Jim Pierobon is Founder and principal writer of The Energy Fix. He is a policy, marketing and social media strategist who has reported on, testified and consulted about smarter grids, cyber-security as it affects the power grid, fossil fuel shortages, price spikes, energy efficiency and the rise and fall -- and the rise again of nuclear and renewable energy sources.Energy and climate portion of President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address
To save you time searching for the energy and climate portion of Obama’s February 12, 2013 State of the Union address, which occurred not quite half way through the speech, here it is, courtesy of ABC News: “After years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own energy future. We produce [...]
Lessons learned from transporting ‘dilbit’ oil & how they should apply to the Keystone XL pipeline
What happened near Marshall, Mich. in July 2010 illuminates the risks of building the controversial extension of the Keystone XL pipeline. That’s because a six-and-a-half foot tear in a 30-inch carbon steel pipeline operated by Enbridge Energy Partners spewed more than 1 million gallons of gooey crude oil mined from Canadian tar sands into the [...]
EPA’s tests of groundwater near WY natural gas drilling sites: shoddy science or cause for concern?
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the latest follow-up tests of water surrounding natural-gas-drilling sites near Pavillion, Wyo., October 10, they appeared to confirm how water can be contaminated by hydraulic fracturing. The operator of the gas field in question, Encana Corp., last week re-asserted it is not responsible for any chemicals found and [...]
Webinar Sept. 11 on risks of closing 25 gigawatts watts of coal-fired U.S. electric capacity by 2015
As a big ‘squeeze’ on coal-fired power plants in the U.S. continues to gather steam, questions abound whether natural gas can make up virtually all of the difference needed to keep electricity flowing reliably AND keep consumer prices from rising significantly. That is just one of the many questions that was addressed in a unique [...]
Risks loom from closure of 25 gigawatts of U.S. coal power plants by 2015 = 8% of capacity
Is there enough natural gas that is findable and deliverable to plug most of the gap created by the projected closure of 25.5 gigawatts (GW) of U.S. generating capacity from coal between now and year-end 2015? That is an increasingly urgent question facing U.S. utilities, power marketers and regulators. The risks of brownouts and perhaps [...]
Federal Court’s Upholding EPA on Greenhouse Gases Boosts Opportunity for Hybrids and Power from Renewables and Natural Gas
A federal appeals court has done for natural gas and renewable sources of electricity that no executive branch stimulus package could ever hope to do: raise the bar higher still to justify building another coal-fired power plant in the U.S. The same can be said in favor of hybrid and all-electric passenger cars. Now that [...]
FAST FIX: Score a win for Supermodel Elle Macpherson over OK Sen. James Inhofe
The Senate has voted 53-46 to defeat Republican Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe’s bid to halt the U.S. EPA restrictions of mercury and air toxic emissions standards (aka MATS) from coal-fired power plants. While not all, or even most of the credit goes to celebrities such as supermodel Elle Macpherson (photo), it certainly didn’t hurt that [...]
Shale gas ‘golden rules’ from the IEA – will enough of the industry engage? And how?
Lest there be any doubt, the call for understandable rules, regulations and disclosure requirements for the hydraulic fracturing of unconventional natural gas (aka fracking) from shale deposits deep underground is gaining steam not just in the U.S. but throughout much of the industrialized world. Now comes the International Energy Agency with its “Golden Rules for [...]
Sprint-ing, not walking, the ‘talk’ to achieve sustainability goals
It’s becoming more clear every day that cleaner energy and environmental sustainability depends on private industry. The expiration of many renewable energy incentives, zero prospects for a U.S. carbon tax or a cap and trade program, restraints on public spending and the low price and growing supplies of natural gas are putting commitments to renewable [...]
FAST FIX: single biggest emitter of CO2 in the U.S.? Scherer coal plant in Georgia
The Scherer complex of four coal-burning power plants near Macon, GA, co-owned and operated by Georgia Power, is the single largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It spewed almost 23 million tons of CO2 in 2010. According to Natural History magazine, it ranked as the 20th in [...]