U.S. Natural Gas Consumption to Level Off Next Year

U.S. natural gas consumption is expected to outpace production in 2007 but will level off next year due to an expected drop in imports of liquefied natural gas, a government report said recently.

Higher demand for residential, electric and commercial gas this year is expected to boost total gas consumption by 4.5 percent, while production is projected to rise by 1.4 percent in 2007, and 1.3 percent in 2008, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook report.

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Why China Could Blame Its CO2 on West

To understand the deadlock in the debate on global climate change, take a look at your iPod.

The vast majority of the world's MP3 players are made in China, where the main power source is coal. Manufacturing a single MP3 player releases about 17 pounds of planet-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

IPods, along with thousands of other goods churned out by Chinese factories, from toys to rolled steel, pose a question that is becoming an issue in the climate-change debate. If a gadget is made in China by an American company and exported and used by consumers from Stockholm to São Paulo, Brazil, should the Chinese government be held responsible for the carbon released in manufacturing it?

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Melting Ice Heats Up Interest in Energy Exploration

The Arctic is rich in natural resources, including hydrocarbons, and rapid thawing due to global warming could make exploiting those mineral resources feasible relatively soon.

Large, discovered oil and natural gas reserves totaling 233 billion barrels of oil or its equivalent can be found in the Arctic Basin, according to a recent study by two British consulting firms, Wood McKenzie and Fugro Robertson, "with potential additional resources estimated at 166 billion barrels of oil equivalent."

The study, "The Future of the Arctic," found that natural gas accounted for 80 percent of all available reserves, and that 69 percent of it belonged to Russia.

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Climate Change Legislation Becoming Clearer
Ken Silverstein, Energy Biz Insider

Political dexterity is needed to pass any climate change legislation. No less than nine bills are now pending on Capitol Hill, all with critics ready to knock them out of the saddle. One measure, however, has emerged as the bill to beat.

While Senators Joseph Lieberman's, I-Conn. and John Warner's, R-Va., bill has a long way to go, they were able to get their measure out of subcommittee last week by a one-vote margin. Now, that legislation is headed to the full Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where the chair, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has said her goal is to pass a workable bill rather than draft the ultimate piece of legislation.

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Save The Date – National Association of Power Engineers Meeting

Thursday, November 29, 2007  
Saving Energy with Drives
Scott Tuttle – Drive Area Manager
Rockwell Automation, Carmel , IN

All meetings are held at 12 noon at Citizens Gas, 2020 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN.
For more information please contact Rick Ratliff at DLR Mechanical at (317) 253-6822.