Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The Obama administration has come out in support of the idea of exporting U.S. natural gas. This stance is counterproductive and shortsighted, and if followed, it will prove harmful to domestic manufacturing (i.e., value generation) and to future generations of Americans.
There is one segment of U.S. industry that ought to be cheering for expanded U.S. natural gas exports–though I doubt that its leaders will be offering their support in anything above a whisper. The renewable energy industry would benefit from higher natural gas prices.
Maybe it’s the gloomy Seattle weather that has made investment manager Jim Hansen and his son and partner, Kevin, at Ravenna Capital Management immune to oil and gas industry hype about the supposed U.S. shale gas "revolution."
Okay, I’m going to give you the shortest course ever in energy abundance: Energy abundance depends entirely on the RATE of energy flow.
•U.S. proposal to move fracking wastewater by barge stirs debate •More Financial Worries Coming to Light in Domestic Shale Drilling Industry •Oil Addiction, Not Fracking, Caused the 2011 Oklahoma Earthquakes •GAS LEAK! •Shale-rich Spanish region vote to ban fracking
So concludes an expert analyst of the natural gas boom. Brace for bust. From the series: The Big Shift-Surviving the Great Energy Transition.
As U.S. natural gas prices flirt with the $4 mark, some skeptics of the so-called shale gas revolution think prices are headed much higher. Such a move would, not surprisingly, seriously undermine the official story that the United States has a century of cheap natural gas waiting for the drillbit.
There are signs the climate movement could be on the verge of a remarkable and surprising victory. If we read the current context correctly, and if the movement can adjust its strategy to capture the opportunity presented, it could usher in the fastest and most dramatic economic transformation in history. This would include the removal of the oil, coal and gas industries from the economy in just a few decades and their replacement with new industries and, for the most part, entirely new companies. It would be the greatest transfer of wealth and power between industries and countries the world has ever seen.
In-depth interview with Nobel Laureate Robert B. Laughlin on his book "Powering the Future: How We Will Eventually Solve the Energy Crisis and Fuel the Civilization of Tomorrow." Dr. Rose M. Cory’s new science on positive feedback loop discovered in the melting Arctic.
A weekly review including: 1. Oil and the Global Economy, 2. The Middle East, 3. Climate Change, 4. Europe, 5. Quote of the Week
6. The Briefs
With U.S. natural gas production having risen more than 25 percent from its nadir in 2005, natural gas producers are pushing for an end to limits on U.S. natural gas exports. Trouble is, the United States remains an importer of natural gas, and estimated resources have been slashed dramatically.
The real challenges—and costs—of 21st century fossil fuel production suggest that such vastly increased supplies will not be easily achieved or even possible. The geological and environmental realities of trying to fulfill these exuberant proclamations deserve a closer look.This report provides an in-depth evaluation of the various unconventional energy resources behind the recent "energy independence" rhetoric, particularly shale gas, tight oil.
