Here to Stay! Historically Low Oil Prices per Barrel (at least for 2016)

As promised one month ago, this post will attempt to summarize the otherwise complex topic of oil price per barrel and its impact on the global economy.

Generally speaking, when there is too much supply of oil compared to what the world needs on any given day, the price per barrel will go down. Likewise, when oil supply fails to keep up with what the world market demand on any given day, the price goes up.

Over the past decade or so, oil prices reached historic low levels due to the growing, oil-thirsty economies of China, India, and other developing countries. Prices well over $100 per barrel reflected the growing demand, and higher prices for consumers at the pump, as well as for consumer goods like food and clothing. The low prices also meant lower government revenues for oil exporting states in the Middle East, Russia, and in Latin America. These states base much of their budget on income from their oil exports.

Since the June 2014 start of the crude oil price collapse, the average monthly price has fallen from $105 high to $31.33 as of 1 February 2016. As the timeline chart shows below, there are small spikes in the price over time, yet the overall trend has been lower prices.

Crude Oil Price Collapse from July 2014 (Source: Macrotrends.net)

Energy analysts note that the low prices are likely to stick around for 2016. Below, the animated video below from Bloomberg Business offers a few discussion points of what the energy sector will look like in the upcoming year, and beyond.

Why 2016 Could Be a Turning Point in the Energy Revolution (Source: YouTube, Bloomberg Business)

All of the videos and images found on this blog are easily found on YouTube or on the Internet. Thank you for reading.

Happy New Year, 2016! ...and boy, is it warm out there!

Best wishes to all for the new year, 2016!

At the close of 2015, it appears that many areas around the world have been experiencing unusually warm temperatures for the winter season.

In the video below, meteorologist and economist Jim Roemer discusses some of the economic benefits for many countries in years when the South Pacific's warm El Nino currents are particularly strong. Keeping in mind his expertise in these areas, his perspective offers but one assessment of why the winter has been warm, and even that it may not be so bad for economies around the world.

Is the Warm Winter Because of El Nino or Climate Change? (Video: Bloomberg Business, 12/28/2015)

See you all on January 15. The impact of sustained low oil prices per barrel will be the topic of the day with thoughts from energy expert Stephen Schork. 

The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement

Finally, 195 countries around the world came to an agreement on how to address climate change through such measures as curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and financial aid from rich to poor countries as they follow their individual paths to economic development.

Only time will tell whether the ambitious agreement will take hold once countries are able to begin signing, and then ratifying the measures from April 2016. Moreover, the agreement will only come into effect if 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions ratify the agreement by 2020. Even then, the text only contains "aims" and "promises" from countries rather than more specific targets attached to negative consequences for not adopting them within a set time range. (For the full text of the agreement, click on the hyperlink: 2015 Paris Agreement.)

Following suit, the first video below offers a brief summary of the agreement itself, while the second explains some common misconceptions about climate change.

What you need to know about the Paris climate agreement (video: USA Today, 12/12/2015)

What people get wrong about climate change (video: VOX, 12/12/2015)

Off to Paris the World's Leaders Go

This year's climate conference in Paris may be the most significant such meeting since 1998's conference in Kyoto. Despite the number of international signatories gathered in Japan, including US President Bill Clinton, the agreed greenhouse gas emission cuts failed to be adopted into law by many of the countries after that conference's close. The primary reason was that five of the worlds largest polluters, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (also known as the BRICS) were exempt from the emissions cuts to 1990 levels due to their "developing" economies that all other countries still had to adopt.

This year's Conference of Parties (or COP21) aims to expand the dialogue on climate change. Recent agreements between the world's two largest polluter's, China and the United States, may give the needed push to set the wheels of sustainable development, clean energy and environmental resilience in motion.

The video below summarizes COP21 as it takes place from Monday, yesterday through next Friday, December 11 in Paris. Compliments for the video would be in order to the production team at GreenTV.

Thanks for reading. See you with a summary report on the conference on December 15.

Fuel Cells: Filling the Renewable Electricity Gap

Fuel cells transform chemical energy from a fuel into electricity. The chemical reaction that happens inside the cell takes positively-charged hydrogen ions, and becomes electricity when combined with an oxidizing element like oxygen. (i.e. hydrogen + oxygen = H2O = Steam!)

These devices will be one of many energy storage options that will provide for the seamless flow of electricity from otherwise intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar.

The video below comes courtesy of the Environmental Defense Fund. It explains what a fuel cell is, how it works, and its practical application even in supplementing the electricity already on the grid. As you will see, Bloom Energy's fuel cells are unique for their size, resource-use efficiency, and lack of toxic byproducts such as acid.

To all of my American readers: I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. To all of my readers around the world: Thank you for stopping by and see you on December 1!

Smart Grid in Action: The Hoboken Microgrid

Smart Grids are reclaiming the crumbling electric grid of the United States. The current grid is still basically the one that Thomas Edison designed long before his death in 1931. His design allowed heavy, coal fire plants to provide electricity for both residential and industrial needs. Updating, rather than re-doing the grid since that time has looked more like a patch work job, than that of a technologically modernizing country.

One element of new Smart Grids popping up is the Microgrid. Just as it sounds, the Microgrid distributes electricity on a micro scale together with or separate from the larger grid around it. Critical infrastructures from one building or as much as an entire town or city neighborhood can fall under the power protection of these isolated grids. They come in handy during times of man made or natural disaster. While diesel or natural gas back-up generators were the 'go-to' back up systems of the past, renewable resources like the solar and wind with utility size battery storage increasingly attract the attention of public and private investors worldwide.

Microgrids and How the Work 

(Video courtesy of CockrellSchool)

The Hoboken, New Jersey Microgrid project is a perfect example of how locally resourced backups can protect electricity access even when the surrounding grid has gone into power outage. One characteristic of all Microgrids, as you will see in the video, becomes the close collaboration between communities, local, state and federal authorities, along with civil society groups and private sector companies.

How Microgrids Improve Resiliency in Power Outages | Clean Energy Supply 

(Video courtesy of Pew)

Transforming the Crumbling U.S. Electricity Grid into Something BRIGHTER

First off, I would like to apologize for the month-long hiatus, but now we're back in business with lots of grid to cover.

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In the past few years, local utilities, the mass media, and product commercials have been using the term "smart grid" with regard to electricity metering at your home, breakthrough technologies, electric cars, and even home appliances.

All of these elements belong to the ongoing transformation of the United States electric grid from the one that inventor Thomas Edison designed over 100 years ago, entailing one-direction delivery from heavy, sooty coal-fire plants to end users, and into a flexible 21st-century grid that allows for two-way communication between utility, independent electricity producers, and individuals.

Renewable sources like solar and wind, small hydro, geothermal plus energy storage innovations currently and eventually will replace the country's reliance on old fossil-fuel technology as part of the Smart Grid.

The video below from the U.S. Department of Energy offers a basic explanation of what the Smart Grid does, and how it will evolve as the country moves forward.

The next post (Coming Sunday, November 1) will show an exciting, real-life application of the Smart Grid in New Jersey.

Until then, thanks for stopping by!