By Julian Singer The large second quarter profits generated by Shell and BP again raise concerns that too little investment is being made in renewable energy compared to oil and gas. A quick look at the FTSE listings highlights the concern: of the 145 companies listed in the Energy sector (Main Market and AIM), only [...]
By Julian Singer Geothermal energy is heat from the earth’s core that had arrived near the surface where it can be exploited. Proponents point to the very large amount of heat available, whereas pessimists point to the cost of exploiting all but the easiest sources, and sometimes query whether it is truly sustainable. Nevertheless, based [...]
By Stewart Dalby Recently, before the sad death of our beloved Queen dominated the air waves, our new prime minister was seeking to set a new cap on energy prices to avoid household misery and business failure. Under the present set up the energy cap is set twice a year on the 1st of April [...]
By Julian Singer Quaise Energy proposes to drill wells of up to 20 kilometres deep into the earth’s crust to find temperatures of up to 5000C. The heat will be brought to surface to produce electricity using a conventional steam generator. Quaise plans to start drilling its first well in 2024 and to be producing [...]
By Julian Singer At the end of June, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) submitted to Parliament its annual progress report on the reduction of carbon emissions, as it has done every year since 2009. Although it is doubtful if many members of parliament have read all 618 pages of the report, they would have found [...]
By Barney Smith The 71st BP Annual Statistical Survey was released in mid-year, as last year. It is important to be clear that the BP Statistical Survey is not a single company’s forecast of how the situation might be, it is rather the best available cumulative “snapshot” of 2021 and how its prospects and challenges [...]
By Julian Singer On 7 July, while the Prime Minister was busy resigning, another part of his government announced a small step towards fulfilling one of the many goals it had set itself. This was the result of the fourth Contract for Difference auction held by the DBEIS. The general structure had been announced last [...]
By Julian Singer We last looked at the performance of AIM-listed renewable energy stocks in April 2021. The plots below show the performance of the same stocks, plus some new ones, over the last two years. Clearly all stocks have been affected since the beginning of the year by fears of inflation and the invasion [...]
By Barney Smith In April 2022, the Prime Minister released a 31-page document entitled “British Energy Security strategy.” It perhaps makes most sense as a follow-on to the ten-point plan put forward in November 2020. It takes into account both the latest news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the most recent report on Climate Change by [...]
Dubai World Expo 2020 closes on 31 March. Delayed a year by Covid it has still managed to attract 20 million visitors, only slightly down on the 25m predicted. Spread over 1000 acres there are pavilions or exhibits from 237 countries and 28 organisations. Some attendees surprise. How can small countries like Palau (population 18000) [...]