Natural gas drilling is typically a diesel-intensive process, but Cabot Oil & Gas just announced the latest in a series of innovations designed to utilize more equity natural gas production in Cabot’s own operations. The company is now using a field gas/diesel mixture to hydraulically fracture Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania. The process is touted… Keep reading →
Clean energy progress is too slow, says IEA Progress on research, developing and deploying clean energy technologies “has not been fast enough”, said the International Energy Agency in its Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2013 report. The report blames large market failures that have prevented adoption of clean energy solutions, failure to tap potential for energy… Keep reading →
The ongoing debate over how and whether hydraulic fracturing poses a threat to the environment covers a whole host of issues – land use, earthquakes, drinking water contamination, methane emissions, and even the sustainability of fossil fuel use. While some issues remain mired in a lack of hard data or fundamental philosophical differences, companies… Keep reading →
The Council on Foreign Relations’ International Institutions and Global Governance (IIGG) Program has chided the US for its failure to provide leadership in efforts to combat climate change. IIGG’s Climate Change report card gave the US a middling-to-poor C-minus for its performance on tackling global climate change. The US was lumped in with China in… Keep reading →
Experts Endorse US LNG Exports In response to a recent House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on the economic and geopolitical opportunities of natural gas exports, Bill Cooper, president of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas issued the following statement: “Thursday’s hearing adds to the growing understanding that LNG exports are a huge opportunity for the… Keep reading →
A focus on the atmospheric impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 100 years from now distracts from immediate steps, such as reducing natural gas leakage from the production process, that could offer substantial medium-term climate benefits, according to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
Natural gas in power generation offers an obvious advantage over coal in cutting CO2 emissions. “If we think simply of the CO2 emitted per unit of electricity generated, you would say gas is a hands-down winner,” said EDF Chief Scientist Steven Hamburg at the Advanced Energy Conference in New York on Tuesday. Keep reading →
Last week I had the opportunity to attend and participate in LNG17, the largest global gas event of 2013. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a rapidly growing part of the larger natural gas industry and is especially relevant today because of the increasing global demand for transportation fuels. At the conference, it was clear to me that LNG is a priority for not only Shell, but also the entire industry because of its potential to provide real economic and environmental benefits to the transportation industry in trucks, trains and ships.
For around 50 years, LNG has been used as a source of energy for power generation in cities but new technology and increasing demand has inspired Shell to invest in LNG for transport. Resources around the world, especially in North America, are abundant but supply is growing far faster than demand. It is the industry’s responsibility to build the infrastructure and develop innovative technology to utilize this energy source to its fullest potential. Keep reading →
The drought that ravaged much of the U.S. in 2012 shows no sign of letting up. Spring rains have eased concerns in the Southeast and in some areas of the Midwest, but other sections are not so lucky.
“The western half of the country is bad and will probably get even worse,” said Richard Heim, a drought monitor expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Keep reading →
One of the largest independent natural gas producers in the US, Southwestern Energy, is optimistic about the US natural gas industry outlook despite anticipated cost increases associated with upcoming EPA rulemaking.
Southwestern President and CEO Steve Mueller said his company was not concerned about fracking regulations, but described methane emissions as a “big concern” when fielding questions from Wall Street analysts at the Independent Petroleum Association of America’s Oil & Gas Investment Symposium in New York on Monday. Keep reading →
Breaking new ground – literally – enhanced geothermal system technology is unlocking heat trapped deep beneath Earth’s surface and, for the first time, turning it into electricity on the U.S. grid.
The U.S. Department of Energy said an Ormat Technologies EGS project that it backed with $5.4 million (to go along with $2.6 million in private sector money) had boosted production at a Churchill County, Nev., geothermal field by 38 percent, pumping 1.7 megawatts of new power to the grid. Keep reading →
Jared Anderson
Conway Irwin
Peter Gardett