But controlling electricity consumption has become increasingly critical as data center energy use and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions skyrocket along with the use of Facebook, Twitter and other aspects of our virtual lives.
Study after study has pegged energy efficiency as the lowest-cost way to curb fossil-fuel consumption and the resulting greenhouse-gas emissions.
WSJ: The Experts: What Will Be the Next Technological Breakthrough in Energy?
The Bill's a worthy measure allowing people to make energy-saving improvements to their homes - new boilers, better insulation etc - and pay for it out of the resulting savings to their gas and electricity bills.
By the same token, if rapeseed is grown using lots of fertiliser made from natural gas, then the resulting biodiesel brings relatively little reduction in emissions or fuel imports.
The WDCS says one problem is the expansion of oil and gas exploration into the deep seas and the resulting growth in seismic testing to find fossil fuel deposits.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | The deafening sound of the seas
This distinction means that the countries have functional procedures for annual disclosure and links all the government income resulting from oil, gas, and mining activities.
FORBES: Congo And Burkina Faso Declared Countries 'In Conformity' With EITI
Lord Smith says it is important the UK develops its own reserves of shale gas, so long as gas power stations are able to store the resulting CO2 emissions in the future.
The MLP has been somewhat hurt this year by weak gas and NGL prices, resulting in flat distributions for the past two quarters.
"As we can see from the experience in the US, the exploration of shale gas and coal-bed methane has the potential to raise billions of pounds, resulting in reduced energy bills, " he said.
It has completely altered the energy calculus for the U.S., resulting in a natural gas supply glut which has sent prices crashing down.
FORBES: Will ConocoPhillips Help China Tap Its Shale Gas Reserves?
Perhaps the most formidable competitor is Compact GTL. This UK-based company is focused largely on addressing the problem of what to do with associated gas resulting from oil development that would otherwise be flared or reinjected.
FORBES: Gas-to-Liquids Plants: No Longer Exclusive to Larger Players
Using a market mechanism to pass on the true cost of fossil fuel usage, including the environmental damage here at home AND in the third world, and the longer term effects of greenhouse gas emissions and resulting climate change.
The combination of the credit crisis and resulting recession, plus improvements in technology and the high prices themselves opened up previously untapped natural gas fields in the U.S. A glut of supply sent prices tumbling, which has been the trend ever since mid-2008.
FORBES: 2012 Outlook: Natural Gas Prices Likely To Remain Under Pressure, For Now
Early investigations into that crash showed gas canisters exploded, causing the balloon to plummet and resulting in the deaths of 19 people.
Naysayers counter that oil revenues dominate the revenue mix from acquired assets so any upside resulting from high natural gas prices in future will be limited.
FORBES: Freeport McMoran's Earnings: China Recovery, Energy Foray In Focus
应用推荐