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 Natural Gas Cartel May be Difficult to Form
For those who depend on imported natural gas for heating, cooking and generating electricity, the specter of an OPEC-like cartel hiking prices of the world's gas supplies sounds like a disaster.
But experts say a gas cartel that resembles the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries group would be tough to achieve.
Unlike oil, which is traded on an exchange that constantly updates the market price based on supply and demand, most gas is sold under tight contracts that allow buyers to lock in prices for up to 25 years. Full Story  |
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Is Ethanol the Answer?
America is drunk on ethanol.
Farmers in the Midwest are sending billions of bushels of corn to refineries that turn it into billions of gallons of fuel. Automakers in Detroit have already built millions of cars, trucks and SUVs that can run on it, and are committed to making millions more. In Washington, politicians have approved generous subsidies for companies that make ethanol.
President Bush recently arranged with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for their countries to share ethanol production technology.
Even alternative fuel aficionados are surprised at the nation's sudden enthusiasm for grain alcohol.
"It's coming on dramatically; more rapidly than anyone had expected," said Nathanael Greene, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
You'd think that would be good news, but it actually worries a lot of people. Full Story |
Carbon Capture in Sight
American Electric Power says it is not waiting around for the feds to mandate carbon controls on all power plants. On its own accord, it is setting the process in motion to capture carbon dioxide emissions that are tied to climate change.
Advanced tests will begin at one of its power plants in West Virginia in 2008. Once those trials are deemed successful, the Columbus, Ohio-based utility will implement the technology at another facility in Oklahoma. By 2011, AEP says that the operation that uses chilled ammonia to scrub the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be ready for prime-time. Those releases would then be compressed and stored permanently underground or be used to help retrieve oil deposits.
Clearly, it's now possible to dramatically cut such pollutants as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. But, it's also becoming increasingly real to trap CO2 in trees or bury it underground. By most accounts, energy usage will rise in the coming decades and coal will remain the primary fuel source to generate electricity. Carbon sequestration therefore holds the key to future power plant production using fossil fuels.
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Venezuelan President Chavez May Play the Oil Card
With President Hugo Chávez setting a May 1 deadline for an ambitious plan to wrest control of several major oil projects from American and European companies, a showdown is looming here over access to some of the most coveted energy resources outside the Middle East.
Moving beyond empty threats to cut off all oil exports to the United States, officials have recently stepped up the pressure on the oil companies operating here, warning that they might sell American refineries meant to process Venezuelan crude oil even as they seek new outlets in China and elsewhere around the world. Chávez is playing a game of chicken with the largest oil companies in the world, said Pietro Pitts, an oil analyst who publishes LatinPetroleum, an industry magazine based here. And for the moment he is winning.
But this confrontation could easily end up with everyone losing. Full Story |
2007 Purdue TAP Industrial Energy Services BestPractices Workshop Series
Date: April 24, 2007
BestPractices Workshop: Process Heating Systems Assessment 1 Day Workshop
Host Location: Citizens Gas 2020 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
This workshop provides an introduction to process heating and process heating equipment, such as furnaces, dryers, ovens, heaters, and kilns, used by industry. The course includes discussion of combustion and other heating methods; heat transfer in furnaces; waste heat recovery; commonly used process heating controls; and emissions from heating processes.
More Info |
Save The Date National Association of Power Engineers Meeting
April 26, 2007
Vehicular Derivative Engines in a Combined Heat and Power/CHP System for Distributed Energy Generation
Terry Pahls, P.E. President & COO of I Power Systems, Anderson IN May 31, 2007
Steam Savings through 24/7 Steam Trap Monitoring
Chris Gibbs Account Manager Armstrong International
All meetings are held beginning 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. |
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