The Marcellus Shale boom has inspired some in Philadelphia to imagine their city as the "next Houston"—if it can attract the businesses and infrastructure to bring oil and gas in for the benefit of a homegrown manufacturing economy.
Patrick Kerkstra interviews Phil Rinaldi, the CEO of Philadelphia Energy Solutions and the "public face" behind plans to position Philadelphia as a global "energy hub."
According to Kerkstra's explanation of the plan, "Rinaldi proposes constructing a new, very big pipeline, with enough capacity not just to supply existing demand (which is how pipelines usually get built) but future demand as well. He imagines companies with high-energy needs moving to the city in big numbers, both driving up demand for gas and creating jobs." (For a more complete background on the energy hub idea, see an article by Kerkstra from September.)
The interview delves into the likelihood of the energy hub idea coming to fruition, which, Rinaldi makes very clear, begins with the construction of a pipeline into the city. So far, according to the interview, the idea of building a pipeline has not proceeded as far as route planning, so there's still a long way to go.
FULL STORY: The Energy Hub Architect Talks Politics and Plausibility
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