Top 3
1) Coal to surpass oil to be top fuel by 2020 - as clean energy investment falls
Rising demand in China and India and little or no fall in demand from the US and Europe will see the world rely most on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels by 2020 - according to a report by Woods Mackenzie. It comes even as the International Energy Agency Friday raised its forecast for oil demand growth this year on signs of improvement in the European economy and higher-than-expected power usage in other regions. Clean energy investment, on the other hand is headed for its second annual decline, according to figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The US saw the sharpest fall but investment in the EU and China also fell.
2) UK nuclear deal nears
The UK is 'extremely close' to a deal with French state owned firm EDF to build the first new nuclear plant in a generation. The news comes as UK finance minister, George Osborne, arrives in China where he is expected to sign a deal allowing Chinese firms to build nuclear power plants in the UK. It will also confirm Chinese investment and some influence in operating the new EDF plant.
3) Government can't stop bills rising
It would be hard for the Energy Secretary to trump £50bn of investment in new nuclear without mentioning that it may impact bills (though not impossible - see here), so he didn't, he said he couldn't stop bills rising. The FT duly blogged on the government's own figures showing clean energy would cost £95 a year by 2020, the Mail reported that it was all Ed's fault (I dunno, but do you think there is a theme here) and Greenpeace's Joss Garman (writing in the Indie) pointed out that extreme oil and gas extraction - like the Arctic - only makes sense if we're using expensive fossil fuels.
UK
British Greenpeace activists denied bail in Russia
Two Britons arrested after a Greenpeace protest at an offshore oil drilling rig have been denied bail in Russia. The news comes as the Kremlin's human rights advisor compared charging activists with Piracy to a charge of 'gang rape' of an oil platform and said they should be charged with minor hooliganism 'at most'. Dominic Lawson in the Mail says he prefers Putin to Greenpeace.
International
France bans fracking - again
The French supreme court has upheld a government ban on fracking saying the move was constitutional. The decision came after an appeal led by the French oil industry.
EU Energy CEO's call for end to renewable subsidies
Saying it adds too much power to a market struggling with over-capacity. However, a new study also blames Renewable for jeopardising Europe's energy security this winter saying it could lead to blackouts. Confused? Renewables undercut the price of traditional power sources like gas, leading them to be brought offline yet the grid has not been adapted to intermittant power sources and energy companies won't invest as they don't see a profit. So, a problem.
US shale not very profitable or easy to replicate
Two analysis pieces in the FT argue that US shale (gas) has been surprisingly unprofitable and will be hard to repeat elsewhere. Oil firms complain that fracking needs constant investment because as Mr Voser told the FT: “[Shale well] decline rates are very high, so after 18 months your production drops very sharply.” However - whilst US gas is cheap gas elsewhere is expensive - so why so hard to replicate? The FT's Guy Chazan says the unique combination of existing infrastructure, property rights and geology from the US has proven hard to find though he identifies the UK and Russia as two promising areas.
Gazprom 'on the ropes'
The NYT opines that Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled Russian gas giant, is facing an imminent barrage of European Union antitrust charges, even as it deals with falling demand in Europe, a threat from the rising international shale gas market and increasing domestic competition. Even the Ukrainians are escaping from Gazprom contracts.
