Russia paved the way on Monday for missile system deliveries to Iran and started an oil-for-goods swap, signaling that Moscow may have a head-start in the race to benefit from an eventual lifting of sanctions on Tehran.
A major reason for the rapid jump in EV sales is the rapid drop in the cost of their key component -– batteries.
Driverless cars may be getting a lot more press, but in recent months there have been several announcements about major oil firms adopting unmanned offshore platforms.
The multimedia financial services company The Motley Fool criticized ethanol for allegedly relying on government subsidies — despite the fact that subsidies for corn ethanol, which comprises the vast majority of ethanol used in the country, ended years ago.
Spearheaded by the Senators from Washington State, legislation just introduced in the United States Senate will finally address the rash of crude oil train wrecks and explosions that have skyrocketed over the last two years in parallel with the steep rise in the amount of crude oil transported by rail.
Media coverage of energy has focused heavily on oil prices, lately, for understandable reasons. Oil’s dramatic plunge and subsequent volatility would be newsworthy, even if petroleum weren’t still our leading source of energy, especially for transportation. In this context, the dog that hasn’t barked is natural gas.
Innovation is anything but business as usual. From driving an ordinary fuel guzzling car to a fuel efficient hybrid sedan, we have come a long way in our quest to achieve something better. In this never ending search for perfection, how can the oil and gas industry remain far behind?
Total global sales of EVs/PHEVs amounted to 320,000 units in 2014, an 80 percent rate of growth and on pace to easily exceed 500,000 in 2015. Cumulative sales reached 740,000 vehicles by the end of 2014 and will top 1 million by the middle of 2015. That is still less than 1 percent of the global auto market, but it shows that EVs and PHEVs are here to stay. (Photo: John Abella, via Flickr)
The breakthrough in nuclear talks with Iran on Thursday has the potential to cause a seismic shift in global energy markets over the long term, but energy experts said any appreciable impact on an already glutted global oil market was highly doubtful for at least six months and probably more than a year.
Prices for natural gas, which fuels everything from furnaces to power plants to cars, are falling. But the tide may be turning, with industry watchers seeing prospects for the clean-burning fuel starting to improve in the second half of the year.
