Category: Energy Consumption

May 26, 2020

A fundamental problem facing subsidy-free solar and wind in renewables-heavy grids is emerging as coronavirus cuts energy demand in Europe. The fall in demand is driving up the proportion of clean energy on many grids and highlighting an issue flagged […]

May 18, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating global public health and economic effects, and as shelter-in-place orders reduce energy demand across the United States, the pandemic’s associated climate impacts are coming into view. Significant uncertainty around economic activity mean few emissions […]

May 6, 2020

California utility Pacific Gas & Electric may need to rely even more heavily on forced blackouts this year, to prevent its grid from starting more deadly wildfires like the ones that drove it into bankruptcy. PG&E’s wildfire mitigation work is […]

May 5, 2020

COVID-19 is transforming the global energy system in ways unthinkable just four months ago. This crisis is, without exaggeration, the biggest shock to the global energy system in at least seven decades, and the implications of that shock will be […]

March 30, 2020

A study published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) shows peak demand and energy use decreased as much as 21% in some areas as a result of actions taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The report—COVID-19 Bulk System […]

March 23, 2020

There is little doubt that the world has entered a global economic recession as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every recession lowers energy use, and this one may be a whopper. The 2008 financial crisis, and the Great Recession […]

February 18, 2020

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released its Annual Energy Outlook 2020 report. Unlike Lazard’s annual present to empirically oriented observers of the global energy transformation, the EIA’s reports typically are head-scratchers, and this one is no different. That’s […]

February 13, 2020

As decarbonisation of the power sector ramps up in earnest, attention is turning to the other key sectors of the economy that need to cut their emissions – transport, buildings and industry. If these three sectors are electrified at the […]

January 27, 2020

The increase in the share of renewables is essential to reaching the EU climate and energy goals. According to Eurostat’s report, the EU’s target is to reach 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and at least 32% […]

January 16, 2020

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its first forecast for 2021 suggests the share of renewables in the utility-scale U.S. power generation mix will surge to 22%, up from 17% last year, while coal and nuclear’s shares will be […]

November 27, 2019

The report states that wind energy is rapidly becoming the new norm for power generation and will deliver 30% of all global electricity production by 2050, with 12% from offshore wind and 18% from onshore wind. In 2019, mega wind […]

November 15, 2019

Global oil demand in the third quarter of 2019 grew by 1.1 million barrels a day, more than double the 435,000 barrels a day in the previous quarter, according to the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). China […]

November 12, 2019

Presidential candidates, state governments, and utilities are promoting “net zero” emissions targets to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and preserve a safe climate future by helping to limit global warming to well below 2°C. But few of them are […]

October 25, 2019

As much as wind and solar are increasing, natural gas is increasing more. And gas will continue to grow faster than all other energy sources in the United States for some time. Over the past fifteen years, coal has decreased […]

October 11, 2019

Natural gas has become the go-to fuel globally to lower CO2 emissions and backup wind and solar, power sources that are naturally intermittent. The best modeling agencies confirm that gas demand increases under any practical energy policy scenario No wonder: […]