Hughes profiled in High Country News
February 17, 2015
Post Carbon Fellow David Hughes, author of PCI’s Drilling Deeper report, was profiled by Jeremy Miller in this article at High Country News.
From the article:
READ FULL ARTICLEHis work for the California-based Post Carbon Institute, where he’s been a fellow since 2006, has drawn praise from environmentalists and angered pro-shale advocates. David Blackmon, a Forbes Magazine energy writer, denounced Hughes’ estimates as “hyperbolic,” “fallacious” and “pure invention.”
But many energy experts don’t think Hughes’ ideas can be so easily dismissed. For example, in Drilling California, a report published in December 2013 by the Post Carbon Institute, he calculated that the amount of oil that can be extracted from California’s Monterey shale formation had been vastly overstated. His report preceded by several months a major downward revision by the U.S. Department of Energy of its official estimates of Monterey reserves. Until that revision last June, the Monterey was projected by the energy department to be the nation’s largest shale oil play.
I am Patrick. I live in China. We often discuss the future changes to the World of Energy. I no longer call Crude Oil Companies/Corporations Energy Companies. It is a more correct to refer to these Corporations as fuel suppliers. Recently, two of these Giant Fuel Companies have announced the need for Carbon Taxes be levied in Electricity Generation and the Transportation Sectors. This means that they want to promote Natural Gas to replace Coal.
This is a good move. In China we have high levels of PM 2.5 as a product of both coal and diesel fuels. Nat Gas emits 50% of the CO2 of Coal, so replacement of coal by Nat Gas is an improvement. Electricity Demand is still increasing in developing countries. The growth of New Clean Energy that is not Fuel Dependent is how We should be discussing these Issues.
Wind Power, both Utility Based and Small Wind Power with Distributed bases combined with Roof Top Solar will lower the demand for Nat Gas that replaces Coal. Energy Efficiency can make a huge difference in the demand for Electricity. EVs replacing the I.C.E. in Personal and Public Transportation has a great opportunity to lower CO2 and other Emission. To highlight my point, it is necessary to change our reference points away from fuels to devices to generate Energy. Finally, the development of People getting involved with their own choices rather than a centralized model will lower emissions. Bless Technology and Innovation for assisting Us.