Energy usage in the USA. And 5 years out

[SwampDonkey]

In October 2012, the New Brunswick Department of Energy and Mines released a forest biomass report including maps identifying where it is based on 17 biomass procurement regions and transportation distance, with an average of 912,872 GMT ( 1 million short ton).

In combined heat and power setups, the potential under the current annual allowable cut is 463 MW of electricity and 1100 MW of thermal heat. The province is moving toward 40 % renewable energy by 2020 (that's 7 years from now ;) ). The initiative is to develop economies in rural NB.

Biomass Atlas of New Brunswick

[Kansas]

Thats a lot of energy. I just skimmed it, but if they put in all those locations, it is the smart thing to do. Short hauls with the biomass. Here in the states, the biomass is more tuned in to ethanol, synthetic gasoline, and stuff for plastics and other products.

Regarding your earlier comment about gas coming down here from you guys, a lot of that may wind up being sent to the Gulf, not sure how all that works. There has been a lot of noise about CNG shipping facilities going in, down on the Gulf I think.

[SwampDonkey]

There were a lot of protests over LNG going in the Bay of Fundy region. I think mostly in Maine. I know the Irvings do have an LNG terminal.

[forest]

What an interesting forum. I read the other day that Germany achieved a 33% of total usage from solar panels one day last summer and this is expected to be exceeded this summer. So solar is far from dead. We are seeing it used in our area by cottagers who are too far from the grid. I remember when I was young our teachers would tell us that nuclear energy would be free because it would be so cheaply produced. In Ontario we pay each month on our energy bills a debt retirement charge for huge debts created by the Provinces nuclear energy production. It is a very expensive form of energy. 

[SwampDonkey]

The government of NB just released new regulations on shale gas Friday. Chemicals in use have to be disclosed, but nothing says they have to disclose concentrations. So basically, little use for investigations of contamination. I don't think there is any info on fines $$ yet.

CBC News

Of course the article is full of negative comments.

Suzuki's latest show episode of "The Nature of Things" has everyone stirred up.

[SwampDonkey]

There is a stir in the air over building new pipelines across the country, I mean to the Fundy coast. I heard a conglomerate is asking for bids now and the Canadian Feds are behind it. So, although they had said earlier that government money wasn't going into pipelines, I still believe there will be. For projects this size government is always involved to take on many of the risks.

Just the other day, I see an Exxon pipeline down in Mayflower, Arkansas busted and made a nice mess in an urban area. I heard they were right on it to get it fixed. But this does give fuel to the fire on the negative aspects of pipelines. I think we will also know this summer if the pipeline gets approved from Canada to the Gulf coast. Also been hearing that it was a company in Alberta that actually made fracking much more efficient.

[Kansas]

Read that the USA's oil usage from imports has dropped from 60% to 40%, and is continuing to drop. We are now the biggest oil producer in the world. The much tighter fuel restrictions, coupled with all the fracking, is making a major difference. Throw in trucks converting to natural gas, you can see a shift that is happening. Estimates vary,but most I have seen have this country being fuel independent in about 10 years. All of those dollars going to other countries instead being spent in this country will make a huge difference in our balance of trade. As it is, our trade deficit is slowly narrowing, at a time when our economy is now expanding, which means more imports. (Think Canadian lumber). The refineries will run at near full capacity, whether its USA oil, Canadian oil, or some other countries. Refined fuel products and chemicals will continue to see exports rise. That is a good thing.

What I don't understand is why Canada does not put refineries in to process the coal tar sands output of oil. It is simply value adding to the product.

[SwampDonkey]

Kansas, as always foreign interests want the value added on their end. Only one province, Newfoundland, said it has to be refined here if you want the oil.

[OneWithWood]

Replace the words 'foreign interests' with multi-national corporations and you see the bigger picture. 
Take a look at a few of the world's largest refiners:
Exxon Mobil Corp
Royal Dutch/Shell
Sinopec (China)
BP
Conoco Phillips
Chevron
Petroleos de Venezuela.S.A. (Venezuela)
Valero Energy Corporation
China National Petroleum Company (China)
Total (France)

Of these top ten only Sinopec, CNP and Petroleos de Venezuela are to my knowledge government controlled.

More info at: http://www.petrostrategies.org/Links/worlds_largest_refiners.htm

[beenthere]

I happened upon this article about future of coal for energy, and thought it would be of interest.

This gcaptain site has some very interesting articles on the big ships being built around the world to handle goods, as well as other things happening on the ocean and ocean fronts.

http://gcaptain.com/coal-surpass-fuel-global-economy/

[TW]

From my point of view i see a lot of energy wasted here in Finland. Probably enough to make our trade deficit disappear if our government and big industries and municipalities weren't dead againt energy savings and if much of the population did care even if they barely have money enough on their paycheck to pay for it. Looking at international statistics USA uses much mor energy per capita than we do so if we have a lot of opportunities to save energy you should have a few more opportunities than we have.

Just a thought........