The existence of a single market arose from the growth in seaborne coal trade brought on by the combination of firstly, growth in the demand for coking coal in the 1960s and secondly, sharply rising oil prices during the 1970s. Before 1960, international coal trade had been primarily land based, and been between neighbouring countries. […]
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Canadian utilities are engaged in the North American transition towards competitive markets and are integrated with the American regional systems. The electricity supply industry in Canada is organised on a regional basis. The various utilities, responsible for electricity generation, transmission and distribution in each area, frequently trade power with each other via some of the […]
From the late 1970s to about 2002 the nuclear power industry did not grow but suffered some decline and stagnation and some orders from the 1970s were cancelled. New reactors were few and the number coming on line from mid 1980s little more than matched retirements, though output increased 60% due to improved load factors. […]
Since 2006 nearly half of new discoveries have been in deep waters. For example, in 2010 oil discoveries were reported off the coast of Angola, Brazil, Ghana, Norway and in the US Gulf of Mexico, to name a few. Very few large reserves have been discovered in the past ten years. New discoveries of conventional […]
The solar thermal industry has used low-tech technology until relatively recently and been largely concerned with small domestic and building applications for heating space or water, or cooking. However, the industry is now taking a more sophisticated direction and progressing to higher-tech applications involving relatively large electricity generation projects in a number of countries. Some […]
Deregulation and privatisation in the power sector is now reaching a stage around the world when it is possible to discern some patterns and factors emerging, based on experience rather than hypothesis about what ought to happen. Some outcomes have been good but some have been bad, notably in North America, and market liberalisation has […]
Unproved probable reserves Probable reserves are those unproved reserves which analysis of geological and engineering data suggests are more likely than not to be recoverable. In this context, when probabilistic methods are used, there should be at least a 50% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the sum of estimated proved […]
It was not that long ago that natural gas was a waste product of the oil industry and flared instead of utilised as an energy source. Interest in natural gas increased as its value as a fuel for power generation and heating was understood. Natural gas is now projected to become the number two fuel […]
Most energy sources can be consumed in two ways, directly and indirectly when converted to another form of energy. For example, wood can be burned directly as a primary energy source to heat space, or it can be burned to produce heat to generate electricity, a secondary energy source. Likewise, geothermal energy can be used […]
There are many uncertainties about the economics of future nuclear generation. These are aggravated when nuclear is compared with other sources of power, because these are subject to their own uncertainties, such as fuel price rises and political manipulation such as OPEC and recent Russian gas manoeuvres. The cost of building nuclear power stations was […]
