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No matter how much we drill, gas prices keep going up

by Posted on February 28, 2013

No matter how much we drill, gas prices keep going up

Posted 28 February 2013 in

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The news is out today that US crude oil production is has topped 7 million barrels/day, the highest it’s been since 1992. And based on the way the oil companies talk about the promise of domestic drilling, you’d expect today’s gas prices to be at record lows as well. But instead, a gallon of gas costs about 56 cents more than it did just two months ago!

Study after study has come out saying more drilling won’t work. Soaring and unpredictable gas prices are here to stay unless we diversify our fuel supply, thereby lowering and stabilizing prices.

According to an American Security Project report that came out on Tuesday, “we cannot drill our way out” of vulnerability to global oil markets. A recent report by IEA predicted that drilling our way to oil independence will still leave us with oil costing $215+ per barrel. And you guessed it: consumers filling up their tanks will foot the bill.

The oil industry is shamefully using concerns around high gas prices to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes and coax them into supporting domestic drilling. It’s no secret that more oil wells at home will only solve one “problem”: that the oil industry made “only” $118 billion in profits last year.

By diversifying our fuel supply with low-cost, homegrown renewable fuel, we will reduce our dependence on oil. This will mean lower and more consistent prices at the pump for us all.

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Renewable fuel is more important than ever – driving economic growth in communities that need it, improving our nation’s energy security and attracting millions in new technology dollars to invest in America’s future.

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Response to Attempts by API and GMA to Limit Consumer Choice

by Posted on February 21, 2013

Response to Attempts by API and GMA to Limit Consumer Choice

Posted 21 February 2013 in

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Fuels America released the following statement today after the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s (GMA) announced they would take their attempt to block choices at the pump to the Supreme Court:

While drivers endure record high gas prices and a losing streak at the pump, oil companies Pass Go, Collect Millions and then proceed to ask for a Get out of Jail Free Card.

The national average price of a gallon of gas has increased for 34 consecutive days, landing today at $3.78 per gallon, the highest on record for the calendar day.

Oil alternatives like renewable fuel are the only way to end the oil industry’s monopoly on our fuel supply and lower prices at the pump. To ensure that Americans have choice at the pump, we must protect policies like the Renewable Fuel Standard and the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of E15, a fuel that was tested for millions of miles before approval and is now in use, successfully, today.

While the oil industry may want to continue to roll the dice on rising fuel costs, Americans deserve better.

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Another sign of the apocalypse: Coal is making a comeback in the U.S.

by kastijoo8753 Posted on February 15, 2013

Another sign of the apocalypse: Coal is making a comeback in the U.S.

If there were a war on coal — which, sadly, there isn’t — it appears that the tide of battle has turned. Coal is making a comeback.

In an extensive article entitled “Coal Claws Back,” the Rhodium Group, a think tank that assesses global trends, outlined the fuel’s resurgence in the U.S. In short:

While the decline in coal-fired power generation, driven in large part by cheap natural gas, has helped reduce emissions to levels most policymakers and climate diplomats thought impossible absent economy-wide legislation, it looks as though it has just about run its course. Natural gas prices bottomed out in April of last year at $1.82 per MMBTU at Henry Hub, and have since climbed to above $3. While still low relative to the high gas prices that had become the norm before the shale boom took hold, this rebound has been enough to stop the bleeding for coal-fired power. Coal’s share of electricity generation increased from 33% in April to 42% in November, the most recent month for which public data is available, and industry consultancy GenScape estimates that coal’s share stabilized at these levels through January.

The picture is more clear in graph form.

Last summer, we noted that electricity generation from natural gas had nearly matched that from coal. This is one reason our CO2 emissions plummeted recently. But the coal-versus-natural-gas trend hasn’t held. (Note: All of the data used below is from the Energy Information Administration; November 2012 data is the most recently available.)

In October and November, the gap between coal and natural gas increased. Coal clawed back.

One reason is that the price of natural gas used for electricity generation increased. Below, it’s compared to the always-cyclical price of residential natural gas. Since April 2012, the price has risen steadily — up 58 percent by November.

That uptick correlates with the trend away from natural gas in energy production. Higher natural gas price, less incentive to use it to power electricity generation.

And the Rhodium Group suggests that, at least for the next year or two, the cost difference between coal and natural gas will hold steady.

Rhodium Group

Click to embiggen.

The EIA, meanwhile, projects that coal will hold a consistent if smaller share of the generation market for another 30 years, with natural gas and renewables inching up in the percentage of generation. Overall amount of generation, which had fallen in recent years, will start going back up.

EIA

Click to embiggen.

More coal use and more electricity produced means more greenhouse gas emissions.

Rhodium Group

Click to embiggen.

Welcome back to the fight, coal. You weren’t missed.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

Another sign of the apocalypse: Coal is making a comeback in the U.S.

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Obama confirms: No big moves on climate in the works

by Obeey99 Posted on February 15, 2013

Obama confirms: No big moves on climate in the works

The White House

Based on conversations with senior White House officials this week, we reported that the president’s State of the Union threat to act unilaterally on climate change didn’t appear to have any force behind it. The largest weapon Obama has to that effect is the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants — something that officials suggested isn’t in the works.

Yesterday, Politico asked the president directly what he’s planning to do about climate change:

Obama said in his State of the Union address that he is prepared to take action if Congress doesn’t act, but he didn’t detail what that action might look like. He hinted during the chat Thursday that it could resemble what his administration did to require higher fuel efficiency standards in automobiles.

“The same steps that we took with respect to energy efficiency on cars, we can take on buildings, we can take on appliances, we can make sure that new power plants that are being built are more efficient than the old ones, and we can continue to put research and our support behind clean energy that is going to continue to help us transition away from dirtier fuels,” he said.

As we noted on Wednesday, the administration’s action to increase fuel-efficiency standards for cars was a good one that will have a significant effect on greenhouse-gas and particulate pollution. But it is also a very different political fight than the one over emissions from existing power plants, and far less important.

In other words: Obama himself confirms that he’s not prepared to take drastic action in the absence of Congress doing anything. His threat, as we suggested two days ago, is empty.

Source

Obama acknowledges climate-change difficulties, Politico

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

Obama confirms: No big moves on climate in the works

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We applaud President Obama’s commitment to getting America off oil

by Posted on February 13, 2013

We applaud President Obama’s commitment to getting America off oil

Posted 13 February 2013 in

National

Tonight, President Obama laid out an agenda that includes cutting our dependence on oil, fighting climate change and creating jobs. The current administration has been a long-time supporter of renewable fuel, which can help meet all three of these goals.

The Renewable Fuel Standard is an essential policy that is already helping to wean us from oil and that, if left intact, can do even more to benefit America. The RFS has been crucial in encouraging investment in oil alternatives, driving innovation in advanced biofuels and opening up markets so that Americans have a choice at the gas pump.

Last year, 13 billion gallons of renewable fuel were added to our fuel supply. That production supported jobs for and employed more than 380,000 Americans while reducing the need for imported oil by more than 462 million barrels. A secure, domestic and clean fuel source, renewable fuel increasingly shields our country from volatile global oil markets, lowers gas prices – by $1.09 per gallon on average in recent years – and reduces harmful emissions that contribute to climate change. In 2012, using renewable fuel slashed greenhouse gas emissions by 33.4 million metric tons.

Renewable fuel has an important role to play in supporting President Obama’s energy agenda and job-creation goals. The companies of the renewable fuel sector stand ready to help make those goals a reality.

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Boeing’s efficient Dreamliner planes are especially efficient at battery fires

by um2rnxc Posted on January 18, 2013

Boeing’s efficient Dreamliner planes are especially efficient at battery fires

kentaroiemoto

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner™©® was meant to be the company’s cap-featherer, a “super-efficient airplane” that hauls hundreds of people for thousands of miles using 20 percent less fuel than older planes of the same size. The company touted its solar-powered factory that produced zero waste, promising to recycle planes once they’d been retired. The plane’s fuselage even eliminates the use of over 40,000 rivets, reducing waste and resource use.

Sometimes, Dreamliners©™ don’t come true. After five incidents in the past two weeks, Europe, Japan, and the United States have grounded all fifty 787s currently in use. While one flight reported problems with its brakes and another had a leaky fuel valve, the problems have centered around the planes’ lithium-ion batteries. Wired explains the importance of those batteries — including how they make the planes less fuel-intensive:

The 787 was first announced ten years ago this month, and has cost Boeing more than $30 billion to develop according to the Seattle Times. Much of that cost lies in the many innovative new technologies the company used to create the most fuel efficient airliner flying today.

Hailed as the airliner of the future, the 787 is mostly built from composite materials and uses an unprecedented amount of electricity to power many of the systems on board the airplane. The Dreamliner is often referred to as the first composite airliner, but it could just as easily called the most electric airliner ever. …
Most of the electricity on the Dreamliner is created by six generators, two on each engine and two on the auxiliary power unit in the tail of the airplane. Traditionally, Boeing airliners used only three. These generators provide electricity for the airplane in a similar way that an alternator provides electricity for your car. Though on the 787, a lot more electricity is generated than in the family truckster.

The Dreamliner’s electrical system generates nearly 1.5 megawatts, enough to power several hundred homes. With such high electric power demands, the 787 needs high power-dense batteries as an emergency backup source. …

Boeing estimates using electrical systems instead of [pneumatic systems] decreases the fuel burn about three percent. Overall, the 787 reduces the fuel burn about 20 percent compared to a similar size aircraft.

In theory, this makes sense. The problem arises when, in practice, the batteries end up looking like this.

NTSB

That’s from the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating a battery fire that grounded a 787 Dreamliner™™™™ in Boston. Earlier today, Businessweek looked at some of the reasons the batteries might be catching fire; an investigator in Japan suggested that voltage levels were set improperly.

It will likely be weeks before the cause of the fires is determined — meaning it will be months before 787s start flying again if there’s something that needs to be fixed. Not the rollout that Boeing anticipated, but one that provides an important lesson: If you want to introduce an electricity-dependent, fuel-sipping plane, make sure that the electrical components don’t catch fire and the fuel system doesn’t spring any leaks.

You will note that we at no point made a nightmare joke; you are welcome.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Fixing a broken gas tax could fix broken roads

by u60uurf Posted on January 11, 2013

Fixing a broken gas tax could fix broken roads

By Susie Cagle

Too many people are driving too many dang efficient cars in the Pacific Northwest lately, and Washington and Oregon have had enough. Between those efficient cars and a population that’s just generally driving less, gas tax intake has fallen nationwide, meaning less money for road maintenance and repairs that all cars (and bikes!) need. Now some states are looking at new ways to make up the difference.

deborahfitchett

Starting next month, Washington will begin taxing electric vehicle owners $100 per year, though with about 1,600 electric cars in the state, that’s not likely to fill those empty coffers. In Oregon, lawmakers are considering a proposal to tax through a flat fee like Washington or by taxing drivers of fuel-efficient cars based on the number of miles they drive. (A new report to the Washington state legislature says a mileage tax there would be “feasible.”)

Some say that taxing based on vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, will be the gas tax of the future not just for West Coast hippies, but for everyone. From CNBC:

Either way, what’s happening in the Pacific Northwest is raising a number of questions. The primary one being: Is it only a matter of time until anybody owning a car or truck is paying a special tax based on how much they drive their car?

Supporters of VMT or per mile taxes point out that electric car and even hybrid car owners are paying nothing or very little to help maintain state roads.

Take a look at the Washington electric vehicle tax and compare it to the state’s current gas tax of 37 cents per gallon. If somebody drives an internal combustion car that gets 30 MPG and they average 12,500 miles driven each year, they’ll pay about $154 a year in state gas tax. By comparison, electric car owners will be paying less at just $100 per year.

On the flip side, critics of VMT or per mile taxes say it’s hypocritical of state governments to promote electrical vehicle ownership and then turn around and tax those who are the “early adopters”.

It might be nice if states provided other incentives for more efficient vehicles, but that’s not really the spirit of the gas tax. If its goal were penalizing and shaming us over fossil fuels, I could understand this annoyance, but it’s not! It’s how we fund our roads. Not that we couldn’t use some shaming, but we could really use some investment in crumbling infrastructure. This is how taxes work! (USA! USA!) We all use the roads, so let’s please all pitch in to fill the potholes. You can still do that while feeling righteously smug, Volt drivers.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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By 2017, the world will be burning enough coal for another U.S. and Russia

by biglermyrta910 Posted on December 18, 2012

By 2017, the world will be burning enough coal for another U.S. and Russia

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Extremely good news for the world: Over the next five years, oil will fall from the top spot as a source of energy.

Extremely bad news for the world: Coal will replace it.

From The Guardian:

Coal consumption is increasing all over the world — even in countries and regions with carbon-cutting targets — except the US, where shale gas has displaced coal, shows new research from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The decline of the fuel in the US has helped to cut prices for coal globally, which has made it more attractive, even in Europe where coal use was supposed to be discouraged by the emissions trading scheme. …

According to the IEA, demand from China and India will drive world coal use in the coming five years, with India on course to overtake the US as the world’s second biggest consumer. China is the biggest coal importer, and Indonesia the biggest exporter, having temporarily overtaken Australia.

According to the IEA’s Medium Term Coal Market Report, published on Tuesday morning, the world will burn 1.2bn more tonnes of coal per year by 2017 compared with today — the equivalent of the current coal consumption of Russia and the US combined. Global coal consumption is forecast to reach 4.3bn tonnes of oil equivalent by 2017, while oil consumption is forecast to reach 4.4bn tonnes by the same date.

The calculus, in brief: The U.S.’s natural gas boom has dropped demand for coal, making U.S. coal cheaper. That cheaper U.S. coal helps drive down costs for the fuel internationally, where it’s already cheap and accessible. So in five years’ time, we’ll be burning as much coal as we do now, plus the amount of coal currently consumed by another Russia and another United States.

Last year, global demand for coal rose 4.3 percent. It’s expected to keep growing until it hits the figures above. A short ton of coal produces 2.86 short tons of carbon dioxide. So the additional 1.2 billion tons of coal we’ll be burning each year means 3.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide produced on top of what we’re producing right now — getting us ever closer to the magic too-late number on carbon pollution.

The IEA report does have some good news. In the U.S., coal production is expected to plummet. And Europe, temporarily crazy for coal, will recover from that psychosis as natural gas prices and coal prices even out and the continent relies more heavily on renewables. But that’s about it. Australia and Indonesia will export more. India will become a dominant force in coal markets.

But the grimmest note is the one the IEA leaves us with:

In the pipeline are almost 300 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of terminal capacity and the 150 mtpa (probable) to 600 mtpa (potential) of mine expansion capacity, more than enough to meet coal demand in a secure way over the outlook period.

For all of the coal that the world’s going to want to burn, there’s more than enough to supply it. Dig it up, light it on fire, watch the smoke rise into the sky.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.