Does this mean that every fracking well pollutes water sources? No. Does this mean that every fracking well is safe? Also, no. Isolating this issue from the other negative impacts of fracking, we can drill safely, but that requires industry to make all the investments necessary and accept government regulation that will provide the general public with a sense of comfort that improved quality of life for some will not cause reduced quality of life for others.
EPA official links fracking and drinking water issues in Dimock, Pa.
"'Methane is released during the drilling and perhaps during the fracking process and other gas well work,' according to the undated slide show prepared by the EPA coordinator in Dimock, who is not identified, for other agency officials. The report, obtained by Bloomberg from critics of fracking, is based on a chemical analysis of methane in wells. The EPA said the findings in the presentation are preliminary and more study is needed."
Even the financial sector is recognizing that investing in infrastructure that will guarantee forty-plus years of reliance on fossil fuels (specifically coal) make no sense. Hopefully as the world sees this for coal, it will extend to all fossil fuels and we can finally prioritize our health while strengthening our economy.
World's largest financial lending groups are rejecting coal
"Coming on the heels of the World Bank's decision to end funding for coal projects except in rare circumstances, and President Obama's commitment to end financing for oversees coal projects with public funds, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced it will end virtually all funding for new and refurbished coal plants. EIB is setting a high bar by implementing the first Emissions Performance Standard at a public bank, which will be set at 550gCO2/kWh -- a standard carbon intensive coal plants cannot meet."
For years, "common wisdom" has said that we cannot afford to pursue a renewable energy future, and that the negative affects on nature are overstated. The problem is, the man-made economy can be manipulated, while nature cannot be. Our economy reflects our priorities, but it is human-made and can adapt however we wish.
Regulators say JP Morgan gamed energy markets
"FERC said that a JPMorgan subsidiary, J.P. Morgan Ventures Energy Corp., engaged in eight manipulative techniques to take advantage of power market rules to “obtain payments at above-market rates” between September 2010 and June 2011."
Utilities have the opportunity to play a significant role in the transition to a low entropy, renewable energy future. They must stop opposing community and local energy infrastructure, and find ways to build it into their business model. We will all have to accept some level of distribution infrastructure for energy (as we do easily for transportation), but it must provide support and security for local energy infrastructure. The municipal, public, and private utilities must stop basing their business model on consumption, and build it around supporting quality of life. Then, it can maximize profit by providing the best service, and not by wasting the most energy.
On rooftops, a rival for utilities
"Utility executives have watched disruptive technologies cause businesses in other industries to founder — just as cellphones upended the traditional land-based telephone business, producing many a management shake-up — and they want to stay ahead of a fundamental shift in the way electricity is bought, sold and delivered.
'I see an opportunity for us to recreate ourselves, just like the telecommunications industry did,' Michael W. Yackira, chief executive of NV Energy, a Nevada utility, and chairman of the industry group the Edison Electric Institute, said at the group’s convention."
Local energy systems make even greater sense when we combine them with other elements of the building or site. Solar built into windows or roofs, geo-exchange built under parking lots or ballfields where we already excavate, and wind built into the sides of skyscrapers all provide ways to make community energy more cost effective (in un-manipulated markets).
Foster’s solar-skinned buildings signal market tripling: Energy
"The projects mark an effort by designers to adopt building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV, where the power-generating features are planned from the start instead of tacked on as an afterthought. Foster and his customers are seeking to produce eye-catching works while meeting a European Union directive that new buildings should produce next to zero emissions after 2020."
Happy Friday!
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