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Using natural gas to cut carbon emissions
I was just reading the North American Leaders’ Declaration on Climate Change and Clean Energy statement on the White House Web site. That’s a statement from the leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada reaffirming the “urgency and necessity of taking aggressive action on climate change.”
Did you know that natural gas produces half the carbon emissions that coal produces? Sounds like a quick win for me if you want to cut your carbon emissions.
This is not only true for electricity generation but also in the home. AGA has been asking for energy efficiency/carbon footprint information to be included in the EnergyGuide labeling program for home appliances. The National Academies of Sciences, recently issued a report confirming the above and recommending that full-fuel-cycle analysis be used to determine the true efficiency of an end-use appliance, be it gas or electric.
To quote from the release, the National Academy of Sciences advocates that “the U.S. Department of Energy should consider gradually changing its system of setting appliance energy-efficiency standards to a full-fuel-cycle measurement, which takes into account both the energy used to operate an appliance, as well as upstream energy costs – energy consumed in producing and distributing fuels from coal, oil and natural gas, and energy lost in generating and delivering electric power.”
Pretty strong words.
If you want to see how much of an impact your home appliances can have, hop on over to the Carbon Calculator and see. Let me know if it’s enough to convince you to switch your appliances to natural gas.
Climate change, clean energy and natural gas
Sen. Harry Reid opened his remarks at the Clean Energy Summit by saying, “I’ve been converted. I now belong to the Pickens church.” The news today out of the Clean Energy Summit is that the conversation has been all about natural gas and efficiency.
Those two go hand-in-hand as natural gas is extremely efficient. 70 percent of the total amount of fuels used in producing, generating and transmitting electricity is lost by the time that electricity reaches a customer. By contrast, producing and delivering natural gas directly loses only about 10 percent of its usable energy.
Senator Reid isn’t the only one that’s starting to see the positive potential of natural gas.
Dave Hamilton, the Sierra Club’s director of global warming and energy programs, said he is not concerned that interest in natural gas will stall renewable energy or energy efficiency efforts because “I think the futures are intertwined.”
Al Gore specifically called out natural gas shale as an important potential resource and endorsed Pickens’ plan for natural gas-powered trucks.
John Podesta, the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Funda, and former Sen. Timothy Wirth published an article as the summit opened on the Center For American Progress Action Fund’s web site. The article, “Natural Gas: A Bridge Fuel for the 21st Century,” offers concrete suggestions for how we can use natural gas as a bridge fuel to a 21st-century energy economy. The suggestions include more incentives and credits for replacing coal and gasoline with natural gas technologies.
Last month to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, Wirth told the natural gas industry it “has more to gain, and a greater contribution to make, than any other industry in America or, for that matter, in the world.”
Be sure to read the report released by the National Academy of Sciences advocating the use of the full-fuel-cycle as the measurement standard of choice. You can also visit AGA’s energy efficiency page for more information on the efficiency and benefits of natural gas.
It sounds like people are starting to get our message. Are you convinced yet?
AGA’s new natural gas video award
Video. We all love it. Admit it. You do, too. Don’t be embarrassed. I promise I won’t tell anyone. It’ll be ok.
A couple weeks ago I got pinged at least a dozen times about a certain video. People sent me links through email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. You know the video in question. I’m sure you got them, too. We weren’t alone either. The video is creeping up on one million views and that doesn’t include different versions or embedded ones.
According to YouTube people are watching hundreds of millions of videos a day and uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily. In fact, every minute, ten hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. Facebook estimates that more than 10 million videos are uploaded by users each month.
Yep, everybody loves video.
One of my first interactions with AGA members was at the communications and marketing meeting last fall. As I was preparing to give my presentation on blogs, a ton of people came up to me with last minute requests. “Can you show our new commercial during the break. We’re really proud of it.” Or, “We’ve got this video that we think the group would like.” And so on. All of them were well done. I’m sure anyone there that day still remembers the polar bears.
Over the past year we’ve seen those great videos keep coming. From member companies to our partners, we just saw some great work telling the natural gas story. The story that we need people, including legislators, to understand.
One of my favorites. I may have to recues myself when this one comes up for voting.
People talk about vision all the time. Here’s a vision for you. We are going to build a place that holds all the best videos that answer the question “Why is natural gas so great?”
Here’s what we’re going to do.
AGA is putting together a contest. Anyone is eligible and can submit a video 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 separate the videos into categories (safety, natural gas, natural gas utility) and 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
- Free registration (up to two people) to the AGA communications and marketing meeting with an opportunity to speak about their experience making the video
- A spotlight profile here on True Blue Natural Gas
- An official AGA press release recognizing them to our media contacts
Most of you have already done the work. This is just a chance for recognition for that hard work. It’s also a chance to shine a spotlight on the natural gas industry. In a world where video can catch fire, AGA is looking for our natural gas video that can go viral. Help us find it.
Ugh…I can’t resist. Enjoy.
True Blue Natural Gas Blog from the American Gas Association (AGA)- Utah Clean Cities Coalition and Questar Gas open new fueling station in Utah
- 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
