Energy Exchange

Japan’s urban methane study shows data gaps and mitigation opportunities

By Mark Lunt and Mina Berkow  

  • The first study of its kind in Japan discovered Osaka’s urban emissions several times higher than official inventories report.  
  • Up to 75% of Osaka’s street-level methane emissions came from man-made sources such as natural gas used in restaurants and buildings, revealing an overlooked but promising opportunity to cut climate pollution and save energy.   

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Blending Hydrogen into New Jersey Gas Pipelines is Not a Viable Decarbonization Strategy

By Curt Stokes, Director and Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund

  • A 20% hydrogen blend by volume wastes 70% of its energy before it reaches households, demands 1.8 times more clean electricity than New Jersey needs to decarbonize its entire economy, and cuts building emissions by only 5%.
  • By contrast, electric heat pumps deliver the same heat output using 87% less renewable electricity and can nearly eliminate building emissions.

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Electric Trucks and Buses: A Challenge and Opportunity for Rural Co-Ops

By Dakoury Godo-Solo, Environmental Defense Fund and Lidiya Kassahun and Margarita Parra, Clean Energy Works

  • Rural electric co-ops face both challenges and opportunities as electric trucks and buses drive new demand. Proactive planning is essential to avoid costly grid upgrades, as well as missed economic and public health benefits.
  • A new report prepared by Clean Energy Works for EDF makes the case that by acting proactively now, rural co-ops can accommodate (and even attract) medium and heavy-duty EVs while also reducing long-term grid upgrade costs to their members.

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A Fair Transition is on the Horizon for Shipping Sector this October

By Erica Morehouse

  • The International Maritime Organization will have its chance to show leadership by adopting the Net Zero Framework, a set of global measures that include a fuel standard that accounts for the full lifecycle emissions of marine fuels and a legally binding greenhouse gas pricing mechanism to help steer international shipping toward net-zero emissions by 2050.
  • For shipping’s transition to be lasting and effective, climate action must be Just and Equitable. By fairly addressing unequal impacts and benefits and amplifying the voices of those most affected, Member States can ensure solutions that are both impactful and sustainable for all.

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Truly clean hydrogen is desperately needed: Will an ISO Standard help or hinder its climate potential?

By Morgan Rote, Pete Budden and Joe Williams

  • The first international hydrogen standard is poised to shape national hydrogen policies, but in its current form it overlooks critical science on electricity sourcing, methane leakage and hydrogen’s own warming impacts — risking the credibility of clean hydrogen as a true climate solution.
  • To ensure hydrogen delivers real climate benefits and advances COP30’s clean energy transition goals, the hydrogen standard should include robust, science-based guardrails.

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Blending green hydrogen is a wasteful detour on Illinois’ path to clean energy

By Curt Stokes & Sonya Jindal

  • Hydrogen blending is a poor choice for Illinois’s gas pipelines as 70% of the energy content would be lost before it reaches buildings, making direct electrification with renewable energy and efficient heat pumps a far better option.
  • A 20% hydrogen blend would reduce emissions from gas-heated buildings by only 5% while consuming nearly 8 times more electricity than efficient heat pumps.

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