While in many ways alternative energy remains in its infancy, continuing developments have put the U.S. in a better position relative to energy independence than seemed even thinkable a decade ago. The advent of hydraulic fracturing — known as fracking — has opened up a significant oil and gas supply that continues to lower the need to import resources from abroad. Similarly, advances in solar energy are making it an increasing viable solution, and positive guidance from the solar sector supports this belief. Finally, the U.S. is sitting on huge deposits of kerogen that could contain as much as 6 trillion barrels of oil if it could be extracted.
A case for liquefied natural gas
While thus far liquefied natural gas, or LNG, has remained impractical and unavailable in smaller, non-commercial vehicles, there has been an increasing push toward adopting this fuel for larger applications. Within the past month, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) announced that it’s rolling out a pilot program to test the viability of using LNG to power locomotives at its BNSF Railway. The rail company is the second largest consumer of diesel in the country, using more fuel than any entity other than the U.S. Navy. If rail could effectively switch to LNG, the reduction in oil consumption would be dramatic.
This type of reduction would serve to continue a trend that has already begun. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, oil imports have fallen from a peak of 60% of consumption being supplied by foreign oil to 32%; furthermore, since total consumption has fallen, this means that the lower percentage is of an already smaller number. Similarly, according to a B of A Merrill Lynch estimate, where the U.S. spent $216 billion on natural gas in 2008, that number had fallen to $76 billion in 2012. A large factor for the decrease has been the explosion in supply from fracking operations.
Also aiding this effort is a push being made by Clean Energy Fuels Corp (NASDAQ:CLNE) to build enough LNG filling stations across the country to allow freight to traverse the U.S. in LNG-powered trucks. As the bulk of our goods still travels by truck, if these vehicles could be transitioned to LNG and away from diesel, consumption of foreign oil would fall even further. As the LNG trend continues, the position of the U.S. should continue to improve.
Solar flares
The second week of April saw solar companies explode to the upside, driven largely by bullish comments from First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) about the company’s outlook for the rest of the year through 2015. The company also announced its acquisition of TetraSun under undisclosed financial terms. TetraSun brings expertise with silicon photovoltaic technology that’s been used by other leaders in the field. The acquisition should open up new avenues for First Solar and give the company the ability to improve overall efficiency.
Keep digging for oil
Early estimates suggest that the U.S. may be sitting on enough kerogen to yield up to 6 trillion barrels of oil should the technology become more readily available to extract it. The process by which organic materials become oil takes millions of years, passing through a variety of stages. Fairly early in the process, oil shale is created, which requires the application of high levels of heat to render usable oil for refining; the process is called retorting. In addition, because kerogen isn’t easily liquefied, it can’t be extracted easily and, unlike fracking, requires costly mining operations.
Device used to extract oil from oil shale. Source: State of Colorado GeoSurvey.
