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…)
Posts Tagged ‘Coal’
New Report: US emissions to fall another 2.5+% in 2009
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009Report: 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…)
Coal Share of US Electricity Falling
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
I’ve got some good news to share — coal is losing its market share in the US electricity mix to less carbon-intensive sources. In the late 1990s, coal-fired power plants produced almost 53% of total US electricity. And the US EIA just released in its estimate for 2008 electricity that coal’s share fell to (more…)
Natural Gas Price Falls with Economy
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
This week’s economic news has been hard to swallow to say the least. Japan’s quarterly GDP plunge was followed by today’s news that home and apartment construction in January hit the lowest level ever recorded at an annual rate of only 466,000 units. These and other sobering reports sent natural gas prices down to their lowest intra-day level in (more…)
It’s Electric: US Emissions Drop Further
Sunday, January 25th, 2009In reversal, 4th quarter China carbon emissions fall
Friday, January 9th, 2009
Driven 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, 2009Coal 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…)
Electricity Use Falls a Huge 5% in September
Monday, December 15th, 2008
I 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 predicts first global oil demand drop in a quarter century
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008The Short Term Energy Outlook released today by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) is yet another dramatic energy document for 2008. Not only do they project further stagnation for coal and natural gas demand in 2008, but they deepen this year’s expected fall in oil consumption from 5.4% to 5.8% below 2007 levels. In a big turnaround from previous reports, the EIA projects global oil demand will actually (more…)