Energy
PRESS ROOM: New Report Shows Robust Natural Gas and Oil Industry Commitment to Workplace Safety
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Safety has always been paramount to the natural gas and oil industry. As this report demonstrates, the industry’s leading workplace safety record reflects our commitment to safe and healthy working environments,” said Debra Phillips, vice president of API Global Industry Services (GIS).
Employees of the natural gas and oil industry experience injuries and illnesses at a rate substantially below the U.S. private sector due to industry practices and commitment to safety
WASHINGTON – API today released its comprehensive Workplace Safety Report showing that occupational injuries and illness for the natural gas and oil industry occur at a substantially lower rate than the U.S. private sector and are continuing to decline.
“Safety has always been paramount to the natural gas and oil industry. As this report demonstrates, the industry’s leading workplace safety record reflects our commitment to safe and healthy working environments,” said Debra Phillips, vice president of API Global Industry Services (GIS). “With strong industry leadership, we continue to enhance our approach to training, prevention and continuous improvement – incorporating advanced technologies, materials and practices as we strive toward our industry-wide goal of zero incidents.”
Industry’s safety initiatives are recognized by the chief authorities on safety, including the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which has incorporated a number of API’s recommended practices for workplace safety into the agency’s own standards. The Workplace Safety Report compares the safety rates of job-related nonfatal injuries and illnesses of the U.S. natural gas and oil industry with comparable U.S. industries. Information in the report is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Data from the Workplace Safety Report includes:
- The 2017 industry rate of job-related nonfatal injuries and illnesses was 1.7 incidents per 100 full-time workers versus 2.8 incidents for the U.S. private sector.
- The industry’s incidence rate has decreased by 41 percent since 2008. The private sector’s rate decreased by 28 percent since 2008.
- The 2017 incidence rate for exploration and production was 1.1 (offshore was 0.6) per 100 full-time workers compared to 1.5 for U.S. mining sector.
- Pipeline infrastructure is an extremely safe way to transport natural gas and oil products. The pipeline rate rounds to 0.0 for almost every year, including 2017, compared to the 2017 rate of 4.6 for all of U.S. transportation and warehousing.
In addition to releasing its report, API was proud to partner with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for “Safe+Sound Week” a nationwide event in August of 2018 to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of safety and health programs. This includes management leadership, worker participation and a systematic approach to finding and fixing hazards in workplaces. API also published a handbook, “Rules to Live By,” that contains fundamental safety reminders for workers and employers. Each page of the handbook may be printed as a poster to remind workers of important safety tips while doing things such as working at heights, implementing stop work authority or driving safely.
API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the natural gas and oil industry, which supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs and nearly 8 percent of the U.S. economy. API’s more than 600 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation’s energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 47 million Americans.
Black History
Alice Parker: The Innovator Behind the Modern Gas Furnace
Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1895, Alice Parker lived during a time when women, especially African American women, faced significant social and systemic barriers. Despite these challenges, her contributions to home heating technology have had a lasting impact.
By Tamara Shiloh
Alice Parker was a trailblazing African American inventor whose innovative ideas forever changed how we heat our homes.
Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1895, Parker lived during a time when women, especially African American women, faced significant social and systemic barriers. Despite these challenges, her contributions to home heating technology have had a lasting impact.
Parker grew up in New Jersey, where winters could be brutally cold. Although little is documented about her personal life, her education played a crucial role in shaping her inventive spirit. She attended Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., where she may have developed her interest in practical solutions to everyday challenges.
Before Parker’s invention, most homes were heated using wood or coal-burning stoves. These methods were labor-intensive, inefficient, and posed fire hazards. Furthermore, they failed to provide even heating throughout a home, leaving many rooms cold while others were uncomfortably warm.
Parker recognized the inefficiency of these heating methods and imagined a solution that would make homes more comfortable and energy-efficient during winter.
In 1919, she patented her design for a gas-powered central heating system, a groundbreaking invention. Her design used natural gas as a fuel source to distribute heat throughout a building, replacing the need for wood or coal. The system allowed for thermostatic control, enabling homeowners to regulate the temperature in their homes efficiently.
What made her invention particularly innovative was its use of ductwork, which channeled warm air to different parts of the house. This concept is a precursor to the modern central heating systems we use today.
While Parker’s design was never fully developed or mass-produced during her lifetime, her idea laid the groundwork for modern central heating systems. Her invention was ahead of its time and highlighted the potential of natural gas as a cleaner, more efficient alternative to traditional heating methods.
Parker’s patent is remarkable not only for its technical innovation but also because it was granted at a time when African Americans and women faced severe limitations in accessing patent protections and recognition for their work. Her success as an inventor during this period is a testament to her ingenuity and determination.
Parker’s legacy lives on in numerous awards and grants – most noticeably in the annual Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award. That distinction is given out by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce to celebrate outstanding women innovators in Parker’s home state.
The details of Parker’s later years are as sketchy as the ones about her early life. The specific date of her death, along with the cause, are also largely unknown.
Business
Gov. Newsom Issues Executive Order to Tackle Rising Electric Bills
Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order to help alleviate the financial burden of skyrocketing electric bills on residents. This directive instructs the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Energy Commission to identify strategies to lower electricity costs and prevent rapid increases in the future.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order to help alleviate the financial burden of skyrocketing electric bills on residents. This directive instructs the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Energy Commission to identify strategies to lower electricity costs and prevent rapid increases in the future.
Among the key actions proposed, the governor emphasized a closer examination of utility expenditures related to wildfire mitigation, which accounts for about 13% of residential electric bills.
Newsom underscored the state’s commitment to balancing affordability with environmental goals.
“We’re taking action to address rising electricity costs and save consumers money on their bills,” said Newsom. “California is proving that we can address affordability concerns as we continue our world-leading efforts to combat the climate crisis.”
California now has the second-highest electric rates in the country, trailing only Hawaii, with residential bills having surged as much as 110% over the past decade. The largest utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, have seen rate hikes of 20% to 50% in just the last three years, approved by the state’s regulatory bodies.
The executive order also directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to explore increasing the California Climate Credit, which provides some relief on energy costs for residents. Additionally, the PUC is urged to pursue federal funding opportunities to further reduce electric expenses.
While consumer advocates welcomed the governor’s focus on lowering costs, concerns were raised regarding potential cuts to essential clean energy programs. CALPIRG, a consumer group, pointed out that the real issue behind high utility bills is wasteful spending by utilities and urged greater accountability.
Community
Advanced Conductors Provide Path for Grid Expansion
Utility companies in the United States could double electric transmission capacity by 2035 by replacing existing transmission lines with those made from advanced materials, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
By Matthew Burciaga
UC Berkeley News
Utility companies in the United States could double electric transmission capacity by 2035 by replacing existing transmission lines with those made from advanced materials, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Led by Duncan Callaway, professor and chair of the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), and Amol Phadke, an affiliate and senior scientist at the Goldman School of Public Policy, the first-of-its-kind study details a faster and more cost-effective way to expand the grid and connect the more than 1,200 gigawatts of renewable energy projects awaiting approval. The analysis was first published last December as a working paper by the Energy Institute at Haas and has been covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, Heatmap News, and other news outlets.
“Expanding transmission capacity is critical to decarbonization, and we sought to study ways to build it faster and cheaper,” said Callaway.
It currently takes 10 to 15 years to build a new power line and the U.S. is building transmission lines at a lower rate than it was in the past decade. Without sufficient capacity, renewable energy projects often sit in limbo for years as transmission operators study what upgrades—if any—are needed to accommodate the increased loads.
The authors modeled various scenarios to determine if replacing existing transmission conductors with those made with advanced composite-core materials—a process known as reconductoring—could provide a pathway to faster grid expansion.
Several reconductoring projects have been initiated in Belgium and the Netherlands, and utility companies in the U.S. have used the material to string transmission lines across wide spans like river crossings. That technology, however, has not made its way to the majority of overhead power lines that feed residential and commercial customers.
“As we learned more about the technology, we realized that no one had done the detailed modeling needed to understand the technology’s potential for large-scale transmission capacity increases,” said Phadke.
Based on the authors’ projections, it is cheaper—and quicker—for utility companies to replace the 53,000 existing transmission lines with advanced composite-core materials than it is to build entirely new transmission lines.
They assert that doing so would reduce wholesale electricity costs by 3% to 4% on average—translating to $85 billion in system cost savings by 2035 and $180 billion by 2050.
“The level of interest we’ve received from federal and state agencies, transmission companies and utilities is extremely encouraging, and since our initial report, the Department of Energy has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to reconductoring projects,” said co-author Emilia Chojkiewicz, a PhD student in ERG and an affiliate of the Goldman School of Public Policy. “We are looking forward to learning about these projects as they unfold.”
Additional co-authors include Nikit Abhyankar and Umed Paliwal, affiliates at the Goldman School of Public Policy; and Casey Baker and Ric O’Connell of GridLab, a nonprofit that provides comprehensive technical grid expertise to policy makers and advocates.
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