Oil prices surge above $100 a barrel as war on Ukraine rages
Source: AP
By DAMIAN J. TROISE
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices soared Tuesday and investors shifted more money out of stocks and into ultra-safe U.S. government bonds as Russia stepped up its war on Ukraine.
Stocks fell as investors tried to measure how the conflict will impact the global economy. The S&P 500 index fell 1.6% as of 12:04 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 687 points, or 2%, to 33,204 and the Nasdaq fell 1.5%.
The bigger moves came from the markets for oil, agricultural commodities and government bonds. Oil has been a key concern because Russia is one of the world’s largest energy producers. The latest bump in prices increases pressure on persistently high inflation that threatens households around the world.
U.S. benchmark crude oil prices jumped 10.6% to $105.82 per barrel, reaching the highest price since 2014. Brent crude, the international standard, surged 9% to $106.82.
Pedro Goncalves · Finance reporter
Wed, March 2, 2022, 6:58 AM
Germany is ready should Russia stop exporting gas to the country as Berlin develops a new energy battle plan to end that reliance.
The country’s economy minister told Deutschlandfunk radio that in the case that Russia cuts off its gas supply, Germany was ready to boost strategic reserves.
“We are prepared for that. I can give the all-clear for the current winter and summer,” Robert Habeck said.
"For the next winter, we would take further measures," he added.
Acadia National Park is known for its beautiful lakes—and they can tell scientists a lot about the health of the environment. New research shows that regulations to reduce human-caused sulfur in the atmosphere have made a difference for lakes in Acadia National Park, though climate change may slow that recovery.
Research from the 1990s showed that human-caused atmospheric pollution in the 20th century caused the acidification of lakes across eastern North America starting in the 1940s. Acidification of lakes causes the decrease of dissolved organic carbon in lakes, which impacts lake ecology and makes water appear clearer.
Since the Clean Air Act Amendments were federally enacted in 1990, the northeastern United States has received significantly less atmospheric acid depositions with the goal of restoring ecosystems like lakes that were impacted by the pollution. However, climate change can also impact lake water clarity, as rising temperatures drive the production and release of dissolved organic carbon, while shifts in precipitation caused by climate change also can bring in more organic matter.
Researchers from the University of Maine and the National Park Service wanted to see how these changing acidification dynamics were affecting the ecosystems in different types of lakes in Maine. In an article published in the Journal of Paleolimnology, scientists reconstructed historical pigment records of algae and diatoms—a particular type of algae with a silica shell, which is usually negatively impacted by acidification—from two lakes in Acadia National Park, Jordan Pond and Seal Cove Pond.
Gas prices are surging, with the national average now at the highest in nearly a decade. The rapid ascent is pinching consumers’ pockets, and experts say there may be little end in sight.
The national average for a gallon of regular gas stood at $3.83 on Friday, the highest since Sept. 21, 2012, according to data from AAA. Prices are rising at a fast clip, with Friday’s average nearly 11 cents a gallon above Thursday’s. Americans are paying about 27 cents more than last week, and 41 cents more than a month ago.
In some places consumers are paying a lot more. In California, the state average is now $5.07 per gallon.
The surge in prices has become a headache for President Joe Biden whose administration has vowed for months that it’s working to combat high prices at the pump.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
Biden is expected to ban Russian oil imports into the United States.
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON — President Biden is expected on Tuesday morning to ban the importation of Russian oil into the United States, a senior administration official said, making the move after pressure from lawmakers in both parties to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Biden is scheduled to make the announcement at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday from the White House.
Canada’s oil could replace American imports of Russian crude, the top officials of the oil-producing province Alberta said this weekend.
As talks about banning Russian oil imports in the United States and its European allies intensify, reports have started to emerge that the U.S. Administration could be looking to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil or lift some sanctions on Venezuela to help fill the gap that a Russian oil embargo would open.
On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States and its European allies were in “very active discussions” about banning the import of Russian oil over Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Even without sanctions on Russian oil, some of the biggest U.S. importers of Russian crude oil have started suspending their purchases of the commodity.
Canada has long pitched its crude as one that is not produced in rogue government regimes such as Venezuela, Iran, or Russia, and Alberta’s top officials now say that its crude could be the answer to more supply from allied nations to the United States.
Retweeting Elon Musk’s comments that “we need to increase oil & gas output immediately,” Alberta’s Energy Minister Sonya Savage said on Saturday:
“Agreed. And it should come from Alberta, home of the 3rd largest oil reserves. Alberta is the answer to US Energy security. Real emissions reductions, reliable, right next door............
Russia has lashed out with a threat to cut off Europe’s gas supply if Western allies push ahead with further sanctions. The U.S. has urged its European allies to ban Russian oil imports over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but the Kremlin said it would retaliate if any such move went ahead. Speaking on state television, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned that a ban on Russian oil would lead to “catastrophic consequences” for global energy prices, and said the Kremlin was prepared to “impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline,” which carries natural gas from Russia to Germany. Last month, Germany halted the certification of $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline in a previously unthinkable economic sanction against Russia.
This article is a little dated, but relevant to recent discussions regarding the impact on energy markets and gas prices brought on by the invasion...err...I mean Russia's "special military operation" in the Ukraine.
New Report Shows that Renewables Were the World’s Cheapest Source of Energy in 2020
by July 5, 2022
(Common Dreams) Amid the mounting crisis in Ukraine, fossil fuel giants and an array of political leaders are using the guise of "global security" to promote an agenda that strengthens the dominance of dirty energy for decades to come.
The industry and their Congressional allies have responded by rehashing inaccurate complaints that President Biden is refusing to open up more land to drilling and fracking. Other voices are chiming in to say we should expedite the increased flow of fracked gas to European countries as they attempt to move off of Russian gas. And the White House, in response to bipartisan efforts in Congress, announced a ban on Russian oil imports.
Increasing fossil fuel production will not make the world safer, or provide any short-term relief for families struggling to pay sky-high energy or gas bills; it will only exacerbate the already rapidly escalating climate crisis. To enhance domestic, European, and global security, it's time to aggressively promote energy efficiency and conservation while quickly deploying renewable energy and moving off fossil fuels.
The threats from climate chaos are well-known by now; we just received another dire warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The scientific panel's report, in the words of its chair Hoesung Lee, laid out how "climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet."
The report explained in great detail the impact our fossil fuel-based economy is having on the environment and people living in it, from loss of biodiversity to acute food insecurity for millions of people.
Average US gas price rises 22% in two weeks to record $4.43
Source: AP
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline shot up a whopping 79 cents over the past two weeks to a record-setting $4.43 per gallon (3.8 liters) as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is contributing to already-high prices at the pump.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday the new price exceeds by 32 cents the prior all-time high of $4.11 set in July 2008. But that’s still quite a ways from the inflation-adjusted record high of about $5.24 per gallon.
The price at the pump is $1.54 higher than it was a year ago.
Lundberg said gas prices are likely to remain high in the short term as crude oil costs soar amid global supply concerns following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US oil prices tumbled below $100 a barrel on Monday, unwinding a significant chunk of the recent spike caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Oil plunged more than 8%, touching a low of $99.76 a barrel. That means oil has lost almost roughly quarter of its value since touching a near 14-year high of $130.50 a barrel on March 6.
It's the first time oil has traded below $100 since March 1.
Brent crude, the world benchmark, dropped more than 7% to $104.35 a barrel in recent trading. That marks a sharp pullback from the recent peak of nearly $140 a barrel.
Milestones may be arbitrary, but the morale boost they provide is not. Humans have very recently installed enough solar panels to generate one terawatt of electricity directly from the sun. It’s a pretty good feeling!
The expectation that our species would hit 1,000 gigawatts of solar was first based on estimations that we installed at least 183 GW in 2021, and that we had 788 GW of capacity in place at the end of 2020. These two values total 971GW of installed solar.
These numbers suggest that Earth’s solar capacity has breached 1,010GW, and that we can officially start measuring solar capacity in terawatts!
Good job, Earthlings! The galactic council sees this as a positive development.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
(The Guardian) Australian researchers claim to have made a “giant leap” in lifting the efficiency of electrolysers, bringing forward the time when green hydrogen will be competitive with fossil fuels as an energy source.
Hysata, a company using technology developed at the University of Wollongong, said its patented capillary-fed electrolysis cells achieve 95% efficiency, meaning little wastage, beating by about one-quarter the levels of current technology.
The achievement, published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communication journal today, could see the Morrison government’s so-called hydrogen stretch goal of $2 a kilogram to make the fuel competitive reached as soon as 2025, the Hysata chief executive, Paul Barrett, said.
“We’ve gone from 75% [efficiency] to 95% – it’s really a giant leap for the electrolysis industry,” Barrett said.
Renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar is making big inroads into the power sector, supplying more than a third of eastern Australia’s electricity in the final three months of 2021. However, decarbonising industry and some transport, such as trucking, is likely to be tougher unless fuels such as hydrogen become much cheaper.
In a technological breakthrough, researchers at ETH Zurich have announced the development of a new technique that can transplant mitochondria—the tiny powerhouses of the cell—from one living cell to another with unparalleled efficiency.
Just as the human body can be divided into different organs—such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, intestine or liver—our cells also consist of several complementary and interdependent systems. These are referred to as organelles, meaning small organs. And much as we are sometimes able to add several decades to the life of a patient with kidney disease by transplanting a healthy kidney, we may one day also be able to rejuvenate individual cells by transplanting cell components.
(Common Dreams) Bolstering climate campaigners' charges that fossil fuels have funded Russia's ongoing assault of Ukraine, an analysis published Friday by three green groups reveals top energy companies helped build Russian President Vladimir Putin's war chest to the tune of nearly $100 billion since 2014.
The new briefing from Greenpeace USA, Global Witness, and Oil Change International targets eight companies: BP, Equinor, ExxonMobil, OMV, Shell, TotalEnergies, Trafigura, and Wintershall Dea.
The analysis tracks back to 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea—a region that most countries still consider to be part of Ukraine. Putin launched a full-blown invasion of Ukraine in late February, a war now in its second month.
"While the Russian government has benefited from majority state-owned or state-controlled oil companies such as Gazprom and Rosneft," the document states, "European and U.S.-based corporations have also spearheaded large oil and gas projects that filled Putin's coffers."
The report, which features "BP's and TotalEnergies' share of the royalties and taxes paid by the Russian companies, proportional to their equity stakes," specifically calls out BP, which the researchers say was responsible for over 80% of the $95.4 billion because of its Rosneft stock. Asked to comment on the findings, BP told Global Witness that "we simply do not recognize the numbers you cite or, indeed, any suggestion that BP was somehow 'responsible for paying' Russia 'an estimated $78.4' billion since 2014.'"
(Vox) In five years, European countries hope to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and by the end of the year, they look to slash reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds. If Europe follows through on these pledges, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could propel one of the swiftest energy transitions in history.
The biggest question now is whether it’s a transition off oil and gas — or just off Russian oil and gas.
Right now, it seems fossil fuels are winning. Oil companies in the United States are eager for Europe to swap one fossil fuel for another and build out more infrastructure on both sides of the Atlantic to carry oil and gas to Europe. And despite their climate pledges, world leaders have shown early support for ramping up fossil fuel infrastructure.
On Friday, during President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe for meetings of the G7 and NATO, the US announced a new joint agreement with Europe that promises 15 billion cubic meters in new shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) this year. That will be on top of the shipments already going to Europe, and will replace about a quarter of the gas imported from Russia.
But the United States is not in the driver’s seat. European countries are the ones that face the real choice between building new fossil fuel infrastructure or speeding up their timeline on clean energy investments. And they could hasten their transition off of fossil fuels by prioritizing climate-friendly solutions, like incentivizing energy efficiency, installing heat pumps, and speeding up renewable permitting. Two new reports from independent think tanks this week outline a viable path that doesn’t replace Russian oil and gas with other fossil fuels.
(EurekAlert) Ethanol is usually produced through the fermentation of sugars from starchy raw materials such as corn, or from lignocellulosic biomass, such as wood or straw. It is an established fuel that decarbonizes the transportation sector and can be a building block to reduce emissions of CO2 over the long term. In collaboration with the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) in Finland, researchers at the Straubing Campus for Biotechnology and Sustainability of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed a new process for the production of ethanol.
In this context, offcut materials from the area of forestry are used together with hydrogen. The hydrogen is produced by separating water into hydrogen and oxygen with the use of electricity – in other words, with the use of water electrolysis. In the future, this will allow the excess electricity to be used for the production of ethanol.
Conclusion:
The technology needs to mature further
With the use of green electricity to power the electrolysis, this process can produce a low CO2 fuel that has a greenhouse gas reduction potential of 75 percent in comparison with a fossil fuel such as gasoline. Ethanol is established as a fuel. It can be used in the form of both E-10 gasoline, with 10 percent ethanol in the fuel mixture for regular automobiles, as is already the case, or as ED95, which is 95 percent ethanol, as a diesel substitute for heavy goods transportation.
With their process simulation, the scientists have demonstrated the competitiveness of the process. “To commercialize this product, it is necessary to further improve the degree of technological maturity. The next steps could entail further catalyst developments, a reactor design and the construction and operation of a pilot system,” says Prof. (Matthias) Gaderer (Professor of Renewable Energy Systems at Technical University of Munich).
Fifty countries get more than a tenth of their power from wind and solar sources, according to research from Ember, a climate and energy think tank.
...Solar and wind and other clean sources generated 38% of the world's electricity in 2021. For the first time wind turbines and solar panels generated 10% of the total.
The share coming from wind and sun has doubled since 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was signed.
The fastest switching to wind and solar took place in the Netherlands, Australia, and Vietnam. All three have moved a tenth of their electricity demand from fossil fuels to green sources in the last two years.
(Clean Technica) In the month of December 2021, renewable energy sources accounted for 23.8% of electricity generation across the United States. Wind energy alone accounted for 11.9%, while solar energy accounted for 2.7%.
The good news is this is notably up from December 2019 and December 2020. In December 2019, those figures were 17.5% from renewable energy, 7.8% from wind energy, and 1.6% from solar energy. In December 2020, they had improved to 19.4%, 9.2%, and 2.2%, respectively. So, you can see that all of the new solar and wind power capacity does lead to noticeable increases in electricity generation from renewable sources. It’s just that the grid is so large and power plants have such long lifespans that even 100% of new power capacity coming from renewable power plants just means a modest increase in renewable energy’s share of electricity supply.
In December 2019 and December 2020, both nuclear and coal produced more electricity than renewable energy sources. In December 2021, renewables had passed both of them up and had a solid lead — 23.8% of electricity compared to 20.6% from nuclear power plants and 17.5% from coal power plants.
Interestingly, hydropower (part of the renewable energy supply) also saw a jump in production in that timeframe. It grew from 6.3% in December 2019 and 6.2% in December 2020 to 7.5% in December 2021
