Here’s a novel idea: use gas that would otherwise be flared to generate electricity in the field and use it to mine bitcoin. Believe it or not, it is being done. In North Dakota, Equinor and Enerplus are among the operators using the process. New companies like Crusoe Energy have…
Articles Posted in Energy and the Environment
Christi Craddick and the February Freeze
In a recent article, reporter Chris Tomlinson of the Houston Chronicle castigates Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick for testifying before a state legislative committee in March that the State’s oil and gas industry had no responsibility for the February power blackouts in Texas. Craddick testified: Some media outlets would have…
What Happened to the Texas Electric Grid?
Here is an excellent article in which engineers discuss the crisis that almost shut down Texas’ electric grid: Texas Electricity Crisis: Engineers Explain What Went Wrong.
Toxic substance or water supply? Lawmakers to weigh whether wastewater from oil fields could replenish the state’s aquifers
Article from Texas Tribune, by Erin Douglas, republished with permission: Deep underneath the ground, fluids travel down and shoot through ancient shale formations, fracturing rock and starting the flow of oil — the essential part of hydraulic fracturing technology that’s transformed America’s oil industry. But that’s not all that comes…
The Global Energy Mix
I read recently that, because of increased wind and solar generation capacity in Texas, no new gas-fired generating plants are being built, and some are being mothballed. Then I read this week of rolling blackouts in California, being blamed on the unreliability of wind and solar power and the need…
The Saga of the Dune Sagebrush Lizard Continues
Read about most recent developments here. After failed efforts of the industry to self-police destruction of lizard habitat in the Permian, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to launch a full review of a proposal to classify the lizard as either endangered or threatened. The saga goes back…
Switch On – a New Documentary about Energy From Dr. Scott Tinker and the Switch Energy Alliance
Dr. Scott Tinker and Switch Energy Alliance have released their second documentary about energy, Switch On. A great film. Scott’s first documentary, Switch, debuted in 2012, an award-winning film that has now been seen by millions. It sought to educate Americans and the developed world about the sources and uses…
Two New Studies from UT Austin on Shale Waste Water
Two studies by University of Texas’ Jackson School of Geosciences analyzed data on water use in eight major US shale plays from 2009 to 2017. The first study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, quantifies how much water is produced from wells and how much is need for hydraulic fracturing.…
More Focus on Environmental Consequences of Methane Emissions
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation has funded research resulting in a report, “Emissions in the Stream: Estimating the Greenhouse Gas Impacts of an Oil and Gas Boom,” by to professors at UT Austin. The report focuses on downstream sources of methane emissions, and will be followed by a report…
Energy – the Big Picture
I recently heard a presentation by Dr. Scott Tinker, head of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas. He is the founder of the Switch Energy Alliance, about which I’ve written before. Switch Energy Alliance is “a 501(c)(3) dedicated to inspiring an energy-educated future that is objective,…