Weekly Energy News Update
May 25th

If you really want to watch episode 1, see if you can count the number of times these homeowners say the phrase “partner with nature”…
Finance
Emerging economies take lead on going green, but investment needed (Reuters)
China says will eventually allow private companies to invest in oil storage (Reuters)
Forecast for EU carbon prices in next decade put Paris target in doubt (Reuters)
Should OPEC worry about contango and backwardation? (Reuters)
I wanted to share this article to introduce this vocabulary of “contango” and “backwardation“. The latter was discussed very briefly in Arjun Appadurai’s most recent book Banking on Words: The Failure of Language in the Age of Derivative Finance
Labor
Most Norwegian oil workers agree wage deal, mediation for rest (Reuters)
Jump in renewable energy jobs worldwide (AFP)
Chevron threatens to fire Bangladesh staff protesting asset sale (Reuters)
Nigerian oil labor union calls for Exxon Mobil shutdown in Delta (Reuters)
Brazil power regulator seeks Mandarin translators in China push (Reuters)
Policy
Kurdish independence in Iraq likely ‘not if but when’: U.S. general (Reuters)
Iowa senator slams energy chief for grid study undermining wind energy (Reuters)
Tunisia forces fire tear gas in showdown with protesters after energy sites shut (Reuters)
Swiss energy law aims to boost renewables, ban new nuclear plants (Reuters)
Brazil energy minister says he has no plan to resign amid crisis (Reuters)
Philippines, China play down Duterte’s talk of war in disputed sea (Reuters)
There were multiple corrections made after the release of this news, I assume at first no one really knew what to do after Duterte made his original statement.
Technology
It seems like the integration of blockchain technology into the energy market could be a very fruitful place for an anthropologist to study the future intersections of energy resources and economic exchange.
Enerchain: A Decentralized Market on the Blockchain for Energy Wholesalers (IEEE)
Qualcomm Demonstrates Dynamic Electric Vehicle Charging (EnergyTrend)
Transportation
M&M ramps up facility at Chakan for electric vehicles batteries (India Times)
Germany must invest to keep up in electric cars (Reuters)
Govt to Tesla: No local sourcing required for manufacturing in India (India Times)
Biofuel
Coal
This news comes despite various news reports that shipments from N. Korea are still entering Chinese ports. I have been wondering what quantity of the imports from North Korea were(are) anthracite that cannot be replaced (or at least not economically replaced).
Coal Scam: NDA government knew bureaucrats were guilty in coal scam (India Times)
Coal India wins tax-cut boost as environmentalists fret (Reuters)
Gas
Whitehall’s fracking science failure: shale gas really is worse for climate than coal (The Ecologist)
Hydropower
Hydro dams on Indus cascade may prove to be a blunder for Pakistan (IANS)
What’s at stake in China’s plan to blow up islands in the Mekong (The Conversation)
Nuclear
France’s EDF denies report of ‘secret plan’ to delay scaling back nuclear power (Reuters)
India to build 10 heavy water reactors to boost nuclear power (India Times)
Economies of scale in nuclear power (India Times)
Petroleum
I wonder which conflict of interest, oh, I mean special consultant to the president, convinced him that this was a good idea.
Nigeria seen missing July target to buy cleaner fuel (Reuters)
Oil industry power is slithering away (Climate News Network)
Solar
This is great, but I hope other needs within the camp are also being met.India to Overtake Japan as the World’s Third Largest Solar Market in 2017 (EnergyTrend)
Wind
Winds of change? Why offshore wind might be the next big thing (McKinsey)
Wind power has seen steady growth in India (IANS)