Data centers and energy
🔥 Natural Gas Power
Learn where natural gas comes from, how it moves and becomes electricity, what it costs and emits, and what each side gets right in the fights over new gas plants and pipelines.
- 1What natural gas is and where it comes fromMethane in rock, conventional versus shale, how horizontal drilling and fracking work, and where US gas is produced.14 min
- 2Moving gas: pipelines, storage and LNGHow gas gets from the wellhead to a power plant, who regulates each piece, and how the Northwest is supplied.15 min
- 3Turning gas into power: turbines, combined cycle and enginesHow simple-cycle turbines, combined-cycle plants and reciprocating engines work, what heat rate means, and how fast each can respond.15 min
- 4Gas in the grid: share, coal, renewables and data centersHow gas became the largest US power source, what jobs it does next to solar and wind, and why data centers set off a rush for new gas plants.15 min
- 5Prices and volatility: Henry Hub, basis and your power billHow gas is priced, why regional prices split from the benchmark, what drives winter spikes, and how fuel costs reach electric bills.14 min
- 6Emissions: CO2, methane leaks, NOx and air permitsWhat burning gas emits compared with coal, how methane leakage changes the climate math, and how local air permits for gas plants work.16 min
- 7Safety and local impacts: pipelines, compressors, well sites and landWhat goes wrong with gas infrastructure, how often, what neighbors live with, and how eminent domain works for pipelines.14 min
- 8The debates: bridge or lock-in, cold snaps, and gas versus storageThe strongest case on each side of the big natural gas arguments, what the evidence settles and what it leaves open.17 min