Energy Blogs and Articles
Energy Blogs and Articles
Energy Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) announced that the National Electricity Market (NEM) Market Price Cap (MPC) will increase to $23,200 per megawatt‑hour (MWh) for the 2026‑27 financial year, effective 1 July 2026. This follows a staged rise from $17,500/MWh in FY 2024‑25 to $20,300/MWh in FY 2025‑26. The increase exceeds typical inflation‑linked adjustments because it is part of a multi‑year step‑up pathway introduced in the 2023 rule change. Simultaneously, the Cumulative Price Threshold (CPT) will rise to $2,225,900/MWh.
On February 3, a 28‑mile gas pipeline belonging to the Delfin LNG project exploded near Holly Beach, Louisiana, creating an 80‑foot fire and injuring an operator who has filed a $1 million lawsuit. The blast occurred on a 50‑year‑old pipeline repurposed...
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has launched the Next Generation Data Centers Institute (NGDCI) to tackle the exploding electricity demand of AI‑driven data centers. The institute will combine ORNL’s strengths in energy science, high‑performance computing, cybersecurity and grid research to make...
Microsoft announced it now sources 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, a headline touted as a climate milestone. The article contends that such claims mask the physical reality that intermittent wind and solar require dispatchable backup generation to keep...
China dominates domestically with 60 reactors and a growing pipeline, yet its export push for the 1,100 MW Hualong One and 1,400 MW CAP1400 has stalled. Only three Hualong One units have been built abroad, all in Pakistan, while no CAP1400 deals...
Researchers at Tohoku University demonstrated that the exact nitrogen coordination around a single cobalt atom dramatically changes its oxygen‑reduction reaction (ORR) performance. By synthesizing Co‑Nx sites with x = 3, 4, and 5 on carbon nanotubes, they showed asymmetric Co‑N₃ delivers the highest overall activity,...
The U.S. State Department lodged a formal protest with Ukraine after a drone strike hit Russia’s Black Sea oil terminal in Novorossiysk, damaging American economic interests. Ukrainian Ambassador Olha Stefanishyna confirmed the warning, urging Kyiv to refrain from targeting U.S....
The U.S. Energy Information Administration released data showing a massive 16 million‑barrel‑per‑day increase in crude output, the largest build in years. Despite the headline‑grabbing surge, equity and commodity markets barely moved, as traders remain fixated on escalating Iran‑Israel tensions. Simultaneously, the...
Power2X announced the acquisition of Dutch green‑hydrogen developer HyCC, expanding its clean‑molecule portfolio across the Netherlands and north‑western Europe. The deal brings HyCC’s projects in Amsterdam, Delfzijl and Rotterdam under Power2X’s umbrella, adding scale, capital and industrial expertise. Power2X expects...
Simon Fraser University has signed memoranda of understanding with Cerio, Corix and Moment Energy to deepen the sustainability of its Cedar Supercomputing Centre, Canada’s most powerful academic HPC system. The centre already runs on clean hydroelectric power and boasts a...
The EPA is expected to drop the controversial half‑RIN rule and raise biomass‑based diesel renewable volume obligations (RVOs) to 5.25 billion gallons in 2026 and 5.61 billion gallons in 2027, roughly a 20% increase over the June proposal. Using an average equivalence...
Last week global gas markets split, with Asian spot LNG rallying to the low‑$11/MMBtu range while European TTF and US Henry Hub prices eased. In Northeast Asia, the JKM benchmark rebounded after a brief dip, driven by renewed buying from...
Japan’s LNG resales hit a record in fiscal 2024, surpassing the volume imported from any single supplier. Declining domestic consumption, driven by nuclear restarts, efficiency gains and renewable growth, has pushed utilities and trading houses to redirect surplus cargoes to...
On February 5, the United States and Argentina signed a bilateral agreement that goes beyond tariff cuts to align trade, investment, and national‑security priorities in critical minerals and energy. The pact obliges Argentina to facilitate U.S. investment across the entire...
Russian oil drilling contracted 3.4% in 2025, marking the first decline since 2021, with a sharp 10% drop in the second half of the year. The slowdown is attributed to a weaker Urals crude price and a stronger ruble, which...
China has stepped in to purchase Russian crude that India declined, pushing Russian oil exports to their highest levels in two years. The shift has concentrated buying power among a few Asian importers, driving the Urals‑grade discount to a multi‑year...
The piece introduces Atmospheric Integrity Records (AIR), an append‑only, time‑bounded ledger that captures building atmospheric data separate from control and analytics layers, making it admissible evidence for regulators, insurers, utilities, and investors. It argues that current dashboards and optimization tools...
Britain’s energy regulator announced that electricity bills will hit their lowest level in almost two years starting in April. The decline stems from a policy shift that moves a portion of renewable‑energy support costs from consumer bills onto general taxation....
Solar’s Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) has surged over 23% year‑to‑date through Feb 24, 2026, far outpacing the S&P 500’s modest 0.8% gain. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects a record 86 GW of utility‑scale capacity additions in 2026, with solar comprising 51% of...
Air Products has moved to secure a Water Quality Certification from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, a prerequisite for its federal permit to build a blue‑hydrogen and carbon‑capture facility. The certification confirms compliance with Clean Water Act sections governing...
Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy, unveiled on 17 February 2026, places critical minerals at the core of national security and industrial policy. The government frames domestic mining as essential for defence supply chains, reducing reliance on China’s near‑monopoly over rare earths and...
Denison Mines Corp. has secured regulatory approval from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to construct the Wheeler River uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin. The construction licence, effective until February 28, 2031, makes the project the province’s first new uranium mine...
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to address the Australian Parliament, signalling a push toward a Canada‑Australia critical minerals partnership. His recent World Economic Forum speech urged medium powers to forge new alliances, a message that provoked a sharp...
The Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford, in partnership with the Natural Resource Governance Institute, has launched a five‑day executive programme titled “Managing Mining, Oil and Gas for National Development.” Applications open on 2 March 2026, targeting senior leaders from government, industry,...
AD Ports Group and Nimex Terminals have broken ground on the UAE’s first private‑sector LPG terminal at Khalifa Port. Phase 1 will feature two full‑containment refrigerated tanks—50,000 cbm of propane and 67,000 cbm of butane—plus four mounded bullet tanks totaling 21,000 cbm, with Phase 2...
In the latest Wide Boundary News episode, Nate Hagens connects the EU’s surge toward a 50 % renewable electricity mix and flattening CO₂ emissions with rising electricity prices that are spurring German industrial decline and chemical‑sector exits. He highlights China’s record...
CATL and Changan have launched the first production vehicle equipped with the Naxtra sodium‑ion battery, delivering 175 Wh kg⁻¹ and a claimed 400 km range. The cell retains more than 90% of its capacity at –40 °C, vastly outperforming conventional LFP packs in sub‑zero...
Forescout Technologies has become a vendor affiliate of the North American Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E‑ISAC), extending its threat‑intelligence sharing to U.S. utilities and grid operators. Through its Vedere Labs research unit, the company will feed cyber and...
The OECD’s "Effective Carbon Rates 2025" report surveys 79 countries and compares three carbon‑pricing tools: fuel taxes, explicit carbon taxes, and emissions‑trading systems. By weighting tax level against the share of emissions covered, the analysis shows fuel taxes remain the...
Hybrid car batteries, paired with compact rare‑earth‑based electric motors, have reshaped vehicle efficiency by enabling high‑power assist, regenerative braking, and smoother launches. Neodymium‑iron‑boron magnets deliver the torque density needed for these systems, while dysprosium and terbium protect performance at elevated...
On 27 January 2026 a Russian Shahed drone struck Ukraine’s Brody pumping station, shutting the Druzhba pipeline’s southern branch that supplies Russian Urals crude to Hungary and Slovakia. The outage, now in its 27th day, has cut 60‑70 % of feedstock for MOL...
California’s 2026 budget proposes a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) tax credit that lets diesel excise taxpayers offset liability by selling SAF. The credit, capped at $2 per gallon, could shave 10‑20 % or more from the state’s diesel tax base, potentially...
Aveva announced it has completed its first major purchase of sustainable aviation fuel certificates (SAFcs) five years ahead of its World Economic Forum First Movers Coalition commitment. The certificates were bought from British Airways, which sources the fuel from renewable...
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers published a comprehensive review in Chemical Reviews describing how advanced, physics‑based simulation can decode the complex relationships among processing, structure, and performance of single‑crystal battery materials. By spanning atomistic to cell‑level scales, the multiscale models...
Donut Lab has engaged Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre to independently measure the performance and key characteristics of its solid‑state battery prototype. VTT will conduct the tests, document procedures, and publish full reports alongside detailed video walkthroughs. The results are...
The Generator Statistical Digest 2025 (GSD2025) shows that new FCAS resources now dominate all ancillary service categories, with grid‑scale batteries providing the bulk of enabled capacity. Ancillary‑service units classified as "Electricity" also hold a sizable share, especially in raise regulation...
The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that Ontario Energy Board staff letters can constitute binding legal determinations, not merely advisory opinions. The decision arose from a dispute over whether a new substation was an expansion or enhancement, prompting the parties...
In this episode of Andrew Revkin's "Sustain What" podcast, host Andrew Revkin discusses the EPA's controversial final rule rescinding the greenhouse‑gas endangerment finding, which underpins Clean Air Act regulation of emissions. He is joined by environmental attorney Sean Donohue, a...
AI‑driven workloads have accelerated U.S. electricity demand, with data centers responsible for roughly 60 % of last year’s load increase and a 150 % rise over five years. This non‑linear growth exposes a hidden vulnerability at the building level, where inefficiencies in...
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has teamed up with NVIDIA to embed artificial intelligence across the nuclear reactor lifecycle, from design to operation. Leveraging NVIDIA’s GPU‑accelerated computing, the partnership aims to double deployment schedules and cut operational costs by more...
Evolito Limited has been chosen to create an electric wheel‑taxi system under the UK‑backed Project SONATA, partnering with Airbus, ATI, Innovate UK and several research institutions. The company will supply a low‑speed, high‑torque axial‑flux motor delivering roughly 350 kW and 56 Nm/kg, designed to...
Southern Alberta country singer Corb Lund has relaunched his “Water Not Coal” petition campaign to ban new coal exploration and mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains. He received official clearance from Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer and has...
The February 2026 Global Oil Data Deck reveals that the worldwide liquids market, still heavily oversupplied, finally tightened in December—the first such move in six months—signaling the end of the most oversupplied year since 2020. Production fell in December mainly...
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has asked the EPA to soften key provisions of the 2027 nitrogen‑oxide (NOx) emissions rule for heavy‑duty trucks, arguing that the required technologies are not yet proven in real‑world use. ATA’s letter cites ongoing freight...
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy and the Natural Resource Governance Institute are launching a one‑week summer school on extractive‑industry governance for Anglophone Africa. The program brings civil society, media, researchers and government officials together to address policy gaps and...
The episode examines the surprising year‑to‑date rally in oil and gas equities, highlighting that despite a "risk‑off" environment, energy stocks are outpacing all S&P sectors. The host attributes this to improving momentum, stronger global manufacturing PMIs, a weaker U.S. dollar,...
Researchers used DFT‑MD simulations on supercomputers to investigate sodium‑ion behavior in hard‑carbon anodes for sodium‑ion batteries. They identified that sodium ions quickly transition from 2D adsorption to 3D quasi‑metallic clusters, with an optimal nanopore diameter of about 1.5 nm for stable...
A collaboration between McGill University, Mila‑Quebec, and Université de Montréal built a closed‑loop system that couples high‑throughput robotic synthesis with multi‑objective Bayesian optimization to explore roughly 14.2 million triple‑doped LiCoPO₄ cathode compositions. Using a set‑transformer surrogate and a multi‑task Gaussian process,...
Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) scientists have engineered a single‑atom iridium catalyst anchored on a manganese‑nickel‑phytate layered double hydroxide that catalyzes both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on a single electrode. The design...
