January 2012

Keystone Xl Jobs: Estimates Range from a Few Thousand to About 1.47 Bazillion

Michael Giberson The Columbia Journalism Review takes a look at the jobs numbers that have been cited in news stories about the Keystone XL pipeline and traces them back to their shaky foundations. It is a detailed and useful reminder of the slim link to reality that these claims have. (I use an easier method: …

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Minnesota Biomass Projects Squeezed by Low Natural Gas Prices, Leaves Some Hoping for Higher Gas Prices

Michael Giberson The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that low natural gas prices are putting the squeeze on biomass-based energy projects in Minnesota, in some cases including biomass projects supported by direct taxpayer or ratepayer subsidies. One example, an ethanol plant once gained about 20 percent of its heat from a $20 million biomass gasification system. …

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Was Federal Government Support Critical to the Shale Gas Breakthrough?

Michael Giberson In the State of the Union address, President Obama invoked a little federal government research history and then jumped to the kind of logical non sequitur so common to those who see the world through politically-colored glasses: The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner …

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The Sotu Energy Policy Extract

Michael Giberson For your convenience, the energy policy parts from last night’s State of the Union address. Be aware that I’ve dropped some non-energy words, phrases or even short sentences without indicating where such edits happened in order to make this extract relatively clean. In some cases I kept non-energy bits that seemed useful as …

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Give Me That Old Fashioned Analog Meter?!!?

Michael Giberson Worthy of note, but still mostly puzzling: continuing, low-level, organized opposition to smart electric meters. I can understand concerns over data privacy, but that is about it. Sure, in some states the roll-out came with a sense that the regulated utility was gaining more control over consumer electrical consumption and making customers pay …

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Presidents, Policies, Prices and Production

Michael Giberson Robert Rapier posts this chart: Rapier noted that last week Obama observed the energy production trends: “Under my administration, domestic oil and natural gas production is up, while imports of foreign oil are down,” Obama added in his statement. “In the months ahead, we will continue to look for new ways to partner with …

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