Energy Exchange

New Study Improves Understanding of Natural Gas Vehicle Methane Emissions, But Supply Chain Emissions Loom Large

By EDF Blogs / Published: January 6, 2017

Many commercial fleet operators have considered switching their fleet vehicles from diesel to natural gas to take advantage of the growing abundance of natural gas and reduced emissions. Natural gas trucks have the potential to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions (NOx) from freight trucks and buses.

Yet, adopting the emission reduction technologies and practices needed to curb the methane escaping during the production, transport and delivery of natural gas is critical to unlock the full environmental potential of these vehicles. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas released to the atmosphere at every step from production wells to the vehicle fuel tanks. Even small amounts of methane emitted across the natural gas supply chain can undermine the climate benefit of fuel-switching vehicles to natural gas for some period of time, as EDF research has shown. Read More »

Also posted in General, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

EDF Methane Mapping Partnerships Accelerate Technological Advances in Gas Utility Sector

By Simi George / Published: January 5, 2017

googlecar2 The New York Public Service Commission recently approved plans by National Grid, the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast, to use advanced leak detection and quantification technologies developed by EDF and Google Earth Outreach in order to maximize the environmental and ratepayer benefits of a three-year, $3 billion capital investment program. This program includes plans to replace 585 miles of old, leak-prone pipes on the company’s systems in Long Island and parts of New York City.

The Commission’s December 16 order marks a major step forward in EDF’s efforts to accelerate the diffusion of environmentally beneficial technologies – in this case cutting edge methane emission measurement tools – by natural gas utilities. Read More »

Also posted in Energy Innovation, Natural Gas / Tagged technology | Comments are closed

Why Pennsylvania is moving forward to reduce methane pollution

By Andrew Williams / Published: December 21, 2016

Oil and gas methane emissions in Pennsylvania. Image source: Environmental Protection Agency

Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) took an important first step to implement new requirements aimed at reducing methane emissions from new oil and gas operations.

Methane is the main component of natural gas – 51% of Pennsylvania households depend on it to fuel their homes. The more methane is wasted, the less there is to deliver to the PA communities that depend on it. Read More »

Also posted in Air Quality, Climate, Natural Gas / Tagged Pennsylvania | Comments are closed

Western Leaders, Attorneys General Support BLM’s Oil and Gas Waste Policies in Court

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 16, 2016

By Jon Goldstein and Peter Zalzal

The legal fight to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) recent efforts to prevent oil and gas companies from wasting methane on public and tribal owned land continued yesterday.

EDF and a coalition of local, regional, tribal and national allies filed a brief opposing efforts by industry organizations and a handful states to block BLM’s protections before they even come into effect. Read More »

Also posted in BLM Methane, California, Natural Gas / Tagged Bureau of Land Management | Comments are closed

Managing Methane: New Jersey’s Largest Utility Using Better Data for Better Decisions

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 13, 2016

Data helps prioritize gas line replacement

By Simi Rose George and Virginia Palacios

A new method of prioritizing gas infrastructure improvements is resulting in faster reductions of greenhouse gas emissions in New Jersey. Just over a year ago, we wrote about an order from the state’s Board of Public Utilities approving a settlement agreement for a $905 million, three-year pipe replacement program by PSE&G, New Jersey’s largest gas utility. This order, and the underlying settlement agreement were pioneering in one major aspect – PSE&G agreed to use environmental data to inform its infrastructure improvement efforts.

The order provided that the company would use data on leak flow rate (the speed at which methane is leaking from gas pipes) to help prioritize its local distribution pipe (“gas line”) replacement program. PSE&G is the first utility in the country to do so. The idea was that this data would be gathered by EDF as part of a collaborative project with Google Earth Outreach and Colorado State University through a survey of sections of PSE&G’s service territory targeted for gas line replacement. Read More »

Also posted in Climate, Data Access, Energy Efficiency, Natural Gas, New Jersey / Tagged technology | Comments are closed

Will Shareholders Get Money’s Worth As Oil Giants Link Executive Pay to Climate Results?

By Ben Ratner / Published: December 12, 2016

Money talks. That’s why one key element in the battle against climate change must be aligning the financial compensation of executives to tangible corporate efforts to decarbonize.

Better aligning incentives is particularly important in energy intensive industries, where the status quo can encourage decisions on strategy, investment, and operations that jeopardize the planet’s climate, while also generating risk to investors that can, ultimately, undercut a company’s long-term viability.

In a promising sign, Royal Dutch Shell CEO recently announced that executive bonuses at the oil and gas giant will include greenhouse gas goals. “We have linked executive remuneration in the past to energy intensity and next year we are going to make it even more specific to the CO2 footprint metrics associated with these energy efficiencies” he said. Ten percent of bonus payments to executives, including the CEO and CFO at Shell, will reportedly be linked to “greenhouse gas management”. Read More »

Also posted in Natural Gas / Comments are closed