Northwest Passage

As America’s hunger for coal weakens, market-savvy companies are looking to South Asia, where demand remains strong. Wyoming and Montana’s Powder River Basin, which produces over half of America’s coal, could access Asian markets and be cost-competitive with fuel from Australia and Indonesia if coal export terminals are constructed along the Pacific.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reviewing permits for two terminals, which together would allow about 110 million tons of coal export annually, according to University of Montana’s Dr. Thomas Power.

He says Northwest coal exports would lead to lower coal prices, encouraging increased coal-burning in Asia and discouraging further investments in energy efficiency. Concerned politicians, environmental groups, and an alliance of 57 tribes are asking the Army Corps to consider the cumulative global environmental impacts. Northwesterners are also concerned about increased train and barge traffic and the resulting coal dust pollution.

Appalachian Coal

Coal trade winds are picking up speed and could gust harder in the coming years. In 2011, over 11 percent of coal produced in America headed abroad. Midway through 2012, that figure was up to 13 percent. The 107.3 million tons exported in 2011 was the highest amount ever, twice as much as the U.S. exported in 2009. Most of that coal came from Appalachia, where mountaintop removal coal mining occurs, and the bulk of it went to Europe, where the Netherlands consumed the most. See the full story in Coal Report.

A Fluid Situation

Five times more conventional natural gas was exported through U.S. pipelines last year than was shipped overseas as liquified natural gas, but those liquid exports might be poised for a huge jump.

Exporting liquefied natural gas to countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with the U.S. requires a federal permit. So far, one company has received a permit and is building an approximately $3.6 billion gas-to-liquids facility in Louisiana.

Before considering more permits, the Department of Energy is studying how those exports could affect the nation’s economy.

Opponents argue that international trade in liquefied natural gas will raise prices at home and escalate environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing, while advocates say it will be good for business and decrease China and India’s coal use.

Keystone XL

TransCanada Corporation’s Keystone XL pipeline — which NASA climate scientist James Hansen has said could be “game over” for a stable climate — transports bitumen, a type of crude oil extracted from tar sands in Alberta, Canada.

If fully executed, the pipeline will expose the tar sands to the global market via the Gulf of Mexico’s export terminals.

Part of the pipeline is operational, but in January 2012 President Obama denied a permit for a portion that would have crossed the Great Plains, home to North America’s largest aquifer. TransCanada is seeking state and federal approval for an alternate Midwest route. In March, the president approved a section between central Oklahoma and the Texas Gulf Coast that is now under construction.

Opponents cite Keystone’s environmental effects: pollution from massive open-pit mines, the potential for pipeline leaks, and the climate dangers of burning the world’s largest tar sands reservoir. Critics also note eminent domain abuse.

Falkland Islands

British company Falkland Oil and Gas recently discovered an estimated 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas offshore from the Falkland Islands. The discovery, which has revived disputes between Britain and Argentina over the British territory’s ownership, might lead to the construction of a gas-to-liquids facility and export terminals. In response to the discovery,
Argentina said that it considers energy exploration off the islands illegal, and refuses to allow Falkland Island ships to use Argentinian ports.