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No country was more prepared for the war in Iran than China. As the rest of Asia reels from oil and gas shortages due to the Iran War, Beijing is sitting pretty thanks to its vast stores of crude oil and its enormous clean energy infrastructure. China has been building up its domestic clean energy sector faster than any other country on Earth at the same time that it has been stockpiling massive amounts of surplus oil and gas, all in anticipation of a major geopolitical disruption just like the one we’re seeing now. As a result, China is…
The Strait of Hormuz has been closed for business for well over a month now. The effective blockage of the waterway that typically hosts the passage of at least one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas resources on the average day has sent global energy markets into a tailspin. The resounding impacts of this disruption – which is now larger than those in the 1973 and 1979 oil crises combined – are just beginning. The question is how the world will choose to deal with the fallout – will we retreat into well-worn fossil fuel supply…
For years, one argument has dominated the debate around renewables: they are intermittent, and therefore require large-scale, dispatchable backup—usually in the form of gas-fired power plants. It is a compelling argument. It is also becoming increasingly outdated. Because while much of the discussion still treats batteries as a marginal technology, real-world systems are starting to show something very different. Storage is not just filling small gaps. It is beginning to replace the role traditionally played by large, flexible fossil generation.…
This week saw something that does not happen very often. WTI, normally trading at a discount to Brent crude, moved higher than the North Sea-focused benchmark. Traders explained it with fears of tight supply in the immediate term and some relief later this year. Some, however, doubt this relief would come soon enough to avoid something few like to talk about: demand destruction. Indonesia has started rationing fuel, capping daily fuel purchases to 50 liters per car for private consumers and sending civil servants to work from home to conserve fuel.…
Britain has urged some of the world’s biggest powers to adopt clean energy at a faster pace to boost energy security during a time of geopolitical turmoil. The United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, appealed to world leaders to accelerate the global green transition during the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, held in France from 26th to 27th March. The Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations includes the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, along with the European Union. Reeves attended…
