ized US oil and natural gas production. In 2012, the latest year for which full data is available, these sources provided 29% of total US crude oil production and 40% of total US natural gas production. That output reached such a high level in less than a decade after new extraction processes started being used is due to the fact that US resources have proved to be quickly producible in large quantities and at low prices. This surge in production has had a beneficial impact on the price of natural gas and petroleum products. This impact may be short-lived, though, as an energy-hungry world has turned its eyes and checkbooks toward US output.
Given its lead in developing these resources, US manu- facturers are well positioned to export the equipment and technology needed to take advantage of those formations that are economically viable.
In the US the lower price of natural gas has led to an ac- celerated displacement of coal to power electrical generation plants, which is a good thing. Federal regulations aim to reduce the use of coal as a means of eliminating CO2
emissions, and
having a lower-carbon fuel that is also available at a lower cost eliminates the financial sting these regulations might have caused. While this has had a somewhat chilling effect on coal mining in the US, coal mining won't disappear anytime soon. That’s because US mines are
exporting coal to an energy-hungry world at a rapid pace.
Clean Energy Technology
The US Energy Information Administration estimates that the US will be the world's top producer of petroleum and natural gas hydrocarbons in 2013, surpassing Russia and Saudi Arabia.
While manufacturers have scrambled to meet the demand for drills and pumps needed for extracting these resources, those who make what are called oil country tubular goods (pipes and tubes) are under even more pressure because of the need to transport that output to power plants, chemi- cal producers and ports. As new fields are developed, this demand will grow even more. The US, however, is not the only nation that could benefit from this bonanza. The EIA has estimated shale oil and shale gas resources in the US and in 137 shale formations in 41 other countries represent 10% of the world’s crude oil and 32% of the world’s natural gas technically recoverable resources.
10
ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | March 2014
As for renewable energy sources, the outlook is also on the upswing, but not necessarily because of market dynamics. Wind energy is seeing something of a re- surgence thanks to the extension of the
Production Tax Credit (PTC) for projects that began in 2013. Previously the law required eligible projects to be in-service and operating by the end of the calendar year when the credit was set to expire. While this provision is good news for the wind energy industry, the extension of the credit was only for one year, so wind energy projects are likely to be on the downswing again unless or until the PTC is extended again or made permanent.
Solar power has also seen an upswing. In fact, a new roof- top solar system was installed every four minutes in the US in 2013, according to NBC News. Solar panel producers have also learned to make their panels more efficiently, helping to
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