It’s been tough for natural gas drillers. The boom in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing that gave access to enormous gas-rich shale formations around the nation led to record production. Prices crashed. Drilling activity collapsed: rig count, down 45% from last year, hit the lowest level since July 1999. Producers are writing down their natural gas assets by the billions of dollars. Some will get wiped out. The price of natural gas has been below production costs for years, and the damage is now huge [read.... Natural Gas: Where Endless Money Went to Die].
On the other side, power generators have switched from coal to natural gas—with devastating impact on king coal. Coal has long been the dominant fuel for power generation. But April 2012, for the first time in the history of EIA data, power generation from coal-fired and natural gas-fired plants reached parity, each contributing 32% to total electricity generation.
The large fluctuations are a function, in part, of the seasonality of overall power demand. In April, demand was low due to mild spring weather. The price of natural gas dropped to a 10-year low, and power companies laughed all the way to the bank. In May, power production started to rise as air conditioners got cranked up—a trend that will hold for the summer.
But the graph shows something far more important: a narrowing of the gap between coal and gas-fired power generation. It’s not just the low price of natural gas that did it—but a new power generation technology and yes, the usual suspect, Congress.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-08-16/natural-gas-and-brutal-dethroning-king-coal
US carbon emissions drop to 20-year low
ReplyDeleteTHE amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the US has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years as power plant operators switch from coal to natural gas.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/us-carbon-emissions-drop-to-20-year-low/story-e6frfkui-1226452797057#ixzz23op6Prkp
Maybe it also has do with the 22.5 million under, unemployed who stay home a lot more.
DeleteJust sayin.
lou......You would not suggest that we no longer manufacture anything,so therefore this country has a much smaller carbon footprint,would you?
DeleteI'll bet that the climate doomers and the Obama administration are doing high fives over this and saying we knew we could do this,that is fix CO2 emissions at the expense of the US economy.
Oh now about the carbon footprint of that pesky China.
Roj,
DeleteI suggest nothing for the sort. I suggest we dump the free trade agreements which seem to benefit out trade partners at our expense for fair trade and tariffs.
Pretty sad state of affairs by lowering our carbon foot print, we have increased the carbon foot print of the world as the 3rd world will take all of our jobs without the regulation and EPA.