Archive for the 'Energy' Category
Apple Makes Huge Solar Power Investment
February 11th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. And I’m holding one almost worthless February 27th put option on Apple. — Huge? Huge, in terms of the solar industry? Yes. Huge. But is it huge in terms of Apple? This story is being reported all over the place, but consider that $850 million represents […]
Stopped Out of USO
February 10th, 2015Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I set a stop limit order to get me out of USO with a few cents gain in case it went down again. Well, that’s what happened early this morning. The picture on oil is more blurry now. I can see […]
Oil Caps Biggest 2-Week Gain in 17 Years
February 7th, 2015Disclosure: I’m long oil and multiple companies involved with oil exploration and production. Via: Bloomberg: Crude oil capped the biggest two-week rally in 17 years on speculation a falling rig count will curb U.S. production growth. Price volatility rose to the highest in almost six years. Brent crude jumped 18 percent in the past 10 […]
Citigroup Predicts Battery Storage Will Hasten Demise Of Fossil Fuels, Utilities Focused on Centralized Generation
February 6th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. Via: Clean Technica: Investment bank Citigroup predicts that the wide deployment of battery storage technologies will hasten the demise of fossil fuels across the globe in the coming decade, including oil, coal and gas. And it also warns that the battery phenomenon will be even more […]
Brookings Video Piece on Aquion
February 3rd, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Bring it on. Via: Brookings Institution: More: America’s Advanced Industries: What They Are, Where They Are, and Why They Matter
Senior Abbott MP Concedes Australians Ready to Leave the Grid
January 31st, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in NZ. Via: RenewEconomy: A senior member of Australia’s ruling Coalition has conceded that Australian consumers are ready to leave the grid, and rely instead on solar and storage, and suggested that state-owned assets such as electricity networks need to be sold quickly before they lose too much value. […]
Oil Surges 8 Percent as U.S. Rig Count Plunges, Shorts Scramble
January 30th, 2015Disclosure: I’m long oil and multiple companies involved with oil exploration and production. Via: Reuters: Oil prices roared back from six-year lows on Friday, rocketing more than 8 percent as a record weekly decline in U.S. oil drilling fueled a frenzy of short-covering. In a rally that may spur speculation that a seven-month price collapse […]
Intervention in Civil Wars Far More Likely in Oil-Rich Nations
January 29th, 2015Via: Independent: Conspiracy theorists have long insisted that modern wars revolve around oil. Now research suggests hydrocarbons play an even bigger role in conflicts than they had suspected. According to academics from the Universities of Portsmouth, Warwick and Essex, foreign intervention in a civil war is 100 times more likely when the afflicted country has […]
Rooftop Solar Now Cheaper Than the Grid in 42 of the 50 Biggest U.S. Cities
January 27th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. Via: Utility Drive: New numbers show solar-generated electricity is ready for head-on competition with utility-delivered electricity. Nearly 21 million single-family homeowners in 42 of the 50 biggest U.S. cities can now expect to pay less for electricity from solar than for electricity they buy from their […]
Brazil Orders Rolling Blackouts as Electricity Demand Spikes in Record Heat
January 20th, 2015Via: Reuters: Rolling blackouts swept across parts of Brazil on Monday as the grid operator ordered select power cuts to avoid a larger crisis, drawing attention to a fragile electric system that is buckling under the strains of record-breaking heat and dryness. Grid operator ONS said it orchestrated 2,200 megawatts of controlled outages in eight […]
