National Petroleum Council Study Confirms Importance of Energy Efficiency
On September 15, 2011 the National Petroleum Council (NPC) released "Prudent Development: Realizing the Potential of North America’s Abundant Natural Gas and Oil Resources." The report, prepared at the request of Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, confirms the vital role of enhancing energy efficiency to advance American economic, environmental and energy security interests while also pointing to opportunities to prudently employ North American oil and natural gas resources.
The secretary had requested a reassessment of North American oil and natural gas resources as well as an examination of the role natural gas could take in lowering the carbon intensity of our energy mix while achieving economic, environmental and energy security objectives. The study found that new technologies have increased the potential supply of U.S. and Canadian natural gas and oil; that the benefits of those resources can only be realized only if they are developed in prudent, environmentally responsible ways; and that energy efficiency along with alternatives and fossil resources will be needed to meet America’s needs.
The report reaffirms findings of the 2007 NPC report "Facing the Hard Truths About Energy," which concluded that the world would need increased energy efficiency and all economic forms of energy supply. Among the recommendations offered by the new Prudent Development report are options to enhance natural gas and oil resource development while improving environmental, health, and safety performance; approaches to better reflect environmental, including greenhouse gas, impacts in markets and technology choices; development of workforce skills; and ways to improve how energy markets function. The report provides a series of recommendations for increasing energy efficiency, including through the strengthening of energy efficiency codes and standards, supporting building efficiency incentives, removing utility disincentives to deploy energy efficiency measures, and removing barriers to such industrial efficiency approaches as combined heat and power.
The Alliance played important roles in developing both the 2007 "Hard Truths and the new Prudent Development reports." Alliance President, Kateri Callahan, is a member of the NPC and served on the study committee. Alliance staff contributed significant research and writing on energy efficiency opportunities, options and policies. Also critical to the study was the participation of the following Alliance Associates:
- American Gas Association
- Dow Chemical Company
- Duke Energy
- Edison International
- Exxon Mobil Corporation
- National Grid
- PG&E
- Siemens Energy, Inc.
- Texas A&M University
"Prudent Development: Realizing the Potential of North America’s Abundant Natural Gas and Oil Resources" is available at the NPC web site, www.npc.org.
