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China’s Embrace of Foreign Cars

China — For more than a decade, Chinese automakers have been talking about starting large-scale exports to North America and Europe, prompting periodic worries in the West that companies like General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen might be crippled by Chinese competition the way they were by Japanese imports a generation ago. Now there are calls for protectionism, but from an unexpected direction: the biggest, most politically influential Chinese automakers. Multinational corporations are steadily clawing market share from Chinese brands in their home market, as a succession of global brands have pushed their way into China. The latest insurgent is Ford Motor, which has a joint venture based here in Chongqing and has nearly doubled its market share to 4.5 percent in the last […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chinese automaker looks to overtake Tesla

As American electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc. is making a big splash in China, one Chinese auto manufacturer is aiming to take the lead in the electric car market. Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Automotive Group, speaks on the sidelines of the Boao Forum. [China.org.cn/He Shan] Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Automotive Group, told reporters on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia that his company is partnering up with an American company to roll out a new model of electric car by the end of next year. "The new model will outperform Tesla’s Model S," he said. Tesla began to take orders of the Model S last August, in the price range of 734,000 yuan to 1.1 million yuan (US$120,000 to US$179,000). Xu said Tesla’s boldness in popularizing the electric car is worth taking a lesson from, but it presents nothing new in terms of technology. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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For Utilities, It's a Whole New Game

The power business is facing unprecedented change, Across much of the U.S., demand for electricity is flat or declining. The industry’s aging infrastructure needs to be beefed up with a big capital investment. And more people are turning to distributed generation—making electricity on-site with solar panels and other methods. To see how the industry can meet these challenges, Wall Street Journal contributing editor Jeffrey Ball spoke with Nicholas K. Akins, chairman, president and chief executive of Co. Here are edited excerpts of their discussion. MR. BALL: I want to give you a couple of numbers: 2009 at American Electric Power and today. Coal, as a percentage of total electricity generation, has shifted from 86% down to 70%. Natural gas has doubled from 6% to 12%. Nuclear has doubled, from 5% to 10%. Wind renewables have more than doubled from 2% to 5%. Energy efficiency has increased a lot as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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For Utilities, It’s a Whole New Game

The power business is facing unprecedented change, Across much of the U.S., demand for electricity is flat or declining. The industry’s aging infrastructure needs to be beefed up with a big capital investment. And more people are turning to distributed generation—making electricity on-site with solar panels and other methods. To see how the industry can meet these challenges, Wall Street Journal contributing editor Jeffrey Ball spoke with Nicholas K. Akins, chairman, president and chief executive of Co. Here are edited excerpts of their discussion. MR. BALL: I want to give you a couple of numbers: 2009 at American Electric Power and today. Coal, as a percentage of total electricity generation, has shifted from 86% down to 70%. Natural gas has doubled from 6% to 12%. Nuclear has doubled, from 5% to 10%. Wind renewables have more than doubled from 2% to 5%. Energy efficiency has increased a lot as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Half of power plant capacity additions in 2013 came from natural gas

Natural gas-fired power plants accounted for just over 50% of new utility-scale generating capacity added in 2013. Solar provided nearly 22%, a jump up from less than 6% in 2012. Coal provided 11% and wind nearly 8%. Almost half of all capacity added in 2013 was located in California. In total, a little over 13,500 megawatts (MW) of new capacity was added in 2013, less than half the capacity added in 2012. Natural gas. Natural gas capacity additions were less than in 2012, as 6,861 MW were added in 2013, compared to 9,210 MW in 2012. The capacity additions came nearly equally from combustion turbine peaker plants, which generally run only during the highest peak-demand hours of the year, and combined-cycle plants, which provide intermediate and baseload power. Nearly 60% of the natural gas capacity added in 2013 was located in California. The state is facing resource adequacy concerns […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. says energy diversity equals energy security

Increased oil production not only way to break from foreign markets, Energy Department says. WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) — Reducing the dependence on oil and increasing energy security involves more than just increasing production, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil production by 2020 should pass the 9 million barrel per day mark and shale production should account for more than 80 percent of the increase from U.S. reserves. U.S. policymakers said increased production would help wean the U.S. economy off foreign imports. Moniz in a 32-page report outlining the department’s strategic plan said the U.S. economy needs a break from oil. "Although domestic oil production has increased to the extent that in 2012 net imports of petroleum fell to their lowest level in nearly 20 years, we must continue our efforts to develop alternative fuels and vehicles; as we are far from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EIA Increases 2014 WTI Price Forecast to $95.60 a Barrel

The U.S. increased its price forecast for West Texas Intermediate crude for 2014 and reduced the estimate for Brent. WTI will average $95.60 a barrel this year, the Energy Information Administration said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook . That’s up from March’s estimate of $95.33. Brent, the North Sea-based grade, will reach $104.88, down from last month’s $104.92. WTI will average $89.75 in 2015 and Brent $100.92, according to the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Those estimates are unchanged from the previous month. Brent’s average premium to WTI would be $9.28 in 2014 and $11.17 in 2015. The EIA decreased its forecast for this year’s U.S. crude output to 8.37 million barrels a day from 8.39 million. That level of 2014 production would be up 13 percent from 2013. The demand forecasts were 18.9 million for the U.S. and 91.61 million for the world versus last month’s […]

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Scale Model WWII Craft Takes Flight With Fuel From the Sea Concept

Navy researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Materials Science and Technology Division, demonstrate proof-of-concept of novel NRL technologies developed for the recovery of carbon dioxide (CO) and hydrogen (H) from seawater and conversion to a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Flying a radio-controlled replica of the historic WWII P-51 Mustang red-tail aircraft—of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen—NRL researchers (l to r) Dr. Jeffrey Baldwin, Dr. Dennis Hardy, Dr. Heather Willauer, and Dr. David Drab (crouched), successfully demonstrate a novel liquid hydrocarbon fuel to power the aircraft’s unmodified two-stroke internal combustion engine. The test provides proof-of-concept for an NRL developed process to extract carbon dioxide (CO) and produce hydrogen gas (H) from seawater, subsequently catalytically converting the CO and H into fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. (Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory) Fueled by a liquid hydrocarbon—a component of NRL’s novel gas-to-liquid (GTL) process that uses CO and H as feedstock—the research […]

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Statoil’s oil sands production saw slight decline in 2013

Statoil ASA reported a slight decrease in its oil sands production in 2013 because of a planned multiweek plant shutdown for facility maintenance and the integration of new scientific research and experimental development measures, according to the company’s 2013 Oil Sands Report. Production decreased from to 15,000 b/d of oil in 2013 from 16,000 b/d in 2012 as carbon dioxide intensity increased to 69.7 kg CO/bbl from 55.6 kg CO/bbl. The CO intensity in 2011 was 72.7 kg CO/bbl. The report—which presents performance indicators for production, energy consumption, emissions intensity, and resource use at the Leismer Demonstration Project and in the Kai Kos Dehseh (KKD) leases in northern Alberta—stated that CO intensity rose because of facility maintenance and the integration of pilot technologies to reduce long-term CO intensity. The technology pilot measures are intended to both increase production and decrease CO intensity in the long term. Statoil said its […]

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Germany Amends Green-Energy Regime to Curb Rise in Prices

The German government has amended renewable-energy laws meant to help make the country nuclear-free but that have sent power prices rocketing—squeezing consumers and the country’s formidable export machine. The cabinet approved amendments on Tuesday that it said would contain soaring electricity costs while seeking to protect German jobs in the industrial sector. The changes include less ambitious targets for wind power and a cut in subsidies for certain forms of green energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s "energy transformation," a bold and initially popular experiment to make Germany the first major industrial economy to run largely on green energy, has met strong resistance from companies and households faced with steep rises in power costs. The project revolves around subsidies that are financed by end users via a levy and meant to encourage a buildup in renewable energy capacity. Overall, the government expects such subsidies to reach €24 billion ($33 billion) this […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple