By Ellen Wald For over a week, the container ship Ever Given was stuck sideways in the Suez Canal. The entire canal was closed while excavators worked to free the ship, causing a backlog of over 400 vessels on both sides of the canal and spawning hundreds of bad jokes and internet memes. Analysts surmised that everything from higher oil prices to toilet paper shortages might be blamed on this incident, though analysts are not always right (since the price...

This week I am joined by Michael Lynch, a contributor to Forbes, to talk EVs, energy policy, the roaring 22s and how to shift from “narrative” to newsworthiness.   https://youtu.be/vpQHpvZ1Es0    

You should probably be seated for this; I’ve started reading Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ because... well, someone left it at the house and I’ve read all the other books I have so... what could I lose? Our country needs more dialogue and listening, even with those we expect we may disagree with. My takeaway in the first 70 pages is this: Her grandfather was pretty pissed off about life, didn’t get a chance to succeed and had 10 siblings, so was...

Over the last year, I have begun to think about mental health differently. Every day I wake up to a world that is seemingly dumber than it was the day before. I could point to example after example of intellectual inconsistency and each one makes me more and more frustrated. So much so I have had to take a step back from writing and engaging, for fear of my head exploding. As Samuel L. Jackson says in Pulp Fiction “I'm...

By Ellen Wald Saudi Aramco held its earnings call for 2020 on Monday, and once again the company tried to highlight its success but instead it left serious questions about its unique relationship with the absolute monarchy that controls the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Aramco’s net income for 2020 was $49 billion, meaning it did much better in the virus-stricken year than its competitors, most of whom lost money. Yet, there are two significant concerns for the future of Aramco...

This week, we go into the world of Chart Industries. We talk with CEO Jill Evanko on the technology required to do the future of gasification for hydrogen, LNG and a whole bunch more. It’s a fascinating episode. I know I learned a lot and I hope you enjoy. Podcast Audio   https://youtu.be/RXEdRCDtu7M   About Jill Jillian C. Evanko Jillian (Jill) Evanko is President and Chief Executive Officer of Chart Industries, Inc. (NYSE: GTLS), serving in this capacity since June of 2018.  Ms. Evanko joined...

By Ellen Wald We are now a year into the “15 days to slow the spread” and the lockdowns that crushed the United States and the world. The economy still has not fully recovered even in jurisdictions where government restrictions are already limited or gone. Global economic activity is still depressed, domestic air travel is down by at least 20,000 flights per day, and unemployment is higher than it was before the virus was discovered. Now we face discussions of...

Today, I'm going to weigh in on a topic of incredible importance to me: my kids. I'm sure your kids are pretty good, too, but for me, mine are the driver behind everything I do. The past year has been an epic failure. Putting aside the irresponsible growth in the national debt, and the financial burden that will put on them, the kids of today have been put in an impossible spot. The sports and clubs they do to develop...

This week I visit with Jennifer Gremmert, the Executive Director of Energy Outreach Colorado which leads a network of industry, state and local partners to Support, Stabilize and Sustain Coloradans to afford their energy needs. Energy is important. We need to spend a lot of time talking about it. And this week, we do. From racial and social justice, to the future of the energy grid, you aren’t going to want to miss it. Audio Podcast   https://youtu.be/K8oz6aUjwBQ  

On Tuesday, March 2, Xcel Energy announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in order to build transmission lines to 5,500 MW of new renewable energy projects in Colorado.  Using an estimated $1,300/kW to construct, this implies the cost to build was/will be $7.1 billion. We will come back to this at the end of the post.  First, some data. Since 2014, electric consumption in Colorado (EIA data) has grown from 53.8 mm MWh to 56.3 MWh, growth of ~1% per...