Safety is still the most important issue for natural gas utilities. Here’s a great safety message from Orange and Rockland Utilities. Smell gas? Act fast.
There are quite a few AGA er’s down at the NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Orlando this week. The IBS is the largest residential building industry tradeshow in the world. The event is projecting more than 60,000 attendees and 1,200 exhibitors this year. There are more than 200 educational sessions and special events during the show. They have a nice interactive grid feature on their website to help you figure out where to go.
If you decide to stop by the Natural Gas and Propane Industries booth, you may run into Carter Oosterhouse, host of HGTVs Carter Can, a regular contributor to the Rachael RayRay Show and the spokesperson for the Council for Responsible Energy. Carter’s a big fan of natural gas appliances. He was actually on Fox News today (see video below) talking about them and some other great energy saving tips. Here’s what he said about natural gas appliances:
Natural Gas Water Heating:
Heats water up to twice as fast and ensures comfort even during a power outage.
More than 50% reduction in carbon emissions.
Among the many types of water heaters on the market, some models – such as highly efficient gas storage water heaters, heat pumps, solar water heaters and tankless water heaters – are up to 50 percent more efficient than traditional gas storage water heaters.
Energy Star qualified tankless water heaters will save an average of more than $40 per year for each person in your household, compared to a conventional gas model.Fuel costs will continue to creep up, making it all the more practical to think about a long-term strategy for saving energy and money on your next water heater.
Tankless water heaters have a 20 year shelf life.
Natural Gas Clothes Drying:
More than 50% reduction in carbon emissions
Clothes are dry in nearly half the time
Natural Gas Cooking:
Style and performance upgrade for heart of your home.
Precision control preferred by 96% of professional chefs.
Let us know if you’re at the IBS show in the comments.
The folks over at Spectra Energy are at it again. Last year, they won the Natural Gas Video Award with a strong showing. Now they’ve gone out and interviewed children asking them questions about natural gas.
The questions include:
Where can we find natural gas?
How do you use natural gas?
What’s good about natural gas?
Why should we use more natural gas?
As you can guess, there are a wide variety of answers. There are the usual ones you’d expect (the first thirty seconds are great…I know I shouldn’t laugh at these but there is something hysterical about a small child saying natural gas is what comes out of people’s butts) but there are quite a few good answers as well. Don’t worry, Spectra does a great job of providing answers on the harder questions for the kids.
Natural gas is found in rock formations — deep in the ground and under the ocean
Natural gas is used to heat homes, cook food, generate electricity and more
Natural gas is clean, abundant, reliable and efficient.
More natural gas means cleaner environment, more jobs for the economy and better energy security
The video shows a lot of vision to me. It’s a great way to educate children on the reality of natural gas. You can watch the video below and leave a comment to let us know what you think. Be sure to visit the Spectra Energy YouTube channel for more videos. They’re doing great work.
Yesterday, on C-Span’s morning news and discussion show, Washington Journal, Nick Stavropoulos, head of National Grid’s U.S. gas distribution business, talked about the importance of the nation’s natural gas system and how natural gas plays a significant role in America’s low carbon future.
In a wide ranging discussion that touched on a variety of issues, Nick explained how natural gas utilities work, how customer bills are structured, key issues surrounding supply and demand, and answered several questions from callers.
A popular topic was alternative power sources, including the role of wind turbines. The point was made that, while a growing and vital portion of America’s power supply, greener alternatives like wind and solar are not yet fully reliable. Additionally, the power generated from such sources still needs to be transmitted to the end user. Nick talked about National Grid’s contract with Cape Wind to develop an extensive wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod to help power Massachusetts customers.
One caller asked about distributed generation and cogeneration, using natural gas to power a site-located turbine to generate electricity and at the same time capturing the resulting heat and using that as steam for local heating purposes. National Grid has used this technology for some time in limited situations, but more development is needed. Nick noted that there are some residential customer locations using cogeneration, but it’s still on a small scale. He also stressed that government support is needed for development of natural gas cogeneration and renewable gas technology.
Discussion also touched on shale gas and where it fits in with the overall domestic natural gas supply. Addressing the topical issue of hydrofracking, Nick clarified that it is not a new technology – in fact, it has been in use successfully for decades — and he pointed out on several occasions that well funded regulators and transparency from all sectors of the industry are vital to oversight and effective regulation of natural gas development.
