Getting ever louder in its calls for the world to get serious about climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) is also increasingly concrete about what needs to be done.
Global investments in renewable energy must double by 2020 to $23.9 trillion to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 2°C, says IEA in its new book, Energy Technology Perspectives 2012. And they must grow to $140 trillion by 2050………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency, has warned EU countries about the “absurd” strategies they use to subsidise fossil fuels. In an exclusive interview with EurActiv, he urged EU leaders to make the Energy Efficiency Directive, currently in its final negotiation stage, “a must”.
“Not to push the energy efficiency measures is another way of asking for higher emissions, higher energy import bills and higher energy insecurity,” Birol said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The once staid International Energy Agency continues its string of blunt, must-read reports laying bare the reality of our climate and energy system.
While so many “experts” and politicians make hand-waving pronouncements about how the primary solution to climate change is more R&D or how cheap natural gas is the answer to our problems, the IEA is one of the few international bodies with a comprehensive energy and economic model that cuts through the BS………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The International Energy Agency said the world’s clean energy investments are sorely lacking and this week called for an additional $36 trillion of funding by 2050.
In a sharply-worded introduction to a 700-page report, IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said governments and private industry need to do far more if the world is to hold global warming to what most scientists say is an acceptable level………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global investments in clean energy need to double by 2020 to avoid missing climate change targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday, calling on governments to spend more on technologies such as carbon storage and solar power.
Some $23.9 trillion in investments are required by 2020 and $140 trillion by the middle of this century, when governments aim to keep the average rise in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius, the Paris-based organisation said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The European Union has made progress towards a deal to reduce energy use by improving efficiency, Denmark’s Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard said on Monday, as the debate enters what should be its final stage.
He added any agreement is not likely to include language on setting aside carbon permits to prop up the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which has sunk to record lows………………………………………..Full Article: Source

For investors seeking to gain exposure to energy prices–whether natural gas, crude oil, or anything in between–exchange-traded products have become popular tools to use. The widespread availability, superior transparency, and relatively low costs have obvious appeal; ETFs (and ETNs) have made access to commodities much easier and cheaper.
The ETF universe includes products that target several different types of energy resources, including crude oil, natural gas, Brent crude, heating oil, and gasoline……………………………………….Full Article: Source

It is always unfortunate when the best run and well-respected companies make horrible investments. While an investor’s primary goal is obviously to maximize returns, it always feels good to invest in a company that is well-respected and well-managed.
While the S&P 500 and its tracking exchange traded fund, SPY (SPY), has fallen nearly 10% since mid-April, many leading stocks in sectors such as technology, energy, and the industrials, have fallen over 15% from highs earlier this year. Even Apple (AAPL) has fallen more than 15% from its previous high of nearly $640………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to a new report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on June 5, 2012, China will become the third-largest gas importer behind Europe and Asia Oceania, driving a 2.7% average annual growth in global gas demand through 2017.
The report, Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2012, released at the World Gas Conference 2012 mentions that China will more than double consumption over the next five years while lower prices from the unconventional gas revolution will continue to benefit the United States………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Oil analysts already integrate “disruptive technology” in the shape of hybrid and all-electric cars in their forecasts of probable decline in the total oil demand of the world’s two-largest car fleets - in the EU27 and USA - and lower demand growth going forward for the world’s fastest-growing fleets of China, India and smaller emerging economies.
Disruptive energy economics is also at work changing the energy piechart, especially the future role of oil, gas and the renewables. Under increasingly rational outlooks, oil’s share in global energy can fall from its present 36% - 37%, to well below 33% by 2020, this forecast decline being set by the IEA and similar energy agencies as only possible by about 2030 or later………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Natural resources are getting hammered. During the past three months, crude oil, aluminum, copper and corn, have dropped well over 10%.
The PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking exchange-traded fund, which tracks a basket of 14 commodities and is the most heavily traded exchange-traded product devoted to commodities, has dropped 17% during the same period………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global demand for natural gas will likely grow 17 per cent over the next five years as Chinese consumption doubles, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
China’s demand for natural gas should expand 13 per cent a year through 2017 while U.S. consumption will probably grow 13 per cent by 2017, the Paris-based IEA said. It forecast European demand to increase by 7.9 per cent………………………………………..Full Article: Source

EU president Denmark is pressing European lawmakers and senior politicians to compromise over an ambitious energy saving law designed to help meet a 2020 EU target to cut consumption by a fifth, but which critics say would stifle growth.
Denmark made energy efficiency a priority for its six-month tenure at the head of the European Union and wants to nail down an agreement before handing on to Cyprus at the end of June………………………………………..Full Article: Source

America’s “unconventional” gas boom continues to amaze. Between 2005 and 2010 the country’s shale-gas industry, which produces natural gas from shale rock by bombarding it with water and chemicals—a technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”—grew by 45% a year.
As a proportion of America’s overall gas production shale gas has increased from 4% in 2005 to 24% today. America produces more gas than it knows what to do with. Its storage facilities are rapidly filling, and its gas price (prices for gas, unlike oil, are set regionally) has collapsed………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Government plans to reform the energy sector risk becoming “expensive and ineffective”, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned.
In its review of UK energy policy, published on Wednesday, the IEA also warned that the Green Deal efficiency scheme could be hindered by mistrust of the Big Six suppliers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

How much will it cost to turn back the clock on China’s ecological destruction? After years of promoting fast-paced, state-led economic growth, which has disproportionately benefited the country’s massive steel, coal, and oil companies, the government is now moving to spend more on cutting emissions and supporting renewable energy.
China’s Ministry of Finance said last week that the central government will spend 170 billion yuan, or almost $27 billion, this year on improving energy efficiency and building renewable-energy infrastructure………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Agency says tripling output by 2035 from unconventional gas sources such as shale gas could end support for renewables.
A “golden age of gas” spurred by a tripling of shale gas from fracking and other sources of unconventional gas by 2035 will stop renewable energy in its tracks if governments don’t take action, the International Energy Agency has warned………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Victory for gas lobby as aims of €80bn EU renewable energy programme altered to channel money to ‘low-carbon’ fossil fuel.
Energy from gas power stations has been rebranded as a green, low-carbon source of power by a €80bn European Union programme, in a triumph of the deep-pocketed fossil fuel industry lobby over renewable forms of power………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s demand for coking coal imports appears to be robust. The Asian major is set to import as much as 50 million tonnes of coking coal in 2012. Imports have already jumped in April, as importers have taken advantage of cheap overseas supplies.
In April, China imported 25.05 million tonnes of coal of all types (lignite included), higher by 17.1% from a month earlier, and 90.1% higher than a year ago……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The International Energy Agency is monitoring oil markets and is ready to take action to release strategic oil reserves if needed, IEA’s Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said at an OECD event on Wednesday, reiterating the body’s recent stance.
“We have to be on the alert, we have to monitor the situation as it is and if necessary … are ready to take action if necessary,” she said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Goldman Sachs Group Inc plans to channel investments totaling $40 billion over the next decade into renewable energy projects, an area the investment bank called one of the biggest profit opportunities since its economists got excited about emerging markets in 2001.
Goldman executives said this week that demand for alternative energy sources will grow with global energy demand, and as big manufacturing countries, including China and Brazil, set more aggressive targets for reducing emissions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Britain’s climate policies can help shield the economy from oil and gas price shocks triggered by external factors such as the Arab Spring, an analysis commissioned by the government showed on Friday.
Energy price spikes can often dent economic growth, business investment and employment, as witnessed during the global financial crisis in mid-2008 when oil rose to nearly $150 (95 pounds) per barrel, research group Oxford Economics said in a report………………………………………..Full Article: Source

European carbon prices should be at least twice their current value of just over 6 euros ($7.66) a tonne in order spur investment in cleaner technology, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Wednesday.
Europe’s recession and fiscal crisis has crippled prices in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, meaning carbon prices are providing little incentive for utilities and other heavy polluters to move to greener production of electricity, steel or cement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Play - Download this article

|

Play - Download Full Briefing

|

Subscribe to the Podcast Feed

The chance of limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius this century is getting slimmer and slimmer, the head of the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday.
“What I see now with existing investments for plants under construction…we are seeing the door for a 2 degree Celsius target about to be closed and closed forever,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s chief economist, told a Reuters’ Global Energy & Environment Summit………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Play - Download this article

|

Play - Download Full Briefing

|

Subscribe to the Podcast Feed

Just six months ago energy companies were the kings of the hill, delivering stronger results than any other market sector, but 2012 is looking very different, if first-quarter results are signs of future fortune.
Part of the reason was the drop in natural gas prices to lows not seen in a decade. Half the companies in the sector missed Wall Street’s estimates for the first quarter, a blow analysts did not see coming………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Canadian uranium producers (URA) can now compete with Kazakhstan, Australia and Russia to sell uranium to China. Canada produces about 20% of the world’s uranium and exports over 80% of annual production. The fast growing nuclear industry has never been open to China and will create a boom in the Athabasca Basin for uranium explorers.
This deal will allow Cameco (CCJ), the largest publicly traded uranium company to deliver 52 million pounds of uranium to China by 2025. The contract is worth about $2.5 billion in sales. China is hungry for nuclear with dozens of reactors planning to be built over the next 10-15 years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

A U.S. lawmaker called on the White House this week to eliminate what he said was a “disturbing connection” between U.S. energy demands and violence in the Middle East. New Englanders get about 20 percent of their liquefied natural gas from Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is a grave security concern.
In Yemen, AQAP was blamed for a series of attacks on oil and natural gas pipelines. In the United States, it’s tried at least twice to strike a major blow……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Despite the setback caused by the 2008 financial crisis, the commodities bull market rolls on. A short four years later, many commodities are trading at or near all-time highs.
And thanks to huge swaths of the developing world moving up the ranks, the current bull market in commodities promises to be one for the history books– both in time and size. After all, the wants and needs of 7 billion people are an irresistible and monumental force………………………………………..Full Article: Source

STX Services BV, Europe’s leading voice and electronic broker in environmental based commodities, announced today that it has launched an electronic auction platform for the sale and purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (Guarantees of Origin (GoO)) relating to EU power consumption.
This unique auction, in which multiple buyers and sellers may participate concurrently, achieves a perfect simulation of an open market place. The design of the auction has been inspired by other well established markets, including metals and fixed income, in which auctions play an important role………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Europe’s solar power market is expected to drive a rebound in activity in the region’s renewable energy mergers and acquisitions (M&A) sector in the second quarter, consultancy PwC said in a report on Monday.
A steep drop in module prices is expected to accelerate demand, making the sector an attractive long-term investment opportunity set to revive power market M&A after a weak start to the year, PwC said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

No wonder the push back against clean energy is so strong. A staggering amount of money is at stake. I had not realized quite how much impact that switching to clean energy will have on the dirty energy industry, currently the richest industry on the planet.
The IEA 2012 report on global progress on cutting greenhouse gases to prevent the worst effects of climate change includes an estimate of the immediate financial costs of investing in newer cleaner forms of energy in various forms………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The IEA and Global CCS Institute presented the report, ‘Tracking Progress in Carbon Capture and Storage’, at the 3rd Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting in London. At the 2011 CEM meeting in Abu Dhabi, the CEM Carbon Capture, Use and Storage Action Group (CCUS AG) presented seven recommendations on concrete, near-term actions to accelerate global carbon capture and storage deployment.
The new report tracks progress made against the 2011 recommendations and focuses on key questions such as how Energy Ministers can continue to drive progress to enable CCS to fully contribute to climate change mitigation………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Each year, the International Energy Agency puts out a study of what technological advances are needed to keep global warming below 2°C. The 2012 report (pdf) is out and the grades are dismal: Aside from a recent boom in wind and solar power, the world isn’t making much progress.
The IEA doesn’t just look at recent trends in greenhouse-gas emissions — after all, those can rise and fall with the economy. Instead, it looks at what clean-energy technologies are actually coming online………………………………………..Full Article: Source

In a bizarre presentation at the April 25 London conference of the IEA the agency held fast to the now heavily shopsoiled doctrine of catastrophic global warming, and used that as its main plank to put out the begging bowl for $5 trillion.
This is the IEA’s estimate of what is needed for its unreal mix and mingle of energy gimmicks and real energy solutions, that it calls Clean Energy Progress………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Governments are falling badly behind on low-carbon energy, putting carbon reduction targets out of reach and pushing the world to the brink of catastrophic climate change, says the International Energy Agency in its annual “Tracking Clean Energy Progress” report, issued.
“The world’s energy system is being pushed to breaking point. Our addiction to fossil fuels grows stronger each year. Many clean energy technologies are available but they are not being deployed quickly enough to avert potentially disastrous consequences.” writes Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), in the Guardian………………………………………..Full Article: Source

While progress is being made on renewable energy, most clean energy technologies are not being deployed quickly enough, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today in an annual progress report presented to ministers and representatives of nations that together account for four-fifths of global energy demand.

The report, Tracking Clean Energy Progress, highlighted the rapid progress made in some renewable technologies, notably the solar panels easily installed by households and businesses (solar PV) and in onshore wind technologies. In fact, onshore wind has seen 27% average annual growth over the past decade, and solar PV has grown at 42%, albeit from a small base………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Ministers attending clean energy summit in London to be gravely warned about continuing global addiction to fossil fuels.
Governments are falling badly behind on low-carbon energy, putting carbon reduction targets out of reach and pushing the world to the brink of catastrophic climate change, the world’s leading independent energy authority will warn on Wednesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The IEA said it was investigating implications of a potential investment shortfall in upstream activity in the Middle East and North African energy sector.
The International Energy Agency said much of the world’s remaining oil and natural gas reserves are in Middle East and North African countries………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Clean energy investment in the first quarter of the year was at its weakest level since the global financial crisis, according to new figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) that will raise fresh questions about the impact of policy uncertainty on green business confidence.
The analyst firm reported that new financial investment in clean energy during the first three months of the year reached $27bn, down 28 per cent on the previous quarter and 22 per cent year on year. Michael Liebreich, BNEF chief executive, said……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Play - Download this article

|

Play - Download Full Briefing

|

Subscribe to the Podcast Feed

The US has regained top spot from China as the biggest investor in clean energy in 2011, according to global rankings. The table, published in a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, showed that US invested more than $48bn (£30bn) in the sector, up from $34bn in 2010.
China slipped to second place, the authors reported, with investment only increasing by $0.5bn to $45.5bn. Globally, overall financial backing in clean energy technologies hit a record $263bn, up 6.5% from 2010 levels………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Play - Download this article

|

Play - Download Full Briefing

|

Subscribe to the Podcast Feed

Iran’s deputy oil minister says the country has become the first member state of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to manufacture indigenous gas turbines.
Mohammad-Reza Moqaddam said Monday that gas turbines are among high-tech equipment whose technology is monopolized by a handful of European and American companies………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Little remarked by most analysts of the OECD-wide financial and debt rout in 2008-2011, world energy demand rebounded fast from its sharp plunge in 2008-2009. For the year 2010 the BP Statistical Review of 2011 painted a dramatic rebound story.
World energy demand jumped by 5.6% led by coal demand growing over 7%, gas demand growing almost as much, and oil consumption by 3.1% as China moved to become the world’s biggest single energy using nation. With no surprise, oil prices rose by 29% on average in 2010 from the year previous………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Play - Download this article

|

Play - Download Full Briefing

|

Subscribe to the Podcast Feed

Now that the U.S. economy is showing signs of life after debt, President Barack Obama has decided it’s safe to hold up his administration’s less than stellar economic record as a selling point on the campaign trail. But one big dark cloud still hovers overhead: the steadily rising price of oil in general and gasoline in particular.
Oil prices are plainly headed in the wrong direction for an economy still in the early stages of recovery and reliant on energy imports. Benchmark Brent crude closed in on $125 (U.S.) a barrel Friday, a hike of more than 30 per cent so far this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The demand for Uranium is increasing, despite Japanese nuclear disaster, and countries will continue to depend on Uranium to meet their energy requirements, says Sasha Cekeravac, co-editor of Penny Stocks Detectives.
In a recent article, Cekeravac says the U.S. is now proceeding with building the first nuclear power plant in over 30 years, while Japan, China, and India have not slowed down their significant investments in uranium which supports the statement that countries need uranium to meet their energy demands………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Every one focuses on the brightest spots in the market. But let me talk about the darkest star instead. Physicists say that the darkest matter also shines brightest when it glows. A savvy investor notices what others ignore, and appreciates the beauty of Cinderella before she is invited to a royal party and admired by all.
The darkest star is literally dark in color. This sector is also at its darkest moment now. It will soon glow from the darkness and become the brightest star. I am talking about coal………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Reporting a drop in earnings at its agricultural products division, a relatively small part of its business, the commodity trading giant noted it was seeing a “negative biodiesel production margin environment in Europe.”
In response, the company said it last year cut its biodiesel production volumes by 32pc against 2011 and mothballed its Schwarzheide plant in Germany. “The outlook in Europe remains challenging,” was the less than cheery conclusion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Nuclear power will not go away, but its role may never be more than marginal. America’s nuclear bubble burst not after the accident at Three Mile Island but five years before it. The French nuclear-power programme, the most ambitious by far of the 1980s, continued largely undisturbed after Chernobyl, though other countries did pull back.
The West’s “nuclear renaissance” much bruited over the past decade, in part as a response to climate change, fizzled out well before the roofs blew off Fukushima’s first, third and fourth reactor buildings. Today’s most dramatic nuclear expansion, in China, may be tempered by Fukushima, but it will not be halted………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The value of resources and energy exports from Australia in 2011 jumped 15% on year to a record A$190 billion, the government’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics reported Thursday.
The record value of resources and energy exports in 2011 reflects increased earnings for most of these commodities, including iron ore, coal, liquefied natural gas, oil and base metals, BREE’s executive director and chief economist, Quentin Grafton, said in a statement………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Environment ministers meeting in Brussels on Friday are likely to urge the EU’s executive to look at practical ways to drive green investment, but to stop short of calling for intervention to prop up carbon permits that have lost much of their value.
European Union politicians last month voted in favor of withholding permits from the bloc’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), to try to support a market that is too weak to fulfill the goal of encouraging low carbon investment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Hedge funds reduced bullish bets on natural gas by the most in eight months as forecasts for warmer- than-usual weather in the eastern U.S. signaled a drop in heating-fuel use with supplies near a seasonal record.
Money managers cut wagers on rising prices for the first time in seven weeks, reducing positions by 56 percent in the seven days ended Feb. 28, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders report. It was the biggest decline since June 28………………………………………..Full Article: Source