The Fuse

Close The Fuse < Back to Minerals and Materials by Alex Adams | @alexjhadams | September 27, 2022 As the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) prepares to update its list of critical minerals—a rundown of 35 minerals deemed critical to the economic and national security of the United States—industry and analysts are quietly anticipating that nickel will be part of the updated list.

Portland, Oregon is aiming to halt the expansion of any infrastructure designed to transport or store fossil fuels in the city or its surrounding waterways, even while proposals to move crude through the region are growing. The city council unanimously approved a measure last week to curb the transportation of fossil fuels in the area, but the city is now facing the more challenging phase of putting it into action.

Energy hasn’t been the most widely discussed issue during the 2016 election cycle, but that doesn’t mean sectors of the industry don’t have a wide-ranging agenda. Companies are pouring money into the coffers of candidates and political action committees (PACs) in order to get their voices heard and prepare for policy fights once the elections are over.

Some of the largest automakers unveiled a slew of new commitments and spending plans to scale up their electric vehicle lineups at the start of the year. The pace of EV adoption is accelerating, a hopeful trend for the energy transition. At the same time, decarbonizing the transportation sector is not occurring anywhere close to what is needed to address the climate emergency. More EVs, more manufacturing, larger commitments The recent history in the automotive sector has been dizzying.

The Fuse < Back to Oil and the Economy by Nick Cunningham | January 06, 2022 The U.S. recently jumped into the top spot as the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), overtaking Qatar and Australia. The increase of gas exports comes at a time of tightness in global LNG markets, with American LNG providing supply at a time when certain importing markets, particularly in Europe, are looking for cargoes.

The outlook for progress on tackling the climate crisis over the coming decade took a major hit on Sunday when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (D) announced his opposition to the Build Back Better Act. There is a long list of policies and actions that governments at the state, local, and federal level can take to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

The emergence of the Omicron variant in late November ended the year-long oil price rally, but analysts are still trying to gauge the full impact. A fresh set of reports from analysts see weakening demand as case counts surge, although there is little consensus on the magnitude of the hit. Nevertheless, the oil market is on track for a supply surplus in early 2022, and some experts see OPEC+ pausing the production increases in response.

The oil and gas industry has tried to pin extreme market volatility on the clean energy transition and higher prices on government policies restricting fossil fuel production. The claims are unfounded, and are cynical attempts to tarnish climate policy. Indeed, the Biden administration has permitted drilling on federal lands at a faster pace than any of his predecessors, backtracking on a campaign promise and undermining his own climate goals.

A record volume of renewable energy is expected to come online in 2021, with 290 gigawatts of new capacity. That surpasses 2020’s record, when renewables accounted for all of the new electricity capacity installed worldwide. Renewables have grown quickly in recent years, but are now entering a faster phase of growth, and could supplant fossil fuels as the largest source of electricity supply overall as soon as 2026. Nevertheless, the pace of growth is not fast enough to hit climate targets.

The Fuse < Back to Oil and the Economy by Nick Cunningham | December 03, 2021 The emergence of the new Omicron variant has ended, at least for the moment, the surge in oil prices that has unfolded over the course of much of this year. The oil rally had started to look a bit overdone ahead of the discovery of a new strain of Covid-19. But prices crashed in recent days, and the oil market is now once again exhibiting extreme volatility and enormous questions about what happens next.