How wind and solar got the best of the pandemic
Nathaniel Bullard, Bloomberg
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Renewables were the only energy source to grow last year.Spencer Platt, Staff / Getty Images
Global recessions, wars, and (yes) pandemics have a way of driving down energy demand. Last year, the International Energy Agency said the collapse in global primary energy demand brought on by Covid-19 was the biggest drop since the end of World War II, itself the biggest drop since the influenza pandemic after World War I.
Something was different about this collapse, though, something that is not only unprecedented but until recently impossible in global energy. As the IEA’s latest data shows, renewable energy grew last year, and it was the only energy source that did so as consumption of gas, oil, and coal all declined. Renewables were not just an energy growth sector; they were the only energy growth sector.Not only did renewable energy grow, it did so in record fashion. The IEA’s
Deep-freeze issues still lingering
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FILE Steam and fog rise from the Total refinery in Port Arthur, Texas on Dec. 21, 2020.Brandon Thibodeaux/NYT
(Bloomberg) Texas’s refining complex is mostly back from last month’s crippling cold blast, but lingering freeze-related issues continue to plague a number of production units.
More than six weeks after the Arctic storm took down at least 18 of the state’s 30 refineries, and almost 5 million barrels a day of crude-processing capacity, two of the plants still haven’t restored operations.
But at a number of sites, equipment ranging from fluid catalytic crackers to crude units are still struggling. It’s an old story: Refineries don’t respond well to being restarted after unplanned total shutdowns, be it from winter storms, hurricanes or flooding.
For climate Progressives, Biden s $2.25 trillion isn t enough
Leslie Kaufman and Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg
April 1, 2021
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President Joe Biden delivers a speech on infrastructure spending at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Pittsburgh.Evan Vucci/AP
(Bloomberg) As a candidate, Joe Biden garnered nearly unanimous support from environmentalists, progressives, and clean energy advocates for his promise to reconfigure the U.S. economy for the fight against climate change.
But as president, his $2.25 trillion jobs-and-infrastructure blueprint released Wednesday and meant to fulfill much of that campaign pledge received a much less harmonious welcome.
“Today I find myself caught between two truths,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of the youth climate activist group the Sunrise Movement. “This infrastructure plan is a historic step forward that would not have been possible without us,” she said, referring t
Texas power firm Brazos Electric hit with $2.1 billion bill after freeze, files for bankruptcy
Jeremy Hill, Eduard Gismatullin and Rachel Morison, Bloomberg
March 1, 2021
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FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, file photo shows power lines in Houston.David J. Phillip/Associated Press
The largest power generation and transmission cooperative in Texas filed for bankruptcy in the wake of power outages that caused an energy crisis during the winter freeze last month.
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed for Chapter 11 in the Texas after racking up an estimated $2.1 billion in charges over seven days of the freeze. Last year, it cost cooperative members $774 million for power for all of 2020.