If the ocean is a-rocking

May 21, 2010 by Dan Gibson · Leave a Comment
Filed under: energy, video

turn it into energy. Sorry, couldn’t resist. The American Gas Association is a membership of local natural gas utilities. But our members are also looking at other forms of energy to help meet the needs of their customers. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has been working on a project for a while to harness the energy produced by waves in the ocean and make that energy available to its customers. Well, it looks like it’s getting closer to reality. PG&E filed a federal application to build a 5-megawatt (MW) project about three miles off the coast of Humboldt County in Northern California.

They plan to select three to four wave energy converter device makers for the 5-year project, which PG&E considers a pilot effort to test different types of technologies, said Jana Morris, a PG&E spokeswoman. According to Jana, PG&E has $1.2 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and $4.8 million in approved spending from the California Public Utilities Commission to take two projects through the regulatory processes.

Here are some other articles about the project:

Making a Splash: PG&E Dives Headlong Into Wave Power Project | Renewable Energy World

PG&E Dives Headlong Into Wave Power Project

Peak Energy: Tapping The Source: The Power Of The Oceans

California’s PG&E Takes the Plunge into Wave Power | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World

PG&E to ride the waves with Finavera | Cleantech Group

Watch this video about “Wavebob” to see how some of the technology could work.

Let us know about the different energy projects in your area.

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Spectra Energy in their community

May 18, 2010 by Dan Gibson · Leave a Comment
Filed under: people, video

Last year we started the Natural Gas Video award because we had seen so many great video projects from our members. Spectra Energy ended up winning the award with a great video on natural gas. One of the finalists was a Nicor video that went into details about how that natural gas utility was active in their community. I said at the time that I would love to be able to post a video from each member highlighting their role in their community.

Well Spectra took me up on my suggestion. Last month, Spectra Energy employees participated in more than 25 volunteer projects that occurred in Houston and across the Southeast United States as part of the company’s Helping Hands in Action (HHIA) initiatives. HHIA is the company’s annual month-long volunteer drive that encourages employees to give their time and share their talents to local non-profit/charitable organizations across North America.

I sent an email to Caitlin Bubela and Jerry Hereden over at Spectra Energy to learn about some of the highlights from the program. Here’s what they sent along:

Play ball! Volunteers in Thomaston, Tex., helped the Goliad County Little League spruce up its field in preparation for opening day at the ball field.
Nothing like a PBJ. Numerous volunteer teams in Houston gathered to prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to benefit SEARCH, a homeless service provider in the community.
Sprucing up the campus. In Oran, Mo., Spectra Energy employees planted trees at the local public school to beautify the new campus playground.
Swing away. Volunteers in Norris City, Ill., painted swing sets and picnic tables for the enjoyment of all members of the community.
Elbow grease. The Ensemble Theatre in Houston has clean carpets and a fresh coat of paint thanks to the elbow grease of Spectra Energy employees.
Preparing meals. A team of volunteers in St. Francisville, La., partnered with the local chapter of the American Cancer Society (ACS) to prepare a meal, which was sold at the organization’s Relay for Life event. The proceeds from the meal benefited the ACS.
Time to play. The Rose City Boys and Girls Club in North Little Rock benefited from the time and talent of Spectra Energy’s team that painted playground equipment and executed a general site cleanup.
Sweat equity. The home of an elderly, disabled Houstonian received much needed repairs, thanks to the sweat equity of Spectra Energy employees and Rebuilding Together Houston.
Discovering the great outdoors. Tennessee Jaycee’s Camp Discovery in Gainesboro, Tenn., provides a camp experience for children with disabilities. A group of Spectra Energy volunteers painted and worked on numerous projects at the facility for the special campers.
Woodworking. Evangeline Elementary School in Evangeline, La., is the beneficiary of new cabinetry, thanks to the handiwork of the Spectra Energy team.
A long trek. A team of Spectra Energy riders biked from Houston to Austin in celebration of the annual MS 150. The ride raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to fund continued research in hopes of identifying a cure.
New roots. The Next Door in Knoxville, Tenn., provides a home for women recently released from prison. Spectra Energy volunteers planted a garden and did general gardening work at the facility.
Right down the middle. Palace Lanes in Houston was the place to be as Spectra Energy employees gathered for the annual Junior Achievement Bowl-a-Thon. The citywide event raises money to support the organization’s mission of educating students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

You can watch more Spectra Energy videos over at their YouTube page. Their Helping Hands in Action effort will continue throughout Canada and in the Northeast United States on June 1.

If you’re a natural gas utility, don’t forget to drop us a line so we can help spread the word about all the valuable work you’re doing in your community. You can just leave a link in the comments below.

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NGVsNow brings the sexy back to natural gas

May 11, 2010 by Dan Gibson · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Natural Gas, video

Yes, for all you kids out there, that is a Justin Timberlake reference. I am only slightly ancient.

The folks over at NGVsNow have put together a great tongue-in-cheek video touting the benefits of natural gas vehicles. They did such a good job that Wired actually picked up the story. My favorite line from the Wired story: “video got over 4,000 hits in the first 36 hours it was up and, unusually for YouTube, generated a nearly-intelligent discussion among commenters about the merits of natural gas as an alternative fuel.”

Head on over to NGVsnow.com to watch more videos. The site is packed with great information. I grabbed this off their facts page.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, only 1 percent of today’s natural gas consumption in the U.S. is currently used for vehicle fuel.
Natural gas can reduce greenhouse gas emissions for heavy-duty trucks, when compared to diesel powered vehicles, by 23 percent. Compared to diesel powered vehicles, using natural gas can reduce greenhouse gas emissions for passenger vehicles by 30 percent.

Natural gas engines reduce smog-producing pollutants by up to 90 percent and hydrocarbon emissions by 50-70 percent, compared to gasoline.
Converting one truck from diesel to natural gas is the equivalent of taking as many as 325 cars off the road in terms of pollution reduction.

Converting just 350,000 of the more than 2 million 18-wheelers on the road from burning imported diesel to running on domestic natural gas would create 420,000 jobs directly and add an additional 1.2 million jobs indirectly.

According to NGVAmerica, of the more than 10 million natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in operation around the world only about 130,000 NGVs — about 1.3 percent — are in the United States. The top five markets for NGVs are Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Iran and India.

Approximately 20 percent of public transit buses in the U.S. run on compressed natural gas (CNG). In Los Angeles alone there are more than 2,800 NGV buses in operation. States with the highest consumption of natural gas for transportation are California, New York, Texas, Georgia, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

NGVs have also become popular among many types of fleets besides public transportation, including taxi fleets, courier and delivery fleets, government and police fleets, community fleets, and trades and commercial fleets.

Natural Gas has an existing distribution infrastructure. With 1.5 million miles of gas pipe and distribution lines crisscrossing the country, natural gas is available to nearly every street and community in America.

An 18-wheeler uses up to 20,000 gallons of fuel per year. Replacing only 100,000 of these trucks with those powered by natural gas would immediately cut our consumption of diesel fuel up to 2 billion gallons per year.

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