Fuel of Choice: Natural Gas Surpasses Coal as Top Source of Electrical Power
Source: Associated Press
Natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation for the first time earlier this spring, a milestone that has been in the making for years as the price of gas slides and new regulations make coal more risky for power generators.
About 31 percent of electric power generation in April came from natural gas, and 30 percent from coal, according to a recently released report from the research company SNL Energy, which used data from the U.S. Energy Department. Nuclear power came in third at 20 percent.
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In April 2010, 44 percent of electric power generation came from coal and 22 percent from gas, according to SNL Energy.
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The EIA said in a May report that it expects the level of coal-generated electricity to rebound as natural gas prices rise later this year and coal-fired plants return from spring maintenance. Overall, the EIA expects about 36 percent of total U.S. electricity generation to come from coal in 2015 and 31 percent to come from natural gas.
Read more: http://www.theledger.com/article/20150713/NEWS/150719701
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)But I have wondered, how long can we continue to suck that out of the planet?
Can you just imagine the day when the gas line goes dry? (As well as all other fossil type fuels.)
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)only a sign sticking out that says:
"They Sucked".
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)AllyCat
(16,187 posts)Except we live in Koch World
truthisfreedom
(23,147 posts)And natural gas should be used to make plexiglass/acrylic.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)wouldn't even have to drill for gas anymore or import gas.
another bonus is Plasma gasification will also take care of the mountains of low level hospital waste that costs so much to dispose of today.
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)Let's see if the sarcasm smiley prevents me from being lambasted...
NickB79
(19,243 posts)And if you say renewable-derived electricity, you know I'm gonna ask why we don't just use that electricity directly to power our cities instead of converting it (and wasting a lot of it) into syn gas?
hunter
(38,312 posts)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_%28cigarette_type%29
"Natural gas" is a brilliant marketing term. It's just fossil fuel "lite," offering no clear benefit's to the planet's long term health.
GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)If you only focused on the United States, you might think coal's days were numbered.
The dirtiest of all fossil fuels once provided more than half of America's electricity. That has since dropped to 39 percent, thanks to competition from cheap natural gas, a tireless campaign by the Sierra Club to shutter old coal plants, and strict new air pollution regulations. Add in the Obama administration's upcoming crackdown on carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants, and US coal will keep waning in the future.
But that's not true globally. Far from it. According to data from BP's Statistical Review of Energy, coal consumption has actually been accelerating worldwide since the end of the 1990s:
According to an important study in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, we're in the midst of a global "renaissance of coal" that's not confined to just a few countries like China or India. Rather, coal is becoming the energy source of choice for a vast array of poorer and fast-growing countries around the world, particularly in Southeast Asia. "This renaissance of coal," the authors write, "has even accelerated in the last decade."
Cal33
(7,018 posts)carbon gases that help to trap more heat in the atmosphere. Our earth is overheated already,
and we have been suffering the consequences of inclement weather for some time. Also,
natural gas will be completely used up some day, if we can survive that long. Eventually humans
will have to use non-carbon energy (solar, wind......) anyway.
The only reason we are still using energy fuelled by carbon is that corporations are
pressuring Congress, so that they can continue making their billions. The people can go to
hell, but business corporations want their money, which they will use to bribe and corrupt
so that they will continue to make that money. All these problems are caused by the pure
selfish greed of corporations. Nice fellas!!