WE will need fossil fuels like oil and gas for the foreseeable future. So there’s really little choice (sigh). We have to press ahead with fracking for natural gas. We must approve the Keystone XL pipeline to get Canadian oil.
This mantra, repeated on TV ads and in political debates, is punctuated with a tinge of inevitability and regret. But, increasingly, scientific research and the experience of other countries should prompt us to ask: To what extent will we really “need” fossil fuel in the years to come? To what extent is it a choice?
As renewable energy gets cheaper and machines and buildings become more energy efficient, a number of countries that two decades ago ran on a fuel mix much like America’s are successfully dialing down their fossil fuel habits. Thirteen countries got more than 30 percent of their electricity from renewable energy in 2011, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, and many are aiming still higher.
Could we? Should we?
A National Research Council report released last week concluded that the United States could halve by 2030 the oil used in cars and trucks compared with 2005 levels by improving the efficiency of gasoline-powered vehicles and by relying more on cars that use alternative power sources, like electric batteries andbiofuels.
Just days earlier a team of Stanford engineers published a proposal showing how New York State — not windy like the Great Plains, nor sunny like Arizona — could easily produce the power it needs from wind, solar and water power by 2030. In fact there was so much potential power, the researchers found, that renewable power could also fuel our cars.
“It’s absolutely not true that we need natural gas, coal or oil — we think it’s a myth,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the main author of the study, published in the journal Energy Policy. “You could power America with renewables from a technical and economic standpoint. The biggest obstacles are social and political — what you need is the will to do it.”
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Life After Oil and Gas
- Daily on Energy: A second life for House Democrats’ probe into Big Oil?on April 26, 2024 at 2:59 pm
A Senate Budget Committee hearing scheduled for next week raises the question of whether there might be some form of revival of the House Democratic probe in the 117th Congress into oil companies and ...
- Oil and gas sector: Tinubu urged to intervene in alleged marginalization of Itsekirion April 24, 2024 at 6:40 am
Representatives of the Olu of Warri, on Tuesday called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in Itsekiri oil producing communities. This is as a result of the alleged ...
- Oil And Gas Mergers Hit Record Q1 Levels In 2024on April 24, 2024 at 4:56 am
By far the biggest deal during Q1 2024 came in February, when Diamondback Energy Diamondback Energy 0.0% acquired privately-owned Endeavor Energy Resources for $26 billion. Dittmar says this was the ...
- Where did the Basin's oil come from?on April 23, 2024 at 5:02 pm
Tradition or myth holds that the Permian Basin's rich oil and natural gas formations were made from the bodies of dinosaurs, which is an evocative answer that's more fancy than fact. In fact, the ...
- US oil and gas M&A hits quarterly record after blockbuster 2023on April 23, 2024 at 12:15 pm
U.S. oil and gas deals hit a record $51 billion in the first quarter, a continuation of last year's fierce merger pace centered in the top U.S. shale field, data provider Enverus said on Tuesday.
- UCO Study: Oklahoma cities and towns paid millions extra because of state's anti-ESG lawon April 22, 2024 at 4:04 am
A law to blacklist financial companies said to "boycott" oil and gas investments has cost Oklahoma municipalities more than $180 million.
- 3 Energy Stocks to Sell Before Oil Prices Stallon April 22, 2024 at 3:00 am
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Is the rally crude oil about to stall out? After several months of consistent ...
- Trump's promises to 'drill, baby, drill' and kick out migrants are at odds. Here's why.on April 21, 2024 at 8:14 am
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump repeatedly pledges a mass deportation and expanded oil drilling. But migrants are the industry's 'shadow workforce.' ...
- Biden administration restricts oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska's petroleum reserveon April 19, 2024 at 1:22 pm
The U_S_ oil industry’s top lobbying group says Biden administration rules restricting oil and gas leasing in 13 million acres of Alaska’s petroleum reserve are "misguided." ...
- Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arcticon April 19, 2024 at 1:03 pm
The Interior Department finalized a rule limiting future oil and gas development across 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
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- Republicans are Buying These 10 Oil and Gas Stockson April 28, 2024 at 7:56 am
In this article, we will take a detailed look at Republicans are Buying These 10 Oil and Gas Stocks. For a quick overview of such stocks, read our article Republicans are Buying These 5 Oil and Gas ...
- For whom does the Oil and Gas Commission work, exactly? Clearly, not for the people of Ohio: editorialon April 28, 2024 at 2:57 am
As the discouraging saga shows about three leaking deep-injection fracking waste wells allowed to operate for months after Ohio regulators ordered their closure, the state’s comparatively passive ...
- In America’s Biggest Oil Field, the Ground Is Swelling and Bucklingon April 28, 2024 at 2:30 am
Land has subsided by as much as 11 inches since 2015 in a prime portion of the Permian Basin, as drillers extract huge amounts of oil and water, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of ...
- The Top 7 Oil & Gas Stocks to Buy in April 2024on April 27, 2024 at 3:01 am
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips The World Bank has warned that an escalation of tensions in the Middle East ...
- Russia's April oil and gas revenue could double despite Ukraine hammering its oilfields with drones, report sayson April 27, 2024 at 2:12 am
Reuters projected Russian oil and gas revenue for April to come in at 1.292 trillion rubles, up from 648 billion rubles in April 2023.
- U.S. Oil And Gas Production Are Ahead Of Last Year’s Record Paceon April 26, 2024 at 11:33 am
Last year marked a record for U.S. oil production with daily production of 12.93 million barrels per day (BPD). This year, production is running ahead of that pace.
- Drop in fuel demand and oil prices sends gas prices lower: AAAon April 26, 2024 at 8:07 am
The national average cost for a gallon of gas declined to $3.65, a slight two-cent decrease from the previous week. Gas demand fell from 8.66 to 8.42 million barrels per day last week and oil prices ...
- Oil and Gas Chain Reaction: E&P M&A Begets OFS Consolidationon April 26, 2024 at 6:00 am
Led by megadeals from Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the upstream sector completed nearly $250 billion in M&A transactions from the beginning of 2023 through March. That leaves the OFS space now playing ...
- COP29 climate summit host Azerbaijan defends oil and gas investmentson April 26, 2024 at 3:14 am
Azerbaijan, host of this year's U.N. climate summit, will defend the right of oil and gas producing nations to invest in the sector, the country's president said on Friday, noting that despite climate ...
- Texas’ oil and gas patents need protection from infringementon April 25, 2024 at 10:30 pm
The oil and gas industry has a significant number of patent applications that are being threatened by a patent board that has invalidated about 80% ...
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