According to statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA),  there were few new coal-fired plants constructed in the past several decades.  This is owed mainly to environmental opposition and the resulting legal and regulatory challenges, and the construction of natural gas units and, recently, wind turbines. But that trend may be changing somewhat. In 2009, [...]

China became the world’s largest energy consumer in 2009, surpassing the United States, which held the title for more than 100 years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).[i] The recession took a toll on U.S. industrial output, adding to a decline in total energy consumption that was almost 5 percent below 2008 levels.[ii] The [...]

In the electricity-generation market of 2009, coal generation had only a 44 .6 percent share, 3.6 percentage points lower than in 2008 and the lowest level since 1978 when it represented 44.2 percent of the market. Hydroelectric power, wind energy, and natural gas picked up most of the market share coal lost in 2009.[i] Higher [...]

The White House has launched a coordinated PR campaign to argue that it is not anti-business. That is a difficult argument to make when we look at the Administration’s record on energy. Time after time the Administration has acted to make it more difficult to produce energy domestically and they are actively seeking to make [...]

Many claim that wind generation is beneficial because it reduces pollution emissions and does not emit carbon dioxide.  This isn’t necessarily the case. The following article explains a phenomena called cycling where the introduction of wind power into a generation system that uses carbon technologies to back-up the wind  actually reduces the energy efficiency of [...]

Abstract Various legislative and other proposals have promoted policies that would tax or place a price floor on petroleum-based transportation fuels such as gasoline because as President Obama stated in his recent address, “we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.”[1] Their object is to spur conservation and promote the [...]

China’s economy is growing with dizzying speed, and the government is fueling the growth with plentiful energy. In fact, China’s electrification program and its ability to secure future oil supplies are second to none. By contrast, the U.S. economy is growing more slowly and its energy strategy is limiting that growth. The United States has [...]

Made good on healthcare last week, bankrupts the coal industry this week Washington, DC – Responding to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decision this afternoon on the future of coal mining in Appalachia, Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research issued the following statement: “Today’s EPA announcement will bankrupt the coal industry [...]

Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu China has already made its choice.  China is spending about $9 billion a month on clean energy.  It is also investing $44 billion by 2012 and $88 billion by 2020 in Ultra High Voltage transmission lines.  These lines will allow China to transmit power from huge wind and solar farms [...]

CONTACT: Laura Henderson (202) 621-2947 Patrick Creighton (202) 621-2951 Washington, DC – In anticipation of President Barack Obama’s return from Asia, the free-market Institute for Energy Research (IER) today released and delivered a policy brief for the president and his advisors on China’s booming energy economy and growth. Thomas J. Pyle, president of IER, issued [...]