Energy Consulting Services

Yesterday, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. released recommendations regarding the US’s increasing dependence on natural gas. The report made it clear that greater coordination was required between the electric and gas sector. It also laid out its predictions as to what the consequences of a disruption along the natural gas supply line would be. The NERC’s report targeted regulators and pushed for them to do more to make the current system more resilient to gas supply disruptions and to help diversify it. It included a number of steps indicating how regulators were expected to do this. It is crucial that the industry is able to take severe disruptions in its stride in order to stop them from snowballing into much more serious issues. John Moura, the director of Reliability Assessment and System Analysis, explained that “the operating realities of renewables and other intermittent generation resources, when combined with ongoing coal and nuclear retirements, create ...

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that there is 2 trillion barrels of shale oil resources in place in the US, with over 70% located on federal land. This equates to around 60% of global resources. Of the 2 trillion barrels 1.5 trillion barrels is thought to be located in the Piceance Basin of Colorado and the remaining 0.5 trillion barrels is located in the Utah, Wyoming and the Eastern states. Oil shale reserves in the west (in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming) have a higher calorific value than reserves in the east in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. It is worth noting that that these are resources and not reserves. The largest deposit is the Eocene Green River Formation in north western Colorado, north eastern Utah and south western Wyoming accounts for 83% of deposits. Of this the most recoverable is in the Piceance Basin in western Colorado and the Uinta Basin in eastern Utah. A total of 5% of deposits are located in the east of the US in the Devonian-Missi...

If you manage a business nowadays you cannot avoid acknowledging the need to save energy. From both a business and environmental perspective, energy saving is crucial. Not only will a clear commitment to energy saving give your company a competitive edge but it will also raise you up in the esteem of your clients and help gain and maintain their trust. But, simply having a vague notion of energy saving is not enough. Businesses need a clear, concise energy strategy that is accessible and easy to understand. Fortunately, that is not as tricky as it sounds. Direct Energy Business has recently released a guide on how to create the ultimate business energy strategy. The guide is called “6 Ingredients for an Effective Business Energy Strategy” and it lays out the six elements that are needed to achieve energy strategy greatness. These elements can be summed up as follows: 1.       Find a supplier that you trust and that is independent. Things to...

Agneta Rising, the Director General of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) made a statement explaining that the barrier blocking the way to a nuclear generation must be removed. By doing so the world will be presented with a competitive option with which to push back against climate change. She believes that currently nuclear power is being prevented from being maximised. She spoke at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi this week and continued her speech by saying that all low carbon technologies should be able to compete on a level playing field. In other words, every form of low carbon energy should be given the chance to make its contribution to cleaning up our world. The qualities that should be valued with these technologies are, according to Rising, effects on health and the environment as well as reliability and how much it will cost to send to the grid. She also touched on the electricity markets, saying that the majority of t...

Today saw Theresa May’s government introduce the Smart Meters Bill into Parliament. This bill is a big step towards energy efficiency and includes provisions that will help consumers get the most out of their smart meters. A smart meter is a small display you have in your home that shows you exactly how much energy you are consuming and how much this energy is costing you. This will allow you to keep track of what you are spending and identify elements of your home that use up more energy than others. Ultimately, they will help people reduce their expenditure on energy. The bill provides that every household and small business should have this technology made available to them by the close of 2020. The bill will also ensure that the government can regulate the rollout of these meters. By doing this, the government will be in a position to act on the findings it gathers and to do what is necessary to improve consumer experience. A further policy contained in the bill st...