Tom Dotan and Asa Fitch of The Wall Street Journal tell their readers why the AI industry’s thirst for new data centers can’t be satisfied. They write: The frenzy to build data centers to serve the exploding demand for artificial intelligence is causing a shortage of the parts, property and power that the sprawling warehouses of supercomputers require. The lead time to get custom cooling systems is five times longer than a few years ago, data center executives say. Delivery times for backup generators have gone from as little as a month to as long as two years. [...] “The data-center … [Read more...]
South China Sea Disputes are Blocking Oil and Gas Development
Philip Heijmans of Bloomberg tells his readers that tensions are soaring, but Southeast Asian nations are struggling to push back on Beijing’s contested claims and the ability to tap the energy resources their growing economies need. He writes: This was supposed to be the year that Vietnam reaped the benefits from one of its largest natural gas discoveries. An estimated 150 billion cubic meters of the fuel, enough to power a city the size of Hanoi for decades, was discovered 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Vietnam’s central coast in 2011. If all had gone to plan, the “Blue Whale” project led … [Read more...]
US Shale Sheltering Oil Price Surges
Myles McCormick and Jamie Smyth of the Financial Times report how Middle East turmoil no longer poses such a threat to the world’s thirstiest petrol consumers. They write: In 1973 and 1979 war in Israel and turmoil in Iran twice ruptured the oil market, triggering an inflationary surge that sapped western economies and unseated a US president. In the decades since, the possibility that new strife in the Middle East could deliver another administration-ending jump in oil and petrol prices has hung like a spectre over the White House. In the decades since, the possibility that new strife … [Read more...]
China Destroyed Europe’s Solar Panel Industry
Matthew Dalton of The Wall Street Journal reports how China destroyed Europe’s solar panel industry and how the continent continues to struggle with an onslaught against other green sectors. Dalton writes: French solar-panel company Photowatt once powered Europe’s ambition to become a renewables manufacturing giant, one that would provide the technology to help achieve the continent’s far-reaching climate goals. Today, Photowatt is instead hanging by a thread, a potent symbol of the West’s struggles to fend off fierce competition from China. [...] “We have managed to free ourselves from … [Read more...]
A Conflict of Interest: True Costs of Investing in Energy Transition
Analysts from Wook Mackenzie report on the cost of investing in the energy transition in a high interest-rate era and how the increase in the cost of capital has profound implications for the energy and natural resources industries, particularly the cost and pace of the transition to low-carbon technologies. They write: The ‘zero era’ for interest rates has come to an end. In the past two years, rates have risen sharply as central banks have scrambled to fight inflationary pressures. Governments, companies and households face markedly higher market rates and bond yields, which could yet rise … [Read more...]
US Plans to Restore Solar Tariffs
Nicola Groom and Jarrett Renshaw of Reuters report that the US plans to restore tariffs on solar technology. They write: The Biden administration is expected to grant a request by South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells to reverse a two-year-old trade exemption that has allowed imports of a dominant solar panel technology from China and other countries to avoid tariffs, two sources familiar with the White House plans said on Wednesday. The news sent shares of solar manufacturers including U.S.-based First Solar (FSLR.O), higher in afternoon trade. [...] Qcells' request is supported by seven other … [Read more...]
China Imported Record Amounts of Crude Oil in 2023
Jimmy Troderman of the EIA reports that China’s largest volumetric increase in crude oil imports in 2023 was from Russia. He writes: China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, imported 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in 2023, 10% more than in 2022, according to China customs data. Refiners in China imported record volumes of crude oil in 2023 to supply the country’s increasing refining capacity in order to support the country’s transportation fuel needs and produce feedstocks for its growing petrochemical industry. Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq were … [Read more...]
Home Energy Storage Boom in U.S.
Ed Cooks of WoodMac.com tells his readers that changes to net metering rules in California have created new incentives to add batteries to solar systems. He writes: Alexis de Tocqueville, the French diplomat and famous observer of America, noted in 1840 that in democratic countries such as the US, a citizen’s independence “fills him with self-reliance and pride amongst his equals”. That same spirit might have been expected to help make the US a global leader in residential solar power, with homeowners wanting to reduce their reliance on the grid. In fact, however, the US has lagged far … [Read more...]
China’s Plan for Strategic Coal Reserve
Reuters reports that China's state planner has finalized a rule to set up a coal production reserve system. They write: China's state planner on Friday finalised a rule to set up a domestic coal production reserve system by 2027, aimed at stabilising thermal coal prices and supplies to power plants. The rule, which was first issued in draft form by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in December, called for 300 million metric tons of "dispatchable" annual coal production by 2030, equivalent to about 6% of last year's output. China set a goal in 2021 to have coal … [Read more...]
Oil Could Hit $100 a Barrel
Lucia Kassai, Sharon Cho, Devika Krishna Kumar, and Alex Longley of Bloomberg tell their readers how global supply shocks are intensifying fears of a commodity-driven inflation resurgence. They write: When oil jumped above $90 a barrel just days ago, military tensions between Israel and Iran were the immediate trigger. But the rally’s foundations went deeper — to global supply shocks that are intensifying fears of a commodity-driven inflation resurgence. A recent move by Mexico to slash its crude exports is compounding a global squeeze, prompting refiners in the US — the world’s biggest … [Read more...]
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