Axios

Yesterday's Keystone XL approval by Nebraska state regulators hardly means the project is a sure thing, but it could make it more likely that TransCanada will build it.

Why it matters: Wood Mackenzie's Zachary Rogers said the outcome "greatly diminishes" the political risk facing the project, which is also getting a lift from recent market shifts that strengthen the need for heavy crude on the Gulf Coast.

A short Energy Information Administration analysis looks at how the link between power use and economic growth has been severed in some big countries, as the chart below shows.

Why it matters: Stagnant overall electricity growth in the U.S. has helped to shake up power markets as growing use of natural gas and renewables puts the squeeze on coal.

Reproduced from EIA Today in Energy, Nov. 20, 2017; Chart: Axios Visuals

The electric vehicle industry is at a tipping point, but policy and awareness-raising still matters. Those are some of the messages from Anne Smart, the VP for public policy with ChargePoint that has the world's largest network of EV charging stations, who spoke to Axios recently.

Here are three of the things the industry is working on:

When Elon Musk guaranteed that the new Tesla semi-truck would last 1 million miles without breaking down, experts assumed he was talking about the drive train, not the ultra-sensitive battery. But a person familiar with the truck tells Axios that he meant the battery, too.

Why it matters: A battery going that far would have multiple times the longevity of any commercial vehicle battery in use now or announced for release, and would help make Tesla's Semi competitive with diesel-burning competitors (since the battery is estimated to cost $170,000 on top of the $100,000-plus cost of the truck itself).

Using NASA mathematical models and satellite observations of sand, sea salt and smoke moving across the Western hemisphere, researchers at Goddard Space Flight Center created this visualization of the 2017 hurricane season.

What you're seeing: Sand and dust from the Sahara (seen in brown), sea salt picked up by the winds of hurricanes Irma, Harvey, Jose and Maria (blue) and smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. (gray) travel thousands of miles on wind. Across the Atlantic, Hurricane Ophelia takes form off the coast of Africa.

Why it matters: Simulating currents — in this case, from July 31, 2017 to November 1, 2017 — can be used to better understand the conditions under which storms form and evolve.

Nebraska's Public Service Commission has approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline across Nebraska in a 3-2 vote, removing the last regulatory hurdle for the $8 billion project, per the Omaha World-Herald.

Why it matters: Oil prices go a lot further than any government permit to determine whether the Keystone XL pipeline will ever actually be built. Companies' appetites to tap into the expensive oil sands region in Canada are much less than what they were several years ago, as crude oil is trading at about three times less the price it was trading when the pipeline was first proposed.