Worldwide electricity demand, hardly robust during the past several years, appears to have taken a substantial hit during the coronavirus pandemic. In a recent analysis, the Electric Power Research institute took a look at the impacts of the spread of the virus on electric demand in Italy, Spain, New York, and California. EPRI found, “These … More Coronavirus cuts electricity demand here and abroad

The struggling U.S. steam coal business, despite President Trump’s so far ineffectual attempts to end what he has called the “war on coal,” will take a big hit from the impacts of the coronavirus, according to a new report from Moody’s Investor Service. Moody’s analyst Benjamin Nelson says, “U.S. domestic demand for thermal coal will … More Moody’s: the coronavirus war on coal

Just when you thought the coronavirus was the harbinger of the apocalypse, here’s another knuckle-biter. The U.S. Geological Survey this week issued a new report on geomagnetic storms, finding that two-thirds of the contiguous U.S. coast-to-cost is vulnerable to power outages from the geomagnetic disruptions of solar storms, or solar coronal eruptions. USGS said, “Magnetic … More Coronavirus, meet solar storms

POWER Magazine’s ELECTRIC POWER 2020 trade show and conference, an established event in the electricity business for many years and scheduled for Denver April 14-17, has been put on hold. The decision to postpone the event is part of a cascade of energy conferences disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. The delay of the annual conference, … More Corona clobbers energy trade shows

What do Greta Thunberg, 17, and Bernie Sanders, 78, have in common? Each is leading a loud radical uprising that endangers their respective mother ships. In Greta’s case the boisterous Action Now movement is on track to wreck the UN’s elaborate climate action process, come November. In Bernie’s case, his equally loud following, the new … More Commentary: Greta and Bernie, two peas in a socialist pod

The 11-year U.S. bull stock market is dead, started in the Obama administration, killed by the incoherent response of the Trump administration to the coronavirus pandemic and a crude oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has collapsed oil prices. After recovering somewhat Tuesday after a disastrous Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, … More Bulls are dead as bears plunder Wall Street

The current collapse of the U.S. stock market – with the Dow Jones Industrial Average of so-called “blue chip” stocks down 7.8% or 2014 points on Monday – has clobbered energy equities across the board, including the broader S&P 500. The Wall Street Journal reported, “It was the first time the Dow lost more than … More Market collapse clobbers energy, utility stocks

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this afternoon announced it is cancelling its annual “Regulatory Information Conference” (RIC) because of fears of the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. The conference has routinely drawn several thousand participants annually to the agency’s Bethesda, Maryland headquarters, and was scheduled for March 10-12. In an announcement, the agency said it … More Breaking: Coronavirus causes NRC to cancel conference

The UK has passed a law mandating zero net emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases by 2050. Airplanes emit a lot of CO2 and cannot run on batteries, or not very far anyway, so what do net zero air travel emissions look like? We now have two studies on this question, diametrically opposed. They … More Analysis: A tale of two airline futures

Freeman Dyson, a true polymath — mathematician, physicist, theoretician, inventor, experimentalist, philosopher, ethicist, essayist, advocate, and heretic — died last week in Princeton, N.J. He was 96. I recommend the conventional obituaries, particularly in the New York Times and the Washington Post. My 2012 book, Too Dumb to Meter, has a chapter – “Flatulence in … More Freeman Dyson and TRIGA