Natural gas could save 34,000 lives from air pollution every year, said an energy expert to a crowd of about 70 students Wednesday night.
John Hanger, former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Trinity ’79, spoke about the role of natural gas in the United States as part of the Duke Energy Speaker Series, which aims to connect the University community with policymakers in the field.
America’s energy profile is rapidly changing, Hanger said. As coal output falls, domestic gas production is reaching record levels and oil production is rising, breaking a 35 year-long decline. Duke, for example, became fully coal-free when the West Campus steam plant burned the last of its coal in April 2011.
“We’re booming in energy production, and we have an energy efficiency boom, too,” Hanger said.
During this energy upheaval, Hanger explained how natural gas has gained traction as an alternative to coal—increasing from 16 percent to 24 percent of the U.S. power supply over the last 10 years. The benefits to an expansion in the gas industry would benefit the environment as well as the economy, as Hanger noted that a transition from coal to gas would save homeowners $500 each year in energy costs. The burning of natural gas produces no soot and half the carbon emissions of coal-burning power plants.
Although gas holds much opportunity, Hanger said that like all fossil fuels, it poses serious environmental risks, including water and air degradation, infrastructure stress and operational safety concerns. He stressed the importance of establishing regulations in order to mitigate these issues.
“I would love to be able to tell you that you could immediately jump to solar and wind… but in the next 10 years, if you are saying ‘no’ to gas you are saying ‘yes’ to coal and oil,” Hanger said.
The discussion was well-received by audience members like Kathleen Fraser, a second-year Master of Environmental Management candidate at the Nicholas School of the Environment, who appreciated Hanger’s candid nature and encompassing and holistic views on the energy situation.
“[It was] a fantastic, balanced and nuanced approach,” Fraser said.
David Cass, Environmental Management ’11, said he enjoyed the talk but felt that Hanger down-played the risks drilling poses for some communities.
“[Hanger] undersold the significance of water quality issues… particularly in the less populated areas of northern Pennsylvania,” said Cass, who was working with The Pennsylvania Environmental Council just as hydraulic fracturing—a specific gas-drilling process—gained national attention.
Richard Newell, director of the Duke University Energy Initiative and Gendell associate professor of energy and environmental economics at the Nicholas School, said the event went very well and was pleased with the audience’s engagement in the topic.
Shale formations, from which natural gas can be extracted, lie underneath Durham, Wake and Orange counties, Hanger added. The recent flood of gas into the market has, however, dramatically reduced gas prices and rendered extraction not feasible in the near future.
According to the United State Energy Information Administration, natural gas comprised 9.8 percent of North Carolina’s energy consumption in 2009 and is increasing annually.
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