All Energy Voices

Is the global push for renewables in vain if China lags behind? A new report on global emissions suggests as much, but hope for a clean-energy future is not all lost. Many see last week's US-China agreement on curbing hydrofluorocarbons as a step in the right direction.

We are in a far better position now to consider scaling back our use of ethanol produced from grain biofuel than we were when the EPA biofuel rule was established, Styles writes. With shale gas, tight oil and various renewables, the energy scarcity that has defined our policies for the last four decades is far less relevant to our policy choices going forward.

Coal India, the largest coal mining company in the world will invest in the installation of solar PV panels in an attempt to reduce energy bills and cut costs, according to OilPrice.com. The company will build a 2 megawatt solar plant which will have the potential to be scaled up to supply excess electricity to the grid.

There is nothing particularly 'mad' about the role of advertising in society, Cobb writes, and it should really be looked upon as the logical conclusion of the long process of rationalizing modern economic life – a type of economic life which arose simultaneously with the widespread use of fossil fuels.

Nations across the world continue to grapple with how to address climate change, and there have been some tough lessons learned since the Kyoto Protocol, first adopted in 1997. David Shorr, a program officer at the Stanley Foundation, talks about the future of climate treaties in an interview with OilPrice.com.

Gas prices in Indiana skyrocketed well above the national average this week. The sudden, localized surge of gas prices was the result of a "perfect storm of refinery outages."

Natural gas consumers in Asia are pushing to break the longstanding linkage between the price of oil and and the price of natural gas. Japan is pushing for a futures market for liquefied natural gas, Schaefer writes, and the potential Canadian supply could be the first to get priced this way.

Current energy trends could threaten the Western way of life by 2040 when oil prices could reach as high as $500 a barrel, according to a recent report from the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The continued rise of China and South Asian economies will increase the cost and reduce the availability of energy supplies.

The EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard program has attracted controversy for driving up food prices and the cost of gasoline. Republican lawmakers lambasted the EPA's fuel standard in a hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday, but supporters say the standard is flexible and an important part of a transition to alternative fuels.

Developing competitive, high-performance, clean-energy technologies is not unlike a group of people mowing an Earth-sized, overgrown lawn, Stepp writes. It is a problem we’re trying to collectively address and we’re implementing a coordinated set of policy solutions to do so.

America's first offshore wind lease sale will take place in July, the Interior Department announced Tuesday. It's good news for the US wind industry, which is hoping to expand beyond land-based production.

The debate over shipping oil via pipelines versus rail hinges on access, price and reliability, Graeber writes. For now, it seems trains are winning the race, but what happens long-term with more pipeline access remains to be seen.

China is developing its oil infrastructure in Myanmar as the country develops as a viable investment opportunity, Graeber writes. But transparency issues and religious strife make Myanmar a difficult place to look for sources of energy.

The Nissan Leaf pulled ahead of the Chevy Volt in this year's race for best-selling electric car. Electric cars held their own in an overall solid month for the auto industry. 

A new report outlines business challenges and policy challenges thwarting the growth of the advanced energy sector, in order to identify policy improvements that could overcome these challenges.

Our energy mix and the forces that drive it have long been in a state of flux, Styles writes. An 'all-of-the-above' energy policy should start with what we have now, recognize the inertia of existing fleets and infrastructure, and evolve as costs shift and our emphasis on environmental consequences grows.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will acquire NV Energy – the company that keeps the lights on in much of Nevada. NV Energy is a relatively safe bet on renewables in a state that's seen some hard times.

Apple's hiring of former EPA head Lisa Jackson comes as Apple and other high-tech firms try to 'green' their energy-intensive operations. Silicon Valley has been a target of criticism in recent years for electricity-draining data centers and pollutants in electronics.

Exxon Mobil invested $100 million on algae biofuels only to find that it couldn’t achieve commercial viability, Alic writes. The company had hoped to exploit algae as a source of oil that could be converted in existing refineries into transportation fuels on a commercially viable scale. 

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) of California charges that Southern California Edison intentionally misled regulators in order to avoid an extensive safety review of upgrades to its San Onofre nuclear plant. Senator Boxer has called on the Justice Department to investigate.