NC WARN has long supported combined heat and power technology – when it’s used as an energy-saving measure. What Duke Energy executives are proposing, however, is an unneeded power plant that would expand the burning of shale gas, perpetuating the disastrous fracking boom.
Methane, Fracked Gas & Climate
Methane (the main component in natural gas) is 100 times as bad for the climate as carbon dioxide over the short term. Less CO2 is emitted by natural gas than by coal when burned. But significant leakage of methane before burning makes gas a disaster for the climate, as revealed even more by recent science. Yet utilities and the gas industry are still feverishly promoting fracked gas.
NC WARN is working hard to connect the dots between climate change, methane leakage and the fracking boom that is driven by demand from the electric power industry.
Learn more about our methane work here.
Watch a 3-minute video by Cornell University’s Dr. Robert Howarth describing why natural gas is a disastrous strategy for the climate. More videos, PowerPoints and documentation here.
“Everything You Need to Know About Methane”, a primer by Earthjustice.
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Students, green groups mount challenge to Duke Energy’s $55M Duke University project — Charlotte Business Journal
Environmental opposition is growing to a proposed combined heat-and-power project that Duke University and Duke Energy have trumpeted as a clean and energy efficient alternative for the university.
Duke Energy – Duke University Fracked Gas Plant Challenged at Utilities Commission — News Release from NC WARN
Today NC WARN filed a motion to intervene in a precedent-setting case whereby Duke Energy seeks to build and operate a fracked gas-burning power plant on the campus of Duke University. Among the many problems with the proposal, it would cause campus greenhouse gas emissions to soar, increase local air pollution, do little to enhance the reliability of campus power supply, and continue driving the highly destructive US fracking boom.
N.C. WARN opposes Duke University turbine project — Durham Herald Sun
A local environmental group has weighed in against the idea of equipping the Duke University campus with a gas-turbine power plant, arguing the institution’s leaders should instead look to solar energy and other sources. See Jim Warren’s reply to this article in the Herald Sun’s Nov. 10 edition.
NC WARN Urges Duke University to Ditch Duke Energy Gas Scheme — News Release from NC WARN
Today NC WARN urged President Richard Brodhead not to allow Duke University to be used by Duke Energy in an emerging national scheme to expand the burning of fracked gas, and instead to join Stanford and other universities who are developing clean-energy innovations.
NC WARN, Allies Challenge Proposed Fracked-gas Power Plant near Reidsville — News Advisory from NC WARN
NC WARN is contesting a Florida-based corporation’s application to build a large, climate-wrecking power plant near Reidsville, NC. NTE Carolinas is seeking permission from state regulators to construct the 500-megawatt power plant, and to sell the power – generated by burning fracked natural gas – to unnamed municipal utilities or electric co-ops.
Duke Energy Gas Case Goes Back to NC Appeals Court — News Release from NC WARN
Today, attorneys for NC WARN and The Climate Times again urged the NC Court of Appeals to take charge of a convoluted case involving an unneeded $1 billion power plant, and to not allow state regulators to block our access to the court. Most recently in this nine-month legal fight, the NC Utilities Commission ruled that we cannot appeal its approval of Duke Energy’s Asheville plant because we didn’t post the $98 million bond the commissioners said we must file in order to go to court.
Young People’s Burden: Requirement of Negative CO2 Emissions — Earth System Dynamics
By James Hansen. Continued high fossil fuel emissions unarguably sentences young people to either a massive, possibly implausible cleanup or growing deleterious climate impacts or both, scenarios that should provide both incentive and obligation for governments to alter energy policies without further delay.
N.C. regulators approve $4.9B Duke Energy-Piedmont Natural Gas deal — Charlotte Business Journal
The N.C. Utilities Commission has approved Duke Energy’s $4.9 billion purchase of Piedmont Natural Gas, clearing the way for the deal to close early next week. The commission ruled Thursday “the known and potential benefits of the merger are sufficient to offset the potential costs and risks.”
Three-year Heat Wave Continues Unabated — Note to Journalists from NC WARN
NASA reported this week that the ongoing, three-year record global heatwave continues, with August tying July as the hottest month ever recorded.