Plastic is cheap, but it’s an ecological, environmental, and human health disaster that actually costs Americans over $1 trillion a year, according to some estimates. By 2040, plastic waste management alone will cost the United States nearly $37 billion a year. Plastic is everywhere. We built it to be durable. We built it to be forever, and without the advanced technology to break it back down into something usable, its unstoppable production momentum will bury us all alive. Breaking down something that was manufactured to last forever has…

For years now, China has been the world’s most generous sponsor of alternative energy systems and electric vehicles. This has not only made it the biggest market for such technologies but also the biggest exporter, and that has helped the country offset economic troubles in other sectors and cement its place as the top transition player globally. China’s economy is undergoing a seismic shift, where the previously dominant real estate sector has been hit by turmoil and is no longer the engine of the country’s growth, Reuters’…

The massive energy needs of AI servers and hyperscale data centers are driving a boom in grid storage. Standalone battery systems are scaling at an unprecedented rate to pair with solar and wind power, enhancing grid stability and base-load capability. The global BESS market is experiencing explosive structural growth, driven by the integration of renewable energy and declining lithium-ion costs.  Global BESS capacity is projected to surge by up to 15x in the current decade, with market value expected to exceed $100 billion by 2030. …

Hydropower is the quiet workhorse driving the global clean energy transition. Although it gets just a mere fraction of the media and political attention that solar and wind energy do, hydropower is by far the largest source of clean energy worldwide, and is the third-largest source of power overall, after coal and natural gas. In 2024, hydro provided nearly 15% of all the world’s electricity. However, hydropower has been declining in global energy systems. This could spell major trouble for global climate goals, not to mention energy security…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 9.1 million barrels in the week ending May 15. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 2.188 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 3.4 million-barrel draw for the current reporting period. US crude inventories have risen by 26 million barrels so far this year, according to API data. Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continue to draw down in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on prices. For week ending May…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 9.1 million barrels in the week ending May 15. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories fell by 2.188 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 3.4 million-barrel draw for the current reporting period. US crude inventories have risen by 26 million barrels so far this year, according to API data. Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) continue to draw down in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on prices. For week ending May…

The second energy crisis in four years is further eroding Europe’s industrial competitiveness as energy costs are spiking again and undermining the European ambition to compete with the United States and China to attract AI and data center developments. Energy costs in Europe are so much higher than in the U.S. or Asia, and the grid stability is so fragile and in dire need of modernization and upgrades that many European countries are out of the competition for hosting new data/AI centers. In addition, Europe’s already congested grid…

U.S. natural gas exporters are asking Europe for something increasingly common in global energy markets these days: a timeout. American LNG suppliers want the European Union to push back enforcement of its methane emissions rules until at least 2028, arguing the regulations are already creating enough uncertainty to freeze long-term gas deals at exactly the wrong moment. Charlie Riedl, senior vice president of the Natural Gas Supply Association, said Tuesday that some U.S. companies have gone as far as telling commercial teams not to sign long-term…

U.S. natural gas exporters are asking Europe for something increasingly common in global energy markets these days: a timeout. American LNG suppliers want the European Union to push back enforcement of its methane emissions rules until at least 2028, arguing the regulations are already creating enough uncertainty to freeze long-term gas deals at exactly the wrong moment. Charlie Riedl, senior vice president of the Natural Gas Supply Association, said Tuesday that some U.S. companies have gone as far as telling commercial teams not to sign long-term…

If we think of electricity purely as a commodity, then we should apply to it the one financial rule that dominates all commodity markets everywhere: the lowest cost producer always wins. The logic behind this is simple. Why would anyone pay more for an identical product, scarcity concerns notwithstanding? If a pound (or kilo) of say sugar was $5 at store A and $10 at store B, it’s no mystery whose inventory will sell out first. The same logic applies to the production of electricity. And, to us, that’s why industry leaders have been…

Kazakhstan’s mining sector is booming just as the country’s water supply is coming under increasing stress from climate change, antiquated infrastructure, and a growing population. Water supply will be vital to the sector’s long-term success, yet the issue is all too often overlooked by governments and investors, experts say. “Water scarcity in Central Asia is discussed almost entirely as an agricultural problem … it rarely appears in mining company risk registers,” Vlad Paddack, an analyst at Nightingale Int.,…

Europe’s post-Russian energy system is increasingly being built around Norwegian gas. As the continent continues adapting to the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Norwegian natural gas has emerged as one of the region’s most strategically valuable energy supplies—offering political stability, lower emissions, and direct pipeline access at a time when reliability now matters as much as price. Equinor has signed a new five-year natural gas supply agreement with Dutch energy company Eneco reinforcing Norway’s…

The United States has become the oil and gas supplier of last resort for many importers amid the Middle East crisis. The reason it could become the supplier of last resort was shale, so the question naturally arises whether the U.S. shale revolution could be repeated in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, the answer is “Not likely.” Wood Mackenzie recently reported on the main advantages of the U.S. shale oil and gas industry and why it would be difficult to replicate its success in other jurisdictions. Among these advantages,…

Venezuela is making a fresh pitch to foreign oil companies: this time, if things go sideways, you may not have to fight it out in Caracas. Oil Minister Paula Henao said Tuesday that Venezuela’s new hydrocarbons framework will allow contract disputes to be resolved outside the country, offering international arbitration options in what appears to be an effort to tackle one of the industry's biggest concerns: legal certainty. Because when executives say they want "stability," what they often mean is: if a multi-billion-dollar project blows…

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to arrive in Beijing for a two-day state visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as both navigate strained relations with the West and an ongoing war in Iran that has choked global energy supplies. Putin's May 19-20 visit, his 25th to China since he first came to power more than two decades ago, comes less than a week after Xi hosted US President Donald Trump in the Chinese capital. The trip coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001, and Moscow said Putin and…

India's electricity grid is expanding at a slower pace than the boom in renewable energy installations, leading to increased share of clean energy curtailments and threatening to slow the solar and wind boom in the world's most populous country. Grid and transmission constraints accounted for nearly two-thirds of all renewable energy curtailment at 300 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first quarter of the year, clean energy think tank Ember said in a report on Tuesday. “This growing mismatch between fast-moving solar projects and slower-moving…

India's electricity grid is expanding at a slower pace than the boom in renewable energy installations, leading to increased share of clean energy curtailments and threatening to slow the solar and wind boom in the world's most populous country. Grid and transmission constraints accounted for nearly two-thirds of all renewable energy curtailment at 300 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first quarter of the year, clean energy think tank Ember said in a report on Tuesday. “This growing mismatch between fast-moving solar projects and slower-moving…

India's electricity grid is expanding at a slower pace than the boom in renewable energy installations, leading to increased share of clean energy curtailments and threatening to slow the solar and wind boom in the world's most populous country. Grid and transmission constraints accounted for nearly two-thirds of all renewable energy curtailment at 300 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first quarter of the year, clean energy think tank Ember said in a report on Tuesday. “This growing mismatch between fast-moving solar projects and slower-moving…

Oil prices steadied near $110 as Trump delayed planned action against Iran and Washington extended waivers for buyers of Russian crude. Historic SPR Drawdowns Propel US Crude to Global Markets - Record US SPR volumes are pushing out record volumes of US crude to the export markets, with May US oil exports potentially surpassing the 5.5 million b/d threshold for the first time in history. - A record 9.9 million barrels were drawn from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve last week, lowering the total inventories held in US SPR sites to just 374 million…

Iran wants the U.S. blockade and sanctions to be lifted and Iran’s frozen funds to be released in the latest peace proposal to the United States, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday. “The Iranian proposal to end the war includes the country’s insistence on its right to uranium enrichment and peaceful nuclear activities, an end to conflicts across all fronts including Lebanon, the lifting of the US naval blockade, the release of Iranian assets, compensation by the United States for damage caused during the latest war to support…