This week is a cold one in the Midwest and East. Here in New York City the high is below 20 degrees and we’ll see single digits at night. Luckily I’m headed South for the inauguration tomorrow, but temperatures will still be below freezing in DC. Can this cold snap raise oil and natural gas prices from their current lows? (more…)
Archive for the ‘Coal’ Category
Can the Current Cold Snap Raise Fuel Prices?
Thursday, January 15th, 2009EIA: US carbon emissions to fall further in 2009
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
According to today’s release of the US Energy Information Agency’s Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO), US emissions will continue to slide in 2009. They predict lower energy consumption as our economy shrinks 2% in the coming year. Their preliminary estimate of fossil fuel consumption in 2008 leads me to estimate carbon dioxide emissions fell at least 2.5% this past year, and their projections for 2009 would lead to a further reduction of (more…)
In reversal, 4th quarter China carbon emissions fall
Friday, January 9th, 2009Driven by white-hot economic growth, China carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing at a rate that put fear in the hearts of most climate scientists. But the export-oriented growth of the past several years has imploded on a crash in demand for Chinese products from recession-hit consumers in Japan, the US, and Europe. After years of almost double-digit energy demand growth, (more…)
SET’s First Webinar: 2008 Energy in Review
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
I’m proud to announce that SET will co-host its first webinar! On Friday, Jan 9, at 9am US Eastern Standard Time, we will collaborate with our European partners at Leonardo Energy to present the Energy Year in Review for 2008. We will discuss the tumultuous energy trends of 2008 and potential implications for the upcoming year.
Details on the webinar are available at (more…)
Energy in 2009 Part III: Coal Outlook
Friday, January 2nd, 2009
Coal was almost as volatile as oil and natural gas in 2008, with its global trade price down more than 50% since the summer. While North American natural gas and global oil prices are poised for rebound since they have fallen below the higher marginal cost of production, coal production costs remain below current prices by most accounts. Therefore, coal prices have substantial room to fall if economic conditions continue to deteriorate. Below are some thoughts on coal supply and demand as we all prepare for the year ahead. (more…)
Happy Holidays & a few energy tidbits…
Monday, December 29th, 2008
I’m back from another amazing trip down to North Carolina to be with family! I ate enough to bicycle back to New York City, but of course we took the rental car and train with our Christmas presents and luggage 
There have been some major energy developments that I’d like to begin discussing today… For instance, China is reported to have much slower coal consumption growth in 2008 than years past. (more…)
October EIA data point to rapid fall in US emissions
Saturday, December 20th, 2008
The preliminary EIA estimates for US electricity use in October point to even deeper carbon dioxide emission reduction than I reported last week. The data are presented in their Electric Power Flash. Although the data will be refined in the weeks ahead, these estimates have big implications on our fossil fuel consumption and thus our greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)
EIA Announces Climate Progress in 2030 Outlook
Thursday, December 18th, 2008 The US Energy Information Agency (EIA) released a preview of yet another exciting energy document yesterday, their Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) to 2030. This year’s AEO 2009 showed dramatic shifts from last year that can help us achieve carbon emissions reduction toward stabilizing our global climate. But it also shows we have more (more…)
Electricity Use Falls a Huge 5% in September
Monday, December 15th, 2008I wrote a few months back how amazingly resilient natural gas inventories were in September despite the hurricane outages. The EIA just published an explanation in their electric power monthly data for the month. Electricity consumption fell more than 5% in September from 2007, sending natural gas demand for electricity down a staggering 15.5%! Demand for coal fell 3% and oil 19%, while hydroelectric generation (more…)
EIA: September Oil Demand Lowest in 12 Years
Friday, December 12th, 2008
The US Energy Information Agency recently released data that our country’s implied oil demand was at its lowest point since 1996 this past September. The total was 2.6 million barrels per day (Mbd) below last year’s level, a drop of more than 10%! While some of September’s reduction is clearly attributable to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, they also signify an intense (more…)