Website dedicated to energy manufacturers

Manufacturer of cutting tools says it has launched a new website to provide support to energy manufacturers. The new site is found at www.secotools.com/energy.

The Seco energy site will offer a range of video and written content that focuses on the issues faced by manufacturers serving the power generation and wind energy industries. Visitors will be provided with information on the latest trends, new process and product innovations, and real world examples of highly successful energy applications.

The site will feature an intuitive layout that lets users quickly and easily identify and view content of interest. Menu navigation is by an interactive model featuring a power plant and windmill.

“The energy market has remained incredibly robust, even throughout the global economic issues faced over the past several years,” says Don Graham, Manager – Turning Products & Education Services of Seco Tools. “It’s an industry that continues to see significant innovation and competitiveness. The new energy site will provide manufacturers with a valuable resource for following the industry’s latest developments.”

Seco Tools
www.secotools.com/energy.

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Energy use headed up

Global energy intensity increased 1.35% in 2010, reversing a broader trend of decline over the last 30 years, according to the Worldwatch Institute. Energy intensity, defined as total energy consumption divided by gross world product, has been growing faster than the global economy for the past two years, even though energy intensity overall has declined over the past decade. The article highlights reasons for these changes in emerging economies and industrialized countries, including China and the United States, and predicts that global energy intensity will return to an overall decline over the long term as economies opt for more sustainable development. 

Between 1981 and 2010, global energy intensity decreased by about 20.5%, or 0.8% annually. “During this period of decline, most developed countries restructured their economies, and energy-intensive heavy industries accounted for a shrinking share of production,” said Haibing Ma, Manager of Worldwatch’s China Program, who conducted the research. “New technologies applied to energy production and consumption significantly improved efficiency in almost every aspect of the economy.” Particularly during the surge of the so-called “knowledge-based economy” from 1991 to 2000, global economic productivity increased without parallel increases in energy use.

The article notes that worldwide energy efficiency had been increasing steadily until recently. Between 2004 and 2008, global energy intensity experienced its sharpest decline in 30 years, with an average annual growth rate of 1.87%. Starting in 2008-09, however, energy intensity again bumped up, experiencing the first rise in three decades. “Increases in economic energy intensity are especially discouraging, even when temporary,” said Worldwatch Executive Director Robert Engelman. “With population and consumption growing worldwide, the capacity of the world’s economy to require less energy for each unit of output has been a rare positive trend for the environment. We need to find less energy-intensive ways to put people back to work and improve economic conditions.” 

In addition to technological advances, price developments play a key role in determining overall energy usage. World crude oil prices more than tripled between 2004 and 2008—-the fastest rise since the oil crisis of the late 1970s—-contributing to the sharp decline in energy intensity during that period. But after the second half of 2008, when international oil prices dropped 75%, global energy intensity started rising.

Energy intensity is declining in many advanced economies, including the United States, Germany, and Japan. The most dramatic declines in industrial countries have occurred in the U.S. and Germany. Overall, China may have made the most progress worldwide with a 65% decline in energy intensity in the past 30 years.

Newly industrialized and transitional countries have experienced more turbulent energy intensity trends. South Korea’s energy intensity increased during the country’s rapid growth period of the 1980s and 1990s, but then declined sharply following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Since the early 2000s, the Korean government and industry have sought actively to shift the country’s energy use patterns by focusing more on advanced technology R&D and clean energy initiatives.

Global energy intensity is likely to keep rising in the next few years as the world continues to rely on large-scale infrastructure development as a means to create jobs and bring the global economy out of recession. However, South Korea’s switch to a more environmentally friendly development pattern may mirror global trends. In the long term, a green transition could boost new industries, including clean technology and renewable energy, and cause global energy intensity to continue its decline. 

“The area of saving energy and using it more efficiently is one of the two key components of a sustainable energy transition, the other one being renewable energy production,” said Alexander Ochs, director of Worldwatch’s Climate & Energy program. “Our research has shown that 50% or more of global electricity demands can be delivered by renewable energy if – but only if – renewable energy is implemented in tandem with energy efficiency.”

Further highlights from the article include: 

• Global energy intensity declined at an average annual rate of 0.98% in the 1980s and 1.40% in the 1990s. From 2001 to 2010, the rate dropped to 0.03%.
• Between 1981 and 2002, China’s energy intensity declined 4.52% annually. Between 2005 and 2010, it declined a staggering 15.37%, although this fell short of the government’s goal of 20%. One reason for this shortfall is that more than half of China’s 4 trillion RMB (630 billion USD) stimulus plan was invested in infrastructure development, which drove up energy consumption.

 Worldwatch’s Climate & Energy program identifies key components of energy and transportation systems that aim to de-carbonize the global economy, boost energy efficiency, spur innovation and job creation, address resource scarcity, and reduce local environmental pollution. 

Worldwatch Institute
http://www.worldwatch.org

Obama says 80% clean energy by 2035

In President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address he called for clean-energy sources to supply 80% of the country’s electricity by 2035, and for Congress to cut oil subsidies and invest in clean-energy instead. AWEA President Denise Bode was in the House chamber for the speech and says the organization welcomes the possibility of the first predictable long-term federal policy toward renewable energy. “But, of course, we’ll need to make sure the policy really deploys the renewable energy Americans want in the near term, as well as the long term,” she says. Bode also released the following statement about the President’s initiatives on clean energy:

“We are pleased to see the possibility of the first predictable long-term federal policy toward renewable energy. But of course we’ll need to make sure the policy really deploys the renewable energy Americans want in the near term, as well as the long term. Wind energy can deliver right now on its promise to deliver new electricity to Americans more affordably than any other energy source, if we have a level playing field to compete with the permanent entitlements that fossil fuels have enjoyed for over 90 years.”

On the President’s statement on ending billions in oil industry tax subsidies and investing in “tomorrow’s energy” Bode says it’s true that fossil fuels receive five times more in federal incentives than renewable energy, but AWEA doesn’t believe that is in line with Americans’ current priorities. “The predictability of the permanent incentives for conventional energy sources is as important as the amounts,” she says. “Renewable energy currently suffers from the inability to predict whether incentives will be extended every year or two.” Bode says it’s time to reorient the tax code to predictable policies that allow energy sources that will never run out, to thrive, instead of keeping renewable energy on a constant one-year footing.

By 2030 wind can be up to 20% of the electric supply all by itself, according to a study by the George W. Bush administration. “It insources jobs and investment into America,” Bode says. “That’s what our industry is doing to make good on this national commitment to clean energy and economic growth.” The President also wants to put one million advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015. Bode says AWEA looks forward to driving cars on wind. “With plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles headed for showrooms, that has finally become a reality,” she says.

In conclusion, Bode states, “We applaud the president’s emphasis on innovation and ingenuity, and getting more jobs from clean energy. Wind energy has improved its efficiency 40% in five years. In tight budget years, it makes sense to invest our money in that kind of new technology. We look forward to working with the new majority in the House and leaders in the Senate to diversity America’s energy portfolio and foster renewed economic growth.”

AWEA www.awea.org

Gas and oil execs see more employment in 2010

Half of U.S. oil and gas senior executives expect to increase employment this year and two-thirds believe the recession that burdened 2009 will end in 2010, according to the eighth annual Survey of Upstream U.S. Energy Companies, from Grant Thornton LLP, Houston, Texas, issued Feb 1, 2010. Reed Wood, Grant Thornton LLP’s partner-in-charge of the firm’s energy practice, detected optimism from the respondents of the 2010 survey. “It was convincingly evident in their outlooks for prices, capital expenditures, and employment.”

While only a third of the respondents expect an overall increase in employment for the industry as a whole in 2010, half say their company would increase its employment levels. The 2011 numbers are more promising, with 74% of respondents saying they expect industry employment to increase and 56% expecting their own company’s employment to increase.

With regards to the economy, two-thirds of senior executives at oil and gas companies believe conditions will improve enough for the U.S. economy sometime during 2010 for most business leaders to consider the current recession over: 34% said the first half of 2010 while 33% said the second half of 2010. In addition, 71% said they believe the recession will end in 2010 for the upstream sector and 65% for service companies. Only 11% said they believe the recession has already ended for the U.S. economy, 7% for the upstream sector and 1% for service companies.

Wood feels the survey responses consistent with industry leaders that “the upstream industry experienced increased cash flow during the second half of 2009 and more favorable interest in their domestic capital intensive projects requiring highly trained and experienced personnel. Continued stabilization and improvement of key drivers should result in 2010 as a strong beginning of hopefully another extended recovery for the industry and the U.S. pursuit of less dependence on foreign resources.”

Additional industry issues and opportunities from this year’s survey include:

• Uncertain natural gas and crude oil prices repeat for a second year as the top concerns in the industry.
• Respondents still believe incentives for increased U.S. drilling are the number one way to reduce energy prices for U.S. consumers.
• While most respondents see alternative fuels as a long-term solution, they indicated that clean coal is the most likely to be effective in the short term.
• Area of most opportunity: Successful exploitation of existing prospects, followed by mergers and acquisitions, and operating efficiencies.
• 35% of respondents believe the U.S. is a global leader in energy, while 80% believe the U.S. is lagging because of its dependence on foreign energy sources.