Energy Tomorrow Blog
Infrastructure – So No One is Left Out in the Cold
infrastructure natural gas pipelines consumers
Mark Green
Posted December 12, 2019
News that the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. is bringing attention to the need for a natural gas pipeline to serve an impoverished area near Chicago makes a lot of sense. No person should be preparing for the approaching winter without clean, reliable heat, which natural gas provides.
Unfortunately, people living in the Pembroke Township area south of Chicago near the Indiana state line don’t have natural gas and are facing just such a challenge. The area’s median income is about $16,000 a year, it suffers from 30% unemployment and has a 33.9% poverty rate. ...
The plight of Pembroke Township, like others we’ve noted, is a reminder that access to affordable, reliable energy is critically important not only for comfort and convenience, but also for health, particularly among low-income Americans.
As We Said – U.S. a Net Exporter of Total Energy
energy exports trade us energy security economic benefits
Dean Foreman
Posted December 12, 2019
In case you missed it, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently confirmed (see here and here) what API indicated in its Monthly Statistical Report (MSR) for September: For the first time since the 1950s, the United States is now a net exporter of energy in total.
Achieving this milestone is important for America. It embodies a slew of economic benefits, including lower energy prices – also those due to supply growth – rejuvenated investment in resource development, processing and transportation. It also has helped U.S. refining, petrochemicals and manufacturing, which have weathered the storm of U.S. trade restrictions and a strong U.S. dollar that made exporting U.S. goods more challenging.
Industry, Auto Sector Join Forces on State-of-the-Art Engine Oil – But is There a Movie Deal In It?
api standards program motor oil consumers efficiency
John D. Siciliano
Posted December 9, 2019
The recent box office success of 20th Century Fox’s “Ford vs Ferrari” helped moviegoers understand just what it took for the Ford Motor Company to build a world-class supercar and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in the 1960s.
But the movie also made me recall the oil industry’s ties to these champions. And the link between Ford and the energy sector when it comes to upping a car’s engine performance and making cars more environmentally sustainable.
The Environmental Partnership Points Toward More Successes in Year Ahead
the-environmental-partnership emission reductions
Mark Green
Posted December 5, 2019
This week The Environmental Partnership marks two years of progress in further reducing emissions by 69 participating natural gas and oil companies, working together to improve their environmental performance.
The participants – who represent 32 of the top 40 natural gas producers – have achieved rapid participation growth, with membership nearly tripling; and 156,000 surveys conducted in 2018, inspecting more than 56 million components. These found only 0.16% of participant components needed repair, and 99% were resolved within 60 days.
Natural Gas Power Plants in a Transitioning Energy Market
natural gas plant emission reductions electricity infrastructure
John D. Siciliano
Posted November 26, 2019
The transition to cleaner natural gas-fueled electricity generation is creating new momentum for building out the nation’s energy infrastructure – specifically, new pipeline capacity needed to accelerate the changeover from coal and other older resources.
Not doing so has proven to be detrimental to consumers and clean energy goals alike.
For example, the state of New York, which is blocking pipeline development, is experiencing higher energy bills and supply problems as it struggles to design an energy system without fossil fuels.
U.S. Leaders Should Empower U.S. Energy Leadership
us energy security oil and natural gas production imports hydraullic fracturing
Mark Green
Posted November 22, 2019
Our newest video reminds everyone how much the United States has gained from the energy revolution – record-breaking, world-leading production of natural gas and oil – with clips of presidents from both political parties over the years, urgently calling for lower oil imports. They knew America’s national security was tied to increasing the nation’s energy security. …
Presidents since Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s recognized that ever-increasing oil imports meant increasing dependency on others for energy. … That changed with the energy revolution. …
The question, as we’ve posed in recent posts (see here and here), is why anyone would erase these gains by banning hydraulic fracturing, as some candidates for president have advocated. Why would America reject its own natural gas and oil abundance and go back to an era of energy scarcity?
U.S. CO2 Intensity Trending Lower, Thanks to Natural Gas
emission reductions carbon dioxide natural gas electricity
Mark Green
Posted November 21, 2019
Some important data points from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the country’s emissions of carbon dioxide, a critically important greenhouse gas and a key to U.S. progress on climate goals:
First, as we noted in this recent post, EIA projects U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions this year will go down from the previous year. Broader context: Our nation’s CO2 emissions haven’t been this low since 1987. Second, EIA says the overall carbon intensity of the U.S. economy – the amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted per unit of energy consumed – declined in 2018.
This is especially important in electricity generation, a major source of emissions. EIA says that switching fuels for generation, from coal to natural gas, has played an important role in reducing U.S. carbon intensity.
Helping Build a Safe, Sustainable Energy Future for Guyana
api standards program safe operations offshore technology
Debra Phillips
Posted November 18, 2019
As part of ongoing efforts to foster safe energy development around the world through the sharing of international industry standards and operational expertise, API is helping the country of Guyana as it builds its national energy plan – a key step in the South American nation becoming a major energy producer.
API and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) recently led talks in Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, after the Guyanese government asked for support as the country nears its first-ever oil production, expected in the first quarter of 2020.
Here’s How to Devastate U.S. Energy and the World Economy: Ban Fracking
hydraulic fracturing fracking democrats consumers economic growth
Mark Green
Posted November 14, 2019
Calls for a ban on hydraulic fracturing by some of the Democratic presidential candidates continue to make for discussion on the campaign trail – and boy, that is a discussion everyone should be paying attention to. The stakes are sky-high.
Recently, we highlighted this Michael Lynch analysis warning that a fracking ban could devastate the U.S. economy. Now the Manhattan Institute’s Mark P. Mills has a piece on Real Clear Energy asserting that in the most serious scenarios, banning U.S. fracking could put the global economy in recession – entirely plausible, given that the United States is the leading producer of natural gas and oil, the two energy sources that supply 54% of the globe’s fuel. In all, Mills notes in this report, fossil fuels supply 84% of the world’s energy.
Those are the stakes when candidates kick around the notion of banning hydraulic fracturing, which is used for 95% of new U.S. wells today. Ban fracking and you pull the rug out from under U.S. production – and with it, energy security, global energy leadership and, yes, environmental progress – considering increased U.S. use of natural gas has lowered energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to their lowest levels in a generation.
Senate Bipartisan Climate Caucus a Promising Addition to U.S. Conversation
senate climate emission reductions
Mark Green
Posted November 13, 2019
Our industry is committed to creating climate solutions now and for the future. As energy producers, natural gas and oil companies are essential to a credible, national climate conversation – since this often is focused on energy production and use.
It’s also real and practical. We’re innovating new technologies and procedures for real-world results – to continue reducing emissions while also supplying the natural gas and oil our nation needs to be growing, prosperous and secure.
That’s why initiatives such as the U.S. Senate’s new bipartisan climate caucus are needed to help spur a solutions-centered discussion at the highest levels in Washington, so we can pragmatically and effectively see progress – both on climate and our country’s fundamental energy needs.