America’s Energy City

Highlights from the morning panels

Guest post from Jerry Hereden:

Here are some highlights from the Greater Houston Partnership energy forum so far this morning at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Comments came from panelists from the Bureau of Land Management, NRG, McKinsey & Company, CRA International Inc., Shell Oil Company, the University of Texas Economics Department, the American Biofuels Council  and the Economist Magazine.

Viewpoints on Coal:

• The Power River Basin has about 200 years of energy usage. There is also a movement in technology that captures carbon.
• Coal is an important industry, but clean coal technology is challenging. We have to deal with cost structures and the trade off of coal being an abundant resource.

Viewpoints on drilling in Alaskan Reserves:

People have a right to be concerned about places that are special to them, but there is a trade off. Most people want to find a balance. There needs to be education. Most people don’t understand drilling technology. Therefore, we need to get information out to them.

Viewpoints on Unconventional Gas:

Extracting unconventional gas has been an extraordinary story. People have greater expertise in drilling for unconventional gas and bringing down costs. There is the potential to double natural gas production in the near future.

Viewpoints on Nuclear:

Nuclear energy has come full circle in this country. A lot of existing sites already have the infrastructure in place.