Energy
Next Shoe To Drop: Shoddy Solar Panels From China
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Next Shoe To Drop: Shoddy Solar Panels From China
The solar-panel price war waged by state-subsidized Chinese companies killed a slew of manufacturers worldwide. Now, much of solar-panel manufacturing takes place in China. To stay alive, they cut costs – and corners. Defects are ballooning. And “cheap” solar panels suddenly get very expensive. A cruel twist for an already threatened industry.
Germany Fires Shot In China-EU Trade War … At Brussels
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Germany Fires Shot In China-EU Trade War … At Brussels
The solar-panel industry, once fattened by taxpayer subsidies and false hopes, has been in a death spiral around the world. In the US, a slew of photovoltaic standouts like Solyndra went under, taking billions of subsidies and investor capital with them. In Germany, it has been just as brutal. Even large companies are licking their wounds.
The Quiet Triumph Of Oil And Gas In Obama’s Policies
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Quiet Triumph Of Oil And Gas In Obama’s Policies
“But The Rising Star Is The USA”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “But The Rising Star Is The USA”
Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
Bubbles are a funny thing. Participants don’t see them. Outsiders shake their heads, then get sucked in themselves. Central banks create them but deny their existence. Money piles in on top of money. Risks no longer exist. Result: mayhem, capital destruction, devastation of the industry…. and a new beginning for the lucky ones. Take natural gas.
Suddenly No Solution For 56 Million Gallons Of Highly Radioactive Toxic Waste Leaking Into The Ground
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Suddenly No Solution For 56 Million Gallons Of Highly Radioactive Toxic Waste Leaking Into The Ground
Engineers have done a great job developing nuclear technologies to serve mankind’s many endeavors: medical devices, power generators, or formidable weapons to wipe out mankind and its many endeavors. Yet they haven’t figured out what to do with the radioactive, toxic materials these technologies leave behind. And we’re shuffling them to the next generation.
Natural Gas “Glut” Is Officially VERY Over
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Natural Gas “Glut” Is Officially VERY Over
Some Mile Stones: Working gas in underground storage, the primary measure of whether gas is in over- or undersupply, has now dropped 2.1% below the five-year average for this week, and a dizzying 31.6% below the same week last year. But the price of natural gas – it doubled over the last 12 months – is still below the cost of production.
Potential Cost Of A Nuclear Accident? So High It’s A Secret!
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Potential Cost Of A Nuclear Accident? So High It’s A Secret!
Catastrophic nuclear accidents, like Chernobyl or Fukushima, are very rare, we’re told incessantly. But when they occur, they’re costly. So costly that the French government, when it came up with estimates, kept them secret. But the report was leaked: an accident at a single reactor in a thinly populated part of France could cost over three times France’s GDP.
Chevron Whacked By Record Fine so Small it Might Not Notice
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Chevron Whacked By Record Fine so Small it Might Not Notice
The California Division of Occupational Safety & Health just slammed Chevron with massive, record-breaking penalties related to the refinery in Richmond—the one that ended up in a fireball last August and caused 15,000 people to seek medical treatment. Purpose: to teach the mega-company an excruciatingly painful lesson. Alas….