[ExI] USA co2 emmissions plunge to 1994 levels

[spike]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if the USA, after refusing to sign on to the Kyoto
agreement, became the only one of the industrialized biggies to meet the
goals it proposed?

 

spike

 

 

 

 

CO2 emissions in USA drop to 1994 levels.

 

 

http://singularityhub.com/2013/04/25/co2-emissions-in-us-plunge-to-1994-leve
ls-as-natural-gas-booms/?utm_source=The+Harvest+Is+Bountiful
<http://singularityhub.com/2013/04/25/co2-emissions-in-us-plunge-to-1994-lev
els-as-natural-gas-booms/?utm_source=The+Harvest+Is+Bountiful&utm_medium=ema
il&utm_campaign=46080c1bf5-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN>
&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=46080c1bf5-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN

 

Proponents of natural gas, or methane in its purest form, say it is cleaner
than coal and oil, lacks the PR problems and toxic waste byproducts of
nuclear, and more efficiently produces electricity than sustainable sources.
It is abundant and, in recent years, cheap. Is natural gas the future of
energy production, a risky stop-gap measure to energy independence and
cleaner energy, or simply overhyped?

Whatever your opinion on the matter, natural gas is asserting itself into
the energy mix. David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy,
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324103504578376441015222064.h
tml#project%3DNATGAS2print%26articleTabs%3Darticle> told the WSJ's
ECO:nomics conference, "Natural gas is in the process of wiping out the coal
industry, and it's wiping out the nuclear industry quicker than we thought."

Last year natural gas prices significantly undercut coal prices. The spread
between coal and natural gas
<http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=10771> has narrowed in the
beginning of 2013 as gas prices jumped. But the longer trend shows rising
natural gas use in electricity generation.

30% of US electricity is
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324103504578376441015222064.h
tml#project%3DNATGAS2print%26articleTabs%3Darticle> now generated from
natural gas compared to 16% in 2000, while coal-based electricity is down to
38% from 52% in 2000. Some of coal's decline may be due to a 3% rise in
renewables, but the nearly doubling of natural gas use is clearly a central
driver.

 <http://singularityhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/SH-92_4.jpg> SH
92_#4This switch from coal to natural gas-which releases 50% less CO2 than
coal when burned-may be an
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324763404578430751849503848.h
tml> important reason CO2 emissions in the US fell -12% from their 2005 high
to 1994 levels at the end of 2012.

In the future, natural gas may even skip costly power plants and the
electrical grid. Crane thinks natural gas providers will realize they
already have a direct pipeline into people's homes for home furnaces and gas
stoves. Someone just needs to invent a "gizmo" to convert that gas to
electricity.

Natural gas also has potential applications in transportation. Some
commercial trucking firms are already switching to natural gas powered
trucks. And although it would take an enormous effort to re-engineer
passenger cars and the attendent infrastructure, there are those
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577406431047638416.h
tml> who believe it can and will be done.

But cheap gas may not last. Tim Rosenzweig CEO of Goldwind Americas
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324103504578376441015222064.h
tml#project%3DNATGAS2print%26articleTabs%3Darticle> asks, "If everybody is
generating their own power, and you're running it into the transportation
system, when you increase that much demand, what's going to happen to
prices?" Supply is relatively fixed in the short run, so higher demand could
lead to higher prices.

That said, elevated prices needn't last forever. Higher prices also
encourage further exploration, production, and new supply-which eases price
pressures and the cycle begins again. Further, the US has plenty of supply
to develop.

 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing> Fracking and horizontal
drilling technology are opening vast natural gas fields previously trapped
in shale formations. Though reserves estimates vary year to year, the US
shale gas supply is rapidly growing. Big shale gas fields include the
Marcellus (PA and WV), Eagle Ford (TX), Bakken (ND), and Haynesville (LA and
TX) formations. Shale gas is expected to play a much larger role in natural
gas supply in the coming years.

 

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