natural gas Archives - Global Warming is Real

$EPA significantly underestimates amount of methane leaking from fracking operations$

The Fracking Context for the EPA’s New Methane Rules

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Richard Matthews | 0 Comments

The Obama administration’s new rules to curb methane come in the wake of two reports that illustrate the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). These reports show that methane is leaking throughout the fracking process from extraction to the end users. The Environmental Protection Agency recently released the final version of their new federal rules to limit methane emissions at oil and gas…

New generating capacity in the US continues to outpace gas and other fossil fuels

New U.S. Capacity from Renewable Sources Far Outpace Natural Gas

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Thomas Schueneman | 1 Comments

The first quarter of 2016 is one of lopsided records. First there are the monthly temperature records, with February the most unusually warm on record followed by March, with yet a new record deviation. In the midst of these increasingly worrisome records is another, offering hope that the response to these changing climate patterns is underway. The latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report…

Overhead photos of the well leaking methane at Porter Ranch, California

The Invisible Climate Nightmare Unfolding in California

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Richard Matthews | 0 Comments

One of the biggest environmental disasters in US history is happening right now in southern California. The methane leak at the SoCalGas Aliso Canyon Storage Facility, located in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of northwest Los Angeles, is already the largest such leak in U.S. history and it is far from over. The leak started in October and SoCalGas has indicated…

Infographic: Gas Flaring Worldwide

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Thomas Schueneman | 0 Comments

The problem of gas flaring Gas flaring, or the venting of natural gas, is a common process associated with oil extraction and other industrial activities. In the United States, gas flaring has grown right along with the boom in “tight oil” plays such as North Dakota’s Bakken field. Of course, flaring gas is not limited to the U.S. but is a…

Renewable sources provide nearly half of all new generating capacity in 2014

Renewable Energy Beats Natural Gas for New Capacity in 2014

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Thomas Schueneman | 0 Comments

It was a close race throughout the year, but in the end new generating capacity from renewable sources beat out new natural gas capacity by 1.16 percent in 2014. Of the 49.81 percent of new capacity from renewable energy, more than one-quarter, or 26.52 percent, came from wind energy while solar power provided another 20.40 percent of the total. Other…

$are we overselling the natural gas fracking boom?$

Climate One: Overselling the Fracking Boom

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Thomas Schueneman | 0 Comments

In the Climate One video clip Trevor Houser, a partner in the Rhodium Group and climate negotiator at the 2009 COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen discusses a “middle road” for natural gas. Despite the good news that at the end of 2012 US carbon emissions were down 12 percent relative to 2005, there remains a long road to sustainable and sufficient…

$The fight against fracking at a Manhattan protest$

The New Front Lines of the Fight Against Fracking

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Richard Matthews | 2 Comments

The front lines of the fight over hydraulic fracturing -or “fracking” – are being drawn at the lowest political levels. Fracking involves detonating explosions deep underground and then pumping large volumes of chemical laced water at high pressure into these wells. More than 1,000 chemicals have already been identified as those commonly used in the drilling process. According to a…