Could a math error boost Obama administration plans to build futuristic coal-fired power plants that capture and store their own carbon dioxide emissions? A recent Congressional Budget Office analysis found that the DOE last year miscalculated the ultimate cost of the so-called FutureGen project, causing the agency to scrap it after sinking $174 million into the project. FutureGen was deemed...
Energy Industry Archive
March 2009
Fuel cell startup Bloom Energy is a curious combination of high- and low-profile. As one of the first cleantech investments made by famed venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, it has been the subject of intense speculation for years, since it was first discovered operating as Ion America. But the company also doesn’t say much about itself publicly. Like some other Kleiner...
Suncor’s purchase of Petro-Canada spurs oil sands consolidation debate — Suncor Energy’s plan to buy Petro-Canadafor $15.5 billion has sparked speculation and debate the deal will accelerate consolidation in the Alberta oil sands. The all-share deal — the largest in the oil and gas industry since 2006 — would create Canada’s biggest energy producer....
The reactions of environmental organizations to Shell announcing that it would pull out of wind and solar investment, with Greenpeace taking the crown as usual with its comment that the company has ““rejoined the ranks of the dirtiest, most regressive corporations in the world.” Several other organizations also used the opportunity to criticize Shell. Not that any of them rose...
A major new national energy policy initiative has been launched in the U.S. heartland, and it has a decidedly greenish tint. Oddly enough, the new green energy push was hatched in Tulsa, Okla., once the self-styled “Oil Capital of the World.” The initiative, dubbed the National Energy Policy Institute, is the brainchild of a long-time Tulsa oilman: billionaire philanthropist George Kaiser,...
Reading through the many stories on NASA’s delivery of a new solar array to the International Space Station (ISS), I found myself curious: Who makes these cells? How effective are they? What were the costs? Oddly, none of the coverage mentioned their origin, and it took quite a bit of searching to track it down in a week-old press release: Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab. No big surprise...
The solar industry is between a rock and a hard place. On one side, banks and other financiers are limited in their ability to give capital to the companies that sell and install panels. On the other, even those customers well enough off to buy new solar systems have begun to rank saving money over saving the environment. One indicator of the trouble is a 24 percent drop in applications for new...
Massive natural gas projects continue in Iran despite economic sanctions — China will help Iran develop an offshore natural gas field in a three-year, $3.2 billion deal that has exposed the limitations of using economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic. China, which receives 14 percent of its oil from Iran, will work on developing the South Pars field, an area beneath the Persian...
(NOTE: This item is the third in a three-part series on clean-coal technology. For links to other parts of the series, see the end of this item.) Coal is expected to retain the largest share of the electricity market over the next couple of decades — which makes curbing its carbon-dioxide emissions a major environmental goal. That’s especially true given that most forecasts show a...
Watching OPEC’s continued courtship of Russia has somehow turned into a season of Friends without the laugh track. Just when it seems like Rachel and Ross are going to get together, the audience is left hanging until next season. New hints of a union emerged this week as OPEC prepared for its meeting Sunday, when it will decide whether to cut oil production further. The not-so-subtle...
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- Week in Oil & Gas: Punting in Copenhagen and Gulf of Mexico Leases -- Abridged
- Week in Renewables: Changes Afoot, Solar Growth, Electric Cars and Nukes
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- Clean Coal, a Global Failure in the Making
- The Technologies for a Nuclear Resurgence
- About Those Anti-Nuclear Arguments: They're Dishonest
- Boxer Rolls Political Dice, Climate Bill Moves Onto Senate Floor
- Week in Renewables: Obama vs. Public Opinion, and New Energy Bets
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- Clinton: Energy Efficiency Is Not Sexy, But Important Low-Hanging Fruit
- Trina Solar: Still Struggling to Bring Manufacturing Costs in Line With Falling Prices
- Boxer Rolls Political Dice, Climate Bill Moves Onto Senate Floor
- Valero to Shutter Some Refinery Operations, Cut Hundreds of Jobs
- Week in Oil & Gas: Climate Bill Hurdles and Refining Blues
- Spillover Effect: Another Pre-Salt Discovery in Brazil
- Canada Starts Doling Out Carbon Capture Dollars
- Natgas Conundrum: Calming Volatility Fears in Push for Clean Energy Alternative
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