It’s no secret that the world has come to depend almost entirely (87%) on fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—for meeting our energy needs. Since the Industrial Revolution the discovery and use of fossil fuels have led to the largest increase in human well-being ever experienced, quite literally making modern life possible (think electricity, medicine, computers). Continue reading »
Located in westernmost China and home to the historic Silk Road that made this region a crossroads of Central Asia, the province of Xinjiang today plays the role of major energy producer, supplying China’s 1.35 billion people and burgeoning economy with fuels, chemicals, fertilizer and other products derived from the province’s abundant coal and oil reserves. If government and industry leaders in Xinjiang and Beijing play their cards right, this region of China can also become a world-class hub for carbon capture and storage, helping China to satisfy its urgent need to expand domestic energy production and to meet it national commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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The Tesla electric cars arrived before the guests, tires squeaking over the grass of the Nicollet Island Pavilion louder than the whisper quiet motors. During the Great Plains Institute’s inaugural Energy Innovation Celebration, the Teslas were a symbol of progress, but also of the distance left to travel. Continue reading »
The Bipartisan Policy Center and Great Plains Institute hosted a regional workshop, “The Final Clean Power Plan: Understanding the Options for the Midcontinent,” in Little Rock, AR, on October 19 to discuss compliance options under the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. The workshop was the second in a series of stakeholder workshops in the midcontinent focused on implementing the Clean Power Plan. The event brought together state officials and stakeholders from the region, including those participating in the Midcontinent States Environmental and Energy Regulators group and the Midwestern Power Sector Collaborative. Continue reading »
One of the greatest attributes of biogas is the flexible nature of the resource. It can be generated from a variety of organic feedstocks such as food waste, livestock manure, crop residues, biosolids, or solid waste in a landfill. It is also flexible in the utilization of the gas. Biogas can be burned for electrical generation or heat, cleaned and used as a replacement for natural gas or compressed for use as a vehicle fuel. Continue reading »
WASHINGTON – The expansion and reform of an existing federal tax incentive could help produce an additional 8 billion barrels of American oil over the next 40 years while safely storing 4 billion tons of carbon dioxide underground, according to analysis by the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative (NEORI).
New legislation introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia will benefit the environment and economy, drive innovation in critical energy technology, and increase energy security. Continue reading »
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy visits North Dakota today at the request of U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Administrator McCarthy will meet with leaders from North Dakota’s many energy sectors and see firsthand our state’s rich energy resources and economic opportunity. Continue reading »
This week I traveled to Houston Texas to take part in the 2012 Transatlantic Science Week – Energy Technology Workshop. I gave a presentation titled – Technical and Social Challenges when North Dakota becomes the second largest oil producing state in the USA. The Great Plains Institute is working to help build continued collaboration between the energy-rich Norway and North Dakota.This week I traveled to Houston Texas to take part in the 2012 Transatlantic Science Week – Energy Technology Workshop. I gave a presentation titled – Technical and Social Challenges when North Dakota becomes the second largest oil producing state in the USA. The Great Plains Institute is working to help build continued collaboration between the energy-rich Norway and North Dakota.
