{"id":340330,"date":"2024-08-22T11:14:06","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T09:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=340330"},"modified":"2024-08-22T11:14:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T09:14:08","slug":"american-natural-gas-is-americas-clean-energy-standard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=340330","title":{"rendered":"American natural gas is America\u2019s clean energy standard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Blue flames of a gas burner inside of a boiler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jason Hayes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WITH TIMOTHY NASH:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abundant and affordable energy drives America\u2019s powerful and productive economy. That\u2019s been true throughout our nation\u2019s history, and America\u2019s recent achievement of energy independence<\/a> provides the most concrete illustration of that fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to keep our nation firing on all eight cylinders, we need government policies that prioritize providing adequate, reliable, and secure domestic energy supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our recently published report, \u201cGrading the Grid,<\/a>\u201d reviewed a variety of potential energy sources. Two \u2014 natural gas and nuclear \u2014 stood out as the most sensible energy options for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other energy source fits the abundant, affordable, and secure prescription as well as American natural gas. Despite increased use, new drilling technologies, such as fracking, produced a 79% increase<\/a> in annual natural gas production in the U.S. from 2007 to 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we produce more of it, prices are dropping. American families saved $147 billion<\/a> over the last decade because of more affordable natural gas. American Gas Association testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability indicated that households that use natural gas for heating, cooking, and other appliances save an average of $1,068 per year compared to homes using electricity for such appliances. Natural gas powered 36%<\/a> of America\u2019s total energy needs in 2023 and 43%<\/a> of U.S. electricity generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural gas also helps improve air quality. Americans are enjoying 78% cleaner air since 1970<\/a>. The transition<\/a> from older coal-fueled technologies to more efficient natural gas turbines for electricity generation is the primary reason that the U.S. is a world leader in lowering carbon emissions. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by more than 18%<\/a> since 2007, while electricity generation from natural gas increased over 88%<\/a>. Natural gas, with its distinctive blue flame, has cleanly powered American homes and industry for many decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natural gas should be the standard by which other hydrocarbon energy sources are measured, such as fuel oil, kerosene, petroleum and coal. Pipeline-quality natural gas \u2014 gas that has been processed to remove contaminants and to meet specific quality standards \u2014 sets a high but reasonable bar for clean energy. Policymakers in Washington D.C. and state capitals should craft legislation that targets these standards of affordability, reliability, and cleanliness that natural gas achieves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using natural gas as the standard could encourage the development of technologies, like catalysts<\/a> or formate<\/a>, that allow us to continue using hydrocarbons, like fuel oil, kerosene, diesel, or coal, to produce energy and then use captured greenhouse gas emissions associated with their combustion to generate useable fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are engineering challenges that are both economically feasible and technologically sound. They are also exactly the kind of ground-breaking idea that the U.S., the most innovative society on earth, is known for. There is no reason to take affordable and reliable energy sources off the table when we can rely on American ingenuity to produce clean electricity from what has traditionally been allowed to escape into the air as a waste product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear power is the second most promising energy source. It is also affordable, like natural gas, but even cleaner and more reliable. American nuclear plants produce effectively emission-free electricity and can do so 24-7-365 for many decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear power has supplied about 20%<\/a> of the electricity needed in the U.S. since the 1990s. However, a combination of misinformation and government overregulation of nuclear power limits its expansion. It can and should be America\u2019s largest source of baseload grid-scale electricity generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s increasing population will need more electricity in the future. As data centers and artificial intelligence become more prevalent, nuclear and natural gas become even more important. Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz highlighted how the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers is rapidly growing electricity demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If America is to maintain and grow its economic prosperity, Moniz explained at the 2024 CERAWeek meeting in Houston, it needs a far more reliable electricity supply \u2014 what nuclear and natural gas provide. \u201c[U]tilities will have to lean more heavily on natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants, and perhaps support the construction of new gas plants to help meet spikes in demand,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to build 100 gigawatts of new renewables in a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy affordability and independence are the new keys to American prosperity. Nearly 60 million Americans consider energy affordability a factor when they decide who they will support in an election. Hardworking Americans deserve a sensible energy strategy that maximizes the use of our existing nuclear plants and our abundant supplies of natural gas. Energy policy must also encourage private investments in innovation that can help other energy sources meet the pricing, reliability, and cleanliness standards of American natural gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared at Real Clear Energy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Hayes is director of energy and environmental policy at the Mackinac Center.<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Timothy G. Nash is director of the McNair Center at Northwood University.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abundant and affordable energy drives America\u2019s powerful and productive economy. That\u2019s been true throughout our nation\u2019s history, and America\u2019s recent achievement of energy independence provides the most concrete illustration of that fact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":340333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691824244,691818376,691823573],"class_list":{"0":"post-340330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-energy-supplies","9":"tag-natural-gas","10":"tag-the-grid","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/0c6389726f66534092b87faba08cc3c3d.jpeg?fit=3308%2C2205&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1qxc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":212129,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=212129","url_meta":{"origin":340330,"position":0},"title":"American producers and resources can solve our energy crisis","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"BY REP. 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