Heartland Energy Solutions

Article Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado

Heartland Energy Solutions is an Iowa-based company whose goal is to provide the world’s most cost-effective 100 kW wind turbine and blades for the generation of electrical power in the moderate-wind-speed market. Their expertise has lead to the development of a unique, world-class turbine designed for use in the US and other locations where wind speeds are low but the demand for energy is high.

The “Freedom™” wind turbine represents a significant advance in renewable energy technology as a more economical and efficient alternative as they are able to create electricity at wind speeds as low as 6 miles per hour. Their smaller size also makes them more user friendly - easier to ship, install and repair, and causing fewer environmental concerns.

Every part of the Freedom™ wind turbines is either manufactured in the US by a division of Heartland Energy Solutions or is purchased through a US vendor. The design of the Freedom™ turbine accommodates the moderate availability and force of wind typically found within the US.

About Heartland Energy Solutions

In 2007, Heartland Energy Solutions was established by a team of engineers, experienced managers and alternative energy experts to address the future of the renewable energy industry through creative solutions in wind and other technologies. Their first area of concentration was wind technology. Recognizing the common wind speeds and patterns in the US, they began discussions with proven wind power energy leaders with the aim of designing the next generation wind turbine.

Design of a 100 kW turbine, Freedom™, has been completed and production is scheduled to begin in mid 2009.

Heartland Energy Solutions’ turbine and blade manufacturing facility is located in Mount Ayr, Iowa. All the manufacturers of the components were selected based on their capabilities and location. First considered were Mid-West and US manufacturers, then the global supply chain of established companies – to find the best combination of core competency and the ability to produce the quality needed.

Heartland Oil & Gas Corp

Heartland Oil and Gas Corp. (OTC BB: HTOG) is an oil and gas exploration and production company and a subsidiary of Universal Property Development and Acquisition Corporation (OTC BB: UPDA). On September 27, 2004 Heartland completed the acquisition of the Forest City Basin and Bourbon Arch assets from Evergreen Resources, Inc. for a purchase price of $22 million. The Forest City Basin assets consisted of all of Evergreen Resources, Inc.’s interest in all its oil and gas leases covering an aggregate of approximately 766,000 acres located in the State of Kansas, together with 60 well bores and all surface equipment, gathering and surface facilities and all geological, engineering, land and accounting data and records pertaining to these leases and assets.

Prior to its acquisition of the assets from Evergreen Resources, Heartland Energy had interests in leases covering approximately 252,000 acres in central Kansas (the “Soldier Creek project”). Heartland owns 100% of the working interest in all of these leases with a net revenue interest of approximately 85%.

After the acquisition of the Evergreen assets, Heartland Energy held in excess of 1 million acres of prospective CBM leases at various stages of development, 88 wells, including 43 CBM wells in eight pilots that were dewatering and/or venting gas, 37 CBM wells awaiting stimulation, and 8 saltwater disposal wells.

On April 20, 2007, UPDA acquired approximately 52% of the common stock of Heartland Energy and nearly $5,000,000 of its debt in a cash and stock transaction. Since that time, Heartland has undertaken an aggressive drilling program in its Cherokee Basin Coalbed Methane Field in Southeastern Kansas and acquired about 75 producing wells in Northern Texas. As a result of the conversion of that debt into Heartland preferred stock, UPDA now controls over 70% of the voting stock of Heartland.

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Heartland Energy Colorado

Heartland Energy Development Corporation out of Englewood, Colorado is a privately held oil and gas producer with an experienced team of management and industry expertise who specialize in developing domestic gas and oil fields. With properties all over the Unites States, Heartland Energy Colorado is a leading producer of natural gas and hydrocarbon based fuels.

For more than 15 years, the Heartland Energy Development Corp. has innovated technologies and led the oil and gas production and development industry in many ways. Thanks to the Company’s unique management style, long-term approach to resource development, and investments in both great technology and smart personnel, it has grown from a spitfire natural gas and propane seller into a a national powerhouse.

For more information on Heartland Energy Colorado, check out: Heartland Energy Colorado

Natural Gas: a 'Vital Part’ of Colorado's New Energy Economy

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado

>Gov. Bill Ritter offered Colorado’s natural gas industry his support Thursday in a speech on the last day of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association’s annual three-day conference.

“Natural gas is a vital part of the New Colorado Energy Economy,” Ritter told the crowd of about 2,000 people. “It is a permanent part of the New Energy Economy. It’s not a bridge fuel, not a transition fuel, but a mission-critical fuel.”

Ritter outlined his support for the industry on several fronts, listing the state’s expansion of tax credits for vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, and credits for converting vehicles to run on natural gas.

The Governor’s Colorado Energy Office is applying for a $10 million federal grant to expand the use of natural gas for transportation uses, he said.

Ritter also mentioned he’d urged the federal government to approve a new pipeline, called the Ruby pipeline, to carry natural gas from the Rocky Mountains to markets in California and the West Coast.

And he said he talked with U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, about her proposal, introduced in Congress in June, to regulate the industry’s hydraulic fracturing process that frees natural gas from the ground. U.S. Rep. Jarid Polis from Boulder has signed on as a cosponsor.

Industry executives have said the process, sometimes called fraccing, is adequately regulated at the state level.

“I don’t for a moment discount the concerns of those who worry about the protection of drinking water supplies but I also believe that we have to understand the problems and risks before we act,” Ritter said at the COGA meeting.

“That’s why I encouraged Congresswoman DeGette to consider authorizing a comprehensive study of this issue instead of going directly to a new and potentially intrusive regulatory program. She agreed, at that time, to go instead to something that would be more in the way of a study instead of an amendment that would prescribe every state having to put in place these rules,” Ritter said, adding, “I thank the congresswoman for having done that.”

But DeGette’s spokesman, Kristofer Eisenla, asked about Ritter’s comment, said later Thursday that “all options are on the table” regarding the fraccing bill.

“She had a good conversation with the governor regarding this,” Eisenla said. “She understands his concerns, but she’s looking at all options to move the issue forward — including holding a hearing in her committee and doing a study. She welcomes the industry’s input on developing the study.”

Ritter’s comments drew applause and praise from industry executives, who have tussled with Ritter’s administration over the state’s new rules governing industry operations. The rules took effect April 1.

“I thought the governor’s comment that natural gas is a vital part of the New Energy Economy and a permanent fuel — not a bridge fuel — and a critical fuel for Energy Colorado and the nation is right on point,” said Peter Dea, president and CEO of private Cirque Resources LP in Denver.

Said Meg Collins, president of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, “I’m pleased he came, and I’m pleased at the message that natural gas is mission-critical, and an integral part of the state’s and nation’s energy portfolio for the long term. The governor’s statements are going to put pressure on the Oil & Gas Commission to process [drilling] permits so we can continue to produce natural gas for the state and nation.”

One of the leading producers of natural gas in the state is Heartland Energy Colorado. The Governor's comments are good news for natural gas companies, and could mean the government support that the industry so needs. Especially with government incentives, companies like Heartland Energy will continue to produce natural gas and thrive.

Source: Cathy Proctor, Denver Business Journal

The Battle Over Lighting (Part 3)

Submitted by Heartland Energy Colorado

Cities Service was a model for a much larger public utility empire created by Samuel Insull, who started out as the English representative of a U.S. bank representing Thomas Edison’s interests in London. He ended up working directly for Edison as his private secretary by day and learned the electricity-generating business at the Pearl Street plant by night. He eventually rose to third place in the newly formed General Electric, a merger involving Edison Electric, then to Chief Executive of Chicago Edison, and finally to chairman of Peoples Gas in Chicago, where he managed a corporate turnaround. This string of success led to the 1912 founding of Middle West Utilities and later to Insull Utility Investments, both holding companies for electric and gas utilities. By 1926 Insull’s utility empire encompassed 6,000 communities across thirty-two states, and by 1930 it has grown to four million customers and 12 percent of the nation’s electricity-generating and gas-distribution capacity.

The War Industries Board encouraged the formation of nationwide industrial organizations to carry out its mandate to coordinate the nation’s industrial activities during World War I. Natural gas suppliers responded by combining several predecessor organizations into the American Gas Association (AGA) in 1918 to centralize the exchange of information, set industry-wide standards, and encourage cooperation and coordination among its members. The AGA also represented the industry viewpoint to the public, at Congressional hearings, and before natural gas regulatory bodies. The complete conversion of natural gas from lighting to cooking and heating took place at this time, symbolized by natural gas being sold in units of energy (British Thermal Units – BTU) rather than units of illumination (Candlepower).

Heartland Energy Colorado is one of the top hydrocarbon-based energy providers in the USA. They have many drilling locations throughout the country and remain one of the top producers of US oil & gas companies. For more information on Heartland Energy Colorado, see Heartland Energy Development Corporation online.

(Source: "Energy for the 21st Century," Nersesian)

The Battle Over Lighting (Part 2)

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado

As the availability of electricity spread throughout the nation, it did not take long for managers of consolidated gas companies to see the virtue of expanding their merger activities to include electricity-generating firms. The coke by-product from coal gas production could be burned to make electricity and mergers would result in major savings in corporate overhead. The first merger occurred in Boston in 1887, setting the example for the creation of innumerable gas and electric or electric and gas utility companies across the nation. Consolidating gas companies and merging with electricity-generating companies into independent gas and electric utilities further evolved into the public holding company, which owned controlling interests in independent electric and gas companies.

Henry L. Doherty, who started out as an office boy and rose to chief engineer of a natural gas company, formed the first public holding company. Noticing that poorly designed gas stoves were a drag on natural gas sales, Doherty increased gas sales by working with stove manufacturers to improve their product. He switched to marketing, where he was an instant success because of his ability to motivate and lead salespeople, initiating all sorts of promotional activities, and setting high standards of customer service. Doherty then established his own company to provide advice on the reorganization, management, and financing of public utility companies. He began to attract investor interest and in 1910 formed Cities Service Company, the first public holding company. As the name suggested, the company was to serve cities across the nation with gas and electricity and, by 1913, Cities Service controlled fifty utilities in fourteen states.

Heartland Energy Colorado is one of the top hydrocarbon-based energy providers in the USA. They have many drilling locations throughout the country and remain one of the top producers of US oil & gas companies. For more information on Heartland Energy Colorado, see Heartland Energy Development Corporation online.

(Source: "Energy for the 21st Century," Nersesian)

Colorado PUC Hears Debate on Whether it Should Regulate Tri-State

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Colorado

Officials of Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association Inc., Colorado's second-largest electricity generator, and environmentalists debated whether the Colorado Public Utilities Commission should oversee Tri-State at a three-hour hearing Thursday.

And while nothing was settled, both sides clearly staked out their positions before a packed PUC hearing room.

The commissioners are expected to return to the issue in September.

The issue is whether the PUC should expand its power and begin reviewing Westminster-based Tri-State’s long-range forecasts for power demands from its Colorado customers.

Along with that, the commissioners are looking at whether the PUC should have the power to decide what combination of new power plants, energy farms and energy conservation programs the association should pursue to meet that demand – as the regulators do for the Xcel Energy Inc., the state’s largest utility.

Tri-State is the wholesale power supplier to 44 rural cooperatives in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Nebraska. Its board of directors is made up of representatives of the customer-owned cooperatives.

State regulators took up the issue in 2008, when it appeared that Tri-State wasn’t moving swiftly to add energy and energy conservation programs to its power portfolio. State law requires that Tri-State, as a group of rural cooperatives, get 10 percent of its power from renewable resources by 2020.

Ron Lehr, a former PUC chairman and a consultant for Conifer-based Colorado energy group Interwest Energy Alliance, said Thursday that efforts to cut Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions requires a state-wide planning effort that could be overseen by the PUC.

"Colorado consumers and utilities face a challenge in transitioning to less fossil fuel, to me it subsumes the jurisdictional dispute that's being laid out," Lehr said. "If they [Tri-State] are as good as they say, they have nothing to fear from PUC review."

But Ken Reif, Tri-State’s senior vice president and general counsel, said the association’s Colorado customers do care about the state as a whole, and are capable of making decisions on their own.

He also noted that in recent months Tri-State has begun taking the steps its critics have wanted, from energy conservation programs to contracting for a 51-megawatt wind farm on the eastern plains and a 30 megawatt solar power plant in New Mexico.

"All the things that I hear Tri-State should be doing is being done at Tri-State right now, without any bump from this commission, with all due respect," Reif told commissioners.

"There’s no reason to believe the commission is any more well-equipped to make these decisions than Tri-State’s board and its board members," he said.

PUC Chairman Ron Binz asked for opinions on how far the PUC’s current authority over Tri-State went. Reif answered that laws protecting Tri-State board’s authority sharply limited the PUC’s power – although he later said there might be room for middle ground.

(Source: cproctor@bizjournals.com)

Heartland Energy Colorado Video

Here is a great video provided by the Heartland Energy Colorado company.

Heartland Energy Launches Ethanol Brand HE85

Submitted by: Heartland Energy Coloado

ALEXANDRIA, LA - November 21, 2006: Heartland Energy Group Inc. (Pink Sheets:HEGP) announced Monday that they have officially launched their new ethanol brand name, HE85, and have entered into an agreement with Casella & Casella, LLP to file trademark applications for that name.

Heartland Energy Group has developed the following ethanol Brand Name Identity to use as a recognizable marketing tool for their Ethanol E85 Brand – HE85. Heartland Energy Colorado Group is developing a national marketing campaign that they plan to launch when the trademark is approved. Heartland intends on putting alternative fuel sections in independent gas stations across the country. The trademark will create asset protection for their future marketing of the Heartland Alternative Fuel line-up. The trademarks are set to co-inside with the Branding Package currently in development.

Roy Thornhill President of Heartland Energy Group, Inc. stated that: He is receiving positive feedback about the marketing plan being developed to create brand recognition for this ethanol product.

About Ethanol:

The growing interest in ethanol, a clean, corn-based renewable resource, has paralleled the escalating price of gas and the urgent need to break the country's dependence on crude oil. Recently, the Big Three automobile manufacturers, GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler, appealed to Congress for incentives to increase the number of gas stations that offer blends of ethanol. Last year, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates pumped $84 million into Pacific Ethanol . Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group and worth an estimated $3 Billion, has plans to invest $300 to $400 million to produce and market this alternative fuel. Vinod Khosla, “guru” of Silicon Valley, co-founder of Sun Microsystems , and one of ethanol’s most vocal advocates, has personally invested millions in private companies involved in the development of ethanol.

About Heartland Energy Group, Inc.

Heartland Energy Colorado Group, Inc. is a North American-based alternative fuel resource and Service Company, dedicated to developing the infrastructure for the delivery of ethanol (e85). Heartland seeks to eliminate North America's dependency on foreign energy sources by focusing on innovative engineering that will enable the mass distribution of ethanol. Heartland Energy will also create an alternative fuel section for independent gas stations throughout the United States. Heartland Energy Group will transcend the future of renewable energy resources, with the ultimate goal of creating a cleaner brighter energy solution for North America. For more information, visit www.HeartlandEnergyGroup.com.

Colorado Energy News Launches “Energy Leadership Series

Published by: Heartland Energy Colorado

The leading news and information hub for Colorado’s energy industry is providing overdue recognition to the organizations out in front on energy innovation and development in the state.

Basalt, CO (PRWEB) September 9, 2008 — Colorado is ground zero for energy development in the 21st century, and now the companies and organizations that are helping propel it forward will be recognized in a new Energy Leadership Series sponsored by Colorado Energy News.

ColoradoEnergyNews.com delivers the most comprehensive coverage of the business, politics and technology of the state’s rapidly growing energy industry, including the latest developments in oil and gas, renewables and power generation. The website includes streaming video channels with energy-specific content, including Going Green, Pain at the Pump and Bloomberg Energy News.

“From traditional oil and gas developers on the Western Slope to new solar and wind power projects along the Front Range, Colorado-based companies are creating thousands of jobs and contributing to the state’s emerging position as a leader in both traditional and new energy markets,” says Executive Editor, David Hill.

Natural gas development has become a major energy driver in the Rocky Mountains and Colorado in particular. Piceance Basin in the western part of the state is one of the largest gas fields in the country, fits in perfectly with T. Boone Pickens’ ambitious plan to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. With the state’s boom in gas production has come public policy and environmental issues, which visitors to ColoradoEnergyNews.com can read about daily. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is addressing many of these issues by developing new rules for oil and gas operations in the state, scheduled to become law this fall.

Another important story reported in Colorado Energy News is the Ritter Administration’s drive to attract renewable energy investment, which is paying off with companies, such as Swedish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, constructing new facilities along the Front Range and adding hundreds of jobs. “Colorado should be a model for the world and the U.S. of what can be done in a state when everyone teams up to push for clean energy,” says Roby Roberts, senior vice president of external relations for Vestas America.

State law requiring large utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity from solar, wind or biomass sources by 2020 is another key factor propelling Colorado’s new energy economy. Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility company supplying more than 70 percent of the electricity, appears on track to meet the target with several years to spare.

Adding to a highly favorable environment for energy development is Colorado’s rich academic tradition. The state is home to several prominent energy-related education and research institutions, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden; the Colorado School of Mines; Colorado State University, which has a major alternative energy curriculum; and Colorado University in Boulder.

“With our Energy Leadership Series, Colorado Energy News is shining the spotlight on those organizations making a difference in our economy and quality of life,” explains Hill.

“As Colorado goes, so goes the nation. It is an exciting time to be involved with energy and we look forward to sharing with our readers the cutting edge companies that are helping Colorado lead the way in energy solutions.”

The Search for Energy: Evaluating a Formation’s Oil Potential

Determining whether a formation contains oil and gas falls under the realm of formation evaluation. Formation evaluation includes the activities the operator does to test a formation for hydrocarbons. The operator must not only know whether hydrocarbons exist, but also whether they exist in ample amounts. A hole may penetrate a formation that contains hydrocarbons; however, if the formation does not contain enough hydrocarbons for the operating company to get its monetary investment back, the company may declare the hole to be dry. Methods of formation evaluation include examining cuttings and drilling mud, well logging, drill stem testing, and coring.

Several techniques are available to help the operator decide whether to complete the well. One of the simplest is looking at the cuttings the drilling mud carries from the bottom of the hole. A geologist can test the cuttings to determine whether they contain hydrocarbons. The mud logger, using various kinds of detection equipment, can also spot hydrocarbons in the drilling mud. An operator probably would not decide to complete or abandon a well using only information from cuttings and mud returns. Careful examination of them, however, can indicate whether the well is likely to produce.

Well logging is a widely used evaluation technique. Many kinds of logging tools are available. Some measure and record natural and induced nuclear, or radioactive, attributes of a rock. Others measure and record the way in which formations respond to electric current. Another log measures and records the speed with which sound travels through a formation. These are only a few on many logs available to operators. By interpreting the recordings, or logs, the operator can usually tell if the well will be a producer.

The operator calls the logging company to the well while the drilling crew trips out the drill string. From a portable laboratory, truck-mounted for land rigs or in a small cabin on offshore rigs, the well loggers lower logging tools into the well on wire line. They lower tools to bottom and then slowly reel them back up. When activated, the tools measure formation properties. The tools transmit the data they gather to the truck or logging shack. There, special recorders and computers store the information. For on-site evaluation, computers in the portable laboratory print the data. These logs give the operator a first look at what a formation may yield. For thorough evaluation, the portable lab can transmit the log’s data to powerful computers located at the central testing facilities. By carefully examining well logs, the operator can determine whether to complete the well. Well logs not only indicate the presence of oil and gas, they also indicate how much may be there.

During the drilling, the operator can run ‘logging while drilling’ (LWD) tools in the drill stem. These instruments incorporate sophisticated electronic devices that sense, transmit, and record formation characteristics as the bit drills ahead. The LWD tool transmits formation information on a pulse the tool creates in the drilling mud. Much as radio waves transmit sound information through air, mud pulses transmit formation information to computers on the surface. The computers analyze and display the information in readouts that experts on the site can interpret and evaluate.

Colorado Energy companies are constantly seeking out oil and testing wells before they drill. This ensures both economic return, and longevity. Heartland Energy Development Corporation evaluates domestic rock formations for oil. Heartland Energy is among the leaders in domestic oil evaluation and production.

Oil Rig Safety and Environmental Concerns

The pioneers of drilling, and many others in the industry would most certainly be impressed by the progress made in drilling tools and techniques. What’s more, they would also be impressed by the significant advances made by drilling contractors and operators in regards to ‘safe-guarding’ their personnel. Although rig safety may not be as glamorous as technical improvements, it is vitally important. The fact that operators and contractors have taken great strides in personnel safety is shown by the fact the accident rate on rigs is decreasing. Indeed, accidents have trended downward over the last several years. A look at accident statistics for a recent year show that rig crews all over the world worked almost 200 million hours. Yet, there was just 1,001 ‘lost time accidents’ (an accident serious enough to prevent the injured person from working the next scheduled workday.) To fathom just how low this rate is, consider that for every 200,000 hours rig personnel worked, only one suffered an injury serious enough to prevent them form working the next day.

Part of that downward trend relates to training. Contractors and operators now consider training an essential part of preparing new workers for the rig. Training is ongoing: not only are new personnel trained, but also experienced personnel at all levels receive advanced and refresher courses on a regular basis. In addition to intensive training of rig personnel, contractors and operators have taken great steps towards designing drilling rigs to be as safe a place to work as possible. For example, no contractor today would ever consider erecting a rig without adequate protective shrouds, or guards, on rig machinery. Steel covers over and around moving parts protect the crew members from inadvertently contacting them. Personal protective gear that prevents or minimizes injury to the eyes, head, ears, and feet is standard apparel for everyone on the rig site. In addition, when handling particularly hazardous materials, such as caustic soda, additional protective gear is required. Climbing aids and fall protection are also standard on today’s rigs. Handrails, guardrails, and nonskid surfaces on all walkways and passageways, keeps falls and slips to a minimum. Furthermore, signs, placards, and safety information alert personnel to potential rig hazards and provide information on avoiding illness or injury.

Protecting the environment from harm is another area in which contractors and operators have made great advances. For example, contractors sometimes place nets over reserve pots to keep migratory waterfowl from landing in them. Such action is only one of the many steps contractors and operators take to protect the environment. Additional examples include installing plastic lining on reserve pits to prevent water or other materials from leaching into the soil, cleaning of oil-laden cuttings before they are disposed of, and, in especially sensitive areas, prohibiting any discharge onto the ground or into the water.

In many different ways, today’s rotary rigs are not that different from the rotary rigs of yesterday, such as the on the Hamils used to drill Spinletop. At the same time, however, modern rigs are considerably advanced. The industry has come a long way since the days of “wooden derricks and iron men.” Granted, the basic name of the game is still putting a bit on bottom and turning it while circulating drilling fluid, but today’s tools and techniques have evolved to make rotary rigs more efficient than ever. Steel has replaced that which used to be wood and modern steel alloys have replaces steel that used to break or wear out prematurely. Moreover, rig personnel are trained to work safer than ever before. Eventually, other forms of Heartland Energy will supplant oil and gas, but at least for now, the sight of a rotary drilling rig with its bit on bottom and turning to the right is not likely to disappear.

For more information on Environmentally safe and efficient extraction of oil, check out Heartland Energy Colorado

A Tale of Two Speeches at This Week’s COGA Meeting

Reported by Art Mass (Heartland Energy)

In the face of an industry slump that could continue for another three or four years according to some experts, Governor Ritter labels natural gas “a mission-critical fuel.”

Speaking at this week’s Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference in Denver, the Governor told the crowd of industry officials that natural gas production is crucial as the country seeks more energy independence and wrestles with climate change.

COGA has been a major critic of the Ritter administration’s push for stricter oil and gas regs — now law in Colorado — as well as feeling as though their multibillion dollar industry was getting shortchanged by the Governor in his quest to promote the new energy economy.

In his talk on Thursday, the Governor stressed the importance of Colorado natural gas as a key component of the new energy economy. After his pep talk to what had to be a skeptical audience, COGA spokesman Nate Strauch said the industry was encouraged by Ritter’s speech.

ON THE OTHER HAND … WIRTH CHASTIZES ENERGY INDUSTRY

Delivering the keynote address at a crowded luncheon meeting during the same industry gathering a day earlier, former U.S. Senator Tim Wirth dressed down the natural gas industry.

Wirth enthusiastically exhorted the natural-gas industry to get better organized and get to Washington and lobby for its interests. The former Colorado senator now serves as president of the nonprofit United Nations Foundation, a charity created by Ted Turner in 1998.

Wirth told the gathering that, in his opinion, global warming was undeniable and it was pervasive. He said the world is headed for disaster, and it’s in everyone’s interest to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Natural gas should be the bridge to the future, said Wirth, but the industry was completely missing from the recent debate in the House of Representatives on the Waxman-Markey energy bill. Other groups, including coal producers, utilities, automotive manufacturers and solar and wind-energy Colorado providers, wangled special provisions or shaped terms of various programs contained in the proposed legislation.

“Every major industry was deeply engaged except for the natural-gas industry,” he said. “The natural-gas industry needs to get organized. It can lead the country toward a better economic and environmental future.”

The Battle Over Lighting (Part 1)

Manufactured gas commanded the market for lighting in urban areas while kerosene continued to be used in rural areas and towns not hooked up to manufactured gas.  Though vulnerable to penetration by natural gas, coal gas was given a new lease on life by the discovery of a technique for making “water gas” by injecting steam into anthracite coal or coke heated to incandescence.  This produced a flammable mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that was sprayed with atomized oil (a new market for oil) to increase its heat content to match that of coal gas.  Less costly to make than coal gas, water gas had 75 percent of the manufactured gas market by 1900.

While water gas could temporarily hold natural gas a bay, a new competitive threat entered the lighting business, affecting both manufactured and natural gas: electricity.  In 1880, Edison rigged Broadway for illumination by electricity and lost no time attacking gas lighting for its odors, leaks, fires, explosions, and transport in “sewer pipes,” ignoring, of course, the risk of electric shock, electrocution, and fires from exposed wires.

In 1882, the Pearl Street generating station provided electricity to 1,284 lamps within one mile of the plant.  Edison used existing gas statutes for permission to install electric wiring under streets and set up a system to supply electricity that mirrored gas as closely as possible to make it easier for customers to switch.  The gas distribution companies knew that electricity would replace gas for lighting and responded with a two-pronged program to meet the new competitive threat.  The first was to shift the emphasis of gas from lighting to cooking and heating and the second was to pursue corporate consolidation to strengthen their position.

Heartland Energy Colorado is one of the top hydrocarbon-based energy providers in the USA. They have many drilling locations throughout the country and remain one of the top producers of US oil & gas companies. For more information on Heartland Energy Colorado, see Heartland Energy Development Corporation online.

(Source: "Energy for the 21st Century," Nersesian)

Feds Roll Out New Lighting Rules and $346M for Energy Efficient Buildings

Reported by: Heartland Energy Colorado

The momentum for 2009 being called the year of ”energy efficiency” was punctuated further this week when President Obama detailed stricter new lighting standards and promised the swift release of $346 million in Recovery Act funds to boost energy efficiency in new and existing commercial buildings and homes.

“I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7 percent of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and businesses,” Obama said of the new rules that set higher thresholds for energy efficiency in lamps and lighting equipment.

Issued last Friday, the standards call for products made in the U.S. or imported for use here to meet the new parameters starting in 2012. According to the Department of Energy, the changes in lamps and lighting equipment would:

• Prevent the emission of as much as 594 million tons of carbon dioxide from 2012 through 2042, which is estimated as being roughly equivalent to removing 166 million cars from the road for a year.

• Save consumers $1 billion to $4 billion annually from 2012 through 2042.

• Save enough electricity from 2012 through 2042 to power every home in the U.S. for as many as 10 months.

• Eliminate the need for up to 7.3 gigawatts of new generating capacity by 2042, which the DOE says is equivalent to as many as 14 500MW coal-fired power plants.

The DOE’s release of $346 million in stimulus funds will go toward development and deployment of more energy smart buildings — and the technology and equipment to support them.

In the U.S., commercial buildings and homes account for about 40 percent of the energy consumption — more than any other economic sector — and for a similar percentage of CO2 emissions in the country. Existing structures present a ripe target for energy efficiency efforts and retrofits, the DOE noted, with three-quarters of the 81 million buildings in stock having been constructed before 1979.

The Recovery Act money for energy efficient structures will be allotted in five major areas:

• Advanced Building Systems Research, $100 million: Funding focuses on the development and design of integrated systems to control and manage the technology and equipment that enable structures to be more energy efficient. The goal is to accelerate progress toward zero-net energy buildings.

• Commercial Buildings Initiative, $53.5 million: Funds are to be used for expanding and speeding formation of partnerships among major companies and organizations with large building portfolios to make that property deliver “exemplary energy performance.” The DOE wants to increase the number of partnerships, now at 23, to about 75. Competitive applications for the partnerships will open in September.

• Buildings and Appliance Market Transformation, $72.5 million: Funding will be aimed at spurring the development of more energy efficient products through an expansion of Energy Star; preparing and educating various industries on how to implement commercial building codes that call for a 30 percent improvement in energy efficiency and take effect in 2010; and adapting the DOE Appliance Standards program to better address innovative technology.

• Solid State Lighting Research and Development, $50 million: The DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy department calls solid-state lighting “a pivotal emerging technology that promises to fundamentally alter lighting in the future.” The R&D funds in this area will be channeled toward work that will bring high-performance lighting technology and products to market more quickly.

• Residential Buildings Development and Deployment, $70 million: The money is to be devoted to projects that will provide technical training and assistance to residential builders and the workforce handling improvement and retrofitting of existing homes for energy efficiency, as well as the construction of new, energy-saving homes. Eligible projects include those run by municipalities, states and utilities.

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Origin & Accumulation of Oil & Gas

To understand how hydrobarbons get into buried rocks, visualize an ancient sea teeming with vast numbers of living organisms. Some are fishes and others are large swimming beasts while others are so small that you cannot see them with out a microscope. Although they are very small, they are very abundant. Millions and millions of these small organisms live and die daily. It is these tiny and plentiful organisms that scientists believe gave rise to oil and gas.

When these tiny organisms died millions of years ago, their remains settled to the bottom. Even though they were very small, thousands of years went by and enormous quantities accumulated in thick deposits on the seafloor. The organic material mixed with the mud and sand on the bottom. Ultimately, many layers of sediments built up until they became hundreds of thousands of feet thick. The tremendous weight of overlying sediments created great pressure and heat on the deep layers. The heat and pressure changed the deep layers into rock. At the same time of this happening, the heat and pressure changed the dead organic material in the layers into hydrocarbons: crude oil & natural gas.

Meanwhile, geological action created cracks, or faults in the earth's crust. Earth movement folded layers of rock upward and downward. Molten rock thrusted upward, altering the shape of the surrounding beds. Disturbances in the earth shoved great blocks of land upward, dropped them downwards and them moved them sideways. Wind and water then eroded formations, earthquaked buried them, and new sediments fell onto them. Land blocked a bay's access to open water, and the resulting inland sea evaporated. Great rivers carried tons of sediment; then dried up and became buried by other rocks. In short, geological forces slowly but constantly altered the very shape of the earth. These alterations in the layers of rock are important because under the right circumstances, they can trap and store hydrocarbons.

Even while the earth changed, the withe of overlying rocks continued to push downward, forcing hydrocarbons out of their source rocks. Seeping through the subsurface cracks and fissures, oozing through small connections between rock grains the hydrocarbons moved upward. They moved until a subsurface barrier stopped them or until they reached the earth's surface as they did at Oil Creek. Most of the hydrocarbons, however did not reach the surface. Instead, they became trapped and stored in a layer of subsurface rock. Today, the oil industry seeks petroleum that was formed and trapped millions of years ago.

Heartland Energy Colorado is one of these companies in the oil industry benefiting from the transformation. Heartland Energy Colorado is one of the top hydrocarbon based energy providers in the country taking advantage of this prehistoric transformation. They have many drilling locations throughout the country and remain one of the top producers of US oil & gas companies. For more information on Heartland Energy Colorado, see Heartland Energy Development Corporation online.

Sustainable Energy Defined

A sustainable source of energy is renewable and environmentally benign.  While sustainable energy sources such as hydro, geothermal, wind, solar, oceanic (wave, tidal, current and temperature differential) are seemingly inexhaustible, this is not true for biomass.  Biomass is a sustainable source of energy as long as a crop is grown, burned for its energy content, and replaced by another.  Under these conditions, there is no net addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere because the carbon dioxide released from burning is absorbed in growing the replacement crop.  Deforestation adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as more biomass is burned than is replenished and is not sustainable; at some point the forest is gone.  Inexhaustible means that the source of energy is always present and never diminished, but that does not infer an infinite supply.  Inexhaustibility must be tempered with capacity limits.  Biomass is limited by the availability of arable land for non-food crops; solar power by whether the sun is shining and the number of solar arrays; wind power by whether the wind is blowing and the number of wind turbines; and hydropower by rainfall and the number of dams.

A major difference between conventional and sustainable sources of energy is reliability.  Electricity can be generated at the dispatcher’s whim up to a plant’s rated capacity for a generator fueled by fossil and biomass fuels, nuclear power and geothermal energy.  This is not true for other sources.  Hydropower depends on rainfall.  Wind and solar and wave power depend on the weather.  Tidal energy is predictable, but there is no guarantee that peaks in electricity generation from changing tides coincide with peaks in electricity demand.  Wind, solar, tidal and wave sources can certainly be tied into an electricity distribution grid and contribute to the electricity pool “weather permitting,” but they can only displace, not replace, conventional sources of energy.  Wind and solar energy, in particular, are being researched, developed and implemented heavily in states such as Colorado.

Source: (“Energy for the 21st Century,” Nersesian)

Ritter Tops List as Nation’s “Greenest” Governor

Greenopia, an online directory of eco-friendly retailers, services, and organizations, has released a “green” ranking of 50 United States governors. Topping the list is Col0rado’s own Bill Ritter followed closely by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. The entire ranking results are listed below.

The designation as the greenest Governor in the nation wraps up a notable month of June for Ritter, Colorado's Gov. Earlier he received the Father of the Year Award from the American Diabetes Association, and was profiled on the www.coloradodads.com website during the month.

“We looked at all 50 governors in the US and compared their policies, transparency, and interest group ratings and ranked them. It was a monumental task,” said Doug Mazeffa, Greenopia’s director of research. “People want to know which Governors are the eco-leaders or laggards, and especially identify those making repeated eco-gaffes.”

Data for this study was collected from each governor’s own web pages and cross-checked against credible sites such as VoteSmart and OnTheIssues. Energy and emission data was collected from the Department of Energy and the environmental platform data for each political party was collected from either the DNC or RNC’s main site.

Greenopia says that as part of its mission to keep consumers (and voters) informed on issues of eco-friendly importance, the Greenest Governors project reveals which state governments are most dedicated to preserving the environment. The U.S. Constitution preserves the notion that America is a federation of sovereign states and legal powers not specifically granted to the federal government are retained by the states. This means that Governors and state legislatures hold significant sway over state-based green initiatives and policies.

“Over the past few years we have begun to see certain states emerging as environmental leaders,” remarked Gay Browne, Greenopia founder and CEO. “Those states enacting environmental laws stricter than federal guidelines have gone to greater lengths to protect the environment and to create more sustainable development, including green jobs.”

The Top Ten Greenest Governors

1. Bill Ritter of Colorado

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California

3. Ted Kulongowski of Oregon

4. Christine Gregoire of Washington state

5. John Baldacci of Maine

6. Martin O’Malley of Maryland

7. Bill Richardson of New Mexico

8. James Douglas of Vermont

9. Jon Corzine of New Jersey

10. Jodi Rell of Connecticut

(Source: www.coloradoenergynews.com)