Energy Jobs Reports Say Solar Dominates Coal, But Wind Is The Real Winner | Ars Technica

Two updated energy jobs reports have been released, and they paint a picture of how the last year has affected different energy sectors. The news is good for wind and natural gas. The news is less good for solar and coal. The first report, called the US Energy and Employment Report (USEER), comes from the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), and it looks at energy jobs across the US in all sectors of the industry. The second comes from the Solar Foundation, a pro-solar association that tracks jobs with a…

Read More

Three Ways Blockchain Could Kill the Old-School Utility Model | Bloomberg Quint

(Bloomberg) — If utilities think rooftop solar panels and batteries are bad for business, blockchain should scare the bejeezus out of them. That’s because in addition to helping more people slapl panels on their rooftops — which eats into power sales and taxes grids — the distributed, digital ledger that’s proliferated across industries can also be used to trade electricity without a utility even knowing it. Imagine your neighbor with a solar panel directly selling you cheap power to charge your Tesla. Sure, there are some utilities that see the…

Read More

Chinese Bitcoin Miners Eye Sites In Quebec, Manitoba | CBC News

China’s Bitmain Technologies is eyeing bitcoin mining sites in Quebec, a company spokesperson told Reuters, as expectations of a potential Chinese crackdown on cryptocurrency mining make the energy-rich province an attractive alternative. China has grown into one of the world’s biggest sources of cryptocurrency mining but there are signs Beijing is increasing scrutiny of the sector’s players and may ask local authorities to regulate their power use. Bitmain Technologies, operator of some of the largest mining farms in the country, is among several companies looking to expand overseas. Bitmain spokesperson Nishant Sharma…

Read More

The World Used Less Coal In 2016 Than Year Before: BP – National | Globalnews.ca

Worldwide demand for coal decreased in 2016, for the second year in a row. Humans used 53-million tonnes of coal less than in 2015, according to this year’s statistical review of energy provided by BP. It’s a decrease of 1.7 per cent. It is the second-straight year that coal demand has declined. It also said that worldwide production of coal decreased by six per cent. Production at U.S. coal mines fell by 19 per cent while China’s coal production fell by nearly eight per cent. On the whole, coal’s share…

Read More