Industry news

Over the course of the next two columns, I plan to finish up the recent look at BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2014. The final two columns will focus on renewable energy, and carbon dioxide emissions. Today I want to provide an update on the natural gas picture, as prices declined sharply at the end of July. I have

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Reducing the renewable energy target would cost the federal budget about $680 million more to meet Australia’s target of 5% emissions reduction by 2020, according to modelling released today by climate and conservation groups. The modelling found that cutting the RET would increase the profits of coal power stations while boosting the costs for the public through more pollution without

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2014 is predicted to be the first year in history that non-hydro renewable generation exceeds hydropower generation in the United States. This is a big change—only a decade ago hydropower produced three times as much electricity in the U.S. as the combined contributions of non-hydro sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released

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Do you remember Twin Creeks Technologies? The VC-funded startup was attempting to commercialize an ion-implant machine that would allow solar manufacturers to produce super-thin photovoltaic cells from crystalline silicon. It was a wildly ambitious bet, and the company went from unstealthing in early 2012 to having its assets purchased for approximately $10 million by GT Advanced Technologies in late 2012.

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Starting a new car company isn’t easy. Given the complexity and cost of cars, buyers are often hesitant to try an unknown quantity. If a car gets even a hint of a reputation for unreliability, that task could turn impossible. Which is why news that a Tesla Model S electric car on long-term test by Edmunds had its drive unit

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Wind power in the UK is helping to fill the void left by the shuttering of four nuclear reactors. One reactor was found with a defect on its boiler spine, so EDF Energy decided to shut it down, along with three others. It is expected they will be offline for about two months. (EDF is a French utility responsible for

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The research team described their work at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The device works by detecting and responding to lactate, which is naturally present in sweat. Lactate is a very important indicator of how you are doing during exercise, explained Wenzhao Jia, Ph.D. In general, the more intense the exercise, the more

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Solar and wind energy sector has a bumper output in Spain last month as the two technologies fulfilled more than a third of the country’s total electricity demand. Low-carbon electricity sources generated more than 55% of the electricity consumed in Spain last month as power generated from wind energy increased substantially. Almost 30% of the total electricity consumed last month

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It is now generally recognized that rooftop solar has reached “socket parity” — meaning that it is comparable to or cheaper than grid prices — in many countries over the last few years. The big question for consumers and utilities is when socket parity will arrive for solar and battery storage. Some suggest it is many years away. Others, such

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The ultralow-density, ultrahigh surface area bulk material with an interconnected nanotubular makeup could be used in energy storage and conversion, thermal insulation, shock energy absorption and high energy density physics. The three-dimensional nanotubular network architecture developed by the team also opens new opportunities in the fields of energy harvesting, catalysis, sensing and filtration by enabling mass transport through two independent

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