Many U.S. coal-fired power plants will be around producing electricity longer than previously planned—but no thanks to President Donald Trump’s vocal support for the “beautiful, clean” coal.  After a decade of flat U.S. electricity consumption, surging power demand due to the AI and data center boom has prompted some utilities to prolong the lives of coal plants scheduled for retirement.  The Trump Administration has just signaled it would work to defer coal plant closures and possibly reopen shut plants to ensure…

Europe’s largest green hydrogen facility is underway in Germany, with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 72,000 metric tons annually. The uniquely designed proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzer can supply the main plant it's attached to with up to one metric ton of green hydrogen per hour to serve as a chemical feedstock. Once up and running, the 54MW PEM electrolyzer will generate over 8,000 tons of green hydrogen annually. The project is a collaboration between chemical sector heavyweight BASF and Siemens…

With the United States threatening to impose tariffs on products from several countries worldwide, many governments are looking to strengthen alternative trade links to secure their supply chains. U.S. President Donald Trump has already imposed some trade tariffs on Mexico and Canada – despite their ongoing UMSCA free trade agreement – and China and has threatened tariffs on other countries and regions, notably the European Union. This has encouraged several country leaders to explore alternative trade options, particularly when it…

Consumers in New York are incensed by high electricity bills and even higher ones if the electric companies get their rate hike requests approved. British electricity customers are also unhappy with their price increases. Right-wing politicians on both sides of the Atlantic blame it all on those woke renewable energy requirements. Another excuse to see them gone.   Unfortunately for the dogmatists, much of the blame lies with the price of natural gas, or more to the point, the way the price of natural gas sets all electricity prices in…

As the world strives to decarbonize by deploying more renewable energy capacity, technological breakthroughs in green energy equipment are helping governments achieve their goals. Solar panel technology has come leaps and bounds over the last decade, and researchers worldwide are racing to continue improving the technology to support a global green transition. Several new solar technologies may help massively boost the efficiency of solar panels, helping to produce more power while using less space.  When the first solar cell was invented…

In order to support meaningful progress toward decarbonization in our energy industry, policy mechanisms must become clearer, less redundant, and more efficient. Removing headachey and byzantine permitting processes and providing more transparency and accuracy in oversight and application of policy and policy mechanisms will be critical to removing bottlenecks in green energy expansion. On a global scale, more efficient and effective energy policy will be critical to meet COP 28’s Consensus goal of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.…

Delivering a green future for the Grangemouth oil refinery will require around £3.5bn in private investment, a report has found. The long-awaited Project Willow study, which itself cost £1.5m, sets out nine options for the future of the industrial cluster in central Scotland. Hundreds of jobs are set to be lost this year when the oil refinery there closes – and the report has identified nine “feasible” proposals which could attract private investment. These include plastic recycling, fermenting timber into bioethanol,…

While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices have slipped nearly $3.50 a barrel since January—hovering uncomfortably around $68—New Mexico lawmakers just gave oil producers something else to stew over: higher royalty rates. Senate Bill 23, which passed the House of Representatives on Thursday, is now sitting on Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk. The bill raises the maximum royalty rate on the state’s premium oil and gas leases from 20% to 25%—the first change since 1970, when disco was en vogue and the EPA started…

E-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream on the planet. The world threw away a record 62 million metric tons of electronics in 2022, representing a staggering 82% increase since 2010. That’s enough waste to “fill 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper line encircling the equator,” according to the UN. And within those 62 million tons were billions of kilograms of critical and costly metals and minerals. It’s estimated that there were 130 thousand kilograms of lithium in the…

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange surpassed $10,000 per ton on Thursday, driven by concerns over President Trump's potential tariff expansion on the crucial industrial metal used in everything from electric vehicles to power grids. Traders are rushing to deliver copper into the US before potential tariffs later this year.  On Feb. 25, President Trump signed an executive order directing the US Department of Commerce to investigate the potential national security risks of copper imports, which could lead to tariffs on all copper imports—including…

The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States rose  this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday, following a period of no change in the prior week. The total rig count in the US rose by 1 to 593 rigs, according to Baker Hughes, down 31 from this same time last year as the oil industry tries with great difficulty to appreciate the pro-hydrocarbon sentiment of the Trump Administration despite it being encouched in oil prices that are not enticing for drillers. The number of oil rigs…

President Donald Trump invoked emergency powers to increase U.S. critical minerals production in a bid to reduce reliance on “hostile foreign powers’ mineral production.” In an executive order, the U.S. President invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), which is the main tool at a U.S. president’s disposal to shift economic activity toward national defense priorities. The executive order says that the Secretary of Defense may use the authority under section 303 of the DPA, for the domestic production and facilitation of…

Oil prices climbed this week as OPEC+ committed to controlling supply while Trump continued his efforts to choke Iran's oil industry. Friday, March 21st, 2025 Buoyed by Trump’s continued pressure on Iran and OPEC+’s renewed efforts to send prices higher ahead of its April meeting by committing to additional overcompensation plans, ICE Brent is creeping back closer to the $75 per barrel mark, posting its second weekly gain. The oil markets have become desensitized to US Federal Reserve meetings and with the awkward implementation…

Trump Puts Alaska Back on the Oil Map - The US Department of Interior has announced its plan this week to pursue the reopening of 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to leasing and energy project development as well as mining. - Whilst allowing for new licensing would be a welcome change for Alaska where the 2025 ANWR lease sale drew no bids whatsoever after the Biden administration restricted acreage, it would take months if not years to finalize the lengthy comments period. - As recently as last year, then-President Joe Biden banned…

Kazakhstan’s oil production reached an all-time high in March despite the country’s continued pledges to start complying with its OPEC+ quota that it has been exceeding for years. As international supermajors are expanding oilfields in Kazakhstan, the non-OPEC producer part of the OPEC+ pact pumped as much as 2.16 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate in the first half of March, industry sources told Reuters on Friday. In February, oil and condensate production averaged 2.12 million bpd. Under the OPEC+ agreement,…

Kazakhstan’s oil production reached an all-time high in March despite the country’s continued pledges to start complying with its OPEC+ quota that it has been exceeding for years. As international supermajors are expanding oilfields in Kazakhstan, the non-OPEC producer part of the OPEC+ pact pumped as much as 2.16 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate in the first half of March, industry sources told Reuters on Friday. In February, oil and condensate production averaged 2.12 million bpd. Under the OPEC+ agreement,…

US President Donald Trump says the United States soon will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine as negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the war continue. Trump told reporters at the White House on March 20 that his efforts to achieve a peace deal for the country were going "pretty well" after his talks this week with the leaders of the warring countries. "We're doing very well with regard to Ukraine and Russia. And one of the things we are doing is signing a deal very shortly with respect to rare earths with Ukraine,"…

U.S. firm KoBold Metals, whose backers include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is seeking to develop a huge hard rock lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the African country, which also has large cobalt, gold, and cobalt resources, is seeking a minerals partnership with the United States. KoBold Metals has set sights on taking over a mining license for an area, the Manono project, which promises large lithium deposits. The U.S. firm “would welcome the opportunity to develop the asset,” Sandy Alexander, the…

U.S. firm KoBold Metals, whose backers include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is seeking to develop a huge hard rock lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the African country, which also has large cobalt, gold, and cobalt resources, is seeking a minerals partnership with the United States. KoBold Metals has set sights on taking over a mining license for an area, the Manono project, which promises large lithium deposits. The U.S. firm “would welcome the opportunity to develop the asset,” Sandy Alexander, the…

U.S. firm KoBold Metals, whose backers include billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, is seeking to develop a huge hard rock lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the African country, which also has large cobalt, gold, and cobalt resources, is seeking a minerals partnership with the United States. KoBold Metals has set sights on taking over a mining license for an area, the Manono project, which promises large lithium deposits. The U.S. firm “would welcome the opportunity to develop the asset,” Sandy Alexander, the…