True Blue Natural Gas - An Energy Blog from the American Gas Association AGA

Natural gas is ahead of the curve

Dave Parker — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:02:50 +0000

Read my latest response on the National Journal’s Energy and Environment Experts blog to the question, “Should Carbon Be Priced Sector By Sector?”

The American Gas Association (AGA) commends Senators Kerry, Graham, Lieberman, Cantwell, Collins, Bingaman and Murkowski for helping to keep a spotlight on our nation’s energy issues and looking for smart, creative and logical alternatives to address America’s need for a sound energy policy. By recognizing the role that clean, domestic and abundant natural gas can and will play in combating climate change, our legislators can help reach our nation’s energy goals sooner.

AGA urges members of Congress to take a look at the successful track record of America’s natural gas customers. During the past 40 years, while the number of natural gas customers has doubled, actual natural gas use and greenhouse gas emissions have remained essentially flat. This decline in residential gas usage per household is due to better insulated homes, more efficient appliances and conservation/efficiency programs supported by natural gas utilities.

This remarkable success in both reducing natural gas usage on a per-household basis and increasing appliance efficiency should be considered when crafting a national energy strategy. Instead of simply mandating arbitrary prescriptive requirements, a far more effective course of action would be to continue to support these successful approaches and encourage other innovative ways to promote conservation.

We believe that natural gas could, and should, be used as a tool to improve environmental quality and energy efficiency. An approach to reducing emissions that is focused on appliance efficiency standards, building codes, and utility-supported conservation/efficiency programs has a proven track record for residential and commercial natural gas customers. As it looks to the future, Congress should also identify what has worked in the past and encourage more of it.

Spectra Energy receives the 2009 Natural Gas Video Award

Dan Gibson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:44:44 +0000

Here’s the release we just put out today on Spectra. Congrats on a job well done.

Washington, DC March 16, 2010 — Spectra Energy has received the 2009 Natural Gas Video Award from the American Gas Association (AGA) for its video “Facts about Natural Gas. The Natural Choice.” This is the inaugural presentation of the Natural Gas Video Award recognizing excellence in video communications by an energy utility.

“Spectra Energy’s video is an excellent example of the type of work that energy utilities are doing through video to communicate with the world,” said David N. Parker, president and CEO of the American Gas Association. “The video does a tremendous job telling the natural gas story of being efficient, abundant, domestically available and the cleanest burning fossil fuel.”

An AGA volunteer member committee reviewed the entrants before selecting from the pool of entrants Spectra Energy, the Council for Responsible Energy, Nicor, and NW Natural as finalists. The finalists were posted to the AGA blog, truebluenaturalgas.org, where visitors of the site were able to vote on the winner. During a three-week period, Spectra Energy received more than 1,500 votes for its video to win the award in a closely contested race.

“Obviously we were very excited to hear that we won the Award,” said Toni Beck, group vice president, internal and external affairs at Spectra Energy. “We wanted to raise the visibility of natural gas and promote its use and benefits. We thought video would be unique way of communicating a very compelling story about the benefits of natural gas.”

The Natural Gas Video Award will be given on an annual basis and submissions for 2010 are already being accepted.

About the American Gas Association
The American Gas Association, founded in 1918, represents 195 local energy companies that deliver clean natural gas throughout the United States. There are more than 70 million residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers in the U.S., of which 91 percent — more than 64 million customers — receive their gas from AGA members. Today, natural gas meets almost one-fourth of the United States’ energy needs.

Contact
Dan Gibson
Director, Internet Communications
Email: dgibson@aga.org

Natural Gas Market Indicators

Chris McGill — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:44:38 +0000

Domestic production strength has asserted itself once again during the first quarter of 2010 just as heating-sensitive demand load is declining and underground storage withdrawals are moderating. U.S. drilling operations now show more rig activity than one year ago with two-thirds directed toward natural gas.

Demand-side events including strong heating load requirements at different times throughout the 2009-2010 winter heating season and a slight increase in industrial natural gas consumption for year-to-date 2010 compared to 2009 have not been able to trump general supply strength and as a result natural gas acquisition prices have been modest and even declining at winter’s end.

Visit this link to download the full Natural Gas Market Indicator. Topics covered include: Reported Prices, Weather, Working Gas in Underground Storage, Natural Gas Production, Rig Counts, Pipeline Imports and Exports, and LNG Markets.

Sen. Murkowski, Energy Leaders Point to Natural Gas as Large Piece of the Climate Change Puzzle

Lauren Blosse — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:32:25 +0000

Today, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and several energy industry leaders spoke to a group of key stakeholders in DC about the potential for natural gas in America’s low-carbon future.

During the forum, which was sponsored by AGA, the American Gas Foundation and the Congressional Quarterly- Roll Call group, Sen. Murkowski said that any bill that fails to rely on natural gas to help lower emissions is “unacceptable.” She went on to tout the record of residential and commercial natural gas users in lowering total emissions over the last four decades.

The senator also pointed to natural gas as a backup for renewables, stating, “renewables need base load supply, and natural gas can be that supply.”

Others on the panel, including Kevin Book of ClearView Energy Partners, Sharon Buccino of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Bill Cantrell of the Council for Responsible Energy, Vello Kuuskraa of Advanced Resources International and Dr. Robert Simon of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee addressed such issues as access to domestic natural gas, hydraulic fracturing and natural gas vehicles.

Quoting the journalist Robert Bryce, Senator Murkowski concluded, “Wood was the dominant fuel source in the 19th century, and oil in the 20th century. Natural gas should be the dominant fuel source in the 21st century.”

Visit this link to view a video of the forum.

Diversification of natural gas supply is an essential consumer protection

Andrew Soto — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:53:14 +0000

As the old adage goes, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” You don’t need to have been in the energy industry long to see examples of the dangers of relying on a single fuel source to meet essential needs. The more you rely on one source for a particular fuel, the more vulnerable you become to price changes in that fuel source. Having a diverse supply portfolio helps protect consumers from the adverse impacts of price volatility by limiting the impact of significant price changes that may occur in any one source.

Supply diversity is important both within and across fuels. I often hear people advocate that we should generate electricity with: ___ (pick your source – wind, solar, fuel cells, nuclear, natural gas, etc.). But in my view, we need a diverse electric generation fleet that draws from ALL sources of supply in order to mitigate the impacts of price volatility in any one particular fuel source. I think a large part of our concerns about the price of oil and our dependence on foreign sources of it stems from the fact that nearly all of our transportation needs are met by a single fuel source. According to the Energy Information Administration’s 2008 Annual Energy Review, the transportation sector relies on petroleum products to supply 95 percent of its needs.

Even within a fuel type we need a diverse resource base. As my colleague, Chris McGill, has said, when it comes to natural gas, North America is blessed with resource abundance. And that abundance is diverse geographically and geologically. Whether on-shore or off-shore, conventional or non-conventional, we are fortunate that we have many sources of natural gas supply to meet our energy needs. And, that diversity has helped keep natural gas prices low for consumers. For example, in 2005 when hurricanes shuttered much of our off-shore natural gas production, prices rose dramatically in response to the supply constriction. In 2008, however, when off-shore supply was again taken off-line due to hurricanes, natural gas prices fell. What changed? On-shore production from new shale plays as well as increased LNG imports more than made up the supply shortfall. Indeed, according to Pan EurAsian Enterprices, Inc., increased LNG imports this winter helped stabilize natural gas prices in New England. See AGA’s Natural Gas Market Indicators (Feb. 26, 2010).

I believe that our ability to import natural gas via LNG import terminals is an important element of our diverse natural gas resource base that helps keep natural gas prices affordable for consumers. Several U.S. Senators have introduced legislation (S. 3056) that would remove from the Natural Gas Act provisions that make clear that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has exclusive jurisdiction over the siting of LNG import terminals. The Natural Gas Council, of which AGA is a member, opposes this legislation with good reason. The legislation, if passed, would create uncertainty in the siting process and may ultimately lead to fewer import facilities being sited or built. While some local interests might cheer at that result, in the long run we only hurt ourselves by chipping away at our natural gas supply diversity.

We should not put artificial limits on LNG imports. The market should decide where and how many of these facilities should be built, with FERC ensuring that each facility is sited and constructed in an environmentally responsible manner. For the benefit of all natural gas consumers, we should not remove one of the “baskets” that has contributed to our diverse natural gas resource base.

From Austin to Boston in a natural gas vehicle

Dan Gibson — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:52:38 +0000

We’ve done quite a few stories on natural gas vehicles here at True Blue but my favorite ones are always the ones about people showing initiative. A great example of that is Castlen Kennedy.

I came across Castlen initially when I saw her name pop up in the CNGNow twitter stream. She’s planning an extended trip (Austin to Boston) in her new CNG-fueled Tahoe. Castlen has a degree in Public Affairs which might explain why she is doing such an excellent job using the web to promote her experience. You can read about the trip on her blog, follow her on Twitter and even become a Facebook fan. If you’re on Facebook, take some time to join AGA natural gas Facebook fan page.

Before you go though, I did have a chance to sit down with Castlen to get her thoughts on her upcoming trip. You can read on below and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

Tell us about yourself?

I am native of Houston, currently living in Austin as I pursue a Dual Masters at the University of Texas. I plan to graduate in May 2011 with a Masters in Public Affairs from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs and a Masters of Arts in Energy & Earth Resources from the Jackson School of Geosciences.

In addition to being a full time student, I work part time for Apache Corporation, an independent oil and natural gas producer headquartered in Houston. Before returning to school in the fall of 2008, I spent seven years in various positions in both the public and private sector working on energy issues. Prior to joining Apache Corporation in 2006, I worked in the Office of Fossil Energy at the United States Department of Energy as a Senior Policy Advisor on oil and natural gas issues. Before DOE, I also held positions at S&B Infrastructure, RWE Trading Americas and Enron Corporation.

I am recently married and live with my husband, Cory, and our Boston Terrier, Ralphie. In my free time I like taking Ralphie to the dog park, working out and travelling.

Why did you decide to do this?

With a new understanding of our abundant natural gas resources in the US, it seems all things gas-related are getting more attention these days from transportation to power generation and Bloomboxes! A thesis is required for my dual masters, and I wanted to combine the energy aspect of my degrees with the policy piece and the transportation fuel possibilities of natural gas sounded really exciting. The idea to make it more than just a report and add an actual trip came about because I thought it would be a whole lot of fun and add an anecdotal narrative to my thesis.

As I talked to friends and family about my plans, I soon learned few people outside of the industry realized natural gas as a transportation fuel was even an option. I realized I could use the trip as an opportunity to educate my social circle on the technology and its related benefits and challenges. The website and blog naturally followed.

When does your trip start?

I will depart Austin on Wednesday, May 19th and expect the trip to take about a week.

Give us some insight into how you’re planning your trip?

The first step was figuring out where I could get a car. Apache, my employer, was looking into converting some vehicles for their car pool program, and I approached them about taking one of those on the trip. Once they agreed, I had to figure out the fuel capacity and efficiency of the Tahoe so I could estimate what my range would be on a full CNG fill. Once I had that number pegged, I was able to use a couple of different maps of stations to create the route. DOE has a good one online.

I wasn’t initially sure where I wanted to go, but knew I needed to go somewhere far away. I have never been to Boston and “Austin to Boston” had an obvious ring to it. The longest stretch on my trip is about 250 miles, and the Tahoe should be able to comfortably cover it.

What are your plans during the trip?

I want to make stops along the way to tour facilities and interview individuals to highlight different aspects of the fuel. For example, in addition to the obvious fuel stops, I plan to visit a dealership that does vehicle conversions, visit a natural gas production site, interview a fleet manager who has done a conversion, and maybe even visit an LNG facility. I have a lot of other ideas for stops I will make along the way, so you will have to stay tuned and follow the blog to see where I actually end up!

Natural gas, how about zero carbon emissions

Dan Gibson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:59:47 +0000

One of the advantages of natural gas is it emits less carbon than any other fossil fuel. Because of this fact, many have touted the benefits of using natural gas in power generation. Well, MIT Postdoctoral associate Thomas Adams and Chemical Engineering Professor Paul I. Barton have taken it a step further. They’ve developed a system which produces power from natural gas without actually burning it, thus producing no carbon emissions.

If you’re into the scientific terminology, here’s the abstract from their paper:

A unique electricity generation process uses natural gas and solid oxide fuel cells at high electrical efficiency (74%HHV) and zero atmospheric emissions. The process contains a steam reformer heat-integrated with the fuel cells to provide the heat necessary for reforming. The fuel cells are powered with H₂ and avoid carbon deposition issues. 100% CO₂ capture is achieved downstream of the fuel cells with very little energy penalty using a multi-stage flash cascade process, where high-purity water is produced as a side product. Alternative reforming techniques such as CO₂ reforming, autothermal reforming, and partial oxidation are considered. The capital and energy costs of the proposed process are considered to determine the levelized cost of electricity, which is low when compared to other similar carbon capture-enabled processes.

The system also produces a stream of clean water, and almost pure carbon dioxide, making it easy to harness for sale to cement manufacturers now developing a use for it.Apparently the system doesn’t take new technology, but is just a new way to combine solid-oxide fuel cells. They’ve already developed a working model on a lab-sized 250 KW demonstration plant – about at 1/1000th scale of a typical 250 MW plant. Once the system has been proved at this small size it can easily be scaled up, and could be ready for commercialization in a few years.

You can get the complete details Science Direct or read a great scan at CleanTechnica. There’s a lot of great research and development going on in natural gas right now. If you know of any new projects happening, make sure to leave us a comment so I can check it out.

The real natural gas message in a climate crunch

Lauren Blosse — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:19:54 +0000

I thought you might be interested in the following letter to the editor Dave Parker submitted to The Hill regarding the coal-to-natural-gas conversation.

Dear Editor:

Your recent article, “Natural gas lobby steps up to challenge coal” (3/1/10), wrongly insinuated that a “fight” is brewing between natural gas and coal trade associations in Washington over impending climate legislation.

Rather, the natural gas industry has good news to share about the environmental benefits of natural gas and is rightly using any venue possible to spread this positive message.

Americans have indicated that they care deeply about reducing carbon in our atmosphere. That’s why the American Gas Association (AGA), a trade association that represents 195 local energy companies that deliver natural gas throughout the United States, is working to educate lawmakers and consumers about the clean, efficient properties of natural gas.

AGA believes Americans have a right to know that natural gas emits 45 percent less carbon dioxide than coal and 30 percent less than heating oil. Based on these numbers alone, it’s clear that natural gas can and should play a major role in reducing carbon emissions in the United States. While these carbon reductions can best be achieved through direct use of natural gas in the home (i.e. heating and cooking), major carbon reductions can also be achieved from natural gas-fired power plants, as was mentioned in your article.

AGA is a proponent of fuel diversity in the United States. Our country must rely on a mix of fuels if we are to achieve energy security and freedom from dependence on foreign oil.

As a clean-burning, domestically abundant, low carbon fuel, natural gas is “here and now” and is ready to help our country reach its energy goals. In fact, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu visited AGA offices last month and clearly stated that natural gas is a necessary component of any truly renewable energy program.

Without engaging in “fights” or petty exchanges, AGA will continue to inform lawmakers about our industry’s good story and about the possibilities of natural gas in a new energy future.

Let me know if you think we’re on the mark in the comments below.

Let’s work together to protect our seniors

Chris Hogan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:49:50 +0000

Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL) today penned a thoughtful and forceful argument to keep dividend tax rates low. Klein notes that many of the seniors in his district rely on their dividend income to pay the bills and make ends meet. Klein also puts on record his support for taking action to enact the president’s proposal to make permanent the 15 percent maximum tax rate for low and middle income Americans. Learn more about keeping dividend tax rates low at www.DefendMyDividend.org. Head on over to the Hill to read Representative Klein’s editorial.

Natural Gas Market Indicators

Chris McGill — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:08:41 +0000

Expectations for natural gas supply and demand balance in the United States for 2010 seem to be clearly rationalized in the futures market where price stability is the current order. Said another way, two months does not make a trend, however, it does appear that gas prices have entered a period of relative stability despite cold, then warm, then cold weather, production freeze-ins and political uncertainties – factors that have previously influenced natural gas price volatility.

In addition, analysts appear to be quickly turning from the fortunes of the 2009-2010 winter heating season and factoring in potential storage net injections, as well as natural gas into power generation for the coming summer, as part of the forward view of 2010 natural gas markets.