Category Archives: Petroleum

LATEST DERAILMENTS: 2 in Selkirk NY in a week, another same day in Selkirk, Manitoba

Repost from the Times-Union, Albany, NY
[Editor:  This June 29 derailment in the Selkirk Railroad Yard, Selkirk, NY (just south of Albany) should not be confused with derailment on the same day in Selkirk, Manitoba.  MORE IMPORTANTLY, this derailment should not be confused with another more serious derailment in the same Selkirk NY rail yard less than a week earlier, on June 24, involving six tanker cars — three of them filled with liquid propane . See also TWCnews, “SecondTrain Derailment in a Week.”  – RS]

Selkirk yard derailment minor, but concerns linger

Cars remain upright, but County Executive McCoy concerned about repeated incidents
Staff reports, June 30, 2016, 9:00 pm

TWC_Selkirk2ndDerailment2016-06-29No major problems resulted from a derailment of cars carrying petroleum gas Wednesday, but that didn’t appear to settle Albany County Executive Dan McCoy’s queasiness over such incidents.

“Those cars remained upright, but I have said it is just a matter of time before something serious, even deadly, could happen, due to the volume of trains transporting crude oil and other flammable and hazardous materials through our backyards, neighborhoods and right along the Hudson River,” he said in a statement.

McCoy renewed his call for stricter standards on rail lines and equipment in a press release sent out Wednesday evening — one that also included a list of several safety actions and recommendations he called for in 2014 and 2015.

Two cars containing the gas left the tracks at the Selkirk Rail Yard on Wednesday afternoon, according to McCoy’s office.

No leaks or spills were reported, and the cars remained upright. There also were no injuries, according to officials with CSX Corp., which owns the rail yard.

“The exact cause of the incident is still under review,” said Rob Doolittle, communications director for CSX’s Northeast Region. “I can say that CSX takes every derailment seriously. We review the cause to see if there are lessons we can learn to apply to prevent them from happening in the future.”

It took about five hours for rail crews to put the tankers back on the tracks, but since they derailed in the area where trains are assembled, it didn’t affect freight traffic, Doolittle said

Six cars, three carrying liquefied petroleum gas, derailed at the rail yard last week, though none leaked. The cars remained upright. Doolittle said the cause of that derailment also is under review. Investigations typically take several weeks to complete, he said.

Energy-related CO2 emissions decreased in nearly every state from 2005 to 2013

Repost from the U.S. Energy Information Administration

Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions decreased in nearly every state from 2005 to 2013

November 23, 2015, Principal contributor: Perry Lindstrom
graph of per-capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by state, as explained in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the State Level, 2000-13.   Note: Click to see information for all states.

The United States has a diverse energy landscape that is reflected in differences in state-level emissions profiles. Since 2005, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell in 48 states (including the District of Columbia) and rose in 3 states. EIA’s latest analysis of state-level energy-related CO2 emissions includes data in both absolute and per capita terms, including details by fuel and by sector.

This analysis measures emissions released at the location where fossil fuels are consumed. Therefore, to the extent that fuels are used in one state to generate electricity that is consumed in another state, emissions are attributed to the former rather than the latter. An analysis attributing emissions to the consumption of electricity, rather than to the production of electricity, would yield different results.

map of changes in proved reserves by state/area, as explained in the article text
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the State Level, 2000-13.   Note: Click to see information for all states.

The 10 states with the highest levels of energy-related CO2 emissions in 2013 accounted for half of the U.S. total. These 10 states also have large populations and account for slightly more than half (53%) of the nation’s total population. California was the second-highest emitter in absolute terms (353 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, or MMmt CO2), behind only Texas (641 MMmt CO2). But California was also the fourth-lowest emitter on a per capita basis, behind the District of Columbia, New York, and Vermont. Relatively small states such as Wyoming and North Dakota had much higher levels of per capita emissions in 2013, nearly seven times and five times the national average, respectively.

Energy-related CO2 emissions come from coal, petroleum, and natural gas consumed within a state to produce electricity (38% of U.S. total), to transport goods or people (33%), to operate industrial processes (18%), or to directly fuel equipment in residential and commercial buildings (10%). The consumption levels by fuel and by sector vary considerably by state. For example, coal consumption accounted for 78% of energy-related CO2 emissions in West Virginia in 2013, while coal only accounted for 1% of emissions in California.

Consumption of petroleum accounted for more than 90% of energy-related CO2 emissions in two states, Hawaii and Vermont, but for different reasons. In both states, emissions from the transportation sector accounted for more than 50% of energy-related emissions. In Vermont, the nonelectric (or direct) residential share of total emissions was 23%, mostly from petroleum-based fuels such as heating oil used to fuel furnaces and water heaters. Vermont’s electric power sector share of emissions from petroleum was only 0.2%, as very little of the state’s electricity in 2013 was generated from petroleum or any other fossil fuels. Hawaii, on the other hand, has very little direct use of petroleum for residential heating but much higher use of petroleum for power generation.

More information about each state’s energy-related CO2 emissions is available in EIA’s report, Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions at the State Level, 2000-13.

Principal contributor: Perry Lindstrom

U.S. Energy Information Administration Report: Energy-Related CO2 Emissions, 2014

Repost from U.S. Energy Information Administration

U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2014

Release Date: November 23, 2015   |  Next Release Date: October 2016   |    full report

U.S. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions increased 0.9% in 2014

  • Energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased by 50 million metric tons (MMmt), from 5,355 MMmt in 2013 to 5,406 MMmt in 2014.
  • The increase in 2014 was influenced by the following factors:
    • Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.4%;
    • The carbon intensity of the energy supply (CO2/Btu) declined by 0.3%; and
    • Energy intensity (British thermal units[Btu]/GDP) declined by 1.2%.
  • Therefore, with GDP growth of 2.4% and the overall carbon intensity of the economy (CO2/GDP) declining by about 1.5%, energy-related CO2 grew 0.9%.

USEIA chart CO2 2014 - 2015-11-23

[This report continues with 12 charts that further break down the analysis of CO2 emissions in 2014.  The report concludes with a fascinating section on Implications of the 2014 carbon dioxide emissions increase…CONTINUED ON THE WEB PAGE…  Or … the same information is available as a PDF download.]