EIA: “Last week’s widespread, record-breaking cold weather had significant effects across virtually all segments of the U.S. natural gas market. The frigid temperatures led to record highs in demand, storage withdrawals, and prices. The week ending January 10 posted a record-high net withdrawal of 287 billion cubic feet (Bcf) from underground, natural gas storage facilities. The… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Energy
U.S. Military Accelerates Deployment of Clean Energy Technologies
Pew new release: “Deployment of clean energy technologies is accelerating across military installations operated by the U.S. Department of Defense, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew’s new report, “Power Surge,” examines how the military is using private-sector capabilities and harnessing innovative financing to obtain advanced energy systems. These projects are helping the Pentagon enhance… Continue Reading
Oil and Chemical Spills: Federal Emergency Response Framework
CRS – Oil and Chemical Spills: Federal Emergency Response Framework. David M. Bearden, Specialist in Environmental Policy. Jonathan L. Ramseur, Specialist in Environmental Policy, January 13, 2014. “Thousands of oil and chemical spills of varying size and magnitude occur in the United States each year. A recent spill of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into the Elk River in early January 2014 in and near… Continue Reading
EIA – Drilling Productivity Report
“The Drilling Productivity Report uses recent data on the total number of drilling rigs in operation along with estimates of drilling productivity and estimated changes in production from existing oil and natural gas wells to provide estimated changes in oil and natural gas production for six key fields. EIA’s approach does not distinguish between oil-directed… Continue Reading
Technology Transfers for Climate Change
Technology Transfers for Climate Change. May Elsayyad – Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich – Munich Graduate School of Economics (MGSE); Florian Morath – Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, December 30, 2013, CESifo Working Paper Series No. 4521. “This paper considers investments in cost-reducing technology in the context of contributions to climate… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Compacts of Free Association, Defense Infrastructure, Iranian Commercial Activities
COMPACTS OF FREE ASSOCIATION – Actions Needed to Improve Oversight and Accountability of U.S. Assistance to Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, GAO-14-243T, Jan 7, 2014 DEFENSE INFRASTRUCTURE – Army Brigade Combat Team Inactivations Informed by Analyses, but Actions Needed to Improve Stationing Process, GAO-14-76, Dec 11, 2013 IRANIAN COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES – Foreign Firms Reported to Have Engaged in Certain Activities… Continue Reading
Health Impact Assessment of Shale Gas Extraction: Workshop Summary (2014)
“Natural gas extraction from shale formations, which includes hydraulic fracturing, is increasingly in the news as the use of extraction technologies has expanded, rural communities have been transformed seemingly overnight, public awareness has increased, and regulations have been developed. The governmental public health system, which retains primary responsibility for health, was not an early participant… Continue Reading
CRS – Rare Earth Elements: The Global Supply Chain
Rare Earth Elements: The Global Supply Chain. Marc Humphries, Specialist in Energy Policy. December 16, 2013. “The concentration of rare earth elements (REEs) production in China raises the important issue of supply vulnerability. REEs are used for many commercial applications including new energy technologies, electronic devices, automobiles, and national security applications. Is the U.S. vulnerable to supply disruptions? Are these elements… Continue Reading
2012 Edition of AAA’s Your Driving Costs brochure
“AAA has published ‘Your Driving Costs’ since 1950. That year, driving a car 10,000 miles per year cost 9 cents per mile, and gasoline sold for 27 cents per gallon. Clearly, that is no longer the case. In 2012 the average costs rose 1.1 cents per mile to 59.6 cents per mile, or $8,946 per… Continue Reading
New Climate Change Study Projects Continued and Severe Future Warming
Spread in model climate sensitivity traced to atmospheric convective mixing, Steven C. Sherwood, Sandrine Bony & Jean-Louis Dufresne. Nature. 505, 37–42 (02 January 2014) doi:10.1038/nature12829. “This paper offers an explanation for the long-standing uncertainty in predictions of global warming derived from climate models. Uncertainties in predicted climate sensitivity — the magnitude of global warming due to an external influence — range from 1.5° C… Continue Reading
Kenneth Feinberg: The Nation’s Leading Expert in Picking up the Pieces
After the tragedies that come all too often—9/11, the Gulf, Newtown—the call goes out to Ken Feinberg to do what no man can possibly do: ease the pain by Chris Jones. Published in the January 2014 issue of Esquire. “We live in the age of Feinberg. Between September 11 and today, he has overseen the accounting… Continue Reading
NPR – Russian Warheads Fuel U.S. Power Plants
NPR – GEOFF BRUMFIEL: “Here’s a remarkable fact: For the past two decades, 10 percent of all the electricity consumed in the United States has come from Russian nuclear warheads. It was all part of a deal struck at the end of the Cold War. That deal wraps up today, when the final shipment of fuel arrives… Continue Reading
