Margaret Ryan

 

Posts by Margaret Ryan

Fracking Safety Depends On An Old Technology

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The hydrofracking that has opened up America’s enormous natural gas resources is a marvel of modern technology, but keeping gas and flowback water from those wells from seeping into drinking water depends on a far more mundane science: cementing.

Cementing is used to seal well bores on- and off-shore, in all types of oil and gas wells, and integrity standards are well established. But those standards “are often difficult to attain,” said James Saiers, a professor of hydrology at Yale University, speaking at a Resources for the Future (RFF) forum on “Managing the Risks of Shale Gas.” Keep reading →

 /  Published November 22, 2011 at 11:45 AM

Ready Or Not, Here Come MACT And CSAPR

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Congressional deadlock means two game-changing Environmental Protection Agency rules are poised to take effect unless a court stops them or the White House weighs in.

The rules will cost electric utilities and their ratepayers billions. But the utility industry itself is split between those that have invested to lower their air pollution ahead of federal regulation and say stricter standards can be met, and those who remain highly coal-dependent and contend the EPA is forcing changes so fast it will endanger electric reliability. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 15, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Waiting For The Supercommittee

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Kids may be waiting for Santa, but Washington is waiting for the Supercommittee.

Whether it’s the oil and gas industry defending drilling tax breaks, biofuels boosters watching the clock tick down on expiring ethanol credits, wind advocates worried about their tax credits, or energy researchers wondering if their projects will survive to 2012, everyone in the energy sector has something to worry about. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM

What Will LNG Exports Cost US Consumers?

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Producers want to export natural gas equaling 20% of current US consumption to overseas markets where the gas sells for up to five times the US price.

US officials and experts are struggling to figure out whether allowing all those exports will hike prices for US consumers. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 10, 2011 at 6:00 AM

NATGAS or Not, Natural Gas Fuels Rev Up

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Bipartisan bills to incentivize more natural gas use in US transportation have languished over the last three years in Congress, but low natural gas prices are now persuading trucking fleet owners they don’t need to wait for tax breaks for fuel diversification to make bottom-line sense.

Analysts and lobbyists watching Congress’ “supercommittee” are pessimistic about renewal of expiring subsidies, like the excise tax credit for suppliers of compressed or liquefied natural gas (CNG/LNG) and the credit for installing fueling infrastructure for CNG or LNG. And most say proposed new subsidies, like the NATGAS (New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions) Act, will never see the light of day in this Congress. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 31, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Wind Power, Grid Mismatch Costly To Investors

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Wind farm investors face growing losses from “curtailments,” as turbine installations outstrip the capacity of local transmission systems to accommodate the new power.

The issue is a “growing pain” of wind technology, Judah Rose, Senior Vice President, ICF International in McLean, VA, said. Curtailment has become an increasing problem since 2008 as wind capacity nationwide increases from almost nothing 10 years ago to more than 42,000 megawatts now. “It’s occurring even in RTOs (regional transmission organizations) with advanced pricing and management systems,” Rose said. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 27, 2011 at 10:30 AM

Shedding New Light On Efficient Bulbs

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The Lumen Coalition wants consumers to know: There’s a bulb for that.

The new ad hoc group of 40 business and advocacy organizations has formed to help consumers sort out what’s happening with light bulbs as new energy efficiency standards, voted by Congress in 2007, begin taking effect in January. What is happening, the coalition says, is a flood of new choices, and a lot of them don’t look like the compact fluorescent curlicue. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 21, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Cuba Sanctions Would Prevent Oil Spill Response

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US oil companies would be hobbled in their response to an oil spill from wells off the cost of Cuba, a Senate committee heard this week.

If there’s an oil spill from wells being drilled off the Cuban coast, US companies have sophisticated response equipment just 100 miles away – but couldn’t use it due to long-standing sanctions against Cuba. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 19, 2011 at 6:00 AM

USAEE: Framing The Debate Amid Constant Change

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The energy landscape has changed so fast in the last five years that the national debate has shifted fundamentally, leaving experts struggling to figure where energy is headed.

A few new trends are clear: growing pessimism over the future of nuclear power due to cost and public acceptance after Fukushima, renewables closing in on parity with traditional fuels but still needing technology breakthroughs to become significant players, and cheap natural gas from shales transforming the landscape for everything. But questions about where the transformation is headed has revealed divisions and confusion among a number of the speakers attending the Oct. 10-12 conference of the US Association for Energy Economists in Washington DC. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 13, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Cutting Carbon Translated: Natural Gas

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Switching electric generation from coal to natural gas is the only way the US can meet carbon-reduction goals, says a new Deutsche Bank analysis.

Mark Fulton, managing director and global head of research for Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors, told the US Association of Energy Economists conference in Washington DC on October 11 that “renewables alone cannot do the job,” though the study indicates wind and solar will play important roles. The October 2011 report, titled “Natural Gas and Renewables: The Coal to Gas and Renewables Switch is on!” can be downloaded here. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 12, 2011 at 10:00 AM
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