Volume 1, Issue 11
April 11, 2016 – April 17, 2016
Jason Mulderrig | Anushka Dasgupta
Energy Storage:
SunEdison, Becoming So Big It Fails, Prepares for Bankruptcy http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/business/energy-environment/sunedison-becoming-so-big-it-fails-prepares-for-bankruptcy.html?ref=energy-environment&_r=0
April 15, 2016 | Diane Cardwell After weeks of rumors of financial woes, SunEdison formally filed for bankruptcy in the United States this past Friday. This signifies the end of a brutal year for SunEdison. How did SunEdison come crashing down? Unfortunately, the company tried to expand into too many subsets of the energy sector (wind, energy storage, and residential solar) in too many markets (United States, India, China and Brazil) too quickly. In addition, SunEdison attempted to acquired Vivint Solar to catalyze its residential solar arm. But that deal met resistance and several suits. As a result, SunEdison acquired a large amount of debt that it failed to pay off in a timely fashion, leaving it teetering on the edge of oblivion today. -JPM
Coal and Oil:
Inside a Western Town That Refuses to Quit Coal http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/inside-a-western-town-that-refuses-to-quit-coal/
April 12, 2016 | Elizabeth Harball “Coal is our baby and should be our baby,” says one business advocate from the idyllic town of Colstrip, Montana. The coal-powered Colstrip plant has been central to the town’s economy since its construction in the ‘70s. Its status as one of the top carbon-emitting plants in the U.S., however, has brought on attacks from legislators and environmentalists alike. The plant is no longer Montana-owned – five of its six stakeholders are based in the left-leaning states of Oregon and Washington – and economic, as much as environmental, pressures are escalating its shutdown. Oregon will have severed all ties to the plant by 2030. Colstrip residents, however, are fighting against what they feel is a breach of loyalty on the part of states which once relied heavily on coal-fired plants. Changes, no matter how necessary, disrupt comfortable lives. The article investigates the issue quite deftly. -AD
US Issues New Rules on Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/15/us/politics/us-issuesnew-rules-on-offshore-oil-and-gas-drilling.html?ref=energy-environment
April 14, 2016 | Coral Davenport Just shy of the sixth year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon accident, the Department of the Interior is releasing the final set of a series of rules and regulations over the offshore oil industry. These rules include tougher inspection standards on blowout preventers and shear rams, the devices that are the last line of protection to stop explosions in undersea wells. The new rules also add harsher requirements to the design of undersea wells. Environmentalists expressed displeasure at the rule release, claiming that the rules do not go far enough in preventing future oil accidents, particularly with Arctic oil drilling. Oil industry leaders also expressed displeasure for the rules, but they claim that the new regulations are onerous and could potentially hamper safety. -JPM
Power Generation:
This Tiny Turbine Could be the Next Big Thing in Power http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a20359/ge-minirotor-co2-powered-turbine/
April 11, 2016 | Eric Limer We’ve watched digital electronics shrink in size exponentially in the last three decades, but power generation hasn’t followed the same trajectory. General Electric is working on what may be our best shot yet: a turbine that is “desk-sized” but generates 10-30 MW of power, enough to power 10,000 homes. The mini-rotor will operate using carbon dioxide pressurized and heated until it’s in a supercritical state. Since supercritical fluid kept close to critical conditions is easier to pressurize and depressurize, the device can be smaller, more customizable, and higher in efficiency than a typical steam turbine. -AD
Extras:
Peabody Energy, A Coal Giant, Seeks Bankruptcy Protection http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/business/energy-environment/peabody-energy-coal-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection.html?ref=energy-environment
April 13, 2016 | Clifford Krauss
After Bankruptcies, Coal’s Dirty Legacy Lives On http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/opinion/after-bankruptcies-coals-dirty-legacy-lives-on.html?ref=energy-environment
April 14, 2016 | Tom Sanzillo and David Schlissel
Don’t Expect Any Real Oil Production Freezes From Doha http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkrancer/2016/04/15/dont-expect-any-real-oil-production-freezes-from-doha/?ss=energy#15c483dc6f31
April 15, 2016 | Michael Krancer
What To Expect At the Doha Oil Freeze Talks http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremymaxie/2016/04/15/what-to-expect-at-the-doha-oil-freeze-talks/?ss=energy#56e4f1cf7a57
April 15, 2016 | Jeremy Maxie
Global Investment In Solar Slips, Venture Capital Shifts Focus to Downstream http://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2016/04/11/global-investment-in-solar-slips-venture-capital-shifts-focus-to-downstream/?ss=energy#e7657f262e0e
April 11, 2016 | William Pentland
The U.S. Should Follow China And Spain’s Lead And Build More ‘Connectivity’ Infrastructure http://www.forbes.com/sites/currentaccounts/2016/04/11/the-u-s-should-follow-china-and-spains-lead-and-build-more-connectivity-infrastructure/?ss=energy#5c066a5e40c0
April 11, 2016 | Parag Khanna
Where America Gets Its Oil: The Top 10 Foreign Suppliers of Crude To The U.S. http://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2016/04/11/where-america-gets-its-oil-the-top-10-suppliers-of-u-s-oil-imports/?ss=energy#23d6966c97d0
April 11, 2016 | Robert Rapier
The Other Side of the Solar Firestorm in Nevada http://fortune.com/2016/04/12/solar-firestorm-nevada/
April 11, 2016 | Katie Fehrenbacher