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National Academies Confirms What the American Gas Association Has Been Saying for Years – Full-Fuel-Cycle is the Measurement Standard of Choice!
The big news in the natural gas world today is a report released by the National Academy of Sciences that 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.”
What does that mean? What it means is the same thing AGA has been saying for years and reiterates in our press release today praising the National Academies.
Natural gas is highly efficient. To pull from the release, 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.
That’s obviously a big difference.
The release goes on to underscore how the study echoes 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 home appliances to include carbon footprint information.
The carbon label is a big deal and Dave sums it well when he says, “This study recommends a change in the way that we look at energy efficiency in our appliances and it should be expanded to include building codes that also measure energy efficiency.”
It’s great to hear other people get what AGA has been saying for years. I know we have a few DOE people that browse this blog. What do you guys think? Is the National Academies a reliable enough source to Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement Approach. Just asking. 
If you’re interested, you can visit AGA’s energy efficiency page for more information on the benefits of natural gas.
A Saudi Royal Talks About Oil … Independence
It’s not often that a member of the Saudi royal family agrees with me, but in January I posted a blog that said “energy independence” wasn’t feasible and claiming America could achieve it wasn’t desirable. And now Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi ambassador to Washington DC, has told editors and reporters at The Washington Times the exact same thing.
“Politicians, when they do that (claim energy independence is achievable), I think they are misleading their publics,” Prince Turki said.
He is right, and while many people will think Prince Turki is being self serving – the Saudis are, after all, the world’s largest oil producers – the fact is that the American public would not stand for the energy price increases that would result if we somehow managed to quickly wean ourselves off of oil or natural gas imports and relied on renewable energy as our dominant energy supply source. Currently renewable energies such as wind and solar – which are far more expensive than the three major fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas – meet about 2 percent of our domestic energy needs.
But the larger point is that energy independence is the wrong goal. Energy security is the proper goal and to achieve that we need more, not less, diversity of supply. That means we need as many kinds of energy supplies as possible, including more liquefied natural gas (LNG), and we need as many suppliers as possible. In other words, to achieve energy security, we need to establish a global energy industry in which as many buyers interact with as many sellers as possible.
Another problem is that when our politicians talk about achieving “energy independence,” it isn’t just the public they mislead. It is also the suppliers. In an interview with American Gas magazine, global energy expert and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin points out that, on the one hand our political leaders continually encourage energy producers such as the Saudis to increase their energy production and exports, while on the other hand these same politicians keep talking about energy independence. “That is a confusing message for energy-producing nations,” Yergin says.
He is right, too.
A Saudi Prince, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and me. Some days (to coin a phrase) this job is a “gas.”
Recap: Skains at the Natural Gas Roundtable
In an earlier post I mentioned that Tom Skains (AGA chairman and chairman, president and chief executive officer of Piedmont Natural Gas) would be speaking at the Natural Gas Roundtable this week and I was lucky enough to be able to go. It was a packed house so a special “thanks” to Ella for saving me a seat.
Tom started out with a very simple message. Natural gas is a clean, efficient and abundant energy source that provides an immediate, low carbon, domestic energy choice for America’s consumers. After that, he took some time to outline his priorities for the year.
- Advocating for the direct use of natural gas in America’s homes and businesses. It’s more efficient, more cost effective, better for the environment. Directly from the wellhead to the burner tip, natural gas loses only about 10 percent of its useable energy.
- Increase natural gas supply. Prices have moderated compared with this past summer, but that will change as economy picks up, and in current economic climate ANYTHING that can be done to lower prices and decrease volatility is good for customer, including:
- Keeping the OCS open and expanding into new areas
- Increasing access to non-federal park lands
- Increasing LNG
- Supporting the development of the Alaskan Pipeline to the lower 48
- Advocate that residential and commercial customers be covered but not capped under current climate change legislation . Here’s a great stat for you: The number of residential households using natural gas increased from 38 million in 1970 to about 65 million today – an increase of more than 70% – yet aggregate residential consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions remained essentially flat.
- Work with regulators to promote decoupling & other innovative rate designs. Today, 28 companies in 16 states have adopted some form of margin decoupling tariffs and 11 companies in 6 other states are in the process of approving it. Tom also made a point that no one-size-fits all. Utilities need to work with their regulators to determine best design for their individual circumstances.
- Work to increase LIHEAP funding. AGA led an effort to secure a record amount of funding for FY 2009, $5.1 billion, the full amount authorized in EPAct 2005. The Obama administration has requested only $3.2 billion for 2010. AGA will keep working on this issue to ensure low-income families get the help they need in these tough economic times. Here’s a link to a post on LIHEAP Action Day if you want to learn more.
- Continued outreach. Natural Gas has a great story to tell. An industry of solid fundamentals, good business practices, transparent operations, connected to our 65 million customers through 2 million miles of pipeline, and thanks to the inherent advantages of our clean-burning, efficient, domestic fuel, we have excellent growth opportunities-especially as we emphasize the advantages of the direct use of natural gas.
Quite a presentation. After Tom was done, there were some good questions from the media in attendance but Tom didn’t shy away, and gave what I thought were very good answers. If you missed it … well, you missed a good one. If you were able to attend, let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
True Blue Natural Gas Blog from the American Gas Association (AGA)- Sen. Murkowski, Energy Leaders Point to Natural Gas as Large Piece of the Climate Change Puzzle
- Diversification of natural gas supply is an essential consumer protection
- From Austin to Boston in a natural gas vehicle
- Natural gas, how about zero carbon emissions
- The real natural gas message in a climate crunch
- Let’s work together to protect our seniors
- Natural Gas Market Indicators
- Coming Down To Earth on a ‘Clean Energy’ Standard?
- The convenience of the natural gas fireplace
- Coming Down To Earth, A Winning Strategy For Renewables
