Leading Light Energy

an energy blog by Terry M. Jarrett

Category Archives: Energy

U.S. Must Learn from Europe’s Energy Crisis

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Thanks to The Trentonian (N.J.), Pottstown Mercury (Pa.), Exton Daily Local (Pa.), Swarthmore Times Herald (Pa.), Lansdale Reporter (Pa.), Delaware County Daily Times (Pa.) and Mainline Times and Suburban (Pa.) for carrying my op-ed asserting if the U.S. is to maintain affordable, reliable power during the coming energy transition, policymakers must be careful not to eliminate essential coal and nuclear power capacity before reliable alternatives are in place.

Manhattan Contrarian: Biden Administration Working To Undermine America

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Over at the Manhattan Contrarian, Francis Menton has posted a thoughtful piece on the Biden Administration’s explicit goal of undermining American energy production. Here’s an excerpt:

Let’s just make a small list of key actions in furtherance of those goals:

These are just examples of an overall hostility to fossil fuel energy development, specifically intended to have the effect of making energy projects more difficult and more expensive to develop. And so far, the government’s actions are rapidly accomplishing their intended goals:

Are the California and Texas blackouts coming to your state?

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Thanks to the Fort Myers News-Press and the Naples Daily News for carrying my new op-ed on the real risk of increasing blackouts if we transition to intermittent forms of energy too quickly. We need power markets that value baseload generation (coal, nuclear, natural gas) that can reliably produce energy 24/7 and will be there when we need them.

With Its Power Grid On The Verge Of Failure, California Begs Residents To Change Their EV Charging Routines

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Over at ZeroHedge, Tyler Durden reports that California’s plans to become an environmental and socialist utopia are running face first into reality.

The latest dose of reality came this week when the state, facing triple digit temperatures, began to “fret” about pressure on the state’s power grid as a result of everybody charging their electric vehicles all at once.

The state’s power grid operators have been telling residents to “relieve pressure” from the grid by charging their EVs at off-peak hours, Newsweek wrote.

The entire article is a great read!

Manhattan Contrarian: The Future of Energy: One of These is not Real

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Over at the Manhattan Contrarian, Francis Menton penned a great article entitled, “The Future Of Energy: One Of These Things Is Not Real.” Mr. Menton points out the difference between fantasy and reality when it comes to the future of energy. One of the follies is that the use of coal will end soon. An excerpt:

What then is happening in the reality on the ground? In a post just a couple of days ago, I took note of a gigantic new Arctic oil project just getting underway from the Russians. So that’s one thing. How about coal. Yes, plenty of that is also getting developed right now, and by private money and outside the U.S., so there is little or nothing that the Biden Administration or environmental litigants can do to stop it. The Times of India has a piece from June 5 with the headline “India, Australia, China, Russia pushing ‘massive’ coal expansion.” Excerpt:

Coal producers are actively pursuing 2.2 billion tonnes per annum of new mine projects around the world, a growth of 30 per cent from current production levels, a new report from Global Energy Monitor said on Thursday. The first-of-its-kind analysis surveyed 432 proposed coal projects globally and found a handful of provinces and states in China, Russia, India, and Australia are responsible for 77 per cent (1.7 billion tonnes per annum) of new mine activity.

He also discusses the folly of offshore wind for the U.S. The entire article is well worth the read.

September 8 News Round Up

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In the news today and from the weekend…

Climate:

  • Reuters reports that according to an analysis by a media company, the U.S. power industry would likely be unable to meet Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s mandate of carbon-free power by 2035 without some major developments in renewables and other technologies, such as battery storage, carbon capture and advanced nuclear power. In a survey of many of the country’s largest power producers, most reported that these technologies are either not yet commercially viable or are too costly to deploy.

Mining:

  • Mining.com reports an international team of researchers has discovered that carbon dioxide plays a crucial role in making metals used in green technologies accessible for mining.
  • Axios reports the world’s transition to renewable energy and electric vehicles will require unprecedented amounts of copper from potentially new mining operations that may harm vulnerable species and ecosystems.
  • E&E Energywire reports following the template of other fossil fuel-producing states, the Utah Legislature took steps last month that aim to help oil, gas and mining operations weather the economic downturn caused by COVID-19.

Technology:

  • Associated Press reports Wyoming’s governor is promoting a Trump administration study that says capturing carbon dioxide emitted by coal-fired power plants would be an economical way to curtail the pollution — findings questioned by a utility that owns the plants and wants to shift away from the fossil fuel in favor of wind and solar energy.

Energy:

  • Inside Climate News reports Exelon wants a subsidy to keep two nuclear plants running, reigniting a longstanding—and acrimonious—debate.
  • Argus reports the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) expects to have enough capacity to meet peak demand this autumn and winter.
  • Argus reports US utility Dominion Energy South Carolina issued a solicitation for coal for deliveries beginning next year.
  • The Wall Street Journal reports coal is becoming competitive with natural gas again due to higher natural gas prices.
  • Reuters reports the California Independent System Operator (ISO) declared a “Stage 2” power emergency late on Saturday, warning that rotating power outages were possible amid a record heat wave.

FERC:

  • E&E Energywire reports the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved late Friday to block proposed market changes by New York’s grid operator aimed at better aligning with the state’s clean energy goals.

NEPA:

  • E&E Energywire reports a federal judge last week told government attorneys to stay in “political reality” during arguments over whether conservation groups will be irreparably harmed once new implementing rules for a bedrock environmental statute go into effect.

U.S. power industry may ask key employees to live at work if coronavirus worsens

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Reuters reports the U.S. electric industry may request that essential staff members live on-site at their facilities if the coronavirus pandemic worsens, according to industry trade groups and electric cooperatives. Staff at power plants and control centers have been stockpiling beds, blankets and food  in preparation for the potential plan.

Exxon Wins New York Climate Change Fraud Case

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Over at Real Clear Energy, Jude Clemente has this post discussing the decision in the court case that ExxonMobil did not deceive or mislead investors over climate change impacts. There, the New York Attorney General had sued the oil and gas giant, alleging the company had misled investors over the true cost of climate change.

“The Office of the Attorney General failed to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that ExxonMobil made any material misstatements or omissions about its practices and procedures that misled any reasonable investor,” Judge Barry Ostrager of the trial-level state Supreme Court wrote in his ruling.

“The office of the Attorney General produced no testimony from any investor who claimed to have been misled by any disclosure, even though the Office of the Attorney General had previously represented it would call such individuals as trial witnesses,” he added.

 

One of Clemente’s themes is that all of these climate change cases are frivolous and a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars. Agreed. But even more importantly, he reminds us just how important oil and gas are to us:

The hollowness of these climate cases is really as obvious as it seems. ExxonMobil and the other producers aren’t the oil and gas users: we are. Oil, for instance, is literally the basis of globalization, the sine qua non of our increasingly connected world. Oil and its petrochemicals are ingrained in basically everything that we do, the foundation of over 6,000 products that we use everyday. Most ironically, oil is an essential component of the manufacturing processes to create, transport, and install renewable energy systems.
He goes on to back this up with the facts:

Gas will supply 40% of U.S. electricity this year, up from 20% a decade ago. And not just the backup for intermittent wind and solar power, gas is expected to easily add the most new generation in the years ahead. “10 ‘Reality Check’ Problems That Must Be Addressed By Opponents Of Coal, Oil And Natural Gas.” As a cleaner fuel with less CO2 and criteria emissions, our shift to gas is specifically cited by the International Energy Agency as the reason why the U.S. is lowering emissions faster than any other nation ever – “in the history of energy.”

Our love affair with their indispensable products will continue to give oil and gas companies the ultimate “social license to operate:”

  • Every day, Americans use 410 million gallons of oil-based gasoline
  • Every day, Americans use 170 million gallons of oil-based diesel fuel
  • Every day, Americans use 75 million gallons of oil-based jet fuel
  • Every day, Americans use 90 billion cubic feet of natural gas

Looking forward, the U.S. Department of Energy couldn’t be clearer: oil and gas will still supply the bulk of all U.S. energy supply through 2050 – as far out as it currently models. Further, just looking through the 2020s, the International Energy Agency has the U.S. accounting for 85% of new oil and 35% of new gas globally. Already the largest oil and gas producer, we are set to become the largest exporter of these essential fuels within a few years. Those seeking expansionism and oil and gas hegemony know this of course, and they are doing all that they can to derail the age of U.S. Energy Dominance: “Intelligence: Putin is Funding the Anti-Fracking Campaign.”

Indeed, those seeking to damage the U.S. oil and gas industry with frivolous lawsuits aren’t just hurting Americans they’re doing the bidding of our adversaries.

It’s a great read.