Energy Exchange

New Rystad cost analysis makes case for EPA to end routine flaring in final methane rule

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 28, 2022

Reducing the amount of methane emitted from oil and gas infrastructure is among the cheapest and simplest solutions we have to reduce global warming quickly while protecting public health. The Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of developing rules to curb these emissions from oil and gas producers across the country.

A new analysis commissioned by EDF and conducted by Rystad Energy makes it clear that eliminating routine flaring — a major source of rogue emissions — should be part of EPA’s methane rulemaking.

Though there are valid safety reasons for some minimal flaring, most of it occurs via routine flaring — when oil producers simply don’t have a place to put the natural gas that emerges from the ground during oil production and simply burn it off. More than $1 billion of natural gas is wasted at flares every year, driving unnecessary and harmful climate and local air pollution — including methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas — when natural gas is not fully burned.

Rystad’s report includes two key findings that should inform EPA’s rulemaking.

Also posted in Colorado, Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas, Texas / Tagged New Mexico | Comments are closed

Solving the EV charging challenge: A how-to guide for regulators

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 15, 2022

By Larissa Koehler and Pamela MacDougall

We are at a pivotal moment in the electric vehicle revolution. Demand for electric cars outpaced their fossil fuel alternatives in the United States, Europe and China last year. And, demand for electric trucks and buses could jump tenfold over the next decade as interest among business and government surges.

Yet the complexities around charging still remain a major barrier to wide-scale adoption.

While state and federal legislators are setting ambitious goals for the electrification of vehicles, utility regulators across the country are the ones untangling many of the (literal) wires of how to achieve these targets. Via utility commission proceedings to consider aspects of vehicle electrification, utility plans to electrify vehicles, and stakeholder working groups, regulators are increasingly being tasked with figuring out how to integrate the tsunami of EVs plugging into the grid.

A new report from EDF, Accelerating Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: A How-to Guide for Regulators, offers guideposts for policymakers as they navigate this unprecedented transition in a way that’s clean, equitable, reliable and cost-effective.

A few highlights include:

Also posted in Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

New electricity rate will make truck and bus charging cheaper, cleaner in California

By Michael Colvin / Published: November 18, 2021

State regulators just approved a first-of-its-kind charging rate for electric trucks and buses in northern California that will make it more affordable for fleet operators to make the switch from diesel to electric.

This new “dynamic” rate changes on an hourly basis, offering more opportunities for fleet operators to charge their vehicles when electricity is cheap (for example, when the grid is underutilized or when clean electricity is plentiful). In 2019, state regulators authorized Pacific Gas and Electric Company to offer a commercial electric vehicle time of use rate; regulators also directed the utility to request a more dynamic rate option, which is what was just approved. PG&E offering a menu of options tracks with EDF’s recent recommendation that multiple options — to accommodate many different operational use cases — are needed to make commercial vehicle electrification as affordable and clean as possible.

Also posted in California, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

After banner EV commitments at COP26, it’s time for U.S. to lead

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 18, 2021

By Jason Mathers and Peter Zalzal

The global convening of international climate leaders at COP 26 delivered transformative commitments from countries and companies around the pace of transition to zero-emission vehicles. Leading automakers such as Ford, GM and Mercedes-Benz, as well as more than two dozen countries agreed that by 2035, all new cars sold should be zero-emission. Fifteen countries also agreed that the same should be achieved for trucks and buses by 2040.

It’s great to see global commitments to these targets (which EDF has previously called for), because transportation is the primary source of climate pollution and a leading cause of premature deaths around the world. However, missing from both of these historic agreements was the United States.

Also posted in Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

Canada’s path to reducing methane must be built on all available data

By Shareen Yawanarajah Ph.D. / Published: November 18, 2021

Last week, at the United Nations annual climate conference, Canada joined over 100 other countries pledging to reduce 30% of global methane emissions by the year 2030. Methane is a fast-acting greenhouse gas responsible for over a quarter of human-caused global warming. Reducing methane emissions, along with carbon dioxide, is absolutely critical to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Canada is among the world’s largest methane emitters, and oil and gas is a significant contributor. So consequently, living up to this global commitment of 30% reduction by 2030 will have to include meaningful cuts to oil and gas sector methane emissions.

Also posted in Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas / Tagged Canada | Comments are closed

Not-so-marginal wells and the need for strong EPA regulations

By Rosalie Winn / Published: October 15, 2021

There’s a common misconception that “marginal” or low-producing wells are nothing more than a marginal problem when it comes to the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions.

The reality is that these wells make up about 80% of all active wells in the U.S, over 560,000 in total. These are not the mom-and-pop operations some portray — rather, the vast majority of marginal wells are owned by large, well-capitalized companies with significant resources to curb wasteful emissions.

As the Environmental Protection Agency readies landmark rules to limit methane pollution from the nation’s existing oil and gas wells, ensuring those standards apply to marginal sites is critical for protecting our climate and the local communities breathing harmful pollution from these wells.

Also posted in Methane, Methane regulatons / Tagged New Mexico | Comments are closed