King Coal is dethroned in the US – and that’s good news for the environment
This is the worst year in decades for U.S. coal. During the first six months of 2016, U.S. coal production was down a staggering…
Fossil Fuels
Why utilities have little incentive to plug leaking natural gas
The Aliso Canyon leak in California earlier this year focused public attention on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. Methane is the primary…
Did Brexit Kill The Oil Price Rally?
Oil prices fell again on Monday after last week’s rout following the Brexit vote, deepening the losses and killing off a multi-month oil price rally….
Duke Energy flexes political muscle on fracked gas, coal ash
Duke Energy is facing serious regulatory battles in its home state of North Carolina, with climate-action groups doggedly trying to block the company’s planned fracked…
Mining under the sea
I have been sailing for 6 days so far. In my opinion, it is right to explain to the taxpayers in the Netherlands (but more…
Isogo: a minimalist shrine to clean coal
Modern cities are ever more hungry for power, but increasingly prefer to keep their power plants out of sight and out of mind. Whilst the…
The incompatibility of HELE coal technology with 2°C scenarios
In December 2015, international governments pledged in Paris to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts…
Impact of New Pipeline Infrastructure Tied to Firm Capacity Contract Debates
On May 2, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable environmental assessment for the Atlantic Bridge natural gas pipeline project, proposed by…
MIT researchers convert waste gas into liquid fuel
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered a form of bioconversion that could be used to convert waste gases to biodiesel for…
European banks clinging to coal investments
Europe’s big banks have failed to significantly cut their investments in coal in the five years between the UN climate conferences of Copenhagen and Paris….
South Africa’s Road to Growth is Paved With Coal
South Africa is already largely urbanized. Today, nearly two-thirds of South Africans live in urban centers. Although the rate of urbanization is slower in South…
We Shell Overcome, Someday
Late this September announced it was shlving its Arctic oil and gas operations off the coast of Alaska – for now. The Arctic is so…
Refracking is the new fracking
The technique itself is nothing new. Oil crews across the world have been schooled on its simple principles for generations: Identify aging, low-output wells and…
More coal plants are being cancelled than built
The global coal boom has started to slow, a new report says, as more plans for new power plants are now being shelved than completed….
Bringing the age of steam into the information age
‘Greetings from the Stone Age’ proclaimed the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung upon the opening of a brand new coal power plant near Hamburg this year,…