Pandreco energy advisory
News
As a 30 year veteran of the energy industry specializing in Energy Security and Energy Economics, Dr. Richard Norris has some unique insights, views and opinions about current global developments across engineering research, oil and gas operations.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink
Of side-effects of medicine, fossil-fuel subsidies and willful blindness Antibiotics are really scary. Oh boy, they should be banned! They are just plain bad for you - I mean check it out? Indigestion, Vomiting, Diarrhoea, Bloating or feeling full, Loss of appetite,...
Grid Fragility: Public Enemy No.1
Nature teaches beasts to know their friends* In art imitating life, there is a wonderful irony that the music entitled “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?” is performed by Public Enemy. A grid failure would indeed be Public Enemy No.1. As someone whose career...
Slings And Arrows Of Outrageous Fortune
Protesting against fossil fuels may make one feel virtuous, but the consequences will be felt for a generation.
Food for Thought
The everything price apocalypse will not be felt evenly This morning gas priced in European spot market at the equivalent of $600/barrel. Oil briefly touched $139/barrel and in less than a week petrol prices at the pump have jumped 30%. Gas and Oil and are now front...
Every Blessing Ignored …
Canada's global role in Energy Security Canada is blessed with abundant natural resources, Europe has hardly any. Europe was until yesterday obsessed with carbon emissions and is now learning the hard way about the importance of energy security, food security and...
Maths of Net Zero: Presentation to the Parliamentary Group on Energy Studies. July 2021
On July 13th 2021 I had the opportunity to make a 15 minute presentation to the Parliamentary group on Energy Studies along side Mike Larkin of Envoi and Kathryn Porter of Watt Logic. Mike did a great job of structuring and managing, I gave a macro view of issues and...
Houston, we have a problem
Houston, we have a problem... actually we have two problems Texas has massive power outages as an "unprecedented" polar vortex hits, and we just can't agree on what to conclude from this event. The current unfortunate (and I assume uncomfortable) situation in Texas...
50% Renewables: The Good the Bad and the Average
Three facts about wind generation of electricity in the UK: (1) Headlines exclaim that the UK has beaten its own record and produced 55% of its demand from renewables alone. (2) Similar headlines (here and here) boast of the average contribution of renewable power...
In the Court of King Crimson: lessons from Covid – Part 2
According to the author Stephen King, the Crimson King was “the orchestrator of chaos and decay” – and so it is with many faceless corporations: Big Tobacco, Big Oil, Big Pharma and now maybe Big Tech. To be sure the “Big” ones have some extremely bad history, lead...
Energy and Viruses: lessons from Covid ?
PART 1 – Selfless vs Selfish It has been fashionable to look for equivalences between the Covid pandemic and the climate crisis. These have often had the form of: Covid is a global problem, the virus doesn’t respect national borders, and coordinated multilateral...
Primary Energy and Exergy
TL;DR It has been common to represent global energy usage in terms of Primary Energy - that is the energy potential of the various sources. However, this can be easily criticized because not all energy is equal and what we really want to understand is the "Useful...
CGAI – Energy Security Podcast
Peak Oil Demand or "Peak Demand" has been much in the news recently as some major oil companies bend to stakeholder pressure and embrace the energy transition. I got the opportuniyu to discuss peak Demand in terms of perception vs reality with the Canadian Global...
Subscribe
Stay up-to-date with my latest news on all things energy related. Every new news post goes directly to your inbox.
RECENT POSTS
It’s A Small World After All
Cheap travel has shrunk the planet and expanded our horizons, that could all change. On the 1st of April 1957 the BBC ran a spoof documentary about the Ticino spaghetti harvest – where the pasta was hand-picked from trees. A prank that worked because pasta was...
Kafka On The Offshore
Magical Realism or a Cunning Plan ? UPDATED: having found an error in my numbers - on the % increase of wind (overall a 2x from today not a 4.5x as per the original form of this article - the 4.5x is the planned increase in the offshore wind capacity) - herewith a...
Everything But The Kitchen Sink
Of side-effects of medicine, fossil-fuel subsidies and willful blindness Antibiotics are really scary. Oh boy, they should be banned! They are just plain bad for you - I mean check it out? Indigestion, Vomiting, Diarrhoea, Bloating or feeling full, Loss of appetite,...
Grid Fragility: Public Enemy No.1
Nature teaches beasts to know their friends* In art imitating life, there is a wonderful irony that the music entitled “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?” is performed by Public Enemy. A grid failure would indeed be Public Enemy No.1. As someone whose career...
Slings And Arrows Of Outrageous Fortune
Protesting against fossil fuels may make one feel virtuous, but the consequences will be felt for a generation Last summer in France, over a very agreeable dinner on a warm summer evening, a good friend said he read my posts on Linkedin and he wondered why I was “so...
Food for Thought
The everything price apocalypse will not be felt evenly This morning gas priced in European spot market at the equivalent of $600/barrel. Oil briefly touched $139/barrel and in less than a week petrol prices at the pump have jumped 30%. Gas and Oil and are now front...
Every Blessing Ignored …
Canada's global role in Energy Security Canada is blessed with abundant natural resources, Europe has hardly any. Europe was until yesterday obsessed with carbon emissions and is now learning the hard way about the importance of energy security, food security and...
Maths of Net Zero: Presentation to the Parliamentary Group on Energy Studies. July 2021
On July 13th 2021 I had the opportunity to make a 15 minute presentation to the Parliamentary group on Energy Studies along side Mike Larkin of Envoi and Kathryn Porter of Watt Logic. Mike did a great job of structuring and managing, I gave a macro view of issues and...
Houston, we have a problem
Houston, we have a problem... actually we have two problems Texas has massive power outages as an "unprecedented" polar vortex hits, and we just can't agree on what to conclude from this event. The current unfortunate (and I assume uncomfortable) situation in Texas...
50% Renewables: The Good the Bad and the Average
Three facts about wind generation of electricity in the UK: (1) Headlines exclaim that the UK has beaten its own record and produced 55% of its demand from renewables alone. (2) Similar headlines (here and here) boast of the average contribution of renewable power...
It was Visicalc. Read "Accidental Empires". One of the greatest industrial history books ever.