From time to time we take you back to one of our past reports to present the state of an industry as it was viewed when it was written. This time, we look at the solar industry. Until 2004 the largest solar PV market in the world, Japan is the third largest market for the […]

Natural gas produced is exported via pipelines through the Gassled system from Norway to European markets (which Statoil has a 32.1% ownership in). The majority of gas produced, around 80% to 90%, is sold through long-term contracts to large European gas utility companies and suppliers. The remaining gas is traded on the spot market and […]

A CAES system is comprised of a compressor unit with a motor, gas turbine and storage facility. Usually at night the motor compresses and stores air which is cooled by a cooler unit. Then, during peak demand hours the compressed air is supplied to the combustion chamber in the turbines to burn the fuel. Combustive […]

The Chinese power sector, which is the major consumer of coal, is one of the fastest growing generating industries in the world with the country’s installed capacity increasing by 81,300 MW to reach 874,070 MW at the end of last year. 71% of electricity is generated with coal. With restructuring and an increase in hydro […]

There was much experimentation with oil sands technology in the first half of the 20th century but it was not until the 1950’s and early 1960s that the viability of commercial development began to be felt. The Government of Alberta’s oil sands development policy was announced in 1962 and the Great Canadian Oil Sands Project […]

Poland has substantial energy reserves, mostly coal and in 2008 imported 27% of TPES. The government decided in 2005 to diversify energy resources and to reduce carbon and sulphur emissions by introducing nuclear power, with the first plant coming on-line soon after 2020. 11.5 GW of nuclear capacity was initially proposed but may be too […]

OPEC is an intergovernmental Organization that was formed in 1960. It was set up as a reaction to an international oil market dominated by ‘Seven Sisters’ multinational companies. Based on the ‘inalienable right of all countries to exercise permanent sovereignty over their natural resources in the interest of their national development’ The four founding members […]

The Europe & Eurasian region is a net importer of natural gas and is expected to increasingly import more natural gas to meet demand in the long-term. Growth may be constrained by increased energy efficiency across the region and measures to reduce carbon emissions. Although an increase in imports will be needed just to maintain […]

Trading patterns are expected to change in the near-term with an increase in exports from Australia, Mongoliam Western Canada and Russia to China and from South Africa and Australia to India. Demand and thus exports to Europe from all regions is expected to decline, and the South American market is expected to rely more on […]

A plug-in hybrid medium-duty vehicle programme: a national programme co-ordinated by the EPRI to procure three hundred and seventy eight vehicles for fifty fleets in the US. A total of USD 45.4 million has been allocated in federal stimulus funds for the development of electric vehicles and their commercialisation. A solar assisted plug-in vehicle charging […]