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Building a sustainable future: Decarbonizing construction

The global human population reached 8.0 billion in November 2022. According to the U.N., it is expected to further expand 0.7% annually to 9.7 billion in 2050. Keeping pace with the population growth is the global GDP growth expected to grow 2.2% annually through 2050. These key drivers will result in significant growth in construction […]

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Tracking Russia’s fossil fuel market

Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, western countries have spent a lot of time cutting ties with Russia and enacting sanctions to financially pressure them, with a particular emphasis on their fossil fuel industry. With more than a year passing since the start of this war, in this blog, we take look […]

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2023 April SAF Tracker highlights – #12

In April 2023, global Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) progress was marked by new collaborations, production expansions, and supportive government policies. Airbus Canada, Pratt & Whitney, and SAF+ Consortium launched a major Canadian SAF initiative, while Mubadala Capital and Braya Renewable Fuels announced large-scale investments to increase SAF production in Brazil and Canada. The sector also […]

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Chemical industries must adapt to inevitable PFAS phase-out

In 1987, the world collectively decided to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) after discovering their devastating impact on the ozone layer. Despite the industry’s initial concerns about the economic implications, the ban was successful, and the ozone layer is now on the road to recovery. The ongoing debate around “forever chemicals” such as PFAS calls for a […]

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2023 April SAF Tracker highlights – #11

In April 2023, airlines, corporations, and governments expanded investments and collaborations to accelerate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production and adoption. All Nippon Airways advanced SAF use for both domestic and international flights in Japan, while Airbus and CNAF deepened Sino-European cooperation in SAF production. Financial and industrial alliances also grew, with the Sustainable Aviation Buyers […]

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Where’s the lithium: Supplying the U.S.’s growing industry

Demand for lithium from the EV industry is growing rapidly as the energy transition moves forward. One of the interesting things for the U.S., is that the production of EV batteries for this industry is being onshored, partly due to the growing market and partly due to provisions of the recently enacted IRA place sourcing […]

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Wax on, wax off: Growth of waxy crude in the Uinta basin

The Uinta basin, located in northeast Utah, is starting to gain some attention from oil and gas players. The basin’s ~120 thousand bpd of production pales in comparison to the Permian’s ~5.6 million bpd produced today. However, production of the basin’s waxy crude has rapidly been increasing (Exhibit 1), and refiners continue to desire this […]

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Snakes aren’t the only thing rattling in Texas

Over the last several years, earthquakes in the Permian basin have increased in both number and intensity. In 2022 there were more than 8x the number of magnitude 3 earthquakes or greater than those that occurred annually in in the years from 2015 to 2019.  (Exhibit 1). In fact, two of the five largest tremors […]

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ICE car bans: What? Where? When?

Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles have been commercially available since the late 1800s when Carl Benz patented the now historic Benz Patent Motor Car, model no. 1, and for over 100 years they have been integral to transportation around the world. But now with the world advancing with energy transition, we are seeing steps towards […]

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Energy security over energy transition

From the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, we have seen global interest fragment across both energy transition and energy security. With several countries being overly reliant on Russian oil and gas, we saw a return to energy sources that the world had been weaning off. For example, Exhibit 1 shows how coal, oil, and nuclear […]

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NGL frac: Is it worth the worry?

For roughly two years, NGL fractionation capacity utilization rates have been over 90%. Roughly 820,000 barrels per day (bpd) of new fractionation capacity is coming online in the next two years. Will this amount be enough to relieve the constraints in the Mont Belvieu-Texas Gulf Coast? What other options are available? This blog will cover […]

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The European IRA

President Joe Biden kicked off the decarbonization race by signing two monumental pieces of legislation: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which designated $370 billion in new funding for green infrastructure. In response, the European Commission recently announced the Green Deal Industrial Plan (GDIP). The plan will divert […]