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How Can The U.S. Wean Itself Off Oil: Diversity Breeds Strength
Read my latest response on the National Journal’s Energy and Environment Experts blog to the question, “How Can The U.S. Wean Itself Off Oil?”
The tragic and still un-contained oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may well go down as one of the most significant environmental disasters of record. That being said, the fact remains that United States’ insatiable demand for energy is unchanged.
As a country, we still use an enormous amount of energy every day and that energy has to come from somewhere. Compounding the already contentious debate surrounding our dependence on foreign sources of energy, there is a good chance that this disaster may sour Americans on additional, let alone existing, domestic oil production. Whatever comes next should reflect a more disaggregated but strong domestic energy framework that takes advantage of our nation’s many alternative resources.
AGA has long supported, to the fullest extent possible, the development of a diverse domestic energy supply, including coal, oil, nuclear, wind, hydro, solar and, of course, natural gas. And while everyone is encouraged by the increased awareness being brought to renewables, the fact remains that all of the power produced by alternative and renewable fuel sources meets only a small portion of the country’s daily energy needs.
A realistic plan for a sustainable low-carbon future, therefore, must include, and support, traditional and proven fuel sources such as natural gas. With major energy producers publicly turning to natural gas as their fuel of choice, the message is clear—as the cleanest of all fossil fuels, natural gas can provide the nation and its consumers with a proven, reliable, low-carbon source of energy.
Equally important is ensuring that the most effective and efficient application of natural gas—directly using natural gas to heat homes, to heat water, for cooking, and for other end-use applications such as natural gas vehicles—is encouraged and supported. Direct use of natural gas is more efficient, more cost effective and greener than converting gas to electricity to power the same end-use applications.
The American Power Act
Like many of those in the energy industry, today we watched as Senators Kerry and Lieberman unveiled their climate change bill, the American Power Act, to the public. We commend the senators, including Senator Graham, for reaching out to the many stakeholders of this bill, including business, consumer, and environmental groups, as they crafted language.
As expected, the bill is a mixed bag for natural gas utilities. AGA is pleased to note that it includes proportional allowance allocation, and also recognizes that mandating that one-third of those allowances be spent on energy efficiency programs is not achievable. However, it does not meet other threshold criteria that AGA would like to see in any climate legislation, including end-use natural gas related research and development and carbon labeling for appliances.
AGA continues to point to the industry’s stellar emissions record –our customers have reduced carbon emissions by 40 percent over the last 40 years – as proof that our models are working, and working well.
For AGA’s full statement, click here.
NGVsNow brings the sexy back to natural gas
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.
True Blue Natural Gas Blog from the American Gas Association (AGA)- Natural Gas Roundtable: Caruso and Hatley
- Focus on Low-Carbon Solutions
- Congrats to Alagasco on their expanding natural gas fleet
- Natural Gas Market Indicators
- Spectra Responds to Natural Gas Pipeline Concerns
- Don’t Miss Out—Make Sure to Register for the World Shale Gas Conference & Exposition
- Dave Parker Receives Prestigious Key Award from ASAE and The Center
- Department of Energy proposes to use full-fuel-cycle analyses in developing energy efficiency standards
- High dividend tax rates will negatively impact utilities
- White House Supports Keeping Maximum Dividend Tax Rate At 20%
