Archive for December, 2009

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COP-15: The Mice in Council

Long ago a group of mice held a supreme council to consider how to deal with the threat posed by the local Cat. After hours of debate they finally agreed the best solution was to tie a bell around the Cat’s neck so they would have advance warning of its approach. They began returning to their homes, when a wise old mouse said, “I have just one question — who’s going to tie the bell on the Cat?”

30Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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DOE Passes on Clean Coal Project in Utah

The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that the project proposed by Deseret Power will not be selected to receive any funding under the latest clean energy initiative program. Instead, the agency has targeted coal projects in Alabama, West Virginia and Texas to receive nearly $1 billion in grants to help promote new technology for reducing CO2 from coal-fired resources.

28Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Comment Period Extended on Wind Energy Document

The comment period was extended to accommodate requests from wind industry and non-government agencies for more time to review the document. The document provides recommendations for assessing impacts to wildlife from wind energy projects, collecting data and mitigating effects on wildlife.

24Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Industry Nail-biting Over BLM Oil & Gas
Lease Review

Announcement of a “comprehensive review” of oil and gas leasing on federal lands has aroused curiosity among many in Wyoming. Oil and gas trade groups have called the move unfair, and conservation and sporting groups say they’re hoping for a better balance between wildlife protection and energy development.

22Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Proposed Coal-to-Gas Plant Gets Governor’s Support

The DOE is weighing an application from DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC for a loan to help build the proposed $2.7 billion facility in southeastern Wyoming. The project is one of four finalists the federal agency has selected nationwide for a shot at a share of the $8 billion in available funding.

19Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Wyo Residents Gobble Up Stimulus Funds
for Renewable Energy

On Dec. 1 the State Energy Office announced that more than $2.2 million in federal stimulus funds were available to Wyoming residents to help defray the cost of installing renewable energy systems in their homes. Within 10 days, 332 applications were received, obligating $2,254,580.

16Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Start Button Pushed on Natrona County Wind Farm

The 880-acre site formerly belonged to the Texaco Casper refinery. Signal Wind Energy, LLC is general contractor on the project, which incorporates 11 1.5 megawatt GE wind turbines said to produce enough power to supply 4,400 average size homes.

15Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Exxon Bets on Domestic NG Market
with XTO Purchase

The energy giant says it will buy XTO Energy in an all-stock deal worth $31 billion as the oil giant seeks to capitalize on the growing supply of natural gas at home. Major producers see natural gas as a priority fuel source, especially in a reduced carbon economy.

15Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Final Report Issued From Western States
Energy Gathering

“This Report will help put a regional approach to Western energy and environmental solutions into action, but the symposium and the report is a mid-point,” said WSEES Steering Committee Chairman and Wyo Representative,
Tom Lubnau. “We will work now to put these consensus actions in to operation.”

14Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Drilling in Part of Powder River Basin Halted by BLM

Concern for the elk herd that inhabits the area prompted the agency to order suspension of drilling by Williams and Lance Oil and Gas, pending an environmental assessment by the BLM’s Buffalo Field Office.

11Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Natural Gas Executives See Good Times Ahead

Despite low prices, and the expectation of more layoffs and cost-cutting taking place in 2010, 84 percent of the oil and gas executive surveyed are bullish on natural gas because of the surge in production from plentiful shale and coal bed methane formations.

10Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Oil, Natural Gas Industries Can Boost Jobs

Then there are those “green” jobs that everybody is talking about. America’s oil and gas industry is already creating them. Between 2000 and 2008, the industry invested $58.4 billion in greenhouse gas-mitigating technologies — more than was invested by either the federal government or by all other U.S.-based private industries combined.

8Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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Expert: 95 Percent of Oil, Gas Wells are Fractured

“There’s nothing in frac’ing fluids that’s any more dangerous than the hydrocarbons we’re producing,” she declared, adding that the chemicals added to the fluids are in “very small volumes” compared to the gas produced.

7Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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House Gives Okay to New Gas Turbines

If Tonko’s bill is passed by the Senate and signed into law, the program likely would mean new research dollars for turbine manufacturers such as GE Energy, Siemens and Pratt & Whitney that are working on ways of eking more power out of burning gas.

3Dec2009 | admin | 0 comments | Continued
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