Friday night photo by 1sky.org
I’ve been to dozens of student conferences over the last decade, but nothing on this scale. Powershift 2009 has over 10,000 students and youth filling spaces throughout the huge Washington Convention Center. The energy for change is truly contagious and inspiring! Continue reading
Today’s weekly US Energy Information Agency (EIA) natural gas report showed that US storage fell only 101 billion cubic feet (bcf) (which is 30% below normal). This builds on the high inventory levels I talked about last week to an even higher level of Continue reading
US oil imports are falling quickly in 2009, since our demand is lower and our domestic production strong. Today’s US Energy Information Agency (EIA) weekly petroleum report showed crude oil imports down more than 10% from the same week in 2008, and production up around Continue reading
The US-based, thin-film solar company, First Solar, just became the first solar company to lower its costs per watt below $1. After starting out with typical costs ~$3 per watt back in 2004, the company has achieved economies of scale and other advances to lower their costs more than 67%. Their production capacity has expanded rapidly to more than Continue reading
Our friends in meteorology over in DC just posted an important update on climate change predictions via the Washington Post. MIT researchers have a roulette wheel that represents the probability that the Earth will get extremely hot by 2100. And unfortunately, their 2009 numbers are a lot worse than their 2002 findings. Continue reading
Once the biggest oil field in the hemisphere, production from Mexico’s Cantarell continues to decline at an astounding rate. This past January, output was down 38% (!) from January 2008. This collapse sent total Mexican crude oil production down by Continue reading
As I’ve said many times, the crucial role Russia played since the late 1990s as the main growth driver for non-OPEC oil production will be sorely missed. But the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) forecast three countries would step up in 2009 to reverse the 2008 fall in production: the US, Brazil, and Azerbaijan. Now one of these countries says their 2009 output will be flat. Continue reading
The weekly reports on natural gas storage came out today, and they show industrial production’s nosedive having a huge effect. Natural gas storage shot up compared to the historical average from only 1.2% above average last week to Continue reading
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 Continue reading
When elected officials do the wrong, they need to hear from their constituents. And the same is true when they do something right. That’s why our allies at 1Sky.org are making it easy for everyone to thank the President and the 306 members of Congress who supported Continue reading