One of the most influential newspapers in the U.S. published an editorial this Sunday titled “A natural choice” that looks at natural gas from the environmental point of view. They make a case for shutting down older, less efficient, coal-fired electric plants and replacing them with cleaner burning natural gas-fired plants.
The editorial begins…
“In America’s climate debate, one of the most promising developments of recent months has been the growing recognition in Washington that natural gas may play a key role in curbing carbon emissions.”
The editorial goes on…
“With climate-change legislation still stalled in Congress, nudging gas forward is something that the government can do quickly and relatively cheaply to meet its medium-term emissions goals if current trends persist.”
With the abundance of natural gas in North America due to shale gas reserves, using natural gas for “base load” electricity generation — instead of reserving it for “peaking” when demand for power is highest — now makes economic and environmental sense.
“[E]xisting gas-fired plants are running at only about 25 percent capacity, in part because many are switched on only when demand spikes…doubling the use of existing plants could replace about a third of coal-fired power.”
As the world’s third largest producer, Canada needs to also reconsider natural gas taking a larger percentage of the overall energy mix in an effort to use available domestic resources to reduce carbon emissions from electrical generation and transportation. By doing so, Canada would reduce emissions while meeting energy needs, and still have surplus natural gas for export to the U.S. and Asia.
We encourage you to read the Washington Post editorial. Support Canada’s Bluebridge Plan, and support the Pickens’ Plan in the U.S.
Washington Post: A natural choice
