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Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement is the Way to Go
Last week Laura Sheehan contributed to The Hill’s Blog to discuss the recent study released by the National Academies that recommends that the U.S. Department of Energy consider changing its system of setting appliance energy-efficiency standards to a full-fuel-cycle measurement. Please take a moment to read her blog posted below or visit The Hill’s Blog to view the comments from others on this topic.
Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement is the Way to Go
May 28th, 2009
The highly regarded National Academies came out with a report yesterday (commissioned by Congress) confirming what the American Gas Association (AGA) has long been heralding about energy efficiency measurements in appliances-that the Department of Energy should measure efficiency in appliances from the point of production (think the natural gas wellhead) and not just “on-site” (think the natural gas burner tip in your kitchen). This more complete and more accurate energy efficiency measurement, called a full-fuel-cycle measurement, takes into account the considerable amount of energy lost in producing, generating and transporting energy to the end use.
In that vein, the study supports the “carbon footprint labeling” provisions that were recently included in the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation, which would expand the existing Federal Trade Commission EnergyGuide labeling program for appliances to include carbon footprint information.
So why do we need this more expansive measurement for our appliances? The answer is so that we as consumers can be fully aware of the energy efficiency of the appliances we’re purchasing for our homes and businesses. For example, 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 only loses about 10 percent of its usable energy. The study issued by the Academies says consumers should be informed, ahead of time, of the full energy efficiency of their appliances. AGA agrees.
As a consumer, would it be helpful for you to know this kind of background information on appliances before you make a large purchase? Let us know what you think.
Orange County Choppers for the Natural Gas Motorheads out there
How did I miss this one? Apparently Orange County Choppers and Chesapeake Energy worked together to create the first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered chopper. According to the video embedded below they have been working on the bike the past couple of months. The show dedicated to the construction of the bike is scheduled to air soon and they expect an audience of about nine million viewers.
Full disclosure. I’m not a bike person. The last time I was on any type of bike, it was a bike-cycle years ago when I was teaching my sons how to ride. Luckily, we found an area with no witnesses and they both turned into excellent bicyclists in spite of my instruction.
Still, it’s great to see natural gas used in this sort of way. We all know the benefits of natural gas as a transportation fuel but some believe the benefits should be directed toward larger fleets. While others make the argument that the benefits can be seen across all vehicles (and I guess that now includes choppers). Check out the Natural Gas Vehicles for America web site for lots more information on the subject.
Here’s another photo of the chopper.
I’m going to put in a call to Chesapeake to see if i can get some more information on the bike before the show airs. Bruce Kauffmann and Chris McGill, contributors to this blog, are both big motorcycle guys and immediately began pelting me with questions, including how much range would a bike running on CNG have. Motorcycles, because of their smaller gas tanks, obviously don’t have the same range as cars. That challenge would be magnified in a CNG chopper.
Chris actually took four weeks last summer and traveled 5,000+ miles on his bike visiting member companies and the media talking about natural gas. We did a story in the November issue of American Gas Magazine that’s a great read. Here’s a link to the pdf of Chris’s trip. It’s a decent size file so it might take a moment to download.
If you have any questions on the bike, leave them in the comments below and I’ll see what I can get out of the guy from Chesapeake when I speak with him.
Natural gas market indicators
The fundamental strong supply/weak demand natural gas market environment has not changed, despite prices that have fallen, first precipitously then steadily, since last July. Understanding the current market environment is relatively simple and needs to be viewed in that context.
The plain vanilla forces of supply and demand have led to interesting questions such as “why hasn’t domestic production fallen off more” and “when, if ever, will prices rebound?” Most analysts see a push from demand, as the likeliest driver for fundamental price increases in the future.
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.
True Blue Natural Gas Blog from the American Gas Association (AGA)- Natural Gas Market Indicators
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- 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
