The Effects of Shale Gas Production on Natural Gas Prices

The Producer Price Index (PPI) for natural gas, measured on an annual average basis, fell 56.8 percent between 2007 and 2012, in response to strong growth in domestic energy production. The application of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to shale rock formations contributed significantly to this increase in supply, as the technique boosted natural gas production yield by more than 25 percent over this period. Since shale gas has been a key player in domestic natural gas production for only a few years, and because it has been tracked over a relatively short period (since 2007) by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), analysts find that it is difficult to quantify precisely the effects that shale gas has had on natural gas prices. However, data indicate that increasingly higher natural gas prices during the first half of 2008 lured additional shale gas to the market. As natural gas prices peaked in July 2008, drilling activity (as measured by rig counts) hit an all-time high.2 Eventually, effects of oversupply took hold

WFMOS - Sounding the Dark Cosmos

Vast sound waves traveling through the relativistic plasma during the first million years of the universe imprint a preferred scale in the density of matter. We now have the ability to detect this characteristic fingerprint in the clustering of galaxies at various redshifts and use it to measure the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. The Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) would use this test to shed significant light on the true nature of dark energy, the mysterious source of this cosmic acceleration. WFMOS would also revolutionise studies of the kinematics of the Milky Way and provide deep insights into the clustering of galaxies at redshifts up to z~4. In this article we discuss the recent progress in large galaxy redshift surveys and detail how WFMOS will help unravel the mystery of dark energy.Comment: 6 pages, pure pdf. An introduction to WFMOS and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations for a general audienc

Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Transmission Project : Draft Environmental Impact Statement

This report summarizes the results of system planning, environmental, and location studies for transmission facilities associated with the proposed Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project in northern Maine. The studies recommend the construction of two 345-kV transmission circuits from a substation near the project along a route through western Maine into northern New Hampshire and Vermont. The plan will integrate the power produced by the project into the New England Power Pool Transmission System

A Report to Governor Charlie Crist: Phase 1 Report: Florida’s Energy and Climate Change Action Plan Pursuant to Executive Order 07‐128

This report provides findings and recommendations addressing 11 charges, framed by three principal energy challenges facing Florida: stimulate economic development, achieve energy security and address the effects of global climate change

Dark Energy and Cosmic Sound: w(z) Surveys with the Gemini/Subaru Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph

This white paper gives an overview of the proposed Gemini/Subaru Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) and the proposed redshift surveys of 2.6 million galaxies with 0.5<z<3.3 over 2000 deg^2 of sky. These surveys will probe the baryonic acoustic oscillations in the galaxy power spectrum with unprecedented precision and over a range of redshifts and deliver dark energy w(z) constraints an order of magnitude better than current limits. We discuss the requirements on precursor observations and on calibrations, the systematics in the method and the quantitative precision obtainaible in distance-redshift and expansion-rate-redshift measurements which feed in to the w(z) precision. We also outline the technological and scientific strengths and risks which might be associated with the project and the relationship of WFMOS to other baryon oscillation experiments.Comment: White paper submitted to the Dark Energy Task Force. 13 page

Zambia Clean Cooking Study (ZCCS): Baseline report for implementing partner SupaMoto

STUDY DESIGN AND SAMPLING The study is a quasi-experimental quantitative impact evaluation. It takes place in two purposively selected high-density compounds in Lusaka, Matero and Kalingalinga (Figure 2). The compounds, selected in collaboration with SupaMoto, are socio-demographically comparable neighborhoods where SupaMoto had already marketed their clean cooking solution, and had plans to market

Zambia Clean Cooking Study (ZCCS): Baseline report for implementing partner VITALITE

Key Takeaways 88% of households with an Ecozoom use it as their primary stove; 12% use it as their secondary stove. 32% of households with an Ecozoom stove are also using it to heat their homes. Ecozoom users were using 1kg of charcoal less per day than non-users at baseline. No large differences at baseline in the income or expenditures of households who adopt an Ecozoom stove versus those who do not. No differences between exposure of primary cooks to carbon monoxide or fine particulate matter in households using an Ecozoom versus not

Automated cross-identifying radio to infrared surveys using the LRPY algorithm: A case study

Cross-identifying complex radio sources with optical or infra red (IR) counterparts in surveys such as the Australia Telescope Large Area Survey (ATLAS) has traditionally been performed manually. However, with new surveys from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder detecting many tens of millions of radio sources, such an approach is no longer feasible. This paper presents new software (LRPY - Likelihood Ratio in PYTHON) to automate the process of cross-identifying radio sources with catalogues at other wavelengths. LRPY implements the likelihood ratio (LR) technique with a modification to account for two galaxies contributing to a sole measured radio component. We demonstrate LRPY by applying it to ATLAS DR3 and a Spitzer-based multiwavelength fusion catalogue, identifying 3848 matched sources via our LR-based selection criteria. A subset of 1987 sources have flux density values for all IRAC bands which allow us to use criteria to distinguish between active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and star-forming galaxies (SFG). We find that 936 radio sources (˜47 per cent) meet both of the Lacy and Stern AGN selection criteria. Of the matched sources, 295 have spectroscopic redshifts and we examine the radio to IR flux ratio versus redshift, proposing an AGN selection criterion below the Elvis radio-loud AGN limit for this dataset. Taking the union of all three AGNs selection criteria we identify 956 as AGNs (˜48 per cent). From this dataset, we find a decreasing fraction of AGNs with lower radio flux densities consistent with other results in the literature