Subsea Power Cables: The Future of Global Energy Transport (28 December 2023): By Felicity Bradstock - As countries worldwide develop their renewable energy capacity, governments are exploring innovative ways to transport electricity across borders to promote energy sharing. One way that’s becoming increasingly popular is the undersea cable, which is used to transport electricity under the sea from one country or region to another. There are several large-scale projects already underway in Europe and we can expect this technology to soon extend to other parts of the world, supporting a global green transition. Recent estimates suggest that the submarine power cable market size could surpass $32.86 billion by 2032and grow at a CAGR of 8.5%, having previously been valued at $14.6 billion in 2022. The demand for undersea power cables has increased significantly in recent years as governments and private companies look for ways to reliably and efficiently transmit power across long distances. Many are connected to offshore wind farms, island power systems and across borders, and the market is expected to grow substantially more, based on the massive global renewable energy pipeline. The growth of the offshore wind sector will support sectoral growth, while governments are increasingly in favour of cross-border power sharing to accelerate the green transition. ... (Source: Oil Price)
British Wind Power Breaks Records Despite Tough Economic Year (27 Decembwe 2023): By City A.M - The UK’s march towards a greener future was dealt several blows over the last year, but ended with the return of optimism as 2023 came to an end. Despite a failed offshore wind auction in the summer, two of the biggest developers in the North Sea in December produced some good news. It was also a year when the UK’s two biggest oil and gas companies started to appear less enamoured with the shift to carbon neutrality which they both pledged in 2020. But in among the doom and gloom, the country hit several new milestones. The year had not even begun when Great Britain broke its clean energy record. On December 30 2022, zero-carbon sources provided more than 87% of the electricity used in Britain. By the spring the country passed another milestone, having produced one trillion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity from renewable sources. That would be enough to power every UK home for around 12 years. ... (Source: Oil Price)
How Accurate Were 2023 Energy Predictions? (26 December 2023): By Robert Rapier - At the beginning of each year, I make several predictions about the energy sector. You can see those predictions and read the context in Energy Sector Predictions For 2023. There are still a few days left in 2023, but there is enough available information to gauge the accuracy of these predictions. As always, I provided predictions that were specific and measurable. Following each of the five predictions below, I discuss what actually happened in 2023 and conclude whether the prediction was right or wrong. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate on December 19, 2023 was $73.44 per barrel (bbl). That’s not far from where we started the year ($76.87/bbl). There was volatility during the year, but nothing like we saw in 2022. The average price of WTI for the year (through December 19, 2022) was $77.83/bbl, which was a bit less than I expected. Prices rose as high as $93.67, and WTI spent most of August through October above $80. The low price for 2023 was $66.61. ... (Source: Oil Price)
The Rise of 3D Printing in the Energy Industry (25 December 2023): By Felicity Bradstock - Several new technologies are lending themselves to the improvement of the energy industry, from machine learning to artificial intelligence (AI). One such technology is 3D printing, which is allowing companies across several energy sectors to quickly print vital components to improve efficiency and cut delivery costs and times. The technology is expected to drive forward both oil and gas operations, as well as renewable energy activities and nuclear power, as more companies adopt the 3D printing equipment. ConocoPhillips has been drilling for oil in Alaska for over half a century. The harsh, cold conditions make operations particularly complicated, with difficulties in accessing supply chains and the need for regular maintenance work on equipment. Until recently, this is something the oil major had to contend with through traditional avenues. But thanks to greater modernization and digitalization, ConocoPhillips can now respond to challenges more quickly and efficiently. Alaska’s North Slope, which lies close to the Arctic Ocean, is one of ConocoPhillips’s three major development programs in Alaska. Despite its difficult conditions, it is highly lucrative for the company. ... (Source: Oil Price)
OPEC Influence Wavers as U.S. Shale Roars Back (21 December 2023): By Irina Slav - In April this year, OPEC surprised oil markets by announcing additional production cuts in a bid to stimulate prices to go higher. Prices did go higher. There was nothing to stop them. U.S. drillers were busy returning cash to shareholders, supply growth was sluggish everywhere, and demand looked robust. Fast forward to December, and the 1-million-bpd growth in U.S. oil production is the talk of the town, OPEC is running out of options, and the oil market is more unpredictable than ever. It appears that along with the latest Middle Eastern war, the expansion in U.S. oil production was the surprise of the year. Back in April, analysts were confident that U.S. shale drillers would remain focused on shareholder returns and capital discipline and would not dare think about production growth too much. ... (Source: Oil Price)
The Big Problem With Electrifying Everything (20 December 2023): By Leonard Hyman & William Tilles - The UN-sponsored COP28 climate conference has issued a number of proposals for reducing CO2 emissions, some criticized as too weak, others as too radical. But looking at energy data what struck us is the enormity of that task of reducing carbon emissions and how little has actually changed over the past fifty years with respect to fossil fuel usage (the data we’re looking at begins in 1965), even though the first warnings about fossil fuel emissions date to Lyndon Johnson’s administration in the 1960s. Starting in 1965, fossil fuel usage (oil, coal, and gas) accounted for about 90% of global electricity production. The remaining 10% being mostly hydro and a small amount of first-generation nuclear. By 2023 fossil fuels still produced about 80% of total electricity consumed. But over that extended period, nuclear grew and then stalled followed by more recent growth in wind and solar. The result is an incremental 10% or so displacement of global fossil fuel usage in electricity production over the past 50+ years. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Smart Roof Tiles Offer Big Energy Savings (19 December 2023): By Brian Westenhaus - University of California – Santa Barbara researchers presented an adaptive tile, which when deployed in arrays on roofs, can lower heating bills in winter and cooling bills in summer, without the need for electronics. It’s a problem UC Santa Barbara researchers Charlie Xiao, Elliot Hawkes and Bolin Liao are hoping to dent. In a paper in the journal Device, the trio presented their new adaptive tile. About half of an average American building’s energy consumption is spent on heating and cooling. That’s a lot of money spent, fossil fuel burned and strain on an aging energy infrastructure during times of severe temperatures. “It switches between a heating state and a cooling state, depending on the temperature of the tile,” said Xiao, the lead author of the study. “The target temperature is about 65° F – about 18° C.” ... (Source: Oil Price)
U.S. Nuclear Sector Set for Major Transformation (18 December 2023): By ZeroHedge - The silver lining of this month’s United Nations COP28 global warming conference is the growing consensus that nuclear energy is critical to meeting national carbon dioxide reduction goals. Denying the world access to clean, affordable fuels like gas, oil, and coal is a real problem. But recognizing that nuclear energy must play a pivotal role in our energy future is a major step forward—one that should enjoy widespread support, regardless of one’s views on CO2 reductions. But to go big on nuclear requires thinking big on nuclear energy policy, and that means questioning the subsidize-first mentality that has defined U.S. energy policy for decades. The goal should not be to build a few nuclear power plants. Rather, we should strive to create an economically sustainable, competitive, innovative and uniquely American nuclear industry. ... (Source: Oil Price)
BRICS in the Land of Energy Transition (17 December 2023): By Irina Slav - At the last meeting of OPEC+, Brazil joined OPEC as its newest member. The move was not previously advertised and may have surprised some, especially after in the summer, President Lula da Silva announced a “most ambitious” energy transition package. At COP28, OPEC took intense heat for opposing language that would spell out the end of its members’ oil industries. Saudi Arabia was specifically singled out as the villain even as it earmarks billions of dollars for transition projects and was recently reported to have raised $8.5 billion in green bond proceeds. This week, right after COP28 ended, Russia’s deputy economy minister said the country would seek to unite BRICS under the banner of the energy transition. This is the same BRICS, now extended, that overlaps increasingly with OPEC. Russia will chair the BRICS alliance next year, during which it will have the task “to combine efforts and common approaches in the Eurasian space and in the BRICS space,” Ilya Torosov told Bloomberg in an interview. ... (Source: Oil Price)
New Catalyst and Solar Process Produces Low Cost Hydrogen (14 December 2023): By Brian Westenhaus - A study developed jointly by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) and the spin-off BeDimensional has identified a solution based on ruthenium particles and a solar-powered electrolytic system. Small ruthenium particles and a solar-powered system for water electrolysis can produce green hydrogen more efficiently and cheaply. The technology, developed in the context of the Joint-lab’s activities and recently published in two high-impact factor journals (Nature Communications and the Journal of the American Chemical Society) is based on a new family of electrocatalysts that could reduce the costs of green hydrogen production on an industrial scale. IIT and BeDimensional’s researchers used nanoparticles of ruthenium, a noble metal that is similar to platinum in its chemical behavior but far cheaper, to serve as the active phase of the electrolyser’s cathode, leading to an increased efficiency of the overall electrolyzer. ... (Source: Oil Price)
A Breakthrough In Tiny Batteries? (13 December 2023): By Brian Westenhaus - University of Freiburg researchers have developed a monolithically integrated photo battery using organic materials that is capable of powering miniature devices. The photo battery achieves an unprecedented high discharge potential of 3.6 volts. The team published the information about the technology in the journal Energy & Environmental Science. The monolithically integrated photo battery made of organic materials achieves a discharge potential of 3.6 volts. Image Credit: Robin Wessling. Click this link for access to the study paper that at posting is not behind a paywall. Networked intelligent devices and sensors can improve the energy efficiency of consumer products and buildings by monitoring their consumption in real time. Miniature devices like these being developed under the concept of the Internet of Things require energy sources that are as compact as possible in order to function autonomously. Monolithically integrated batteries that simultaneously generate, convert, and store energy in a single system could be used for this purpose. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Oil Traders Turn Bears Fast and Furiously (12 December 2023): By Irina Slav - Just a few months ago, oil prices were on the rise, talk on Analyst Street was about a deficit to manifest itself by the end of the year, and, as a result, even higher prices. Four months later, oil is depressed, and traders continue selling, worried about a looming glut, which OPEC+ is not doing enough to reduce. And that after the cartel announced cuts of 2.2 million barrels daily. It is an unusual situation, to say the least. It started with Chinese demand early in the year. Oil bulls watched China like hawks as the country emerged from the last pandemic lockdowns and the economy returned to business as usual. Also as usual, however, analysts had perhaps too high expectations about oil demand. And when these did not materialize, traders sold oil, and prices fell. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Another Major Milestone in the Race for Nuclear Fusion (11 December 2023): By Felicity Bradstock - In the latest step to advance nuclear fusion technology, the world’s biggest reactor has just opened for business in Japan. This follows a huge influx in investment from the private sector, as companies and academic institutions around the globe race to achieve commercial-scale nuclear fusion. Things are looking more optimistic following a breakthrough last year and another in the summer, after decades of failed attempts. The technology is also gaining government backing, with the U.S. announcing a global nuclear fusion strategy at the COP28 climate summit in the UAE this month. Nuclear fusion is the reaction that takes place in the sun and other stars. It requires the merging of two light nuclei to form a single heavier nucleus. This process releases energy as the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei, with the leftover mass being released as energy. Fusion reactions take place in a plasma state — a hot, charged gas made of positive ions and free-moving electrons. Scientists first explored the potential for nuclear fusion in the 1930s, but it is not until recently that researchers have achieved breakthroughs in the field, bringing us closer to developing effective fusion technology. ... (Source: Oil Price)
China Launches World's First Fourth-Generation Nuclear Reactor (10 December 2023): By Tsvetana Paraskova - China has taken a step ahead of competitors in civil nuclear energy technology as it started up the world's first fourth-generation nuclear reactor this week. As many countries are starting to recognize that nuclear power generation will play an important role in the energy transition by providing additional net-zero electricity, the race for developing the latest generation of civil nuclear technology has begun. And this week, China gained an advantage in that race. The Shidaowan nuclear power plant, which features the world's first fourth-generation reactor, started commercial operations on December 6, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), one of the project's developers, said. "China's independently developed high-temperature gas-cooled reactor demonstrator commenced commercial operation," CNNC said in a statement. ... (Source: Oil Price)
New Supercrystals Set World Record for Solar Hydrogen Production (7 December 2023): By Brian Westenhaus - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München researchers have developed new high-performance nanostructures, a material that holds a new world record for green hydrogen production with sunlight. When Emiliano Cortés goes hunting for sunlight, he doesn’t use gigantic mirrors or solar farms. Quite the contrary, the professor of experimental physics and energy conversion at LMU dives into the nanocosmos. “Where the high-energy particles of sunlight meet atomic structures is where our research begins,” Cortés said. “We are working on material solutions to use solar energy more efficiently.” His findings have great potential as they enable novel solar cells and photocatalysts. ... (Source: Oil Price)
MIT Scientists Develop New Process To Convet CO2 into Fuel (6 December 2023): By Brian Westenhaus - Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers developed an efficient process that can convert carbon dioxide into formate. Formate is a nonflammable liquid or solid material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a fuel cell and generate electricity. The describing paper has been published in the journal Cell Press Physical Sciences. The search is on worldwide to find ways to extract carbon dioxide from the air or from power plant exhaust and then make it into something useful. One of the more promising ideas is to make it into a stable fuel that can replace fossil fuels in some applications. But most such conversion processes have had problems with low carbon efficiency, or they produce fuels that can be hard to handle, toxic, or flammable. Now, researchers at MIT and Harvard University have developed an efficient process that can convert carbon dioxide into formate, a liquid or solid material that can be used like hydrogen or methanol to power a fuel cell and generate electricity. Potassium or sodium formate, already produced at industrial scales and commonly used as a de-icer for roads and sidewalks, is nontoxic, nonflammable, easy to store and transport, and can remain stable in ordinary steel tanks to be used months, or even years, after its production. ... (Source: Oil Price)
New Technology May Reduce Battery Fires (5 December 2023): By Brian Westenhaus - University of Maryland researchers studying how lithium batteries fail have developed a new technology that could enable next-generation electric vehicles (EVs) and other devices that are less prone to battery fires while increasing energy storage. The innovative method described in a paper published in the journal Nature, suppresses the growth of lithium dendrites – damaging branch-like structures that develop inside the described “all-solid-state” lithium batteries, preventing firms from broadly commercializing the promising solid state technology. But this new design for a battery “interlayer,” led by Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Professor Chunsheng Wang, stops dendrite formation, and could open the door for production of viable all-solid-state batteries for EVs. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Rystad: Coal Usage and Emissions in the Global Power Sector to Peak in 2023 (4 December 2023): By Rystad Energy - Global coal-fired power generation is on track to peak in 2023 as new sources of renewable and low-carbon energy expand rapidly. Coal has dominated the global power sector for the past 30 years, but Rystad Energy modeling shows that 2024 will mark the start of the fuel’s decline as solar and wind generation grow in popularity. New electricity supply from renewables is expected to outstrip power demand growth, leading to coal’s displacement starting next year and compounding in the coming years. As a result, coal-fired generation will fall marginally to 10,332 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024, down 41 TWh from 2023. This is a relative drop in the ocean, but it’s a sign of things to come as renewables continue their growth trajectory. As coal’s share falls, so will the associated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Thanks to coal’s dominant role in powering the world, the power sector is the biggest contributor to global pollution – accounting for about 40% of all emissions. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Is the Global Energy Transition Simply Too Expensive? (2 December 2023): By Irina Slav - The energy transition has been estimated to cost more than $100 trillion by 2050. In fact, according to the calculations of the Energy Transitions Commission, a grouping of business leaders, it will cost $110 trillion. That would translate into $3.5 trillion annually and represent 1.3% of the projected global GDP for the period. As a percentage of GDP, the figure does not look particularly impressive or frightening—a Deloitte estimate pegs the transition cost at $5-7 trillion annually. There are many estimates of the transition cost and different outlooks for global GDP, but it is safe to say that when we talk about the transition, we are talking about trillions that need to be spent every year. And it seems that many investors and most regular consumers are unwilling to shoulder the burden. ... (Source: Oil Price)