Series 6, Issue 3
The week of February 3, 2020
An official e-publication of:
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Sound-bite summaries of the energy news you need to know.
Thank you for your premium membership.
Watch this space for announcements about new AES programs, products and services.
Big "reveals" coming soon!
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Oil
: the Permian's uncertain future.
Oil production in the Permian continues to grow. Though the rigs are more efficient, legacy-well production is declining by 275,000 barrels/day. Oil producers are drilling more "
parent-child
" wells in the Permian Basin (wells spaced too close together), which reduces the amount of oil that can be recovered by 15% to 20%.
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Featured story
,
natural gas, the tip of the spear.
Using unconventional drilling methods, the
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) found crude oil and natural gas
in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, China. The now spudded well, 8,882 meters deep, is producing about 1,050 barrels of oil/day and about 50,000 cubic meters of natural gas/day. For comparison, drilling in the Bakken in North Dakota can reach about 27,000 feet deep (and two-miles lateral) and produce about 1 million bpd and 1.94 billion cf/d of natural gas.
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Spotlight,
coal in MENA
: Importation of coal into the Middle East and North Africa increased +32%
last year, primarily for cement, steel and calcined coke industries. (Calcined coke is used to make anodes for aluminium and titanium smelting.)
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Carbon Capture
:
Microsoft pledged to invest $1 billion dollars in technologies removing carbon
from the atmosphere. AES expert Member Noah Deich at
Carbon180
calls it "Microsoft's best idea since Windows 95."
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Solar
. A camera mounted alongside a solar array can scan the sky and feed information into image analysis software that computes the optimal position for each mirror in the array, rotating in increments smaller than 1/160 of a degree.
Automated solar arrays produce 20% more power than a static array.
- The first nuclear power stations were constructed in Germany in the 1960s.
- Germany’s last nuclear reactor was commissioned in 1989.
- In the 2000s, 25% of Germany’s electricity production came from nuclear plants.
- Immediately following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukashima, Japan, Germany shut down about 8 GW of nuclear production capacity.
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Wind and Solar in 2020
: In advance of tax incentives expiring,
about 72 GW of wind and solar projects are planned in 2020.
(
Insert
: planned projects, by percentage.)
Editor's note
: It is unlikely that all 72 GW of planned capacity will be achieved in 2020.
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- The slow adoption of a
circular economy.
The amount of material annually consumed by humanity has passed 100 billion tons, but the reuse of resources has fallen from 9.1% to 8.6%. (Note: the average person annually consumes about 13 tons of materials.)
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The 9th Circuit dismissed
Juliana v. United States
, a case in which 21 young people and an advocacy group sought to compel the government to take action to address greenhouse gas emissions. Although the court said the plaintiffs made a “compelling case that action is needed,” it ruled that courts simply don’t have the power to fix those policies. AES Members have access to a true and correct copy of the
Court Opinion
.
- The EPA has released its long-awaited regulation to
remove millions of miles of streams and roughly half the country's wetlands from federal protection.
Navigable Waters Protection Rule
replaces the previous definition of protected waterways. AES Members have access to the pre-publication rule (note: the document is 340 pages long).
- FERC Commissioner Bernard McNamee will
not seek a new term
when his current one expires at the end of June. In the past, it has taken years to fill a FERC seat, from nomination to confirmation. That means
McNamee's departure will leave the five-member FERC with only two commissioners and no quorum to vote
.
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Climate and Sustainability
- A
study
sponsored by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that global warming will "make it
more difficult
to grow grapes for good wine." According to the study, a 4-degree rise (about 7-degrees F) would threaten 85% of the wine crop.
Editor's note:
If global temperatures rise 4-degrees Celsius, there will be more to worry about than wine.
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Poor road quality increases fuel consumption. The net effect is small, but
poor quality roads in urban settings can account for an additional
10% increase in fuel use.
(
Note
: According to a recent study, Boston has the worst maintained roads in the US.)
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Australia's bush fires
doubled
the country's annual greenhouse gas emissions.
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- More evidence that sustainability has gone mainstream: The WM Phoenix Golf Tournament Open, known as “The Greatest Show on Grass,” has gained legendary status for being unlike any other tournament on the PGA Tour (loud crowds, a music festival, celebrities, etc.);
the event will also feature a
Sustainability Forum
.
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Recommended sustainability resources, published by the United Nations
SDSN
:
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Research and Markets
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Spotlight, corporate sustainability.
Corporations that have recently pledged in 2020 to go carbon neutral:
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Bank of America
Bloomberg
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Capital One
eBay
Facebook
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- "Carbon neutrality" has become a dominant theme for businesses committed to sustainability, but
no one has defined what "neutral" means.
For instance, Starbucks has pledged carbon neutrality, but that means encouraging customers to use
less dairy
. (The whipped cream in Starbucks drinks emits 50 times more greenhouse gas than the company’s private jet.) Or, BlackRock announced divestment from the coal industry; however, the new approach allows for investments in
utilities that burn coal.
Nevertheless, AES Member expert Julio Friedmann says "Microsoft is in the pole-position"
video
.
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The
issue
that corporations are mentioning the most in social media: sustainability
.
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- Related, according to a survey of executives in
the oil and gas sector, 40% of all companies face a talent/skills
labor-shortage gap.
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Electricity, Power and Efficiency
- Electricity, by the numbers:
- In 2019, wholesale electricity prices were lower in every US state, except Texas.
- In 1960, U.S. residential electricity prices were 40% higher in real terms than today.
- In 1960, only 2% of U.S. homes were heated with electricity. Today it’s 38%.
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Cybersecurity Spotlight
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Iran has a history of cyberattacks.
In 2016, Iran executed a cyberattack on a New York dam; in 2014, the nation levied a cyberattack on a Las Vegas Sands casino. The current surge of cyberattacks traced to Iran are targeting a few critical sectors in the US, including: heavy industry, oil and gas, electrical generation and grid infrastructure.
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Features
Quotes - The Space Between
"Reluctantly, we conclude that such relief is beyond our constitutional power. Rather, the plaintiffs’ impressive case for redress must be presented to the political branches of government."
- Opinion of the 9th Circuit Court in
Juliana v. United States.
"Heavy industry, oil and gas, electrical generation and the attached grid infrastructure, as well as other critical infrastructure are all caught in the crosshairs as of this moment."
- Richard Henderson, Head of global threat intelligence, regarding likely retaliation in the form of cyber-attack by Iran
"Most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out.”
- Andrew Wheeler, Director of the US EPA (The Sierra Club has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request and filed a lawsuit to push the agency to hand over any documents or research that supports Wheeler’s statement.)
News from the Society
Top-3 Internship opportunities:
- The American Energy Society is seeking 10 interns ... and we offer honorariums! Contact us if you are interested.
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures will be hiring 2 interns for Summer 2020 in Boston, an Investment Team Intern, and a Climate Impact Analysis Intern.
- Strategy and Operations Lead, Sustainability Team - Google.
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Dayaway Careers
conducted a survey of approximately 500 early-stage cleantech women professionals and found a number of interesting trends, among them,
75+% of all young women professionals
in renewable energy are in just seven states.
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- An Atmospheric Services Industry May Emerge from Oil and Gas By John C. Roper
- Turning Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel By Andrew Myers
- Geoengineering the Planet By Fred Pearce
- Powering L.A. With Hydrogen Summary by AES Editors
- Pebbles, Sponges and Fans Oh My! By Elizabeth Duff
And ...
- The "Earthshot Prize": A funding opportunity, by the Royal Foundation
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Recommended events:
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