JANUARY
- Renewables surging - planned renewable energy projects for 2020 will exceed 42 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity; onshore wind capacity exceeds 100 gigawatts.
- 440 million pigs in China either died from African swine fever or were killed to stamp out the virus (for perspective, half of the world's population of pigs).
FEBRUARY
- OPEC+ starts cutting production to promote price increases, but Russia delays cuts.
- FERC commissioner Bernard McNamee announces retirement, leaving the agency with two commissioners and no quorum.
MARCH
- A bizarre shift of focus – a majority of the world’s population suddenly focuses on outbreak of coronavirus; economists warn of "black swan" potential.
- Saudi and Russia price war underway, sending oil prices to the bottom.
APRIL
- COVID-19 outbreak warps power grid patterns - weekday demand resembles weekend days, as more people work remotely.
- Mark this day in history: April 20, 2020, the day oil prices went negative (in other words, an oil barrel ... as in, the physical container ... cost more than the oil that it contains).
MAY
- The biggest winner in the twin supply-demand oil shock of 2020: China, which took advantage of low (negative) oil prices with record stockpile purchases.
- Mark this month in history: May 2020, the month the US officially became a net exporter of energy.
JUNE
- The fastest growing utility-scale solar region in the US is the South Atlantic.
- In the US, annual energy consumption from renewable sources exceeds coal consumption for the first time.
JULY
- Operating crude oil and natural gas rigs in the US are at the lowest point (338 total) since 1987.
- A majority of mines (275) have suspended operations around the world due to the pandemic (related, coal production in the US at its lowest since the miner's strike in 1978).
AUGUST
- Energy consumption in the US drops to its lowest monthly levels since terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
- From August 14 - 17, there were 367 unique wildfires in California (history’s first “gigafire” - 1 million acres burned).
SEPTEMBER
- Emissions falling world-wide (-1.5%)
- SPAC capital investment mechanism surging (there were 34 SPACs in 2018, and 59 in 2019; that total matched by September).
OCTOBER
- China adds 11.4 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity, more than the rest of the world combined.
- Interest in hydrogen surging, particularly in Western Europe.
NOVEMBER
- Almost all energy sectors and global economies are stagnant to struggling, but none more so than oil-producing Arab nations; only Qatar (strong LNG economy) has a balanced budget.
- China pours more concrete than rest of world combined.
DECEMBER
- The ongoing coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten millions, but there has been an unprecedented decline in CO2 emissions (i.e. transport CO2 emissions down 40% worldwide).
- Investment in ESG surges, accounts for about 1/3 of total invested assets.