Energy

King Coal is dying in China and the USA

While coal might still be the first source of energy for electricity generation in the world, the tides may be turning in two of its largest markets, the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America. Several facts are pointing to that conclusion.While China consumes now as much of the black dirty stuff […]

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Big Oil is getting smaller

According to PeakOil.com, the seven largest oil companies of the Western world — ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Total, ConocoPhillips and Eni —have seen their oil output decline by 12.4 percent between 2009 and 2013. According to the IEA, if total world oil supply has risen from 85.66 million barrels per day in 2009 to 91.53

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Chinese coal consumption is slowing

This could be world-changing news. According to Xinhua, the Chinese State media agency : ” China’s coal consumption growth slowed in 2013, with the price of coal declining, according to the China National Coal Association “ Several factors are explaining this : old inefficient coal-fired plants are being closed and replaced by more efficient ones,

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Fossil fuel subsidies are as high as ever

To Desmogblog : ” The exact worth of massive global fossil fuel subsidies is incredibly hard to figure. There’s no real consistency in the definitions of subsidies, or how they should be calculated. “ ” As a result, estimates of global subsidy support for fossil fuels vary widely. According to a new analysis by the Worldwatch

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Shell to keep from drilling the Arctic one more year

Here are good news, as according to Grist : ” The Arctic will be safe from drilling efforts by accident-prone Shell this year, and the oil company says it is reconsidering its very future in the region.” ” (…) The company announced on Thursday that it won’t pursue exploratory drilling in the Arctic this year,

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India’s guide to the energy transition

We have seen many times over that the world can be powered by renewable energy sources by 2050.  WWF India has released late last year a report showing how the world’s largest democracy could do the same. As RenewEconomy states, this report also stresses the vital importance of energy efficiency, which ” can bring in

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Wind energy was top energy source in Spain in 2013

Many European nations have seen a boom in their renewable energy sources in the past few years. Among them is Spain. Here is the introduction to an article on that topic I wrote for Cleantechies : ” 2013 was an excellent year for wind energy in Spain as this renewable energy source became the first

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Saving water and energy with a single invention

We have all experienced it : before having hot water at the faucet, cold water arrives. This could be something of the past thanks to a Spanish invention, AquaReturn, which enables its users to save both water and energy. AquaReturn recirculates the cold water around the pipes until the desired water temperature is reached. To

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Emissions in United States rebounded in 2013

This was a major setback for me last week, US greenhouse gases emissions related to energy rose two percent in 2013 compared to 2012. To the US EIA this is due to ” a small increase in coal consumption in the electric power sector. “ ” Coal has regained some market share from natural gas since a

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An efficient alternative to fluorescent tubes

Fluorescent tubes are everywhere : in offices and homes and of course, in supermarkets and factories. This ubiquitous lights are used in a staggering amount of 12 billion sockets to Philips. The company has developed an alternative based on LED technology : the InstantFit LED lamp. Up to 40 percent more efficient than traditional T8

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