Weekly Clean Energy Roundup March 12, 2008

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Report Places Even Odds on Hoover Dam Running Dry by 2017

A new study warns that the 2,080-megawatt Hoover Dam could have too little water to produce power within the next decade. The study by researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography concludes that the growing demand for water in the West, combined with reduced runoff due to climate change, are causing a net deficit of nearly 1 million acre-feet of water per year in the Colorado River system, which includes Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Lake Mead feeds the Hoover Dam, and the researchers estimate a 50% chance that Lake Mead could drop too low for power production by 2017. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Hoover Dam is one of the largest hydropower facilities in the nation, producing enough power to serve 1.3 million people in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

With recent droughts in the West, the Colorado River system is currently operating at only half of its capacity, and the researchers estimate that the system is already operating at a deficit. They find a 50% chance that Lake Mead could run completely dry by 2021 if the climate changes as expected and if future water demand is not curtailed. The research paper has been accepted for publication in "Water Resources Research," a publication of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). See the AGU press release and the description of Hoover Dam on the Bureau of Reclamation Web site.

EIA: Record Oil Prices to Cause a Gasoline Price Spike

Crude oil prices are at record highs and are being felt at the pump, with the national average price of regular gasoline expected to peak at $3.50 per gallon this spring, according to a new report from DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA's "Short-Term Energy Outlook," released yesterday, notes that the spot price of crude oil closed at nearly $108 per barrel on Monday and is expected to average $102 per barrel for the month of March, up from an average of $95 per barrel in February. As a result, some areas of the country may experience short-term peaks in regular gasoline prices exceeding $4 per gallon, while the price of gasoline for the year as a whole is expected to average $3.21 per gallon. Diesel fuel prices will be even higher, averaging $3.70 per gallon for March and April and $3.45 per gallon for the full year. And according to the American Automobile Association's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, motor fuels have already hit record prices, with regular gasoline averaging $3.23 per gallon and diesel fuel averaging $3.85 per gallon as of yesterday. See the EIA's "Short-Term Energy Outlook," the Daily Fuel Gauge Report, and the latest crude oil spot prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange Web site.

The EIA expects the higher prices to have a direct impact on petroleum consumption in the United States. The total U.S. consumption of liquid fuels and petroleum products averaged 20.7 million barrels per day in 2007, but is projected to increase by only 40,000 barrels per day in 2008. With the rapid increase in ethanol production to meet the new national Renewable Fuel Standard, the growth in liquid fuel consumption will be exceeded by the growth in ethanol production, causing U.S. petroleum consumption to drop by 90,000 barrels per day. For the world as a whole, however, petroleum consumption is projected to increase by 1.3 million barrels per day by the end of 2008. The EIA expects industrialized countries to increase their demand by only 200,000 barrels per day this year, while the bulk of the demand growth will occur in China, India, the Middle East oil-producing countries, and other Asian countries.

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Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

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