Exhaust from Offshore Platforms Powers Homes
BAY CITY, Texas --- Gulf Coast Green Energy (GCGE),
which offers Earth-friendly solutions for affordable clean energy through
ElectraTherm Waste Heat Generators, has been selected by the Research
Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) for funding of two projects
that help reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas drilling.
Under
the first project, titled "Electrical Power Generation from Produced Water:
Field Demonstration of Ways to Reduce Operating Costs of Small Producers," GCGE
will conduct a three-year demonstration project that generates electricity by
capturing the heat from water used in oil drilling, reducing the amount of
energy needed without burning additional fossil fuels. In the process,
GCGE will provide a prime example of how small oil drilling operations can cut
costs and carbon dioxide emissions while increasing access to previously
hard-to-produce oil resources, "This technology will not only reduce emissions
by producing 'green' electricity on-site that can be used in drilling operations
but also reduce costs to small oil producers, making them more competitive in
the marketplace," GCGE President/CEO Loy Sneary said. "It will successfully
demonstrate how to generate emission-free electricity from the hot water
produced by gas wells that is typically a waste byproduct of natural gas
production".
RPSEA, as well as GCGE and Denbury Resources, will fund the
project as part of the 2008 Small Producer Program, which focuses on the
challenges faced by small oil and gas producers.
GCGE also is a
participant in a project led by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) that
seeks to reduce the environmental footprint associated with operations for all
natural gas drilling while providing greater access to energy resources.
The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems (EFDS)
Program is one of nine projects selected out of 69 for funding by RPSEA's 2008
Unconventional Resources Program, which supports projects that help meet U.S.
energy demands, create jobs and lower costs to the consumers
"The EFDS is part of an effort to identify, develop
and demonstrate cost-effective technologies that reduce environmental threats
and could allow operations in environmentally sensitive areas that are currently
off limits should these areas be opened for development," Sneary said.
Project participants will introduce new low-impact
technologies, such as lightweight drilling rigs with reduced emissions, which
the industry can use to increase production in sensitive areas while at the same
time safeguarding the environment. GCGE will supply equipment to generate power
from the waste heat from the drilling rigs Internal Combustion engines.
In addition to RPSEA funding, financial support has been obtained from
the following: BP America, Devon Energy, Gulf Coast Green Energy, MI Swaco LLC,
Newpark Mats, Huisman Equipment, and KatchKan LTD.
The EFDS project's public participants include Texas
A&M University and its Global Petroleum Research Institute; Sam Houston
State University; University of Arkansas; University of Colorado; Utah State
University; University of Wyoming, West Virginia University; Argonne National
Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; Terra Platforms,
L.L.C; the Environmentally Friendly Drilling Joint Industry
Partnership; The Nature Conservancy; the Natural Resources Defense Council and
the New York State Energy Research Development Authority.
Under a
contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, RPSEA serves as administrator of
the Small Producer and Unconventional Resources programs, which are authorized
under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
About Gulf Coast Green
Energy
Gulf Coast Green Energy (GCGE) is committed to its
customers, by adding to their bottom lines and providing the means for
economical electrical generation. It also is committed to providing equipment
that is environmentally sound and takes great pride in providing an electrical
generating technology that is part of the solution to the global environment by
providing cost-efficient electricity that is emissions free. The company was the
first to embrace the visionary technology offered by ElectraTherm, Inc. by
becoming the distributor of ElectraTherm's Waste Heat Generator technology in
Texas and other states. For more information on GCGE, see www.gulfcoastgreenenergy.com.
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