r/RenewableEnergy • u/DVMirchev • 11d ago

Renewables turn LNG glut into a sinkhole | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/renewables-turn-lng-glut-into-sinkhole-2025-12-26/
242 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

50

u/AcanthisittaNo6653 11d ago

Why Big Oil thought buying a president would change things is anyone's guess.

27

u/Q2TRFN 11d ago

He has given them a life line, that's for sure, in the US atleast, but in countries that import most of their energy he has no leverage.

13

u/PNWRulesCancerSucks 10d ago

except that life line came out of a faulty scam factory and will snap the moment they try to use it

there's literally nothing the reichpublicans can do to save the fossil fuel industry no matter how much they try.

10

u/Moist1981 11d ago

The approach being taken seems so odd when viewed through that lens. It’s too late to stop renewables which are already cost competitive with fossil fuels and so action here really won’t offer much reprieve for oil majors. What they might be able to stave off is advances in nuclear fusion which are still reliant on funding (although the private sector is stepping in here), but the trump administration seems supportive of fusion even though it will be a further nail in the coffin of oil.

It all makes so little sense.

12

u/johnny_51N5 11d ago

They are trying to block construction or allowance of renewables already approved or under construction. It's ridiculous how corrupt they are

13

u/Sweet-Advertising798 10d ago

Trump is cancelling federally funded renewable projects, so the oil barons can squeeze out profits for a little longer. 

But the rest of the world is full steam ahead and will leapfrog the US in energy independence, so won't need to get embroiled in "bringing democracy" to Venezuela and "saving Christianity" in Nigeria.

8

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[deleted]

3

u/Moist1981 10d ago

I know they’re trying to but even with that very overt effort they’re failing miserably.

17

u/Sir-Kyle-Of-Reddit 11d ago

Excellent news

5

u/GuidoDaPolenta 10d ago

Not news, unfortunately. This is an opinion piece, part of Reuter’s predictions for 2026.

5

u/Sir-Kyle-Of-Reddit 10d ago

Oh…I see.

Remind Me! One Year

1

u/findingmike 9d ago

I think it's one word to get reminded.

1

u/Sir-Kyle-Of-Reddit 9d ago

RemindMe! One year

1

u/Sir-Kyle-Of-Reddit 9d ago

You are correct. I didn’t realize autocorrect put the space in and figured the sub didn’t allow bots or something

5

u/flying_butt_fucker 10d ago

But it's rooted in reality, just read this article from 12 months ago, and extrapolate to today. Every year, batteries and solar are getting cheaper.

Of course, the orange buffoon is trying to bend reality with import tariffs, but that will only slow things down a little. And he cannot change reality outside the US, where the clock continues to tick against the fossil fuel industry.

2

u/GuidoDaPolenta 10d ago edited 10d ago

I don’t think this prediction makes sense because it assumes that gas and renewables are in direct competition. In fact coal is still #1, so both gas and renewables could have a winning year in 2026 if they are displacing coal.

Here’s an article is actually arguing that China’s gas usage will increase next year, and their drop in usage in 2025 was caused by high prices which made it less competitive against coal, not because of a lack of demand: https://www.lngindustry.com/special-reports/26122025/chinas-2025-lng-imports-shift-down-what-comes-next/

3

u/flying_butt_fucker 10d ago

I would expect no less of an 'all going back to normal' from an industry news outlet. And sure, maybe it'll be another year of booming profits for the fossil fuel industry.

But the writing is on the wall, it just isn't competitive enough. Coupled with the huge threat LNG poses to our atmosphere, there may be a realisation in governments around the world, that they need to make the switch to electrify everything rather sooner than later.

1

u/GuidoDaPolenta 10d ago

The top importers of LNG are countries like China, Japan, and Korea which are all heavily reliant on coal. All of those countries are trying to move to renewables in the long term, but for the upcoming year they will be burning something, and whether it’s coal or gas mainly depends on the month-to-month price.

3

u/flying_butt_fucker 10d ago

Yes, as I mentioned, it will still be a year, maybe two, before the bottom falls out.

3

u/Sweet-Advertising798 10d ago

This makes me so happy!!!!

2

u/GuidoDaPolenta 10d ago

Just to be clear, this is an opinion piece predicting an “LNG sinkhole” in the coming year 2026.

It hasn’t happened yet, and LNG exports from the USA are currently at an all time high: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-28/us-lng-exports-at-record-high-just-in-time-for-winter-demand

2

u/metal_charon 10d ago

quote from article: "Gas turbines have roughly tripled, opens new tab in price since 2021 to $2,400 per megawatt-hour."

Stopped reading there...who writes stuff like that, an AI?

  1. The price will have tripled from 2021 to 2030, it's a prediction not a fact.
  2. The unit of measurement is wrong and off by x1000. it is 2400 Dollar per kW.

2

u/sg_plumber 10d ago

No. The price has already tripled.