The U.S. could cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 8%, almost half of the country’s unofficial 2020 emissions reduction goal, by increasing use of natural gas plants, according to a new M.I.T. report.
The report, “The Future of Natural Gas,” found that taking coal-fired power plants offline and ramping up natural gas plants is “the lowest cost way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50%.” Keep reading →
The current U.S. boom in shale-gas extraction has significant economic benefits that heavily outweigh the costs of air and water pollution caused by the industry, a new report said on Tuesday.
The analysis from the Manhattan Institute, a free-market advocate, said a typical well in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale field yields about $4 million in economic benefits compared with only $14,000 in environmental costs. Keep reading →
GE is diving head-first into renewables generation. Keep reading →
“This Is Spinal Tap” is a hilarious movie that was released in 1984. It’s a fictional account of a fictional rock band (the world’s loudest…) on a fictional come-back tour shot in documentary style, complete with back-stage antics and actual concert clips. The movie was so well done that decades later, some people still think Spinal Tap was real. It was ground breaking: the first “mockumentary.”
In stark contrast to the tongue-firmly-in-cheek nature of “This Is Spinal Tap,” the movie “Gasland” is a fiction masquerading as truth. John Hanger, Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection told the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gasland is “fundamentally dishonest” and “a deliberately false presentation for dramatic effect.” Keep reading →
Consolidation continues in the natural gas industry as companies with access to funding leverage their position in new markets through both acquisition and organic growth.
Natural gas assets are still fairly priced for now in most North American producing regions, Rockwater Energy Solutions Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer Holli Nichols told Breaking Energy. Her Houston-based firm is planning to grow by acquisition and organic growth in North America over the next few years, before turning to international markets. Keep reading →
T. Boone Pickens is on a crusade to wean America off its addiction to foreign oil. The famed oilman and corporate takeover artist has been crisscrossing the country pushing the Pickens Plan, which proposes converting heavy vehicles to run on abundant and domestically available natural gas.
The plan is not uncontroversial, particularly amongst some in the green community who note that it is based on controversial extraction techniques and that Pickens, an oil and gas investor, stands to profit handsomely if it is enacted. But the plan, which inspired a bill in the U.S. Congress called the Nat Gas Act, also has influential supporters in Washington and at The New York Times. We caught up with Pickens a couple of weeks ago. The interview was condensed and edited for clarity. Keep reading →
Petroleum engineers in the 1930s knew what to think about methane hydrates, the magical “ice that burns”: they were a big nuisance. Chunks of these flammable frozen solids would sometimes clog oil and natural gas pipelines and slow production, so eliminating them became a priority. For decades, methane hydrates remained a worthless, vexing curiosity to industry.
But yesterday’s trash becomes today’s treasure, and methane hydrates now seem to represent a hugely abundant energy source that could help power the global economy as it shifts away from dirtier coal and oil. They could make some countries energy independent, and might even be able to help counter global warming by locking away some of the carbon dioxide (CO2) warming the climate. That is, the hydrates could become all of those things if engineers and scientists can develop a cost-competitive way to use them. Keep reading →
Nestled deep in Israel’s Negev desert, just several miles from the Gaza Strip on one side and Jordan on the other, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies is a multinational education center whose aim is to use environmental projects to scale back more than just carbon emissions.
“We live in a very small region: I’m talking about a few kilometers in distance” Director of Arava’s Center for Renewable Energy, Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed told Breaking Energy. “We have the same climate, the same problems, the same air pollution, the same water scarcity, the same food, the same traditions, but we have this border that we made.” Keep reading →
Problems abound for Pennsylvania’s electricity regulators.
Faced with aging power infrastructure, a mandate to boost use of renewable fuels, and a natural gas drilling boom in its midst, Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission has its work cut out for it in coming years. Keep reading →
With its latest new product announcement, globe-spanning conglomerate GE is trying to solve several of the electricity sector’s most pressing challenges at once.
The new FlexEfficiency 50 Combined Cycle Power Plant design was announced today in Paris, amid claims that the unit’s ability to quickly cycle up to full power and operate at a very high 61% operating efficiency make it a game changer in the industry. Keep reading →
