Kirk Sorensen talks about the new and exciting field of Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, a new type of viable and stable forms of new nuclear energy. [youtube width="600" height="400" video_id="DBlsUjnEQq0&"]
SOLAR LIGHT BULBS TO TAFERT, MOROCCO
An Initiative Promoting Environmental, Economic, and Cultural Growth
In many indigenous communities the environment provides a means for living. Keeping the environment clean is especially important for those communities, while at the same time adds to the value of life for all people. The UN’s declaration on rights of indigenous people explains they have the right to maintain and strengthen their culture, and pursue their development according to their aspirations and needs. Providing Nokero light bulbs, which does not infringe on indigenous culture but rather helps preserve a traditional culture by bringing a service such as un-polluting light, and it helps maintain a lifestyle of living off the land without the environmental impacts that an on-grid electrical system would produce. This project focuses on bringing a sustainably designed product to a community where the bulb would benefit three-fold.
Background on Indigenous Moroccans
The Berber people are indigenous to Morocco. Their origins are likely in south-west Asia, from second millennium B.C. They are united by linguistic rather than by genetic features. There are several types of Berbers throughout North Africa but the Moroccan Berbers live in the Atlas Mountains. In 40 A.D. and the following 500 years the Moroccan Berbers were annexed by the Romans which left a faint cultural imprint. As the Roman Empire faded the pastoral life of the Berbers continued. They established trade posts with whoever passed their way; often times taking on and letting fall away traditions of invaders and passers-by. By the end of the seventh century the Arab people had reached Morocco bringing Islam and as the settlers before them they welcomed their culture and protection. From time to time the Berbers resisted the Arabs attempts to govern for example the Arabs wanted to administer taxes. The economic advantages were few so any attempts by the Arabs fall to the waste side. In 15th century Morocco became an interest to European countries wanting control of the coastal regions. By the 19th century Morocco was essentially controlled by the Europeans. The Treaty of Fez granted France the permission to establish civil order in Morocco and as such Morocco became a French colony. By 1930 the Berbers and Arabs were under the French administration and for the first time under one rule. In 1956 sovereignty was restored and Morocco was an independent united country.
Who is receiving the solar light bulbs?
Presently Morocco is a developing country. While many highly populated areas are growing and becoming or are established as cities other terrain areas are not. Nokero is a Colorado based company which has a product unlike any in Morocco. While some communities in Morocco can afford to purchase these bulbs, the Tafert community does not. They currently are not serviced for electricity or running water. Most of the region is used to extract resources, which has provided roads some distance away from the community, about 5 kilometers away from Tafert. The population estimate is 30 individuals. Providing more than one light bulb to each individual is ideal. One to use while the other charges or for back up purposes. Meaning a total minimum of 60 bulbs needed. Other communities in this region will want the light bulbs as well so donations are not capped. The more bulbs we have the more we can give not only to the Tafert village but surrounding ones too. Nokero light bulbs will be provided to the Berber village of Tafert at no cost.
Nokero Solar Light Bulbs -
Light seems to be something that we all take for granted. During the day, it is light out and once it gets dark, we switch on our lights and comfortably continue our lives within our homes and workplaces. But what if we did not have energy, and did not have the ability to create light amidst darkness? There are approximately 1.3 billion people around the world without access to basic electricity. Some of these people live in darkness after the sunsets, and others rely on kerosene to provide minimal light.
Among the world’s population living without light, 95 percent live in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Typically, people in these regions spend up to 25 percent of their daily income on fuels to light their homes. Kerosene fuels are a major source of house fires every year and they cause serious health issues due to internal pollution. Half of the world’s deaths among children under five are a result of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) and 1 million people die each year from chronic obstructive respiratory disease (COPD). Nokero International, Ltd. was founded on the mission to have “No Kerosene” around the world.
The privately held company based out of Denver, Colorado was founded in 2010 to provide a safe, affordable, clean and efficient alternative to kerosene lamps—solar light bulbs. Today Nokero produces both solar light bulbs and solar phone chargers, alleviating health risks and decreasing kerosene spending across the developing world. Solar products allow families to extend their days into night and comfortably continue their lives at home and at work. With more light, we can accomplish more; therefore, with safer and more affordable light, people around the world can focus on their education and businesses instead of worrying about their safety and health.
Nokero’s solar light bulbs and phone chargers are not only distributed in Africa and Asia, but they are popular in the United States. They provide a green alternative to expensive outdoor lighting, and are small and portable for backpackers and campers. The most recent products include the N180-Start solar light bulb and the N222 solar light/phone charger combination. The N180 is currently the most affordable solar light bulb on the market at just $6 retail value. The N222 is a technologically advanced device that provides both high luminosity light as well as basic phone charging capabilities while on or off the electronic grid.
As a testament to Nokero’s mission to spread light around the world, they recently launched the Solar Relief Campaign to bring N200 solar light bulbs, their most popular product, to people affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Through Nokero’s website, customers have three options to help alleviate darkness in the Philippines: Buy an N222 and Nokero donates an N200, buy multiple N200s at a discounted price, or buy an entire case of 48 bulbs to send to a community in need. For more information on Nokero’s relief efforts, partnered with both Habitat for Humanity and One Heart for Hope Foundation, visit www.nokero.com/haiyan.
The Eight Elements of Strategic Corporate Giving – A Must for Today’s Energy Businesses
Corporate giving is a key metric and a vital component of an effective Corporate Social Responsibility program. This is particularly true for businesses in energy exploration and production because of the heightened public scrutiny their operating methods receive. Strategic corporate giving goes beyond making a donation. It is an investment. Helping build vibrant, healthy and safe communities in which a company operates is foundational to securing and maintaining that always-important social license to operate. An effective giving program also enhances a company’s overall position and brand awareness. This, in turn, supports employee recruitment and retention, attracts and retains investors, makes it easier to enter other markets, and creates goodwill a company may need in times of difficulty.
For the purposes of this article, “corporate giving” is an umbrella term that incorporates, one, giving to enhance the community for a direct business value, and two, charitable giving or philanthropy. Corporate giving takes place in two distinct geographic areas: the communities in which companies have operations and the community in which the corporate office is located. Companies often focus on the former and forget the latter – they forget their administrative employees are also part of the community. By neglecting their ‘home turf,’ businesses can miss out on the opportunity to deploy ambassadors—employees—to fully demonstrate a company’s commitment to the greater good.
The elements of an effective corporate giving program include:
1. Company Perception – Before launching a giving program, executives need to understand how the company is perceived and confirm its reputation and overall position in the market. This can be accomplished through a variety of research tools that can be formal, such as quantitative polls or facilitated focus groups, or informal, such as conversations with community leaders. This research will help determine if the perceptions of the company’s target audiences are in alignment with the position or reputation company executives desire. These audiences can include customers, investors, employees, community leaders elected and non-elected, and perhaps the broader community. Each will view the company’s giving efforts in a different way. Taking these perspectives into consideration is essential to creating an effective corporate giving program.
2. Community Needs – It’s important for executives to determine what issues are important to the company’s target audiences. Traditionally these might include education, health and wellness, infrastructure, community development, or arts and culture. This analysis is important for developing a giving strategy that will be appreciated by the community.
3. Synergy – What impact does the business want to have in the community? Combining this with areas that are important and of interest to the company, leaders can then compare their interests with those of the broader community or specific target audiences. Where is the alignment? An effective giving plan must balance the need to support target audience issues and the priorities of the company. This does not preclude giving to organizations or issues that are a high priority to the company but not necessarily to a key audience. It is important to note that donations to support industry-wide issues or educational outreach programs should not be considered a part of the giving program.
4. How Much to Give – A company should identify an annual giving budget and prioritize the issues and organizations that are most important so they get the lion’s share of available funding. To help determine how much funding each organization might receive, consider the opportunities each donation gives the company for positioning, brand extension, relationship building and employee engagement.
5. It’s More Than Writing a Check – To maximize any monetary contribution, a company should actively support volunteer leadership, like board service and employee volunteer time. A giving program provides opportunities for not only relationship building but also the chance to be active in the community “on the ground.” This helps to humanize the company, which in turn helps build trust, support and credibility. This is especially important in rural communities.
6. Long-term Commitments – In order to build stronger relationships and have maximum impact, it is wise to make long-term commitments in your key giving areas. Long-term commitments are an excellent way to create a lasting effect on the organization and community. They also demonstrate the company’s commitment to helping the local community over the long-term, which helps build community trust and support. Many communities, especially those experiencing energy booms, have experienced energy busts. Quick exits by companies can leave community residents and leaders wary of new developments. If you’re making a significant financial investment in operations in a community, have that reflected in your corporate giving.
7. One-time Donations – Sometimes one-time gifts make strategic sense. A common example is buying a premium table at a fundraiser. When purchasing a table or getting one as a sponsor of an event, determine who will be at the table before you make the commitment. Too many businesses lose relationship-building opportunities by not thinking ahead.
8. Measurement – For each gift, identify a metric to determine impact or success. Those metrics can include specific milestones for a program, number of people served in a given time, defined community improvement, additional funds raised, number of employees engaged, etc. It is also wise to circle back to the first element —determining how the company is perceived —every few years to measure the effect a corporate giving program is having on reputation.
Finally, if a corporate giving program is going to support the company’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility then it needs to reflect the character and ethical standards of the company. It should demonstrate the commitment the company is making to run a successful business that provides a safe and productive workplace, is respectful of all people, demonstrates good stewardship of the land and resources, and is a valuable addition to the communities in which it operates.
Being strategic in giving reaps rewards for the company and the community. Maintaining a license to operate is critical for companies in all aspects of energy production and development. By being smart in its corporate giving, a company can ensure the support of its communities for many years to come.
Jeffrey P. Julin is the President of MGA Communications. To learn more about MGA Communications click here.
Improving on Energy Efficiencies – The Jordan Institute
When it comes to sustainability, most buildings in the U.S. over-consume resources. At The Jordan Institute, a New Hampshire-based non-profit organization, the primary mission is reducing the consumption of energy in commercial buildings. It sees that by addressing energy usage in buildings, building owners soon realize a cascade of other benefits. The Institute works to make the buildings across New England energy efficient, environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing for the surrounding community. Historic, multi-family, commercial, industrial, warehouse, mixed use, office buildings, dormitories—it doesn’t matter what the building is designed for—The Jordan Institute and its new for-profit subsidiary, Resilient Buildings Group, Inc., have the expertise to reduce their energy consumption. This work in turn leads to myriad other benefits including improved operations and maintenance costs, durability, comfort, occupancy rates, indoor air quality and aesthetics.
The Back Story
The not-for-profit Jordan Institute was founded in 1995 with an initial gift from Doyle E. and Lenore M. Jordan. Its initial objective was to conduct research and engage in policy initiatives that connect environment, public health and the economy. Since its early days the organization has grown to include consulting services, energy audits, building modifications and energy savings verification.
As the Institute’s successes multiplied, and demand for its building retrofitting services increased, it came to recognize a pressing need for a sister organization capable of providing in-the-field project management services. The company introduced the for-profit Resilience Buildings Group, Inc. in July 2013.
Making Buildings Energy Efficient
New England buildings use local materials, clay bricks for construction and oil-based boilers with steam radiators for heating. From the founding of the country through the middle of the 20th century that model was practical. However, today those buildings are energy sieves, losing heating and cooling faster than the HVAC units can operate. It is highly impractical to tear the structures down, especially so when many of them are treasured historical jewels. The work of the Jordan Institute leads to market-driven improvements in individual buildings, spurring greater community improvements.
How the Process Works
After a building owner contacts Jordan Institute for a preliminary audit, the Institute sends a team out to conduct a complete energy audit that includes building structure, windows, HVAC, lighting and air exchange. They develop a short report with recommendations on where the owner can maximize investments in improvements and what the impacts of the improvements will be in terms of reducing heating, cooling, maintenance, lighting and electric costs. By making the changes a building operator can reduce and stabilize the building’s operations costs.
An Historic Building Example:
Take for example the historic district of Claremont, New Hampshire. With stimulus funding, Gary Trottier borrowed funds at a low interest rate and combined other grants and his own savings to make a $1.2 million upgrade to this 1890s mixed-use, three-story, 32,365 square-foot building, the Union Block. With seven retail spaces on the ground floor and 34 low-income apartments upstairs, the building is very attractive from the outside. However, its energy use was abysmal and the building was very uncomfortable. Trottier only leased one retail space, and rented apartments on a week-to-week basis; the building was never fully occupied. One thermostat “controlled” the heat for the entire building, meaning that the retail spaces were bitter cold in the winter, while occupants on the third floor had their windows open, wearing tee-shirts even in January.
After an energy audit and lengthy discussions with the local and State historic preservation leaders, building operators developed a plan to improve the building. After addressing strategic air sealing in the basement, attic, and other glaring voids, 12 inches of cellulose now insulates the attic. Renovators enclosed a large stairwell to reduce the “stack effect” where warm air rises up and out, and replaced the antiquated oil-fired steam heating distribution system with a high-efficiency, bulk-stored, wood-pellet hot-water system. A solar hot water system provides a portion of domestic hot water to the residential units. Each unit now has a thermostat to control temperatures in individual units and each is properly ventilated.
Net results:
- Energy costs reduced: 30 percent - BTU savings: 53 percent - Occupancy: nearly 100 percent with 6-month and 1-year leases
Community benefit: Preservation of a beautiful historic building, comfort and dignity for the residents and tenants, and a business model which allows the building owner to remain solvent. Across the street, friend and former college roommate, Andy Dauphin exclaimed “I want what he got!” And so began the quest to improve the Moody Building, another beautiful brick historic building. These projects led to other creative ideas, including the launch of a small district-heating system using waste heat from local industrial sources like the paper mill. And without much ado, an urban revitalization was underway.
The Money Side of Building Efficiencies
The Jordan team has worked on hundreds of buildings in New Hampshire and across New England—energy audits, energy monitoring and verification, building commissioning, LEED consulting and certification, and owner advocacy—and by launching subsidiary Resilient Buildings Group, it can now scale-up the impact by adding energy-centric construction management services to its offerings.
Since Jordan’s start, public policy initiatives have been at the core of its work. Projects in the field have informed the Institute’s work so that it can address legislative and regulatory barriers to market solutions. With the bulk of projects now being handled by Resilient Buildings Group, Jordan can return its attention to public policy and developing programs to liberate the market into making good decisions without public dollars.
Current legislative efforts are centering on solutions to finance these projects. New Hampshire is notorious for its state motto, Live Free or Die, and for investing few public funds into energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. When public funds become available they must be leveraged to the hilt.
Says Laura Richardson, Jordan’s new executive director, “We think we can make some legislative and policy tweaks which will allow the private market to finance these projects over longer terms so that they are more comprehensive. Ultimately, that is the biggest challenge we now face —financing. With stimulus funds, we built the know-how in the state and there is interest to make these improvements. But public funds will never be enough to cover these costs; the private market needs to help us solve this problem. Most of New Hampshire’s buildings are heated with oil, and our electricity rates are among the highest in the nation. Finding solutions to reduce energy use in buildings is critical for us.”
The Bottom Line
Energy-efficient buildings are more value than simple operational cost reductions. An efficient building reduces energy demands, enabling utilities to support more structures with the existing power infrastructure. Efficient buildings improve occupancy comfort levels increasing lease retention. And the ability to improve historic buildings adds value to the surrounding community by retaining its heritage.
Connect & Collaborate - First Drilling
As a consumer-driven society, we really ought to have more focus on mining. What's the connection, you ask? All the things we rely upon in our modern, day-to-day living are made possible by mining; the computer you're logged onto right now, your phone, the light bulb above you, all of it. Yet, as a society, we're not entirely comfortable with mining in the United States. Regulations are tight enough here, that many exploration companies pursue opportunities overseas.
Kyle Rhoderick is the CEO of First Drilling, a drilling services company supporting mining and exploration industries. While they touch on exploration for coal and other commodities, their primary industry is metal. First Drilling is based in Montrose, Colorado, with locations in Elko, Nevada, as well as Perth and Kagoli in Western Australia.
In this week's program, Kyle talks to us about the regulations on mining here, which all but force companies and investors to look for international opportunities. We discuss what needs to change in the United States for mining to flourish and create jobs, as well as the state-side opposition to mining locally.
"While we consume like no other place on earth, we have this aversion to the extractive industry. We don't seem to want to look the reality in the face, that hey, that stuff came from a hole in the ground somewhere, it that has to be mined, but 'I don't want that to happen here', but 'I surely want all the things that come from those mine operations.'"
Listen in to hear about the great opportunities for employment in mining, why you should have a passport if you want work, and how to get younger generations interested in geology and mining as a career.
Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 – Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.
Podcast links will be available the Monday after our air date. Check back for updates if you missed the broadcast.
Board of Advisors: Dale Eisler
DALE EISLER Senior Policy Fellow, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy University of Regina, Saskatchewan
ENERGY IN MY OWN WORDS. Why is energy so important? Quite simply, energy is the lifeblood of the economy. There is a direct link between secure, affordable, sustainable energy supply and quality of life and standard of living. In a world where the energy market of supply and demand is changing dramatically, coupled with the on-going need to address climate change, energy policy is more important than ever. For the United States and Canada, which have the largest, most stable and mutually beneficial energy relationship in the world, how we manage our energy relations will be key to long-term energy future that is secure and sustainable.
WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL THE STRONGEST? The realization that many young children are growing up in poverty, that they start their life without an equal chance for success and a good life like other more fortunate children.
WHAT SHOULD WE STOP DOING? We should stop being so convinced that our individual, particular views and opinions are absolutely correct. Compromise can be a virtue.
WHAT ARE WE MISSING? The realization that working together is essential to progress.
WHAT IS THE MOST URGENT AND ESSENTIAL MATTER IN ENERGY? That we must balance the economic essential need for energy development, with a commitment to an environmentally sustainable future.
For more about the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy for the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. To learn more about this school, click here.
Board of Advisors: Jigar Shah
JIGAR SHAHCEO, Jigar Shah Consulting
ENERGY IN MY OWN WORDS. Energy affects everything. Water, transportation, cost of business, heating, cooling, warmth, communication, food and more.
Think about eating a piece of lettuce. Probably something a person might never think about. While you gain energy from that food source, it took a lot of wasted energy to arrive to you.
It was watered and grown in the field. It was harvested, and transported by field tractor, packaged in a plant, trucked to a store, stocked in a lighted refrigerated case, put in a grocery bag (made at a paper plant), then transported back to your home – often by automobile.
The transportation cost of lettuce in New York that was grown in California is 70% of the total. If that same lettuce were grown in a hydroponic garden near New York, transportation cost would be 30% of the total.
The same can be said of energy transported over power lines to a building versus solar panels on the roof of that building.
Energy has to become massively local. Energy affects literally everything. To me, nothing is more important.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS WE CAN MAKE MOVING FORWARD? Energy and infrastructure are important. For that we need a plan, not just any plan, one that ensures that we reduce oil prices and control natural gas price volatility – the goal is sufficient energy with much less environmental destruction.
WHERE ARE GREAT IDEAS COMING FROM? Great ideas come from everywhere large corporates and small entrepreneurs. But it is only the small entrepreneur that is willing to shake up the status quo and disrupt the current system with their great ideas.
WHAT IS OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE MOVING FORWARD? We have invested billions of dollars into innovation since the 1970s into solutions to our current problems. We need to keep investing in innovation, but refocus our effort on to deployment.
HOW DO WE ENSURE GROWTH AND INNOVATION? Deploying the thousands of solutions that we have invested since the 1970s represents the largest wealth creation opportunity on the planet.
To learn more about Jigar Shah or to buy his new book, Creating Climate Wealth, click here.
State Renewable Portfolio Standards: Hold Steady or Expand in 2013 Session
INTRODUCTION Challenges to the nation’s 30 mandatory and 7 voluntary Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) are not a new trend. However, those efforts appeared to gain momentum following the release of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) “Electricity Freedom Act” late last year. While at least a dozen articles have outlined attempts to modify or roll back RPS legislation in the 2013 session (see Appendix A), none have comprehensively reviewed all proposed legislation. This analysis seeks to add perspective to the RPS discussion by evaluating an expanded list of proposals that would increase, modify or decrease a state RPS. As of mid-June, the Center for the New Energy Economy’s AEL Tracker database contained 121 unique RPS-related bills from this legislative session alone. As the 2013 session comes to a close , it is time to take stock of how state RPS polices have fared and which types of proposed policy changes were most common. To begin, Figure 1, below, presents a visual representation of state Standards as of December 2012.
ANALYSIS METHODS
For purposes of this analysis, we grouped RPS legislation into three categories: Rollbacks, increases and modifications. Rollback legislation includes outright repeals, and proposals extending target deadlines, reducing targets, or otherwise delaying implementation of the standard. Also included in this category are bills that would add non-renewable fuels and large capacity (>30MW) legacy hydroelectric resources to a standard. Legislation to increase an RPS generally would create a larger market by raising renewable generation targets, creating new carve-outs for specific generation sources, or adding new targets for additional utilities.
The most numerous and diverse set of RPS bills fall under the modification category. Generally, these proposals include provisions that strengthen or weaken a standard, but do not go so far as to increase or rollback an RPS. This type of legislation would add new eligible resources, including small hydroelectric (<30MW), or extend the period of eligibility for certain resources. Other proposals require a certain amount of in-state generation, slightly amend the definition of “load,” or modify credit multipliers. This category also includes bills addressing alternative compliance payments (ACPs), administrative penalties, and changes to provisions related to renewable energy credits (RECs) and Solar RECs (SRECs), including reporting requirements and credit ownership. Lastly, this category includes legislation requiring study of the RPS, whether this is intended to be an evaluation of extending eligibility to a resource or, as in the case of Ohio’s SB 58, is a requirement to study the effects of and potential modifications to the policy itself.
It is important to note that ‘companion bills’, identical legislation introduced in both chambers, were grouped together as one distinct proposal. Our criteria for which companion bill to track was based on the version that made it the furthest and the version with the greatest number of co-sponsors. In cases where companion bills were equivalent in these areas, the House/Assembly version was selected.
KEY FINDINGS
Proposed legislation, grouped by category, is presented in Figure 2, below. Figure 3, following page, provides a visual representation of the outcome of our classification of the 121 unique pieces of legislation proposed in the 2013 session, by state. Legislation grouped by state is provided in Appendix B. All 121 bills, with summaries and links, and grouped by category, are provided in Appendix C at the end of this paper.
RPS ROLLBACK BILLS
Of the proposals that sought to rollback renewable standards, about a third (10 bills) were the types of proposals of the most concern at the start of the 2013 session. Namely, this group includes legislation that extended deadlines, reduced targets or that repealed the standard altogether. While many of these received a great deal of attention, most stalled in committee, though sessions have yet to end in Ohio and North Carolina. Another third of the proposals in this category (9 bills) sought to add large hydroelectric generation or expansions of existing facilities. Maryland’s SB 974 was the only bill in this larger category to attempt a repeal of a carve-out, in this case for solar. Lastly, six proposals sought to expand eligibility to non-renewable fuels. For example, Hawaii’s HB 1107 would have changed the state’s RPS to a Clean Energy Standard (CES), while Wisconsin’s AB 34 would extend eligibility to certain nuclear generation.
RPS INCREASE BILLS
Bills aimed at increasing or strengthening standards only just outnumbered rollbacks (29 bills to 26). Subcategorizing these bills, we found that the majority (18 bills) addressed targets directly. Within this group, two proposals, in Georgia (HB 503) and Kentucky (HB 170), would create new standards; Georgia’s would be a voluntary goal. New Jersey’s AB 3161 would create a new renewable fuel standard for home heating oil. Other proposals set expanded targets, for instance, AB 177 in California sets a 51% goal by 2030 and Oklahoma’s SB 555 would increase the state’s voluntary goal to 20% by 2020. The remaining 11 bills in this category addressed distributed generation carve-outs specifically by expanding or setting new requirements, as in Minnesota’s HF 773.
RPS MODIFICATION BILLS
A total of 66 bills aimed to modify RPS policies. See Figure 4 for a breakdown of legislation by subcategory. Of these, the majority provided eligibility or extended eligibility sunset dates for thermal energy, small hydroelectric generation, and other resources, including waste-to-energy facilities. New Jersey’s SB 293 would add fusion to the list of eligible resources. Bills in Virginia and Texas created requirements for locally generated resources. Another large group of proposals would have modified a variety of regulations regarding RECs and SRECs. Many of these bills provided for cost recovery (IL SB 103), reporting requirements (MT SB 52), or sale and ownership of credits (NV SB 326).
The compliance subcategory is the second largest, with 14 bills that address a range of compliance-related topics including deadlines, carryover provisions, definitional changes, ACPs, and civil and administrative penalties. For instance, Connecticut’s HB 6532 covers a range of provisions, including civil penalties related to RECs while also addressing ACPs, power purchase contracts, and transparency in the REC market. In comparison, Washington’s SB 5432 only amends language related to the definition of load. Three cost cap bills were introduced: New Mexico’s HB 266 expands the cap to all consumers; Illinois’ HB 103 addresses several provisions including cost caps related to the state’s Clean Coal Standard; and Washington introduced a cost cap bill that we discuss in detail below.
As the above discussion reflects, RPS policy was on the minds of state legislators in the 2013 session. Despite the concerns that emerged early in the year, enacted legislation does not reflect a successful attempt to repeal RPSs (see Figure 5 below), we discuss enacted proposals in the next section.
1 - ALEC Electricity Freedom Act. http://www.alec.org/model-legislation/electricity-freedom-act/. 2 - As of June 19th, 37 state sessions have closed, five states are still coming to a close this summer, California’s session runs to September; seven states have year-round sessions. 3 - Note: Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have less stringent Clean Energy Standards (CES) that allow non-renewable sources. See: C2ES. 2013. Clean Energy Standards: State and Federal Policy Options and Implications. http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/Clean-Energy-Standards-State-and-Federal-Policy-Options-and-Implications.pdf.
Spreading Electricity in the African Republic of Benin
BACKGROUND U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently called the Republic of Benin “a democratic leader in West Africa,” noting that its friendship with the United States is “based on common interests and values…to promote good governance and economic development, regional stability, and the empowerment of vulnerable populations.” Sitting between Nigeria and Togo, Benin stretches over 400 miles from north to south, with a population of almost 10 million. It is a stable democracy and a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
As in many developing countries in Africa, the main source of energy is biomass, firewood and charcoal, followed by petroleum products and electricity. While the October 2013 discovery of oil off the coast of Benin may help to ease fluctuations in fossil fuel prices there, the country has huge and largely untapped energy potential which presents excellent investment opportunities that could be not only lucrative, but also improve the socioeconomic development and well-being of the population.
The Beninese populace, until very recently, has been subject to almost daily mandatory power outages due to domestic energy shortages, reliance on imported electricity for 85 percent of national needs, and the lack of a nationwide interconnected power infrastructure. Benin’s democratically elected President, Dr. Thomas Boni Yayi, a former head of the West African Development Bank (WADB) and the current president of the ECOWAS, the monetary zone that uses the CFA Franc currency, has highly prioritized the reduction of foreign power dependence and the increased supply of affordable quality energy in both urban and rural areas. His goal after his election in 2005, and particularly since his re-election in 2010, is to ensure that everyone in Benin has access to electric power, with as much as possible being domestically generated. President Yayi’s strategy has been to leverage private investment, multilateral lending institution financing, government funding, and public-private partnerships to greatly increase production capacity and delivery throughout the country.
POWER PRODUCTION
The Government of Benin has embarked on many large-scale infrastructure projects in the power sector over the past several years, utilizing a combination of government and private funding and multilateral loans and grants to finance new or updated infrastructure in order to greatly increase Benin’s domestic power production. Its success thus far has been remarkable, and can be a model to other African countries facing energy and capital shortages.
Private investment has financed the construction of a 5 MW solar plant in the northern city of Kandi, and in October 2013, President Yayi signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dangote Group for it to invest about $300 million in a 200 MW coal-fired power plant in Benin. In signing the MOU, President Yayi emphasized the importance of private investment in the Beninese power sector, and Mr. Dangote, the richest man in Africa, noted the excellent investment opportunities in Benin.
DELIVERY OF AND ACCESS TO POWER
While the production of electricity is crucial, delivering that power to over 50 percent of the population located in outlying rural areas is necessary for economic growth and the reduction of poverty. Thus, Benin is attempting to ensure increased and sustainable access to power by extending the electrical grid to places that were previously unreachable. One example currently underway is a project to bring reliable power to 66 rural localities by extending the power grid. Of those localities, 21 have already been reached. There are two other projects to connect 105 additional villages to the grid; collectively they are almost 70 percent completed. This ongoing work to extend distribution grids has been funded by the Government with the assistance of WADB and ECOWAS.
Additional projects to deliver power throughout the country include the construction in Benin’s largest city, Cotonou, of underground lines to transport energy; the extension of distribution networks in outlying areas around Parakou, the third largest city in the country; the interconnection of 10 cities that lacked permanent electricity with two major northern cities, Nikki and Kandi; and the rehabilitation of blackout and protection equipment in substation plants throughout the country.
To ensure supply in case of shortages in domestic production, a project jointly financed by the African Development Bank, the West African Development Bank (WADB), and ECOWAS, connected the power grids of Benin and Nigeria in 2007, and in 2010, a $44 million interconnection of Benin with Togo was completed.
Private initiatives to exploit renewable energies are being implemented in Benin by companies including Helio International, Euro Negoce Benin, Germany’s Telefunken, Risun Solar France, Soleil Energy, Citelum IMEX International, Interco Services and AF Power, all of whom have signed partnership agreements with the Government.
OTHER ENERGY INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to investments in the electrical energy sector in Benin, there is huge potential for other opportunities in energy production such as hydroelectric (Benin has major rivers and an Atlantic coastline), solar, wind, biofuel, and natural gas. The discovery of 87 million barrels of oil off Benin’s coast in October 2013, in addition to the 110 million barrels already found, provides new business development potential in the immediate future. According to South Atlantic Petroleum of Nigeria, which found the new oil field, active production of 7500 barrels per day will start in 2014, increasing to 20,000 barrels per day in 2015. Further exploration for oil continues on Benin’s shoreline by SAPETRO and other private companies. Benin plans to use its share of the oil profits to continue infrastructure development, and there is no doubt that public-private partnerships and private investment will play a large role in this development.
To encourage foreign investment, Benin has been steadily improving business conditions. In 2011, President Yayi spearheaded the passage of strong anti-corruption legislation, and a single-window business creation office was established in early 2012, greatly decreasing the time required to start a company. Reforms are underway in the investment, competition, property and customs areas, and the port of Cotonou is being developed to handle greatly increased traffic. Incentives and other privileges are available to companies that invest locally and create jobs. GDP is forecast to grow 4.5 percent in 2013, while inflation is forecast at 2.8 percent. In July 2012, the International Monetary Fund, assessing Benin’s macroeconomic situation, hailed the Government’s sound budget management. The civil unrest existing in many other African countries is simply not present in Benin, even while freedom of the press, religion, speech and assembly are virtually unfettered.
Benin will continue to encourage and nurture public-private partnerships as a major tool in its efforts to improve conditions for its people, provide investment opportunities from abroad, and remain a stable foothold for democracy in Africa.
World Energy Outlook - A Breakdown of the IEA's 2013 Report
The opening words of the International Energy Agency’s 2013 World Energy Outlook (WEO) cannot be more to the point. “Many of the long-held tenets of the energy sector are being rewritten,” the outlook, states. “Major importers are becoming exporters, while countries long-defined as major energy exporters are also becoming leading centres of global demand growth.” Widely viewed as the authoritative voice on global energy issues, the International Energy Agency (IEA) each year in November sets out the state of the world’s energy landscape now, and forecasts how it will unfold in the coming decades. As it did a year ago, the 2013 WEO points to on-going fundamental structural changes in the supply and demand of the global energy market through to 2035. The implications for the United States and Canada, the largest energy supplier to the U.S., are profound, in both economic and geopolitical terms.
Essentially, the WEO makes three key points. First, the “centre of gravity” for energy demand is shifting to emerging economies such as China and India, while demand from developed nations will be flat. Second, the U.S. will meet all its energy demands domestically, which in this case means from growing domestic production and imports from Canada, by 2035. Third, that global energy demand will increase by a third in the next two decades, with CO2 emissions growing by 20 percent, leaving the world on a path of an increase in temperature of 3.6 degrees centigrade, “far above the internationally agreed 2 degree C target.” It forecasts that oil supply will continue to grow, rising from 89 mbd in 2012 to 101 mbd by 2035.
But the Outlook also points to strong growth in the production of renewable energy. Based on policies currently in place and anticipated efforts going forward, the WEO forecasts that almost half of the increase in global power generation by 2035 will come from renewable energy sources.
So, what does this mean in a U.S.-Canadian context? It clearly points to a secure energy future, one with a much more domestic, or North American, focus. Assuming the forecasts are accurate—and it’s worth noting that IHS-CERA energy forecasts on growth in U.S. energy production are similar to those of the WEO—the long-sought-after goal of energy independence for the U.S. is attainable as part of an on-going energy partnership with Canada.
Currently, Canada is the largest oil supplier to the U.S., sending approximately 2.5 million barrels a day (mbd) to the U.S. By comparison the U.S. imports 1.1 mbd from Saudi Arabia and 1 mpd from Venezuela. But that configuration will change as domestic oil production, largely from the rapid growth in tight oil, will make the U.S. the largest energy-producing nation by 2020. But even becoming the world’s largest oil producer does not mean the U.S. will be able to claim energy independence. It’s estimated that by 2035, the U.S. will still need to import approximately 3 mbd of oil daily, all of which can be supplied by Canada.
It is the potential for North American energy independence that remains a central dimension to the argument in favor of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada’s oil sands to the U.S. Canada and the U.S. already share the world’s largest and most mutually beneficial energy relationship, and in a global scenario set out by the IEA, the relationship will be key to achieving energy independence. For the U.S., a secure energy future that is not contingent on imported oil from the Middle East obviously brings with it far-reaching geo-political implications in terms of U.S. interests abroad. Imagine a world where energy strategic interests are focused on North America and do not require massive offshore international commitments to ensure a secure energy future.
But for Canada, the 2013 WEO presents a different set of challenges. As an oil-exporting nation, energy security for Canada is often cast in terms of security of energy demand. Canada produces enough oil to be energy independent, although it currently lacks the west-to-east pipeline infrastructure to supply its own energy needs in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Its sole energy export market is the U.S.
So, with U.S. demand for imported oil to decline at the same time demand grows rapidly in Asia, and Canadian oil production forecast to grow, Canada needs to access what is a rapidly changing global market to achieve security of demand. That means connecting pipeline infrastructure to tidewater so that Canadian oil can be shipped into the global market to meet growing energy demand.
Just as the proposed Keystone-XL pipeline has been controversial in the U.S., with opponents concerned about local environmental impacts and the effect of increased oil sands production on climate change, similar debates are being played out over proposed pipelines west and east in Canada. The reality is that the U.S. and Canada have a deeply integrated energy relationship, which means both nations struggle with similar energy-related environmental issues.
Reflecting those close economic and energy ties, the U.S. and Canada share the same GHG reduction target of 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. The challenge for both nations is how to achieve that goal, with coal-fired power generation in the U.S. so dominant and the oil sands in Canada destined to expand to meet the growing global demand for oil.
As Fatih Birol, chief economist for the IEA says, the world “needs every drop of Canadian oil” to meet the demand of economic growth in the rapidly growing emerging economies. What the 2013 World Energy Outlook does is set out in clear terms the reality of the unfolding global energy scene. It is a world where demand for energy will grow and oil will remain a dominant fuel, even as sources of renewable energy grow and nations seek to address, in multiple ways, the challenge of climate change.
For the U.S., it is a future that offers the reality of what to date has been the elusive goal of North American energy independence. And, for Canada, it presents the challenge of diversifying its energy exports into the global market, while maintaining its close energy partnership with the U.S. as a key part of a secure energy future.
Dale Eisler, along with being an ICOSA partner, is the Senior Policy Fellow at the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina, Canada.
Creating a Legacy: Nell St. Cyr
Defined by the grit and the grime when oil once gurgled out of the earth, the oil and gas industry has been filled to the brim with old-fashioned masculine moxie for over a century. But just as production has been redefined over the years, so too have the faces of the industry, and it’s starting to look, well, more refined. While the confines of The Petroleum Club in Houston exudes old world comfort and luxury — a place where if the walls could talk they would reminisce of the days of a good ole’ boys club — a new era has been ushered in.
At the entrance to the grand ballroom of the Houston Petroleum Club, donning a polished black skirt-suit with impeccable style and a smile that would give warmth to a hearth in winter, strolls Nell St. Cyr, the club’s out-going president. “Hello, welcome to the Club,” she exclaims as she welcomes guests into the room.
Unlike those before her, St. Cyr, is the first female President of Houston’s long-standing and prestigious Petroleum Club. Selected out of eight other nominees, St. Cyr was responsible for overseeing the board, board meetings and operational matters with the staff of the club. “Being selected was such an honor. So many people were supporting me among the membership and most importantly the employees,” said St. Cyr.
St. Cyr’s appointment as president comes after almost 68 years of male representation at the city’s historic club. This monumental shift in leadership garnered recognition for St. Cyr by the Dallas-based organization Women That Soar (WTS), focused on celebrating the achievements of “legendary women” as a Legacy Award nominee. St. Cyr was grouped with Former First Lady of Mexico, Marta Fox, Former President of the Women’s National Basketball Association, Donna Orender and Princess Reema Bandar of Saudi Arabia, to name a few.
The award was eventually given to St. Cyr. The organization’s CEO, Gina Grant, said, “She won the award because she was the first female to be president of the Petroleum Club. It’s a legacy she has set; it paves the way for other women in that club and in other organizations where the leadership is predominantly male. It tells women that no matter what barriers there are that they can do it too.”
The honor of being recognized for her achievements meant a great deal to St. Cyr . “I grew up in the energy industry. My dad was a landman and my uncles were with major oil companies as well. I was what you would call an oil field brat. So it was just a natural fit for me to be in the petroleum industry, and I am filled with pride to follow in that legacy,” she said. “I believe WTS recognized that the petroleum industry is still male dominant but that we’re working to increase the amount of women in the field. We need to cultivate and increase our voice and our reach to garner interest with young people,” she finished.
Energy 101 - Focus on Fracking
Our Energy 101 feature returns this week with our new contributor, Emily Haggstrom, who brings us a review of one of the most contentious topics in energy, hydraulic fracturing.
Our guest is Howard Rough, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Rockpile Energy Services. His hydraulic fracturing experience comes from more than thirty years in the field. Howard walks us through the difference between the completion process and the production process, concerns with fracking and the environment, as well as the basics of hydraulic fracturing.
Howard emphasizes the importance of understanding that there are separate components to oil recovery. Hydraulic fracturing is only one of these components which is often misconstrued to be the entire process of oil production.This process takes place miles underground, when large amounts of sand and water are pumped under high pressure to create fissures in the rock. There is also drilling and recovery, which are unrelated to fracking.
Take a look at the density of the rock that holds oil.
This Bakken rock is surprisingly heavy for it's size, and less porous than concrete. Drawing oil out of this stone requires high pressure water blasting to push the oil contained inside to the surface. Notice the black spots you see within the rock is oil.
Rough also brought us samples of propant, known to people outside of the industry as sand, which is part of the mixture that is pumped into the reservoir.
Here at ICOSA, we believe information is invaluable. When we listen to all sides of a story and work really hard to see around any media bias, we are more likely to encounter the truth.
The intention behind our Energy 101 show, is to educate our listeners with all the information needed to make intelligent, informed decisions concerning energy issues. For that reason, we bring you the voices of experts in their fields, unedited.
For more information on the hydraulic fracturing process and the chemicals that are used, visit www.StudyFracking.com and www.FracFocus.org
Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 – Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.
The Opportunity and Challenge of Thorium Power
Could a relatively unknown element named thorium revolutionize the nuclear industry and provide cheap, clean and safe power? A growing number of scientists, businesses and governments think so, including China, which has made thorium power a strategic energy priority. Thorium was first discovered in Scandinavia and named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Originally pioneered as a superior nuclear fuel source by renowned American nuclear physicist Alvin Weinberg, thorium power technology was all but killed by the U.S. military’s requirements of producing fissile material for nuclear weapons. Despite his major contributions to nuclear science early on during the Manhattan Project, Weinberg was eventually fired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory by the Nixon administration for his persistent advocacy of thorium power. His important contributions for improved power generation were simply left to gather dust. There is now, however, a growing awareness and an increasing demand for using thorium as a fuel source.
The nuclear industry’s status-quo reactors were built during the Cold War and all use solid uranium oxide fuel rods. Critics point out that they operate with less than 1% nuclear fuel efficiency. That is shockingly wasteful when considering that uranium is about as rare within the earth’s crust as the precious metal platinum. Thorium, on the other hand, is four times more abundant.
The status quo process is even more wasteful when one considers how much energy goes into mining, enriching, preparing uranium fuel rods, managing waste and securing the whole chain against the dangers of nuclear proliferation. The issues surrounding operational safety are another key disadvantage of older systems.. There are many complex systems needed to actively maintain safety. As the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant experienced, unexpected events can knock out even the backup safety systems.
Kirk Sorensen, a former NASA scientist, rediscovered Weinberg’s work at Oak Ridge. He has been instrumental in raising awareness and has founded the company Flibe Energy to advance a particularly promising technology known as a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, or LFTR for short (pronounced “lifter”). Using thorium as a fuel and a liquid salt as a coolant instead of water makes a significant difference. The chief benefit advocates point to is improved safety. Passive operational safety can be built into the reactor design using well-understood chemical properties. Advocates also argue that the thorium supply chain would eliminate risks of fuel being redirected and used as a weapon. Another important benefit is drastically improved fuel efficiency, reducing both inputs and toxic wastes. Jiang Mianheng, son of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, has also visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory, along with a group of Chinese scientists to learn as much as they can about thorium fueled molten salt reactors. People are recognizing the opportunity as the concept works marvelously — at least in theory.
Challenges remain in further research and development before thorium power technology could actually be deployed commercially. While the United States and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory remain the home of thorium technology, China is ambitiously off and running with it. Jiang Mianheng is leading a thorium power project for China’s National Academy of Sciences with a start-up budget of $350 million (USD). He already has a team of 140 Ph.D. scientists, aims to have a staff of 750 by 2015, and eventually plans on having 1000 researchers. China is not alone, however. Norway’s Thor Energy has partnered with Japan’s Toshiba-Westinghouse to test thorium within a conventional reactor in Oslo. Japan also appears to be going further by having thorium enthusiast and head of the International Institute for Advanced Studies Takashi Kamei pursue molten salt reactors. Prime minister Shinzo Abe has also voiced that new reactors built in Japan would be “totally different from the ones built 40 years ago.”
In a recent Bloomberg interview, U.S. Department of Energy Executive Director Peter W. Davidson, expressed the DOE’s interest in partnering with companies offering alternative nuclear technologies. With $10.3 billion remaining in loan guarantee authority, the department plans on deciding this year if they are going to solicit new applications from innovative nuclear technology companies. “Everybody is on board to help support the industry, it’s just whether the industry is ready for support yet,” said Davidson.
Colorado's Energy Resources Advanced at Colorado - Texas Energy Day in Houston
Colorado has a rich and varied history in the extraction of natural resources. Fossil fuels are a natural resource which have recently seen a huge increase in development throughout the state due to advances in technology and increased global demand. At the forefront of this new mineral wealth is the production of shale oil available through new horizontal drilling and fracturing technologies. In November, the Houston chapter of the American Petroleum Institute paid homage to Colorado as a key state for future oil & gas production and the South Metro Denver Chamber played a major role in the proceedings. Colorado - Texas Energy Day at the Petroleum Club of Houston included oil & gas vendor exhibits, an oil & gas executive roundtable, and the API luncheon moderated by Chamber President and CEO John Brackney with over 300 oil & gas executives present, including a contingent of South Metro Denver Chamber leaders.
Sponsored by CAP Logistics, the Chamber delegation included Jacob Lorenz (Risk and Chance), Jim McGrath (Studley), Tom Wood (Willbros Construction), Torie Brazitis (City of Lone Tree), Howard Dieter (Rettew Associates), Dan Killeen (RK Mechanical), Andrew Casper (Colorado Oil and Gas Association), Jason Hallmark (Hallmark Photos), Patty Rodvold (WhippleWood CPAs), Gayle Dendinger (CAP Logistics), Emily Haggstrom (CAP Logistics), John Boner (CAP Logistics), Detlev Simonis (CAP Logistics), and Nancy Vorderstrass (CAP Logistics), Jeff Holwell (COO, South Metro Denver Chamber), John Brackney (President and CEO, South Metro Denver Chamber) and Colleen Schwake (South Metro Denver Chamber).
Keynote speakers for the luncheon were Bob Fryklund, Chief Upstream Strategist for IHS and Jerry Eumont, Managing Director-Consulting, Energy & Natural Resources for IHS. Fryklund spoke on Colorado's Energy, an Unconventional Renaissance, and Eumont spoke on the continued leadership of Texas in the industry.
Throughout the day, the Colorado delegation met with several local oil & gas executives allowing them to focus on the state's future in energy production. "This event was a great opportunity for the Chamber to showcase Colorado and a major South Metro Denver employer to the oil & gas community of Texas. We were honored to be leading this effort in promoting our state to such an influential audience," said Chamber COO and Director of Economic Development, Jeff Holwell. "Our CEO John Brackney and board member Gayle Dendinger of CAP Logistics were able to advocate on behalf of Colorado as a place to do business. Despite the politics of oil & gas fracturing, we are a strong energy state and we are open for business."
"Colorado has the opportunity to become a major player in the oil shale revolution and it will become an important economic driver for the state. The Chamber is honored to continue our collaboration with the energy industry. We will persist in our recruitment and advocacy and build Colorado's energy portfolio including fossil fuels and renewable energy."
Down Deep: Unearthing the Truth about Hydraulic Fracturing
Over the past few years, the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing has divided our nation. Nevertheless, the wildly successful method of oil and gas extraction continues to gain momentum, as the public stands resolute in its desire for cheaper, cleaner fuel sources. But the public’s misguided understanding of where that cleaner, cheaper fuel comes from does not match its growing negative opinion on what has unconstructively been labeled as “fracking,” the essential means of procuring oil and gas from unconventional resources. In addition to the backlash, there’s also been a barrage of films; graphics and op-eds supporting the process of hydraulic fracturing that is performed by our friends, neighbors and fellow Americans from California to Pennsylvania. Down Deep, the next iteration in fracturing documentaries was commissioned by WPX Energy based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The company, which has a self-interest in ensuring the public understands the process of hydraulic fracturing, commissioned a third party to produce the film, which talks to WPX executives, landowners, community members and experts. The documentary, like those before it, highlights and restates proper well casing and drilling techniques, what perforations are and how large they are, supplemented with conversations and opinions from people who’ve had direct experiences with the oil and gas industry.
The 30-minute documentary, which appears to be directed at individuals still deciding their stance on hydraulic fracturing, offers great information and reiterates the industry’s connection to economic development and jobs with great neutrality. While the film communicates directly with individuals in cities and towns where drilling takes place, it falls short, as do the majority of films advocating for hydraulic fracturing, to speak to the general public in large urban cities where the biggest dissention lies.
WPX Energy Media Relations spokesman Kelly Swan said, “We understand people are going to make their own decisions on where they stand with hydraulic fracturing, what we wanted to articulate was that drilling and hydraulic fracturing go hand-in-hand.” WPX Energy, who operates oil and gas rigs in five basins throughout the country, has been recognized over forty times for technology, innovation, efficiency, reclamation, water management, best practices and community involvement. The company has also made great strides to be transparent, registering over 1,100 wells on the FracFocus.org website.
“We know that reputation is a daily responsibility and what we do is an industrial activity that has risk associated with it,” continued Swan. “So we’re accountable every day as a company for managing and mitigating those risks properly. We feel like we’ve been able to build a good reputation and we know that reputation is on the line every day, and that we have to continue to be a good steward and operator or that reputation can change. It’s not something we take for granted, we know that we have to earn that respect every day that we are drilling and fracturing,” Swan repeated.
As the film draws to an end and the bows draw on the violins in the background, the narrator begins with the most resounding and resonating monologue of the film, opening with, “Like others in controversial industries, bad news and bad press travels around the world at lightning speed, but the truth that follows tends to take forever”: a statement that is not lost on an industry that is largely criticized and misunderstood, but an industry that continues to press forward with honest discourse in an attempt to connect with communities across America.
“We have put feet on the ground where we are drilling to be available and accessible to these local audiences, and that’s very important to us,” said Swan. “Down Deep isn’t supposed to win a bunch of converts; what we wanted to do was provide a piece that’s informative and educational. We wanted to articulate that drilling and hydraulic fracturing go hand-in-hand and that the combination of the two procedures are what is developing these abundant supplies of both oil and natural gas domestically.”
Since this article was posted, WPX Energy has since removed its Down Deep documentary. Media Relations spokesman, Kelly Swan cited a staffing issue with a company representative that appeared multiple times through out the film as the primary reason for it's removal, but said that they would consider putting it back up in the future. Down Deep received almost 40,000 visits on the film's website. Swan went on to state that WPX would, "remain engaged in thoughtful dialogue about fracking, and we think the film helped further that effort in a creative way."
Fort Mac Spreads Its Wings
Having been to Fort McMurray, the economic engine of Alberta, Canada, and having seen its incredible growth first hand, I was not surprised to learn of the $258-million-dollar airport expansion. Growing transportation capacity is, in many ways, a catalyst for broader economic development, and there are few places in North America that have the growth potential of Fort McMurray. As the nexus of Canadian Oil Sands development, Fort McMurray is essentially ground zero in the great energy debate surrounding the resource and the infamous TransCanada pipeline. While the hyperbole surrounding the debate rages on, those responsible for managing growth know that development of the Oil Sands will move forward and they must anticipate and plan for this growth. Air terminals are hubs of economic activity and help spur growth by providing greater access for goods and people. The airport expansion, then, is not a luxury, but a vital necessity.
I met with Melissa Blake, the Mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, a few years ago when I wrote an article on the Oil Sands and its development. At the time, as now, Melissa told me that the Wood Buffalo region, which lies within the Oil Sands and home to Ft. McMurray, had doubled in population in the last ten years and expects the population to double again in the next fifteen. Infrastructure and development are Melissa’s passions. Essentially, as is pointed out on the Fort McMurray Airport Authority website.
“The Ft. McMurray Airport (YMM) is the fastest growing airport in Canada with a passenger growth rate of 27% year to date in 2012.YMM served over 958,000 passengers and facilitated over 80,000 takeoffs and landings on our runway. With an existing terminal building built to accommodate 250,000, YMM is significantly undersized for the existing passenger demand…YMM is an important economic generator for the city and region, generating over $363 million in economic activity…The Fort McMurray Airport forms part of the gateway to this region and it is the key to the transformation of Fort McMurray from small town to dynamic city.”
And like the region itself, which has seen 125 percent population increase since 2000, the terminal capacity (currently 250,000) is anticipated to need to accommodate 1.5 million. This is why businesses are working with Municipal leaders to serve the needs of the travelling public.
Increasing their ability to reach out to the world, Fort McMurray residents and carriers, via expanded air-route capacity, chose Denver as one of their first nonstop destinations. At the inaugural flight ceremony, Kim Day, the Denver International Airport Manager remarked, “Denver was selected as Fort McMurray’s first U.S. destination because of our unique geographical location in the center of the U.S. and a robust network.” As the world’s 13th busiest airport, DIA has facilitated economic growth to the tune of $22 billion dollars and the airport sees 50 million passengers pass through their gates annually. Not only does the airport provide access to goods and services, human talent is also of paramount importance. Denver and the Front Range are in the middle of an energy renaissance and many large energy companies like Anadarko, Encana, Noble Energy, etc., have regional or North American headquarters located in Denver. Therefore, Denver was the easy choice for carriers like United, who started the first daily nonstop flight from Fort Mac to Denver this last June.
I spoke with Martin Kammerman, Senior Manager of Network for United, and asked him about the decision to open up the only daily nonstop flight into the U.S. from Fort McMurray. Essentially, the decision was threefold:
So number one, we’re helping to accommodate customers by providing something that didn’t exist until today, which is basically, a flight south. Number two; it just so happens that the places United flies to happen to be very energy oriented. Denver has easy connections to Houston. And, surprisingly, people go to North Dakota from Denver because the drive to the northern U.S. States (from Canada) is too difficult otherwise. My third point, and one worth noting, is that when people are travelling to or from Fort McMurray, they have to make multiple connections, especially going to the U.S. and beyond. So what this flight to Denver does is it allows you to make a single connection, rather than a double or triple connection, to 57 places. So there are 57 destinations that are suddenly much easier to get to or from than there were before there was a flight to Denver. It’s all about finding something that customers want to fly on and finding ways to accommodate them.
Since Fort McMurray is also one of those places where incomes are rising, there will continue to be an influx of retail and service providers to support the growing population and their disposable income. Thusly, the expansion of a transportation hub facilitates not only the growth of the Oil Sands industry, but of all the support networks needed to help the energy revolution flourish.
Short and Sweet: A Q&A with Energy Author Robert Bryce
On the heels of his latest book, Power Hungry, author, journalist and speaker Robert Bryce is back, gearing up to get back on the circuit with his upcoming May 2014 book release titled, Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong. ICOSA was able to catch Bryce and get his two-cents on energy resources and why the public has a “fundamental problem” understanding what they are. ICOSA: Why do you believe understanding energy is so important as we move into the future?
BRYCE: Energy is the master resource. The energy sector is the world's biggest and most important business. Every industry depends, directly or indirectly, on energy. We need policies aimed at making energy cheap, abundant, and reliable, in that order. Fortunately, the U.S. now has an advantage, thanks to the shale revolution, over nearly every other country in the world with regard to energy prices.
ICOSA: When some people think of energy they think of the future and not the intrinsic costs, positive and negative. How have these hurt populations over the last century and how can we fix our frame of reference moving forward?
BRYCE: The fundamental problem in understanding energy is that the general public, as well as the political class, are innumerate and scientifically illiterate. People don't understand numbers and they have essentially no concept of basic physics. The combined ignorance has led to some colossally bad policies, including, for instance, the corn ethanol scam.
If we are going to have good energy policy, we need better understanding of the scale of global energy use. We also need an elected class who understands basic metrics like energy density and power density. That would not solve everything, but it would be a start.
ICOSA: We’ve developed many ways to harness energy but we lack the comprehensive technology for enhanced power storage, modernization of the power grid and fuel-efficient infrastructure and construction. Do you believe we are suffering more from inefficient and incomplete systems or the energy needed for those systems? Are we currently focused on the wrong fight?
BRYCE: Electricity storage has been the holy grail of the energy sector since the days of Volta and Edison. Our batteries today are better than what Edison had, but they aren't orders of magnitude better. Our power grid, despite its many flaws, is working pretty well. Yes, it needs more investment, but much of that investment is being made.
ICOSA: What are the inherent differences between our energy needs and our energy resources?
BRYCE: Well, Africa has huge energy needs. It also has huge energy resources. The problem is that the continent, in general, lacks the capital (and civil societies) needed to convert those resources into reliable flows of energy. I'm convinced that we have no shortage of energy resources. What we lack, and here I'm talking about the royal "we," is the commitment to convert our limitless energy resources into usable power.
ICOSA: Where do you believe green energy would be most beneficial?
BRYCE: I am bearish on wind energy and bullish on solar. Wind energy requires too much land and the resources are generally too far away from major population centers. Rooftop solar has great promise, if we can reduce the costs dramatically. All of that said, both wind and solar are incurably intermittent, and that poses a host of other challenges.
ICOSA: How do you think energy deployment at the generation level will change over the next 20 years?
BRYCE: On a global basis, it's clear that the world is moving toward coal in a major way. The International Energy Agency just released a report, which predicts global coal use will eclipse global oil use by 2018 or so. That's a staggering development. In the U.S., natural gas is going to be the big winner. It will steal market share from coal in electric generation and from oil in transportation. But the shale gale that has happened in the U.S. will be difficult to replicate in other countries.
ICOSA: Do you think nuclear energy can revive its image and overcome people’s misunderstanding of the fuel and its future, especially as Thorium and small modular reactors are introduced?
BRYCE: I'm bullish on nuclear. It's a major theme of my next book, Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong, which will be published on May 13. I'm hopeful for small modular reactors, but the main problem facing nuclear is its cost.
Yes, nuclear instills fear in people. But that's largely because of fear mongering that's been done by irresponsible groups like Greenpeace. The public doesn't understand nuclear energy or radiation. Greenpeace feeds on that ignorance.
All of that said, over the long term nuclear will prosper. It will be particularly important if we are going to agree on carbon dioxide emissions. The hard truth is this: if you are anti-carbon dioxide and anti-nuclear, you are pro-blackout.
ICOSA: You’ve said that you are bullish on solar, so what makes you so hesitant on wind?
BRYCE: The power density of wind—1 watt per square meter—is too low. Thus, the land requirements are absurd. The U.S. has about 300 gigawatts (that's 300 billion watts) of coal-fired capacity. Just to replace that capacity with wind would require setting aside a land area the size of Italy.
This isn't rocket science. It's elementary-level math. And yet the Green Left and Big Wind have succeeded in deceiving the public by claiming that wind energy is a solution to climate change. It's not. Wind turbines are nothing more than climate-change scarecrows.
ICOSA: American’s have an out-of-sight-out-of-mind relationship to carbon. How can people in the energy industry change this conversation?
BRYCE: I don't have a good answer for that. What is clear is this: the U.S. is leading the world in reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. That's not my opinion, that's data from the International Energy Agency. And the U.S. is leading the world largely because natural gas is displacing significant quantities of coal in the power generation sector. The way of the future is N2N, natural gas to nuclear.
ICOSA: Do you think we need to re-evaluate how we approach renewable energy? What more could be done and how much more do we need to understand about it?
BRYCE: We have to quit romanticizing renewable energy. We humans relied on renewables for millennia. And for that entire time, humans lived on the ragged edge of starvation and disease. Hydrocarbons liberated us from the drudgery of relying on the wind and the sun.
Renewable energy is viable in some locations. Solar, in particular, is great for extremely rural locations and island economies that get lots of sun. But we need to get real about renewables. Wind energy isn't new. It has been in use for 1,000 years. Solar? The photovoltaic effect has been known since 1839. Solar panels have been around for 60 years. Biomass? There's simply no way we can produce enough biomass to power the global economy. For millennia we've used draft animals to do our work.
Today, we have gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. And yet, we are told that the way forward is by returning to the olden days. No, it's not. We need to quit romanticizing the past and start appreciating how wondrous our lives are now thanks to our ability to harness hydrocarbons and the incredible power of the atom.
For more on Robert Bryce, including articles and shows that he’s appeared in, or to check out his books, visit http://www.robertbryce.com.
Newmont Helps Develop Problem Solvers through Net Impact Competition
At Newmont, we are committed to making a lasting and positive contribution toward sustainable development through our performance in environmental stewardship and social responsibility programs. Our future success relies on preparing the next generation of business leaders to address sustainability challenges, and we have a long history of partnering with colleges and universities to provide students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in the real world.Earlier this year, through our sponsorship of the 2013 Net Impact Case Competition, hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, Newmont challenged master of business administration (MBA) students from across the U.S. and Canada to address a sustainability challenge while demonstrating financial returns.
Specifically, we challenged participants to develop a negotiation strategy for a hypothetical mineral agreement between Newmont and a fictitious country. Working in teams of four, students developed strategies that demonstrated shared value for stakeholders, including significant and lasting social value for the local community and financial returns for Newmont.
“While details of the mining project were fabricated for the purpose of the competition, the circumstances of the case closely resembled many of the issues we address in the mining industry,” explains Brooke Bacon, Newmont’s Senior Manager of Talent Management. “So it was a very true-to-life scenario that required real thinking and real solutions.”
After Newmont executives and judges whittled down the number of contenders in a first round of competition in December, the remaining 20 teams assembled at CU-Boulder for the final round of competition in February. Although teams arrived with their cases prepared and ready to present, the evening before the presentations, judges announced new and unexpected developments in the hypothetical scenario. With only a few hours until the semifinal round of competition, teams scrambled to adjust their presentations.
While all 20 teams presented compelling cases, only one earned the judges’ top rating. The University of Washington team earned first place, $10,000 in award money and an experience that left them better prepared to address sustainability challenges and opportunities in their careers. Finishing second and third were the University of Alberta and Babson College teams, respectively.
“The Net Impact Case Competition was a phenomenal all-around experience,” says Christopher Walker, a graduate student at the University of Washington and member of the winning team. “Hearing first-hand accounts of the challenges facing the mining industry opened my eyes to the opportunities we, as future leaders in sustainability, can help address. Discussing potential solutions gives me hope that companies like Newmont can continue to supply critical natural resources while balancing greater societal needs.”
The competitors weren’t the only ones who benefitted from the experience. Brooke, who describes the event as a win-win, said, “Partnering with the Leeds School of Business at CU-Boulder in this very unique way exposed us to fresh thinking and introduced us to potential future employees. It’s one of the more innovative ways that we’ve partnered with universities.”
Colorado’s Collaboratory
Collegiate rivalries get a lot more headlines than collegiate collaborations. The media’s focus on collegiate competition is as true in Colorado as it is across the nation. But here in Colorado, the reality is that we’re home to one of the nation’s strongest university collaborations, made even stronger by the participation of an internationally acclaimed federal laboratory. The Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory is a six-year-old research consortium among the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (or NREL, a U.S. Department of Energy lab) and the University of Colorado Boulder. Independently, each of the four institutions has world-class clean energy research programs. Together, the four institutions comprise the most powerful clean energy research center in the world.
A Uniquely Successful Collaboration
The Collaboratory was formally launched in January, 2007, with three principal goals: to create and commercialize clean energy technologies, to serve as an economic driver for the State of Colorado and to train the next generation of scientists and engineers in energy disciplines. Nearly seven years later, the Collaboratory continues to thrive and expand.
The Collaboratory began to take shape in early 2006, with multi-institutional and bipartisan support from the outset. Then-Senator Ken Salazar invited the leaders of NREL and the three universities to engage in a conversation about collaborative research. Former Senator Hank Brown, then serving as the President of the University of Colorado System, immediately offered his support to the effort, as did the leaders of CSU, Mines and NREL. With the commitment of all four institutions, the Colorado General Assembly—with the critical support of Governor Bill Owens—enacted legislation to provide state funding to be used solely as “matching funds,” which were essential to attract federal research funding.
The state funding provided between 2007-2009 played a critical role in the success of the Collaboratory. In total, the General Assembly provided $6 million over the course of those years. From January, 2007 through the end of 2012, the Collaboratory employed that $6 million to attract more than $50 million in federal, industry and other private funding to the Colorado institutions and the Colorado economy, a return to the state of more than 8 to 1, making good on the Collaboratory’s commitment to serve as an economic catalyst for Colorado. That was only the beginning.
Outstanding Research Drives Economic Development
Federally funded research grants to Collaboratory institutions include advanced biofuels, algal biofuels, new materials for photovoltaic cells, the physics and chemistry of geologic sequestration of carbon, and, most recently, the potential to use beetle-killed timber as feedstock for the production of biofuels.
Industry funded projects have focused on renewable energy technologies such as the production of fuels and industrial chemicals from biomass (wood chips, crop residue, algae, etc.), solar and wind power, and research to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of fossil fuels by capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to climate change. Over the past seven years, more than 50 companies have engaged with the Collaboratory institutions in these research efforts, from small Colorado start-ups to Fortune Global 100 companies, including: Abengoa Solar, Applied Materials, Ascent Solar, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Cool Planet, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Ecopetrol-IPC, General Motors, Gevo, Kimberly Clark, Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi, OPX Biotechnologies, Rentech, RES Americas, Sharp, Shell Global Solutions, Suncor, Sundrop Fuels, SunEdison, Tokyo Electron, Total, Toyota, Valero, Vestas, WindLogics, W.R. Grace, Weyerhaueser and ZeaChem.
In the coming months, the Collaboratory will launch new cooperative research efforts in energy storage technologies, such as batteries, fuel cells and thermal storage for electricity generation. And, in the coming year, the four institutions will commence collaborative research focused on energy systems management, improving both reliability and efficiency at all scales – from heating, cooling and providing electric power within a single building, to ensuring the reliability, efficiency, security and sustainability of regional power grids.
As our research portfolio has expanded, so too have our research partnerships. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), both based in Boulder, have partnered with the Collaboratory, and we include respected researchers from nearby universities on a project-by-project basis.
- What’s the Magic?
The Collaboratory succeeds because of the strong commitment from the highest echelon of institutional leaders to the youngest faculty members and research professionals in each institution. A mutual respect prevails among the researchers at the four institutions. Not surprisingly, talented researchers are anxious to work with others who share their interests. Recognizing the potential benefits, the leaders at NREL and the universities have given their researchers the green light to enter into research activities with their peers at the other Collaboratory institutions, and the researchers have enthusiastically embraced these opportunities.
As Coloradans, we sometimes take for granted the shared commitment and mutual respect that are so much a part of our communities and our daily lives, but these are the qualities that allow the Collaboratory to succeed. In my conversations with colleagues outside of Colorado, representatives of more than a few states have commented that we’re lucky in Colorado – the public universities in these other states simply won’t cooperate. We’re fortunate in Colorado to have leaders at our universities and at NREL who understand that collaboration is the pathway to stronger institutions and to a vibrant innovation community. And we’re blessed with political leaders who value and foster this collaboration.