Spain's bright idea

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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 01/03/2023

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Pay for & build 5x as much as you need -- what a great plan!

Wall Street Journal (1/2/22) reports: "Europe’s plans to install wind and solar power are accelerating in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, which drove up natural-gas prices sharply. They’re running into opposition from residents and officials who say a wave of new projects will harm the region’s landscapes, cultural sites and valuable tourism industry. In the Galician countryside of northwest Spain, Maria Martin and her husband opened an inn six years ago offering vacationers a tranquil refuge. The ocean is a few miles away, and the Basilica de San Martiño de Mondoñedo, Spain’s oldest cathedral and an attraction for pilgrims walking the famed Camino de Santiago, lies in the same valley. The couple and other residents are fighting a proposal to build a cluster of 345-foot tall wind turbines near the inn. The turbines are among more than 200 that Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Corp. is counting on to power the restart of a hulking aluminum smelter it owns in San Ciprian, 14 miles to the west. Alcoa idled the smelter in 2021 because of soaring electricity prices as Russia began to cut the flow of natural gas ahead of its invasion of Ukraine. Galicia’s regional government approved the wind farm in November despite local opposition by designating it a project of strategic interest for the territory. The park also needs the approval of Spain’s national government because of its large size...Alcoa also has a contract with Spanish energy company Endesa for another 816 megawatts of wind capacity. Because wind and solar power can’t produce energy when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining, projects need a large amount of excess capacity to cover the steady electricity needs of factories. More than two gigawatts of wind energy capacity will be needed to meet the Alcoa smelter’s electricity consumption: 400 megawatts of power, 24 hours a day, when the plant is producing at full capacity."

"The way forward, therefore, is to find a balance between environmental concerns and human flourishing – understanding that humans are not only destroyers, but also creators and protectors of the planet and that which thrives on it."

– Marian L. Tupy,
Cato Institut e

Flow freedom molecules, flow!

Oil Price (1/3/23) reports: "Germany inaugurated its first floating LNG import terminal at Wilhelmshaven a week before Christmas.
The cargo was loaded in Calcasieu Pass at the liquefaction facility of LNG supplier Venture Global on December 19, 2022. Germany saw the share of Russian gas in its gas mix drop to some 20% last year from 55% in 2021. Germany welcomed on Tuesday the first tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the newly opened LNG import terminal at Wilhelmshaven, with the cargo arriving from the Calcasieu Pass export facility in the United States. The LNG ship Maria Energy, owned by Tsakos Energy Navigation, was loaded in Calcasieu Pass at the liquefaction facility of LNG supplier Venture Global on December 19, 2022, the operator of the Wilhelmshaven import terminal, Uniper, said today. The Maria Energy tanker was fully loaded with around 170,000 cubic meters of LNG, or 97,147,000 cubic meters of natural gas, which is enough to supply around 50,000 German households with energy for one year, Uniper added."

The future is electric, as long as the future is only a 20-minute drive away...

Don't worry folks, no handouts to millionaires here. Under the Manchin-Biden Inflation Act, rich people don't qualify for the $7,500 tax credit if they BUY an EV, but they do qualify if it is LEASED.

Consumer Reports (12/30/22) reports: "After some initial confusion over which electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles would qualify for updated tax credits, the Treasury Department has released a growing list of vehicles whose purchasers may be eligible to claim a credit of up to $7,500...This legislation:

Takes away the 200,000-vehicle cap on tax credits that made EVs and plug-in hybrids from Tesla, GM, and Toyota ineligible for tax credits.
Does away with today’s tax credits for pricey EVs—such as the GMC Hummer EV, Lucid Air, and Tesla Model S and Model X. This rule may not apply if a vehicle is leased.
Eliminates tax credits for vehicles not assembled in North America, including the BMW i4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Subaru Solterra, and Toyota Z4X, that are purchased by individual consumers. This rule may not apply if a vehicle is leased.
Adds an annual adjusted gross income cap for buyers of $150,000 for single tax filers, $225,000 for those who file as head of household, and $300,000 for married couples filing jointly. This rule may not apply if a vehicle is leased.

A Treasury Department spokesperson told CR that most traditional leases would qualify for a $7,500 commercial credit not subject to the requirement that buyers meet income restrictions, that the vehicle is priced below a certain amount, and that it is made in North America. In the case of a lease, the dealer would receive the commercial credit, not the person leasing the vehicle, and it would be up to the dealer to pass those savings on to the consumer."

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $78.47
Natural Gas: ↓ $3.99
Gasoline: ↑ $3.22

Diesel: ↑ $4.67
Heating Oil: ↓ $318.66
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $84.24
US Rig Count: ↓ 860

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