Attack on North Carolina substation spotlights electric grid’s vulnerability — again
Around 40,000 electricity users in Moore County, N.C., were without power after a Saturday night attack on two power substations. Although few details were available, news reports said evidence at the scene “indicated that a firearm had been used to disable the equipment.”
Siemens Power CEO Confirms the Iron Law of Power Density
Last month, the CEO of Siemens Energy, Christian Bruch, appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” to talk about the myriad problems facing the wind industry. And during his appearance, he confirmed the Iron Law of Power Density.
Revisiting My 2007 Interview With Jesse Ausubel: ‘I Don’t Think Energy Policy Matters Much Over The Long Run’
Last Friday, Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal, published an article, headlined “’Climate Reparations’ Are a New Name for Foreign Aid.” The piece includes quotes from an interview I did with Rockefeller University’s Jesse Ausubel back in 2007 when I was writing for the now-defunct Energy Tribune. Jenkins cited Ausubel from that 15-year-old interview thusly: “I do not think energy policy matters much over the long run…
Scuttled Offshore Wind Plans Are Good News For Ratepayers, North Atlantic Right Whales
The hype about offshore wind energy keeps getting scuttled by reality. That’s the clear conclusion from last month’s announcement that Spanish utility company, Avangrid, was halting work on the proposed 1,200-megawatt Commonwealth Wind project because it was “no longer viable.” The company also announced it was delaying the start of another offshore project, the 800-megawatt Park City Wind project.
Not Beyond Coal: Despite Latest IEA Report, China and India Are Building More Coal Plants
On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency released a report on coal which it touts as being “the most comprehensive analysis to date” as to what would be required to “bring down global coal emissions rapidly enough to meet international climate goals.” In a press release, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said “a major unresolved problem is how to deal with the massive amount of existing coal assets worldwide.”
Voters Veto Big Wind In Ohio and Michigan: Rejections Now Total 375 Since 2015
The hype about renewable energy keeps colliding with motivated opposition in rural America. That fact was made clear again on Tuesday when several rural communities in Ohio and Michigan voted overwhelmingly to reject proposed wind and solar projects.
Just Stop Oil? If Oil Didn’t Exist, We’d Have to Invent It
Watching the recent desecration of some of Europe’s most famous paintings by vandals affiliated with the group Just Stop Oil has been both horrifying and perplexing.
Rishi Sunak’s anti-fracking gift to Vladimir Putin
Napoleon is credited with saying “never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.” That line comes to mind after last week’s decision by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reimpose a ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
The Iron Law Of Electricity Strikes Again: Germany Re-Opens Five Lignite-Fired Power Plants
Last week, numerous media outlets reported that Germany will extend the lives of three of its nuclear power plants. The move to keep the reactors online, which was opposed by the country’s Green Party, showed that German politicians are recognizing the need to keep reliable generation plants online to assure the country has enough electricity this winter.
Joe Toomey’s Searing Indictment of President Biden’s Energy Policies
With the midterm elections just two weeks away, it seems almost too easy to pick on President Joe Biden. His approval ratings are bad (about 38% of those polled approve of his job performance) and candidates from his own party are staying away from him.
Hyping the Energy Transition
Consumption of fossil fuels is growing faster than ever.
A Q&A With Jesse Jenkins of the REPEAT Project
Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor at Princeton University, has gained a lot of media attention in recent years for his models that promote large-scale deployment of renewable energy.
Manchin’s infrastructure bill includes federal power grab for high-voltage transmission
Last month, the wind and solar sectors got a massive boost when President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law. That measure gives tens of billions of dollars in new tax credits to the companies that build wind and solar projects.
After Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico Should Go Nuclear
Hurricane Fiona delivered another punishing blow to Puerto Rico this week. By Friday morning, more than 900,000 Puertoriqueños did not have electricity and hundreds of thousands didn’t have water.