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Nick Stavropoulos of National Grid on C-Span
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.
The video is embedded above and you can watch the interview at C-Span.
Get your video in for the natural gas video awards
Last year we presented the Natural Gas Video Award for the first time. It was a great program that allowed many members to have an opportunity to highlight their video work. Well, it’s that time of year again. We’re putting out the call for your videos. The video can be anything natural gas or utility related. So, if you’ve done some great work on a safety video, a video about your work in the community, a training video, a commercial or just something highlighting natural gas, here’s your chance to shine.
You can submit your work by leaving a link to the video in the comments below or emailing me at dgibson@aga.org. We’ll need to get your entry by August 31. We’re going to select a group of finalists that will be voted upon on this blog by our readers. The winners will receive:
- An award to commemorate their achievement
- Feature article in American Gas Magazine
- Spotlight profile here on True Blue Natural Gas
- An official AGA press release recognizing them to our media contacts
- Complimentary registration (up to two people) to the AGA communications and marketing meeting with an opportunity to speak about their experience making the video
Spectra Energy received the 2009 Natural Gas Video Award for its video “Facts about Natural Gas. The Natural Choice.” The video does a great job highlighting the positives of natural gas story. But instead of me trying to tell you about it, why don’t you just watch it. Enjoy last year’s winner.
Natural gas and energy efficient gadgets
Energy efficiency is one of the key aspects people look at when they’re trying to look at ways to address our energy needs, which are only going to grow in my opinion. We talk about energy efficiency quite often around the office because of this.
Water Powered Calculator
I was thinking about this while I was reading an article on Mashable profiling 5 Energy Efficient Office Gadgets. I’m actually thinking about buying the water powered calculator. The calculator uses water-activated batteries that produce about the same amount of energy as alkaline batteries. The real advantage though is those batteries aren’t toxic because they’re made of carbon. Just refill your battery tubes with tap water every two or three months and your calculator should be solving problems for a good long while.
If you really want to talk about energy efficiency though, you have to talk about natural gas. Since 1970, the number of natural gas homes has increased by more than 70 percent. At the same time, today’s homes use 40 percent less natural gas per household than 40 years ago. That’s a tremendous energy savings. A good deal of that savings is due tighter homes, more efficient appliances, and investment by natural gas utilities (our members) and their customers in energy efficiency programs. According to our energy efficiency fact sheet, Natural gas utilities invested nearly $565 million in natural gas efficiency programs in 2008 and budgeted about $927 million in 2009.
Here’s some data from the fact sheet on how the use of Natural Gas in home appliances saves energy:
- Gas efficiency has improved tremendously over the past three decades as evidenced in the declining consumption of natural gas per household during this time period, falling one percent annually from 1980 through 2000 and declining further to 2.2 percent annually from 2000 through 2006. As a result, the average American home uses 40 percent less natural gas now than in 1970.
- On a national average basis, natural gas is three times more efficient than fossil fuel generated electricity in providing energy for end-use applications. While 92 percent of the energy content of natural gas is delivered to customers as useful energy, less than a third of the energy used in the production of electricity reaches homes and businesses.
- Efforts to improve appliance technology have resulted in natural gas furnaces and boilers that are up to 96 percent efficient.
Be sure to take the time to read the entire fact sheet and let us know your thoughts on energy efficiency in the comments below. Anyone going to try the Solar Gadget Charger? I wonder if it will work with my iPod?
True Blue Natural Gas Blog from the American Gas Association (AGA)- 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%
- Natural Gas Market Indicators
- Natural Gas Vehicles for America in Boston
- Nick Stavropoulos of National Grid on C-Span
