slow. It turns out wind capacity grew more than 8.5 GW rather than 8.3 GW, a white-hot 51%! And they released a projection for 2009 of (more…)
Oil Report Shows Global Emissions May Fall in 2009
Friday, April 10th, 2009
For the first time since the last oil shock of the early 1980s, global greenhouse gas emissions are poised to fall significantly. The International Energy Agency (IEA) just released its monthly oil report within which they lowered oil demand projections by 1 million barrels per day (Mbd) from last month. Such a fall in consumption brings total demand down 2.4 Mbd (2.8%) from 2008 and translates into a fall in carbon emissions by (more…)
Report: NC Doesn’t Need More Coal Power
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
A new report by the NC Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN) makes a strong case that my native state of North Carolina can manage its population growth without adding new coal-fired power plants like the 800 MW Cliffside project which just began construction. Report authors John Blackburn and John Runkle even suggest we can phase out many (more…)
US Oil Output Down: Noise or Beginning of New Trend?
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly petroleum report today and it continues to point to ample supplies of crude oil and related products. But domestic crude oil production fell for the first week in a long time. Is this just a blip or have we begun the downward slide in crude oil production due to (more…)
China Begins Energy Leapfrog
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Canadian Solar announced yesterday that they won a rural electrification bid for 80,000 homes in China’s western province of Sichuan. At 1.6 MW in total, the systems will provide 20 watts for each house or enough to power some lighting or very efficient appliance. Potentially coupled with China’s leading solar thermal water-heating systems, this translates into an example of (more…)
Solar Prices Creep Lower in April
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Solarbuzz.com reported that solar prices dropped again in April. In Europe, prices reached a new record low at 4.54 euros per watt (though only 1 euro cent below last month). In the US, prices fell 4 cents (.8%) to $4.74 per watt. These changes translate into a price per kWh of (more…)
Why Does EIA Underestimate Future Wind Power Growth?
Friday, April 3rd, 2009As I shared yesterday, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects wind power to grow from today’s ~25 GW to just 52 GW by 2030 in its reference scenario plus Production Tax Credit (PTC) extension. I think wind will grow more than twice as fast as the EIA projects. And here’s why… (more…)
US Govt Report: BAU Carbon Emissions Growth Much Slower to 2030
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released their Annual Energy Outlook (AEO2009) this week and their numbers are a lot better than last year when the climate is concerned. It’s exciting to see the progress. But reference scenarios still have emissions growing throughout the period, so we have plenty of work to do. For now, let’s look at the numbers they present… (more…)