This story about a potential breakthrough in fusion power does sound very exciting. And obviously it would be a huge benefit to the world if the technology could be made to work and deployed at scale. But... (1/x)

https://twitter.com/thomas_m_wilson/status/1602011888652632064

It does feel as though we have been here before. The BBC reported back in 2013 that "during an experiment in late September, the amount of energy released through the fusion reaction exceeded the amount of energy being absorbed by the fuel". (2/x) bbc.com/news/science-e…

Seeing Kwasi Kwarteng back in the news talking about his role in Liz Truss’s tumultuous 44-day government has reminded me to post about his book Ghosts of Empire, which I really enjoyed. From an energy perspective, Part 1 on Britain and Iraq from WW1 to Saddam is fascinating The book sets out how during WW1 British policymakers came to appreciate the vital strategic importance of oil, and saw Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Persia (Iran) as the places where they could secure supplies. This was the discussion in the British cabinet in the summer of 1918. (2/x)

It's significant to hear @SenatorRomney being so strong on the need for US production of the minerals that are critical for the transition to low-carbon energy. Utah is one of the key states in the US for lithium reserves, along with Nevada, Arizona and California

https://twitter.com/SenatorRomney/status/1601279117252386816

.@SenatorRomney: "We're the largest producer of fossil fuel in the world - of oil and gas - by far. We're number one. We are now going to go to a world where China dominates in the energy world. China is going to be, if you will, a one-member nation of its own OPEC..." (1/2

The UK government's decision to approve the country's first new deep coal mine for 30 years has provoked an amazing amount of misunderstanding and misinformation. (1/x) itv.com/news/border/20… On the one hand, you have people saying: "This is a catastrophe, the UK is betraying its climate commitments." And on the other, people saying: "This shows the energy transition isn't happening: we need coal to keep the lights on." Both are wrong. (2/x)

Corporate purchases of #solar power are playing an increasingly significant role in the growth of the industry in the US. About 18% of utility-scale solar in operation today was driven by corporate procurement, @WoodMackenzie data show... ...while for capacity contracted for 2022-25, that proportion rises to 27%. Tech companies and retailers have been in the lead, but they are clearing a path that many other companies are now following. For more, check out the latest Energy Pulse: woodmac.com/news/opinion/u…

As the load on the Texas grid rises, the rapid growth of Bitcoin mining is coming under scrutiny. Mining accounts for ~1.5GW of load today, but is expected to add another 5-6GW in the next year or so. Can that help manage wind and solar power on the grid? woodmac.com/news/opinion/b… Having spent a lot of time talking to people and thinking about Bitcoin and renewables, I think where I have landed is this: the real question are all about Bitcoin, and energy is mostly a secondary issue (1/n)

The Indian Point nuclear plant shut down for good today. It underlines the challenge facing President Biden's goal of 100% zero-carbon power by 2035. Plus: the Senate votes to reinstate methane rules; OPEC+ decides the market can take more oil, and more: woodmac.com/news/opinion/U… Includes this chart showing European oil companies' ambitions in renewables. If they achieve their goals, they will be up there with some of the big power companies in terms of wind and solar capacity

Amid all the showbiz of the climate summit, I think the most important remarks this week have come from John Kerry, President Biden's special envoy. More than anything else we heard, they give a sense of the administration's approach to climate policy. (1/x) Yesterday Kerry was asked the very reasonable question: How do you intend to achieve the US NDC? The NDC document filed with the UNFCCC does not give much of an indication. (2/x) www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstagi…

If you want to understand what has been happening in world oil markets over the past six years, this paper from @HansWernerSinn is essential reading. (HT @BayouTerrier, who was tweeting about Sinn and "the green policy paradox" earlier today.) ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_… The argument is essentially a variation on the well-known Jevons paradox: if technology or policy increase the efficiency of using a resource, then consumption of that resource can actually increase

It's Saturday, so it's time for another oil history thread. This week: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, the great Persian scientist, doctor and alchemist, who lived between 865 and 925 CE and was the first person to write about refining oil Al-Razi was an amazing man. He was the first person to write a detailed identification of smallpox and measles, and wrote the first ever book on pediatric medicine. The US National Library of Medicine has a good article on his work here: nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/isl…

Many people talk about the geopolitics of oil, but not enough about the critical role oil played in the politics of the Middle East 1,300 years ago. Oil was a key ingredient of Greek Fire, which enabled Byzantium to hold out against the Arab Conquests in the 7th & 8th centuries Sieges of Constantinople in 669 and 718 were pushed back when Byzantine ships used Greek Fire against the Arab fleets, to devastating effect

What will the 2020 elections mean for energy? Wood Mackenzie analysts have been assessing the implications for everything from offshore oil to EV sales. We've published a summary of their top ten conclusions: woodmac.com/news/opinion/w… Point 1: Although most of the coverage of Joe Biden has focused on what he has been saying about the oil industry, his platform is actually much less radical for oil and gas than it is for power

BP's new Energy Outlook was as rigorous and thought-provoking as ever, and full of fascinating points. It is a must-read for anyone interested in energy and climate. But there was one point that puzzled me... (1/n)
bp.com/en/global/corp… The line that mostly grabbed the headlines was that even in the "business as usual" scenario, world oil demand has essentially hit a plateau. There is very modest growth in the next few years, and a clear decline from 2030. (2/n)

Ten years ago, the risk of stranded assets in the oil industry was barely mentioned. Today Total is raising it in its official announcement of an $8bn asset writedown. total.com/media/news/sho… The only assets Total has identified as at risk of being stranded are its holdings in the Canadian oil sands, which have "reserves beyond 20 years and high production costs". Still, its move is sign of how what was a fringe idea not so long ago has now moved into the mainstream

Several news organisations have been reporting that one of the reasons why Russia has not agreed to cooperate with OPEC on production cuts is to hurt the US shale industry and the wider US economy. If true, it does not seem like a very coherent strategy. (1/n) The analysis that has had the biggest impact on how we think about the impact of oil prices on the US economy today is this Brookings paper from the autumn of 2016, by Christiane Baumeister and Lutz Kilian. (2/n) brookings.edu/bpea-articles/…

At the @EnergyDisruptor conference in Calgary yesterday, I talked about the companies that are being disrupted: the big international oil groups, among others. When you pull it all together, it is striking how active the European IOCs have been in exploring new energy businesses ...and although the amounts they are spending are still relatively small compared to their investments in oil and gas, they are not trivial. In the past three years, Total spent 25% of its upstream M&A budget on new energies, and Eni 10%. Shell’s % was lower, but is ramping up

US coal exports boomed from mid-2016, but have been falling back in the past year In a sign of the continuing pressure on the US coal industry, West Virginia-based Revelation Energy and its affiliate, Blackjewel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday wfpl.org/major-appalach…

Exxon and Chevron are rushing into the Permian Basin just as concerns are growing about the economic and technical challenges there. They both think they have solutions, but are they right? ft.com/content/ea0830… (1/n) Both Exxon and Chevron have added billions of barrels to their estimated resource base in the Permian over the past couple of years. (2/n)

President Obama's Clean Power Plan was expected to lead to a steep fall in US coal production. Now the plan has been blocked, and coal production is expected to fall even faster than if it had come into effect: ft.com/content/5c31c4… Take a look at this. The pale blue line is the @EIAgov projection in 2017 for US coal production if the Clean Power Plan were scrapped. The red line is the 2017 projection if it had taken effect. The dark blue is the 2019 projection, with no CPP. It's even lower than the red line

A lot to unpack here

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1065225779825598465

1) I don't quite recognise the numbers: possibly a mix-up between Brent and WTI. But it is true that crude prices have fallen very sharply since the beginning of October. Brent peaked at over $85 last month, and was below $64 just now

Methane leakage from the US oil and gas industry is 60% higher than the EPA has estimated, according to a compilation of recent studies coordinated by the Environmental Defense Fund: ft.com/content/2cce79… via @financialtimes Reactions to this study have split along predictable lines. The API: This shows that methane emissions are low - 2.3% of gas production - and supports role of coal to gas switching to cut CO2 emissions