Tag Archives: fracking

Natural gas shutting down coal plants (with energy price comparison calculator!)

Posted on November 27, 2012 by

Great article on how the natural gas revolution is influencing electric power in the US, and how coal plants are threatened more by gas than by the EPA.. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-demise-of-coal-fired-power-plants/2012/11/21/e7ca1e6e-fdda-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html Some people quoted in this article say that if gas hits $3 – … Continue reading →

Posted in electric, energy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

reminding us about the Jevon’s Paradox

Posted on September 11, 2012 by

This short article (linked below) reminds us of something I’ve posted on before: the Jevon’s Paradox, or the idea that we will use more energy as it becomes cheaper.  So the natural gas revolution we are seeing in the US … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, policy, sociology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

fracking could destroy CO2 storage rock

Posted on March 11, 2012 by

Didn’t occur to me until reading this article, but the rock that people are proposing to pump CO2 into for long term carbon capture and sequestration is next the same rock that we are fracturing to extract the shale gas.. … Continue reading →

Posted in energy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

natural gas leading to reduction in US emissions – a case for technology investment instead of policy?

Posted on February 28, 2012 by

Interesting observations over at yale360 on falling US emissions: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/nordhaus_shellenberger_beyond_cap_and_trade_a_new_path_to_clean_energy/2499/ It seems to be a unique situation that we are observing here..and I’m not sure technology investment without policy is a good model to follow.. I wonder how much of … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, energy, policy | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Real field measurements of methane emissions from fracking operations published

Posted on February 8, 2012 by

I’ve been following this increasing interest in estimating methane emissions from natural gas extraction for some time now.  I’ve posted about it a couple times: here, here and here.  Lots of people are interested because fracking for natural gas may … Continue reading →

Posted in energy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Cornell colleagues officially respond to Howarth study on fracking

Posted on January 11, 2012 by

I’ve written before on this topic, and wanted to present the latest peer-reviewed response to the Howarth paper from 2011 that caused quite a stir: http://www.springerlink.com/content/x001g12t2332462p/

Posted in climate change | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Fracking, LCA and commerce clauses and more..

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

Back from the holidays and catching up on some news and wanted to share a couple of things.. This short update points out how important fracked oil & gas may be in 2012 and going forward: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204464404577112681942517356.html Another chapter in … Continue reading →

Posted in biofuels, policy | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The geothermal version of fracking?

Posted on October 7, 2011 by

Check it out: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-06/california-s-underground-hot-rocks-probed-for-energy-of-100-nuclear-plants.html Not only could I see issues with bringing possibly radioactive water back to the surface, but here are some other issues they mention in the article: Blowouts and Earthquakes While a handful of small EGS plants … Continue reading →

Posted in energy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

scientists battle it out over whether fracking is contaminating groundwater

Posted on September 14, 2011 by

EDIT: For an excellent primer on shale gas, fracking and both pros & cons, check this out: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7364/full/477271a.html I wanted to point this out not only because the subject matter is appropriate for this blog, but an example of how … Continue reading →

Posted in energy | Tagged , , | 3 Comments