Like many in the energy business, I marvel at how fast the cost of producing renewable power, LED light bulbs and lithium-ion batteries has fallen over the past decade. Depending on what’s being measured, some costs are down by more than 90%. Should we assume these downward-trending cost curves are sustainable? And will this type […]
Last year at this time I made some predictions for the coming year. Like many crystal ball gazers, I was made to look like a fool. Then again, who could have predicted the pandemic, save Dr. Fauci? I’ll give it another try this year, offering my energy-related thoughts for 2021. But this time, I’ll make […]
On Monday US President Trump tweeted that “OIL (ENERGY) IS BACK!!!!” He’s right: oil is no longer being given away for free. Benchmark prices have clawed their way above $30-a-barrel for the first time since early April. But few would be convinced that THE NORTH AMERICAN OIL INDUSTRY IS BACK!!!! The devastating effects of the pandemic—forced production shut-ins—could put Canada and the United States on a regressive path toward dependency on “foreign oil,” a historically disparaging term. Let’s flip the calendar back to […]
What does our energy future look like? Right now, I feel like I’m already in the future, in some sci-fi movie. You know the genre, where people are trapped in a cyber-stoked parallel reality. The pandemic highlights the extent to which we are captive to our computers, living much of our lives in a surreal, […]
