Energy Exchange

Without action, unreported methane pollution from Saskatchewan could threaten Canada’s climate goals and create more fallout from climate change

By EDF Blogs / Published: July 13, 2023

It’s no secret that the rampant, out-of-control wildfires which are devastating parts of Canada and creating toxic air quality conditions for millions of people, are exacerbated by climate change. This makes it all the more crucial to rapidly reduce the greenhouse gases behind the climate crisis.

In 2020, Canada’s federal government implemented new regulations to stem the methane emitted from the oil and gas industry — the leading source of methane in the country. The protections were intended to help cut emissions by 40% – 45% by 2025. Subsequently, the federal government significantly increased its methane ambition and set a 75% reduction goal by 2030.

But a new study is revealing some problems with the way Saskatchewan is managing emissions from a very specific type of oil production known as Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand. It just so happens that a lot of gas, most of which is methane, also comes out during this process. Read More »

Trust, but verify: How Colorado must lead as latest methane rulemaking advances

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 22, 2023

By Nini Gu

Colorado’s oil and gas regulators face an important decision that will determine whether the state can continue to successfully cut methane emissions and reach its statutory climate targets.

In 2021, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission adopted a rule that limits how much greenhouse gas can be emitted per barrel of oil and gas produced. However, the 2021 GHG intensity rule left open the critical question of how oil and gas operators can demonstrate that their emissions comply with the new standard.

Allowing companies to determine for themselves how to measure and report emissions without strong guidance and a requirement to use direct measurement data threatens to undermine the intensity standard and set a bad precedent for other jurisdictions — in the U.S. and abroad — that are looking to implement performance-based standards.

Fortunately, the Air Pollution Control Division is now undertaking a GHG Intensity Verification rulemaking to address this glaring omission, offering the opportunity to create a program based on best-available science and grounded in real and meaningful outcomes.

This GHG Intensity Verification Rule must be accurate, reliable and capable of directly quantifying the volume of real-world methane emissions so Colorado can make informed decisions to protect communities and the climate.

Also posted in Air Quality, Colorado, Gas to Clean / Comments are closed

The first step in a new industrial revolution: raising the bar for clean hubs

By EDF Blogs / Published: February 2, 2023

By Nichole Saunders

We’re at the threshold of a multi-billion dollar industrial decarbonization revolution that will usher in clean energy projects around the world. Unlike the industrial revolution of 100 years ago, imagine if this next one genuinely considered environmental and public good alongside economic objectives.

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Financing / Comments are closed

Charging infrastructure is key for New Jersey fleets to electrify

By Pamela MacDougall / Published: October 14, 2022

This is the first installment of a two-part blog series about zero-emission truck and bus charging infrastructure in New Jersey.

Electrifying transportation — particularly trucks and buses — is among the key elements New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan identifies to help the state decarbonize its economy by 2050. It is one of the most powerful ways to reduce pollution, improve equity and health and spark economic growth throughout the state. In 2021, New Jersey became the first state in the Northeast to adopt the Advanced Clean Trucks rule — requiring manufactures to produce zero-emission trucks and buses. The state is also a signatory to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management’s Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Memorandum of Understanding, requiring 30% of vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2030. To enable these benefits and support meeting New Jersey’s electric truck and bus adoption goals, sufficient and timely charging infrastructure is necessary.

Also posted in Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

How to stop worrying about gas prices for good: Act quickly to fully decarbonize the economy

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 10, 2022

By: Katelyn Roedner Sutter and Michael Colvin

This past summer, Californians have been hit hard by inflation: rising food costs, utility bills and nowhere more obviously than at the gas pump. The cost to fill up a tank has many potential causes and lots of experts are weighing in — see here, here and here. Regardless of the cause, those with the tightest budgets are being hit hardest.

Last week, Gov. Newsom called a special session of the legislature to address high gas prices, and the state began sending direct rebates to Californians to help provide some immediate relief. In the longer term, we need to remember that while sending checks is helpful, the lasting solution to ending this gas price madness is a swift transition to a 100% clean economy.

Also posted in California, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

New study finds flaring source of five times more pollution than previously thought

By Jon Goldstein / Published: September 30, 2022

A new study out today in the journal Science finds that climate-warming methane emissions from flaring, the practice of burning off gas rather than capturing it for productive use, are five times higher than government estimates — primarily due to unlit and malfunctioning flares. Researchers conclude that flares are combusting at a 91% efficiency rate, significantly lower than the 98% efficiency rate that is assumed by operators and policymakers.

These findings confirm that our current environmental standards are not adequately controlling this pollution source and underline the need for urgent regulatory action from the Environmental Protection Agency and Bureau of Land Management to limit pollution and waste from flaring.

Also posted in Air Quality, BLM Methane, General, Methane, Methane regulatons / Comments are closed