{"id":1485645,"date":"2024-08-24T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1485645"},"modified":"2024-08-24T00:20:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T04:20:00","slug":"us-natural-gas-is-americas-clean-energy-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/us-natural-gas-is-americas-clean-energy-standard\/1485645\/","title":{"rendered":"US Natural Gas Is America’s Clean Energy Standard"},"content":{"rendered":"

US Natural Gas Is America’s Clean Energy Standard<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by \u00a0Jason Hayes & Timothy G. Nash via RealClearEnergy<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

Abundant and affordable energy drives America\u2019s powerful and productive economy.<\/strong> That\u2019s\u00a0been true throughout our nation\u2019s history, and\u00a0America\u2019s recent achievement of energy\u00a0independence<\/a>\u00a0provides the most concrete\u00a0illustration\u00a0of that fact.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

But to keep our nation firing on all eight cylinders, we need government policies that prioritize providing adequate, reliable and secure domestic energy supplies.<\/p>\n

Our recently published report,\u00a0\u201cGrading the Grid,<\/a>\u201d reviewed a variety of potential energy sources<\/strong>. Two \u2014 natural gas and nuclear \u2014 stood out as the most sensible energy\u00a0options for the future.<\/p>\n

No\u00a0other energy source\u00a0fits the\u00a0abundant, affordable and secure\u00a0prescription\u00a0as well as\u00a0American natural gas. Despite increased use, new drilling technologies, such as fracking, produced\u00a0a 79% increase<\/a>\u00a0in annual natural gas production in the U.S. from 2007 to 2021.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we produce more of it, prices are dropping. American families saved\u00a0$147 billion<\/a>\u00a0over the last decade because of more affordable natural gas.\u00a0American Gas Association testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability indicated that households that use natural gas for heating, cooking and other appliances save an average\u00a0of\u00a0$1,068 per year compared to homes using electricity for such appliances.\u00a0Natural gas powered\u00a036%<\/a>\u00a0of America\u2019s total energy needs\u00a0in 2023 and\u00a043%<\/a>\u00a0of U.S. electricity generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Natural gas also helps improve air qualit<\/strong>y.\u00a0Americans are enjoying\u00a078% cleaner air since 1970<\/a>.\u00a0The\u00a0transition<\/a>\u00a0from older coal-fueled technologies\u00a0to\u00a0more efficient\u00a0natural gas\u00a0turbines\u00a0for electricity generation\u00a0is the primary reason\u00a0that the U.S. is a world leader in lowering carbon emissions. Energy-related carbon dioxide\u00a0emissions\u00a0have\u00a0decreased by more than 18%<\/a>\u00a0since 2007, while electricity generation from natural gas\u00a0increased over 88%<\/a>.\u00a0Natural gas,\u00a0with its distinctive blue flame,\u00a0has\u00a0cleanly powered American\u00a0homes\u00a0and industry\u00a0for many\u00a0decades.<\/p>\n

Natural gas\u00a0should be the standard by which other hydrocarbon energy sources are measured, such as fuel oil, kerosene, petroleum\u00a0and coal<\/strong>.\u00a0Pipeline-quality natural gas \u2014 gas that has been processed to remove contaminants\u00a0and\u00a0to meet\u00a0specific quality standards \u2014 sets a high but reasonable bar for clean energy.\u00a0Policymakers\u00a0in\u00a0Washington D.C.\u00a0and state\u00a0capitals\u00a0should craft\u00a0legislation that\u00a0targets these standards of\u00a0affordability,\u00a0reliability\u00a0and cleanliness\u00a0that natural\u00a0gas\u00a0achieves.<\/p>\n

Using natural gas as\u00a0the\u00a0standard\u00a0could\u00a0encourage the development\u00a0of\u00a0technologies, like\u00a0catalysts<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0formate<\/a>, that\u00a0allow us to\u00a0continue using hydrocarbons, like fuel oil, kerosene, diesel, or coal, to produce energy and then use\u00a0captured\u00a0greenhouse gas emissions\u00a0associated with\u00a0their combustion\u00a0to generate\u00a0useable fuels.<\/p>\n

These are engineering challenges that are both economically feasible\u00a0and\u00a0technologically sound.\u00a0They are also exactly the kind of ground-breaking idea that the\u00a0U.S.,\u00a0the most\u00a0innovative society on earth,\u00a0is known for. There is no reason to\u00a0take affordable and reliable energy sources off the table\u00a0when we can rely on American ingenuity\u00a0to produce clean\u00a0electricity\u00a0from what has traditionally been allowed to escape into the air as a waste product<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nuclear power is\u00a0the second\u00a0most promising\u00a0energy source. It is also\u00a0affordable like natural gas,\u00a0but even cleaner and more reliable. American nuclear plants\u00a0produce effectively emission-free electricity\u00a0and can do so 24-7-365 for many decades.<\/p>\n

Nuclear power\u00a0has supplied about\u00a020%<\/a>\u00a0of the electricity needed in the U.S. since the 1990s. However, a combination of misinformation and government overregulation of nuclear power limits its expansion. It can,\u00a0and\u00a0should,\u00a0be America\u2019s largest source of baseload grid-scale electricity generation.<\/p>\n

America\u2019s increasing\u00a0population will need more electricity in the future. As data centers and\u00a0artificial intelligence\u00a0become more prevalent, nuclear\u00a0and natural gas\u00a0become even more important. Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz highlighted how the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers are rapidly growing electricity demand.<\/p>\n

If America is to maintain and grow its economic prosperity<\/strong>, Moniz explained at the 2024 CERAWeek meeting in Houston, it needs a far more reliable electricity supply<\/strong> \u2014 what nuclear and natural gas provide. \u201c[U]tilities will have to lean more heavily on natural gas, coal and nuclear plants, and perhaps support the construction of new gas plants to help meet spikes in demand,” he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to build 100 gigawatts of new renewables in a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Energy affordability and independence\u00a0are\u00a0the new\u00a0keys to\u00a0American prosperity.\u00a0Nearly 60 million Americans consider\u00a0energy affordability\u00a0a factor when they decide who they will support in an election.\u00a0Hardworking Americans deserve a sensible energy strategy that maximizes\u00a0the\u00a0use of our\u00a0existing nuclear plants and our abundant supplies of\u00a0natural gas. Energy policy must\u00a0also\u00a0encourage private\u00a0investments\u00a0in innovation\u00a0that can\u00a0help\u00a0other energy sources\u00a0meet\u00a0the\u00a0pricing, reliability and cleanliness\u00a0standards of\u00a0American natural gas.<\/p>\n

Jason Hayes is director of energy and environmental policy at the Mackinac Center.<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr. Timothy G. Nash is director of the McNair Center at Northwood University.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 08\/23\/2024 – 20:20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/energy\/us-natural-gas-americas-clean-energy-standard<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Natural Gas Is America’s Clean Energy Standard Authored by \u00a0Jason Hayes & Timothy G. Nash via RealClearEnergy, Abundant and affordable energy drives America\u2019s powerful…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1485646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1485645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1485645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1485646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1485645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1485645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1485645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}