Guardian: “2012 was among the 10 warmest years on record, rising above the long-term average for the 36th year in a row.” Read more
Solarcentury
The company I founded in 1998 to design and supply solar energy solutions for the built environment. Solarcentury
Solar Aid
The charity I founded in 2006, with a 5% contribution of Solarcentury profits, to help deliver solar lighting to Africa. Solar Aid
Oil industry reviews security after terrorists kill 18 in Algerian gas plant.
January 20, 2013 Gas
FT: The Algeria attack is the worst tragedy of its kind despite the industry’s presence in many unstable regions. BP has “never experienced an attack on this scale before”, says BP CEO Bob Dudley.
IEA on oil: “All of a sudden, the market looks tighter than we thought.”
January 18, 2013 Oil
FT: Stronger-than-expected demand growth in China plus reduced seasonal supply from Saudi Arabia equals this from the IEA: “All of a sudden, the market looks tighter than we thought. It may be too early, however, to declare the . . . return to the bull market of yesteryear.” Read more
Fed officials initially thought the credit crunch was a good thing.
January 18, 2013 Finance
FT: Embarrassing minutes show top officials at the US Federal Reserve took months to realise the 2007 financial crisis would have such a dire impact. Read more
Amazon rainforest drought degradation becomes visible.
January 18, 2013 Climate
Guardian: “NASA warned this week that the Amazon rainforest may be showing the first signs of large-scale degradation due to climate change. A team of scientists led by the agency found that an area twice the size of California continues to suffer from a mega-drought that began eight years ago.” Read more
BP CEO: peak oil theories “increasingly groundless.”
January 16, 2013 Oil
Guardian: “Bob Dudley’s remarks came as the company published a study predicting oil production will increase substantially, and that unconventional and high-carbon oil will make up all of the increase in global oil supply to the end of this decade, with the explosive growth of shale oil in the US behind much of the growth.” Read more
BP: all net growth in global oil supply to 2020 will be unconventional oil.
FT: “Surging production of unconventional oil will provide all the net growth in global oil supply to 2020, as the boom in “tight oil” ramps up and biofuels take off, according to BP.” Read more
2012 in top ten warmest-ever years. Each 21st century year in top 14.
January 16, 2013 Climate
US National Climate Assessment paints a grim picture of the future.
January 15, 2013 Climate
Guardian: “Future generations of Americans can expect to spend 25 days a year sweltering in temperatures above 100F (38C), with climate change on course to turn the country into a hotter, drier, and more disaster-prone place.” Read more
Saudi Arabia cuts production to reflect new pattern of global demand.
January 15, 2013 Oil
FT: “The production cut of November and December, which has lowered the country’s crude oil output to 9m barrels a day, down from 9.7m b/d in October, appears to respond to lower seasonal demand – yes, oil consumption no longer explodes during the northern hemisphere winter, but rather over the spring and summer.” Read more
Its renewables or catastrophe very soon, Francois Hollande says.
January 15, 2013 Clean Energy, Climate
Guardian: “If we don’t act, if we don’t do anything, if we don’t invest anything, we can be sure that we will have a catastrophe very soon. We have to have confidence to invest in the new energy. We can act together to create this world of renewable energy.” Read more
“You can power the world this way”: a short film on Open Energy.
January 15, 2013 Change for Good, Clean Energy, Climate, Coal, Commentaries, Finance, Gas, Nuclear, Oil
A young film maker wanted to make a film on the democratisation of energy, and we decided to help him at Solarcentury. This film is what he came up with.
Australia suffers record wildfires in record heatwave.
January 14, 2013 Change for Good
Guardian: “Australia’s heatwave set a new high of almost 50C as authorities warned that large uncontrolled bushfires would continue to threaten areas in the south-east of the country.” Read more
SSE CEO doubts UK energy bill will keep the lights on.
Ian Marchant in the Guardian: “Some key questions already loom large as we get ready to deliberate the finer details. Firstly, will the government be able to deliver on all of the responsibilities it is taking on itself? Read more
New research tries to quantify crop losses as heatwaves proliferate.
January 13, 2013 Climate
Guardian: “The world’s food crisis, where 1 billion people are already going hungry and a further 2 billion people will be affected by 2050, is set to worsen as increasing heatwaves reverse the rising crop yields seen over the last 50 years, according to new research.” Read more
Record air pollution in Beijing 30 times safety limits.
January 13, 2013 Coal
Guardian: “The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre said levels of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter, had reached more than 600 micrograms per square metre in many areas, and Reuters said it may even have hit 900 – its worst-ever reading.” Read more
Tough regulation slows Arctic drilling to a glacial pace.
January 13, 2013 Oil
FT: Shell’s programme is riven with uncertainty in the aftermath of the grounding of its rig. Others are not drilling at all. Canada’s federal regulator, the National Energy Board, is requiring a Same Season Relief Well capability (the technique that finally stopped Macondo). The drilling season in the Beaufort Sea is as little as 100 days, and some wells require three summers. SSRW capability seems is proving a little difficult to prove.
Fukushima 50: ‘We felt like kamikaze pilots’.
January 11, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: “Yoshizawa and several Tepco colleagues decided they had no choice but to return to Fukushima Daiichi. As they left the crisis headquarters, firefighters, police officers, soldiers and nuclear officials lined up to salute them.” Read more
New Japanese government seeks to reverse nuclear phase out.
January 11, 2013 Nuclear
Guardian: “Almost two years after the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi power plant sent shockwaves around the world, Japan‘s government is attempting to resell the nuclear dream to a traumatised public.” Read more
China announces 49 GW of renewables in 2013. Solar stocks soar.
January 10, 2013 Clean Energy
REW: “Chinese solar stocks led the first advance in the benchmark index of U.S.-traded shares this week on prospects domestic demand for alternative energy will rise after the government increased capacity targets.” Read more
Solar Mosaic launches solar crowdfunding site. All on offer goes in 24 hours.
January 7, 2013 Clean Energy, Finance
Bloomberg: “Solar Mosaic which operates an online service that lets individuals fund solar projects, said investors can earn a 4.5 percent return on rooftop power plants, better than 10-year Treasuries that currently yield about 1.9 percent.” Read more
70 US NGOs urge Obama to deliver on climate change in second term.
Guardian: “More than 70 environmental groups called on Barack Obama to take the lead on climate change on Monday, urging him to shut down ageing power plants and block a controversial tar sands pipeline project.” Read more
Basle bank liquidity rules watered down after intense lobbying by banks.
January 6, 2013 Finance
FT: The first ever global liquidity standards will be less onerous than expected and not be fully enforced until 2019, four years later than expected. ” Read more
As US solar rooftop installations soar, Solarcity expects 60% growth in 2013.
January 4, 2013 Clean Energy, Finance
Recharge: SolarCity says it installed 156MW across the residential and commercial rooftop segments in 2012, slightly more than it originally intended. Yet to turn a profit, “the company put up 72MW in 2011. Read more