What’s Trending In Energy?

I am a big fan of Google Trends. I sometimes use Google Trends to understand which energy topics are of current interest to people. I read energy stories daily, and I am typically up to date on the energy topics that are of current interest. But, I like to cross-check that now and then.

Of course, Google Trends isn’t perfect. If I search for the term “energy”, sometimes it gives me results that aren’t exactly what I am looking for. For example, I just checked the Top 5 trending “Related queries” on “energy” in the U.S. for 2022. (The list looks quite different if you change the region to “Worldwide”).

Here they are, followed by the percentage uptick in interest on the topic:

1. Sam Brinton Department of Energy: +2250%
2. Fusion Energy Breakthrough: +1900%
3. Prime Energy Drink: +950%
4. What do energy jobs pay?: +800%
5. Is energy a good career path?: +800%

When I look at this list, three of the five topics (2, 4, and 5) are immediately familiar to me. In fact, my previous article covered the second item on the list. The third item isn’t related to the kind of energy I am interested in, and the last two aren’t items I have ever written about.

But I was immediately intrigued by the top-trending item on the list. I had no idea who Sam Brinton is, but I thought I probably should given the surge of interest . My immediate thought was this person was probably involved in the fusion breakthrough.

However, I did a quick bit of research, and that’s not at all what it was. It turns out that Sam Brinton is a nuclear engineer and LGBTQ activist (also pictured at the top of this article). Brinton, an MIT graduate, served as the deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy from June to December 2022. There is a nuclear angle, but that’s not why Brinton was in the news.

Last October Brinton was charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing a woman’s suitcase at a Minneapolis–St. Paul Airport baggage carousel. After this incident was publicized, investigators in Las Vegas issued a second arrest warrant after Brinton was matched to security footage involving another theft of a woman’s luggage.

Brinton has reportedly since been fired by the Department of Energy.

Honestly, I don’t know why this should be a topic of such interest, but I can take some guesses as to the reason. Energy is a boring topic for many people, but this is the kind of salacious story that can have broad appeal for those not generally interested in energy. It’s not an energy story, per se, nor the kind of topic I would generally cover. But, that’s the query related to “energy” that trended the most according to Google Trends.

Looking beyond the related queries, there is a “related topics” category for the search term you enter. For “energy”, the Top 5 related topics are:

1. Constellation New Energy: +110%
2. Nuclear Fusion: +110%
3. Constellation: 90%
4. United States Department of Energy: +70%
5. Scientist: +70%

Constellation New Energy describes themselves as “the nation’s largest producer of carbon-free energy and the leading competitive retail supplier of power and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the United States.”

Constellation was in the news several times in 2022, but I am not sure why interest would be up so much relative to other energy topics. Company shares were up nearly 100% in 2022 against a utility sector gain of only 1.4%. So, perhaps Constellation has been featured in some high-profile article, or maybe in a promotional advertisement by an investment newsletter.

Beyond Google Trends, I also receive information on the latest keywords that are driving readers to my articles. As I write this, the Top 10 are:

1. Nuclear fusion
2. Nuclear fusion breakthrough
3. Fusion breakthrough
4. Diesel shortage
5. Tesla market share
6. Fusion energy breakthrough
7. Nuclear fission
8. Why is natural gas so expensive?
9. Is the U.S. energy independent?
10. Fusion

Although the fusion entries are relatively recent — dating to an article just in the past week, #9 on the list is perpetually popular. U.S. energy independence is a topic that is always in the news, and people are always searching for more information on the subject.

Anyway, I know this article was a bit different, but I thought it might be interesting to see just what is currently trending in the energy sector. Sometimes, I find myself mystified by whatever happens to be trending. Other times, it helps me decide what I need to cover in my next article.