Energy Exchange

Methane rollbacks test BP, ExxonMobil, Shell commitments to support Paris goals

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 12, 2018

As business executives join leaders from government and civil society for COP24 in Katowice, Poland, a regulatory rollback across the Atlantic puts a sharp focus on the seriousness of energy companies’ commitments to support the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report detailed the devastating consequences from a rapidly warming planet. One critical piece of the solution is reducing emissions of highly potent short-lived climate pollutants. In fact, deep reductions in emissions of non-CO₂ pollutants, particularly methane, are essential to staying below temperature targets, and have the added benefits of improving public health, food security, and ecosystems.

The oil and gas industry is a leading source of potent methane emissions. But in the world’s largest oil and gas producing nation—the United States—the Trump Administration is working to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, while simultaneously rolling back common sense standards to limit methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

Posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged COP24, Methane, oil and gas, Paris Agreement | Comments are closed

EPA hearing illustrates broad support for methane rule

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 10, 2018

By Rosalie Winn and Matthew McGee

Last month, EPA held its one and only public hearing on a proposed rollback of federal methane protections.

The Trump Administration’s attempt to gut rules that cut methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas facilities—the first step of a two-pronged effort to eliminate federal regulation of methane altogether—was met by near-universal condemnation from the scores of individuals who testified at EPA’s Denver headquarters.

Opposition to the rollback came from many corners: parents concerned for their children’s health, tribal members worried about the toll on their native lands, and investors and scientists alarmed at the threat to our economy and climate.

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged EPA | Comments are closed

With dynamic electricity pricing, more data can lead to more savings

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 15, 2018

By Kim Sha and Ben Liu, clean energy interns

Illinois’ largest utility, ComEd, is almost finished deploying advanced metering infrastructure to its customers. In fact, there are now more than 3.8 million installed smart meters in Illinois, feeding anonymized energy-use data – recorded in half-hourly kilowatt-hours – back from the grid.

How to make use of this unwieldy flood of data and enhance the efficiency of the grid? Our new paper, Modelling Marginal System Costs for the Commonwealth Edison Distribution Network, provides a framework for regulators, utilities and other researchers to begin to examine the insights provided by smart meter data, highlighting opportunities to save money for customers and utilities alike. Specifically, our study shows that under real-time electricity pricing, ComEd customers can save money not only by changing how much electricity they use, but by adjusting when they use it.

Posted in Illinois, Time of Use / Comments are closed

In memory of Henry Henderson

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 7, 2018

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Henry Henderson, who spent years advocating for the environment as the head of the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Midwest team.

Victor Rojas, Senior Manager for Financial Policy at EDF, had the good fortune to work at the Chicago Department of Environment (DOE) some years ago. Although Henry Henderson had long since moved on to the NRDC, his imprint was felt throughout the entire portfolio of environmental initiatives and projects pursued by DOE. From the groundbreaking Chicago Climate Action Plan to sustainable business and infrastructure; from energy efficiency to brownfields; from habitat preservation to environmental justice – all of them had their genesis in Henry’s tenure as the city’s first DOE Commissioner. As such, his legacy as an innovator and environmental champion remains embedded in City of Chicago environmental efforts to this day.

When EDF started working in Chicago in 2013, Henry was not only extremely welcoming, but also helpful in integrating EDF into the Midwest advocacy scene.

He will be sorely missed.

Posted in General / Comments are closed

These red and blue states are tackling climate change since Trump won’t

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 2, 2018

By Keith Zukowski, Communications Project Manager

If you’ve been focused on recent reports of climate disaster, or on the Trump administration’s relentless attacks against environmental safeguards and climate science, you’re probably worrying we’re not making progress – at all.

But look a little closer, right here in the United States, and you’ll see that people aren’t waiting around. Instead of giving in to a warmer, more chaotic world, states across the country have stepped up, and into, the vacuum left by the federal government.

They’re implementing creative, innovative solutions that tackle climate change while prioritizing people, our economy and the environment. While federal policies will ultimately be necessary to fully take on climate change, these states are proving that action is both doable and good for the economy.

Posted in California, Clean Energy, Climate, Colorado, New Jersey, North Carolina, Renewable Energy, Wyoming / Comments are closed

Comprehensive climate reporting must include methane: New report shows you how

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 22, 2018

By Kate Gaumond and Sean Wright

Just last month 13 of the world’s largest oil and gas majors—including ExxonMobil, BP and Shell —came together for a new commitment to reducing a key super pollutant. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is the second leading contributor to climate change and over 80 times more potent than carbon when leaked into the atmosphere in the short-term. What’s more surprising? The coalition’s new methane target proceeded despite an uncertain regulatory landscape in the U.S.

One of 76 recent environmental rollbacks, the Trump administration’s latest move toward undoing common-sense methane regulations is expected by the EPA’s own estimates to allow an additional 480,000 tons of methane emissions. Yet behind the scenes, pressure on industry to transparently reduce emissions is coming from an unexpected source: investors. Investors understand the material risk methane poses their portfolios and have been urging companies to act. Given the lack of current national policy leadership in the U.S., investor pressure on industry to manage climate risks like methane will likely only increase.

Posted in Climate, Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed