U.S. natural gas industry officials on Thursday defended a controversial drilling technique

U.S. natural gas industry officials on Thursday defended a controversial drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing as the industry braces for possible new government regulations.Hydraulic fracturing injects millions of gallons of water, sand and a proprietary mix of chemicals up to two miles underground where it breaks open fissures in the gas-bearing shale to allow the gas to be extracted.Some environmental groups claim the technique, which is often referred to as “fracking”, is unsafe and threatens supplies of drinking water, but the industry claims its practice is safe.

“There is no known instance where fracking has contaminated someone’s drinking water,” said Will Brackett, the managing editor of the Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter, speaking on an industry panel sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute and Southern Methodist University’s Cox Maguire Energy Institute.Bush, the former U.S. president and Texas oil man, said more natural gas drilling would create more U.S. jobs. Bush did not touch on the hydraulic fracturing debate.

“When you explore for natural gas, when you develop natural gas, when you lay pipelines for natural gas, Americans are working,” Bush said in opening remarks to the conference.Earlier this month, the top U.S. environmental regulator said she was “very concerned” about the practice. The Environmental Protection Agency last week said it will conduct a study of drinking water impacts, which could mean new regulations on a booming area of the energy sector.

An industry scramble to develop vast shale deposits that are estimated to contain enough natural gas to meet U.S. needs for up to a century has brought drilling rigs within the limits of cities like Dallas and Fort Worth.

A bill in Congress would require gas companies to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and give the EPA oversight of the industry, which is now regulated by the states.

Industry officials dismissed any suggestion that their drilling practices were dangerous.”We have had some issues in less than half a dozen cases and they have been mostly mistakes and it is not clear that the issue is directly related to the fracking process itself,” said Randy Foutch, chairman and CEO of privately-held Laredo Petroleum.

Some residents who live near gas rigs in states from Pennsylvania to Wyoming say their water has become undrinkable since drilling companies fractured the wells and they complain of sickness and skin rashes after using the water.

Removing gas from shale rock accounts for 15 to 20 percent of U.S. natural gas production and provides a relatively clean energy source for the United States, which is trying to reduce its dependence on foreign oil.(Reuters)

OKLAHOMA CITY Bad year for biofuel ends on a dour note

Lyle Rudensey holds a cup of refined homemade biodiesel

OKLAHOMA CITY  An alternative fuel for diesel engines is off to a shaky start this year though it emits fewer pollutants and cuts down on petroleum use because it’s made from environmentally friendly waste and vegetable oil.A federal tax credit that provided makers of biodiesel $1 for every gallon expired Friday. As a result, some U.S. producers say they will shut down without the government subsidy.Biodiesel’s woes come on top of a year of problems for the fledgling biofuel industry – an irony given the push to cut down on greenhouse gases and ease the nation’s need for foreign oil. A key driver for the alternative fuel – the high cost of oil – disappeared as diesel prices dropped 18 percent since the beginning of the recession. Then in March the European Union placed import-killing tariffs on biodiesel and other biofuels.It was a huge hit for U.S. biofuel makers, with Europe taking 95 percent of all global exports.Biodiesel, which is usually blended with traditional fuel, had over the past few years been the fastest growing fuel among fleet vehicles like buses, snow plows and garbage trucks.

Those fleets, however, can shift to traditional fuel, as some have, when the prices of diesel drops.The biodiesel industry is now operating at only 15 percent of its potential capacity, according to the National Biodiesel Board, largely because the price of traditional diesel has collapsed. There are close to 180 biodiesel plants operating in about 40 states.The country’s largest biodiesel refinery, in Houston, sits idle. Another major refinery in Hoquiam, Wash., that was restarted recently to meet alternative fuel mandates in Oregon and British Columbia was shut down after an explosion in December.

The loss of the tax credit, which helps pay salaries, buy new equipment and in good times to turn a profit, will hit small producers particularly hard.A one-year extension of the biodiesel tax credit was included in a bill that was approved by the U.S. House recently, but it never made it through the Senate.

Lawmakers say the tax-credit will be retroactive if approved.Production will cease in Valliant, Okla., where Dwight Francis created a biodiesel startup this year as the local timber economy tanked.For each of the 12,000 gallons of biodiesel that Francis produces each week, he has received a $1 tax credit to help keep operations going.

His company has been riding out the economic downturn until now, thanks to the tax credit.”By the time you buy the feedstock and the chemicals to produce the fuel, you have more money in it than you get for the fuel without the tax credit,” Francis said. “We won’t be producing any without the tax credit.”

Ethanol producers, for instance, were hit by a string of bankruptcies, next-generation biofuels were stung by scandal.This summer a federal jury found that Cello Energy, a next-generation biofuel company that specialized in plants-to-fuel technology, had defrauded investors. That is expected to leave the Environmental Protection Agency far short of the millions of gallons of biofuel it had planned to blend into traditional fuel this year.

VeraSun, the country’s second largest ethanol producer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October and its assets sold. Other ethanol refineries were swept up for pennies on the dollar.”You could say the entire biofuels industry has had a rough year,” said Robert McCormick, principal engineer at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

There is little chance that the U.S. will reach alternative fuel benchmarks of 36 billion gallons a year by 2022 in hopes of weaning the nation off foreign oil.Still, ethanol producers appear to be bouncing back and maintain unflagging political support. And the Department of Energy announced last month that next-generation biofuels would get more than $600 million in federal funding.(AP)

Cadillac SRX SUV 2010

Cadillac SRX SUV 2010

The CTS sedan has been a great success for Cadillac, garnering much praise from the automotive media. So it’s no wonder that the 2010 Cadillac SRX leans heavily on the same cabin tech and bold design features that made the CTS so popular. In many ways, the new SRX looks like the CTS on stilts.

When this small SUV arrived in our garage, we were pleased to find cabin tech similar to what we liked so much in the CTS. There was the same LCD that partially stows itself in the dash, leaving a strip visible to show audio information. There was the hard drive-based navigation system with traffic. The car even comes with the record button that saves radio broadcasts, essentially it works like TiVo for radio.

However, there were a few new details included, too. Details that we hope find their way into the next CTS update. For example, Cadillac added a round, color information display to the speedometer that shows a variety of information–such as the trip computer, navigation directions, and even the speed limit of the current road. When starting the SRX, an animation of the Cadillac logo rolls into place, adding a little special effects glory for this high-tech cruiser.

Direct injection religion
GM is adhering to its new direct-injection religion with the 2010 SRX, fitting the small SUV with a 3-liter V-6 engine, which should be the perfect size for this vehicle. For most people, its 265 horsepower will be enough to get to work, make grocery runs, and take the occasional weekend trip to grandma’s house. However, power-mad speed demons will be disappointed with the cars meager reaction when they hit the gas pedal. The SRX engine’s 223 pound-feet of torque does not deliver the kind of thrust to put you firmly in your seat.

However, Cadillac hasn’t forgotten driving enthusiasts. The company has an optional turbocharged 2.8-liter V-6 engine for the 2010 SRX. While the turbocharged engine doesn’t have direct injection, its turbo helps it make 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque.

Our review car came with all-wheel-drive and the 3-liter V-6. It also had a six-speed-automatic transmission, the same as the one used in the CTS. We’ve been impressed with this transmission’s sport mode in other reviews. When racing toward a corner and then hitting the brakes, the transmission will aggressively downshift and hold a low gear as you hit the gas on the way out to the next straightaway. The transmission exhibits similar behavior in the SRX, only the 3-liter engine can’t really realize the transmissions potential. It’s like putting an F-22 pilot into a 747 he might have incredible reflexes, but they will be largely wasted.

Putting the transmission into sport mode enables manual shifting, with sequential gear changes. For a torque converter, these shifts are pretty sharp, and it is best when used to drop a few gears to gain passing power or for engine braking down a long grade.

In standard drive mode, the transmission seeks higher, gas saving gears. The SRX gets an EPA-rated fuel economy of 17 mpg city and 23 mpg highway, fairly typical numbers for a small SUV. In our driving, we only achieved 19.4 mpg.