Fuel

Are US Shale Gas Resources Overstated? Part 2

By


Enthusiasm over the US natural gas production renaissance has been steadily building over the past few years and increasing production of both gas and oil from shale deposits came up numerous times during the 2012 US presidential election cycle. However, not everyone views shale gas as a supply panacea, which is the thrust of a book due out next spring written by Bill Powers with a forward by Arthur Berman.

This is the second article in a two-part Breaking Energy series – read part one here. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 5, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Canada’s Oil Sands: A Delicate Dance of Regulators, Industry, the Environment and Economy

By


The holy trinity for energy is cheap, reliable and clean, but science has yet to unlock a source that provides all three without limits. In the meantime, the challenge for energy producers, consumers and regulators is to negotiate tradeoffs between these ideals in order to find the most acceptable energy solutions for modern society. There are few places in the world where this delicate negotiation between environmental cleanliness, affordability and reliability is more pronounced than in Canada’s oil sands producing region.

Canada boasts the world’s third largest proven oil reserves, which are primarily attributed to the oil sands, located in Northern Alberta. Oil sands are a natural mixture of sand, water, clay and heavy oil referred to as bitumen. Alberta contains 170.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves – 169.3 billion barrels of bitumen and 1.5 billion barrels of conventional oil. The province is about the size of Texas and produces approximately 1.6 million barrels of crude oil per day from the oil sands, which accounts for about half of Canada’s total crude oil production. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 4, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Are US Shale Gas Resources Overstated? Part 1

By


A forthcoming book argues that the country’s shale gas plays contain only about a quarter of the fuel that has been estimated by the US Energy Information Administration, and other widely used industry and academic assessments.

“Cold, Hungry and in the Dark: Exploding the Natural Gas Supply Myth,” by Bill Powers asserts that the quantity of unproved but technically recoverable natural gas in US shale plays is approximately 127 trillion cubic feet, or about a quarter of the 482 tcf estimated by the EIA in its Annual Energy Outlook for 2012. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 3, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Disruptive Energy Technology: GTL Promises Gas Revolution

By


The nation is flooded with natural gas. For the last twelve months, the amount of gas available to the market exceeds five-year averages. With more gas than anyone can use, producers are now looking for new consumers. Two new opportunities have emerged and one could disrupt the nation’s economy in some very positive ways.

Less than five years ago it looked like North America’s natural gas market was going to become highly dependent on foreign imports. Anticipating a growing need to offset declining natural resources, investors built eleven liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals along the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Seven more were approved by federal regulators. But during the last 12 months, very little LNG was imported. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 29, 2012 at 1:00 PM

NGV Market Set For Organic (Not Government Led) Growth: Westport CEO

By


Government can help the natural gas vehicle industry to gain a foothold in the market, but isn’t likely to work as a stimulus in the long run because many executives distrust its abilities to sustain support, according to the head of a leading maker of natural gas engine technology.

David Demers, chief executive of Westport Innovations said incentive programs are always fragile because they are subject to shifting political winds, and can cause serious disruption if they are withdrawn, so business leaders are more inclined to build their models on the basis of market forces. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 28, 2012 at 10:30 AM

SGB’s Jatropha Vision: Jet fuel Grown From Seeds

By


Call it the jatropha bubble. When word got out several years ago about the promise of a small subtropical tree called jatropha, it became a biofuel sensation. Advocates claimed the fruit tree was hearty, drought-resistant and could be grown on marginal land. Its oil seeds offered a promising biofuel that wouldn’t compete with food crops. Air Japan, Continental Airlines and Air New Zealand ran test flights of planes using jatropha-based biofuel, prompting more than 100 companies to plunk down millions on jatropha plantations in developing countries. Energy giant BP (BP) sunk $160 million into the farms, and one industry group projected that $1 billion would be invested annually in jatropha. Then everything crashed. Jatropha, it turned out, was much harder to grow than once thought. Yields were inconsistent, and many farmers didn’t have the training needed to manage commercial-scale crops. Most of the jatropha operations shut down.

 /  Published November 26, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Ask the Expert: Paper or Plastic? The Answer Might Surprise You

By


Chemistry professor David Tyler has taken an interest in the environmentally sensitive decisions that confront consumers every day: Plastic grocery bags . . . or paper? Take the car to work . . . or public transit? Disposable cups . . . or a ceramic mug that can be used over and over again?

Tyler has surveyed some of the research on these alternatives and has concluded that the environmental impact of some of our “green” choices can be surprising when you consider their effects from cradle to grave-that is, the total impact from the point a product is created from raw materials, through its manufacturing, distribution and consumer use, ending with its disposal or recycling. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 26, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Natural Gas: Energy You Can Hold Infographic

By

When people think about applications for natural gas in the US some of the most iconic images are kitchen stove burner tips and large power plants. However, natural gas liquids are widely used in manufacturing thousands of everyday products, as well as fertilizers and other applications that people may not be as familiar with. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Coal Gasification: An Old Idea Gets Advanced Tech Rebirth in China

By

For countries with lots of coal looking for clean alternatives to burning it, Synthesis Energy Systems has an answer: use that coal to run cars and make plastics.

That’s not only technically feasible, it’s actually being done commercially in China, Robert Rigdon, SES President and CEO, told Breaking Energy. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 13, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Chevron, NASA Team Up For High-Tech Exploration

By


Chevron has teamed up with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to bring space-age techniques to down-to-Earth energy exploration and production involving increasingly harsh environments.

 /  Published November 5, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Page 8 of 311...456789101112...31