Energy Tomorrow Blog
California’s Self-Imposed, Dangerous Energy Shortage
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Jessica Lutz
Posted July 26, 2018
Californians are facing blisteringly hot weather conditions this week as the result of a “heat dome” centered across much of the state. To make matters worse, many have found themselves without power just as the temperatures reach dangerous highs. Now California’s power grid operator says it can’t produce enough electricity to meet demand, risking rolling blackouts and jeopardizing residents – an outcome they were explicitly warned of months ago.
Video: Cleaner, Smarter is Top of Mind for Natural Gas & Oil
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Mark Green
Posted May 17, 2018
We hope you’ve seen “Brainpower,” API’s new ad highlighting the smart technologies and data analysis that natural gas and oil use to safely and efficiently bring Americans the energy that empowers their modern lives while also meeting seemingly impossible challenges.
“Brainpower” also is about natural gas and oil deploying technologies and innovating to get cleaner and help the United States reduce its emissions, leading to cleaner air. The women and men of natural gas and oil are focused on this. They want other Americans to know that they care – about lowering emissions and the environment – because they’re members of the community, too. You’ll see it in behind-the-scenes interviews conducted during the “Brainpower” ad shoot.
Thanks to Natural Gas …
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Mark Green
Posted March 15, 2018
By now I hope you’ve seen API’s new national TV ad that is air during NCAA basketball tournament games, touting the benefits of U.S. natural gas. The ad’s message is as clear as America’s air: Thanks to increasing use of clean, affordable natural gas, U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide from electricity generation – a major source of the greenhouse gas – are at their lowest level in 25 years. That’s an amazing development for a couple reasons.
Partnership for a Reliable Energy Future
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Kate Lowery
Posted December 20, 2017
America’s Power-Hitting Energy Lineup
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Mark Green
Posted October 25, 2016
Piggy-backing on the start of the Series, we’ve filled out a lineup card of our own – America’s Energy Lineup. It’s a fantastic lineup with contributors at every position – no “Who’s on First, What’s on Second” shenanigans with this group . They’re all major leaguers, a great mix of energy sources that includes reliable veterans as well as exciting up-and-comers, anchored by clutch, big-time producers in the key power spots, Nos. 3 and 4.
Bottom line: When America’s all-of-the-above energy lineup is in the field, we all win.
Energizing California
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Mark Green
Posted September 1, 2016
California is the country’s third-largest oil producer, delivering more than 201 million barrels of oil in 2015, behind only Texas and North Dakota. At the same time, the state ranks third in oil refining capacity from its 18 operating refineries. Bottom line: California plays a major role in meeting its own energy and fuel needs, as well as those of the West Coast and beyond.
The Dynamic Duo: Natural Gas and Renewables
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Kate Lowery
Posted August 25, 2016
Natural Gas: Renewables’ Essential Friend
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Mark Green
Posted August 15, 2016
I really like this quote from Chris Mooney’s analysis in the Washington Post last week – the speaker being Italian scientist Elena Verdolini, whose new research basically finds that solar and wind energy need big help from natural gas:
“If you have an electric car, you don’t need a diesel car in your garage sitting there. But in the case of renewables, it’s different, because if you have renewable electricity and that fails, then you need the fast acting gas sitting in your garage, so to speak.”
Natural Gas and Market-Driven Emissions Progress
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Mark Green
Posted March 4, 2016
Just recently saw this article on National Geographic.com, suggesting the United States made a significant shift in its energy economy in 2015:
Consider what happened last year alone. The amount of electricity from coal-fired power plants hit a record low while that from natural gas generators hit a record high. Also, renewable energy added the most new power to the electric grid, and annual carbon emissions reached a 20-year low.
First, a reminder that new power capacity added to the grid doesn’t translate directly to new power. Below, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data shows that in terms of electricity generation change (from 2014 to 2015) at utility-scale facilities and including distributed solar, natural gas led in net generation:
That’s not knocking renewables, just an illustration of today’s energy reality and a reminder of the oft-overlooked energy, economic and climate benefits accruing to the United States from increasing natural gas use.
Energy and Land
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Mark Green
Posted July 9, 2015
So, Facebook has posted an announcement that its newest data center near Fort Worth will be 100 percent powered by a wind farm that’s being built near Wichita Falls, Texas. Of the wind farm Facebook says:
Construction on the project is already under way on a 17,000-acre site in Clay County, just 90 miles from the data center, and we expect it to begin delivering clean energy to the grid by 2016. 200 MW is more energy than we will need for the foreseeable future, and we're proud to have played a role in bringing this project to Texas.
No question, this is a good example of one way that big wind figures into an all-of-the-above approach to energy – one in which America ensures its energy security into the future by harnessing all available energy sources.