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Natural Gas Key in Obama Green-Economy Goal, Deutsche Bank Says
2010-11-17 16:57:50.521 GMT
By Kim Chipman
Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. energy policy that shifts
electric-power generation to natural gas from coal can help
President Barack Obama meet his goal of cutting greenhouse-gas
emissions, Deutsche Bank AG analysts said.
Boosting gas's share of power generation to 35 percent by
2030, from 23 percent last year, is possible because of an
increase in supply taken from shale, Kevin Parker, global head
of asset management, and Mark Fulton, head of climate change
investment research, said in a report released today.
Natural gas creates about half as much carbon-dioxide
pollution as coal and, combined with wind, solar and nuclear
power, might cut coal's share of U.S. energy generation to 22
percent by 2030 from about 47 percent now, according to the
report. Such a strategy would trim emissions from power plants
by 44 percent from 2005 levels, the report said.
"A significant switch by the U.S. electricity sector from
coal to natural gas would be the most secure, least-cost
approach to lower emissions," the analysts wrote.
The study calls for wind and solar energy to rise to 14
percent of the U.S. energy mix by 2030 from 2 percent.
Reducing coal's share of energy generation would let Obama
meet his greenhouse-gas-reduction targets through "domestically
abundant and secure sources of energy based on known technology
that can easily be deployed at reasonable cost," the analysts
wrote.
Obama set a goal of cutting U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions
about 17 percent by 2020 and about 83 percent by mid-century.
Common Ground
The president, at a Nov. 3 news conference after
Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, said
promoting greater use of natural gas is an issue on which
Republican and Democratic lawmakers should find common ground.
Natural gas has become a more economical fuel as an
increase in the volume of shale gas causes prices to fall, the
report said.
Gas from shale may total half of the U.S. natural-gas
supply by 2035, up from 20 percent today, according to IHS
Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an Englewood, Colorado-
based adviser to energy companies.
The technique used to extract the gas, known as hydraulic
fracturing, is being studied by the Environmental Protection
Agency for possible contamination of drinking water.
Environmental groups such as the New York-based Natural
Resources Defense Council say the chemicals used in the process
are often toxic, citing cases in Wyoming and Pennsylvania where
residents were told not to drink well water.
"We assume that the environmental issues associated with
non-conventional shale extraction are manageable even with more
restrictive environmental regulation, which we view as likely
and probably even necessary to ensure best practices," the
analysts wrote.
For Related News and Information:
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--Editors: Steve Geimann, Terry Atlas
To contact the reporter responsible for this story:
Kim Chipman in Washington at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net.
DB US <Equity> CN
