NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY MINISTERS MEETING Washington– The North American Energy Ministers met yesterday, in response to the call of the North American Leaders, to advance an energy agenda that expands the continent’s leadership in energy, strengthens North American energy security, supports shared economic prosperity and environmental performance. This meeting builds upon a long, productive and… Keep reading →
On December 9, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced that it had achieved $4.5 million dollars in settlements from private employers as a result of a two year investigation into contractors working in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The DOL press release can be found here.
ARPA-E Invests $60 Million to Detect and Measure Methane Emissions and Develop Local Thermal Management Systems WASHINGTON – The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) today announced $60 million in funding for 22 innovative new projects aimed at detecting and measuring methane emissions and developing localized thermal management systems that reduce the energy needed… Keep reading →
By 2017, natural gas pipelines are projected to convert up to 32% of their pipeline capacity into the Northeast to support the bi-directional flow of natural gas out of the region to the South and West, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) December 2, 2014 report. It is well known that the increased production of natural gas in the shale plays of the Northeast have had a marked impact on the energy industry in the U.S. This EIA data shows us in hard numbers how drastic of an impact the shale boom has had on pipelines that historically transported natural gas into the Northeast: six pipelines transported 60% of natural gas into the Northeast in 2013, and 2013 volumes of gas transported into the Northeast on these six pipelines were 21%-84% lower than the volumes of gas they transported into the region just five years earlier. Several of these pipelines initiated the transition to handle bi-directional flows in 2013 and earlier this year.
The energy industry – oil & gas sector in particular – is bracing itself for a massive wave of retirements over the short to medium term, which has been dubbed “The Great Shift Change.” As the industry prepares for this turnover, companies are looking to the next generation of candidates with skills ranging from finance, geology,… Keep reading →
Numbers remain low It may not come as a complete surprise, but the U.S. Energy Information Administration has confirmed that California leads the country in electric vehicle adoption. However, all-electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles still represent a small percentage of new vehicle sales. There were roughly 174,000 EVs and PHEVs on the… Keep reading →
This article is part of the Energy.gov series highlighting the “Top Things You Didn’t Know About…” Be sure to check back for more entries soon. Historically, some key advancements in nuclear energy happened during the month of December. On December 2, 1943, Enrico Fermi created the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction at Stagg Field in Chicago.… Keep reading →
A proposed electric transmission line from Quebec into New England took a step forward this week, as the developer of the New England Clean Power Link applied to Vermont regulators for key project approvals.
Transmission Developers Inc. subsidiary TDI New England has proposed the New England Clean Power Link to bring Canadian hydropower and other electricity to the renewable-hungry New England market. With an estimated project cost of $1.2 billion, the 1000-megawatt high-voltage direct-current transmission line would run under Lake Champlain and underground to a converter station in Ludlow, Vermont, near where it would connect to the existing electric grid owned by Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO).
Oil prices have fallen, yet negawatts still cheaper than megawatts Oil prices have fallen a bit from their recent highs, yet energy efficiency remains the cheapest option around. That should not come as a surprise, but coming from the conservative, fossil-fuel focused International Energy Agency (IEA) makes it noteworthy. The global energy efficiency market,… Keep reading →
We all want easy answers. And often times the harder the question, the easier we want the answer to be. Increased natural gas use, for example, can help decrease U.S. greenhouse gas emissions as it has a lower carbon content compared to coal or oil. Natural gas also can help transition our energy mix to… Keep reading →
