Energy Exchange

BLM Tackles Waste, Methane Pollution on Federal and Tribal Lands

By Dan Grossman / Published: January 22, 2016

In an important step forward in curbing methane emissions from the nation’s oil and gas sector, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today announced a regulatory proposal aimed at wasteful practices that shortchange taxpayers, squander energy resources and threaten the Earth’s climate. The proposal, which will apply to both new and existing oil and gas facilities, begins to fill an important gap left by the EPA in August when that agency proposed to reduce emissions only from future facilities, ignoring the millions of oil and gas emissions sources already in operation.

Oil and gas companies that operate on our nation’s federal and tribal lands are exploiting a resource that belongs to the public and the Native American tribes. These operators should be held to the highest standards when it comes to avoiding the waste of the resource and minimizing the pollution from their activities.

Also posted in BLM Methane, Natural Gas / Tagged BLM, regulations | Comments are closed

Pennsylvania Announces Plan for Strongest Methane Rules in the Nation

By Andrew Williams / Published: January 20, 2016

(From left to right)
John Quigley, Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environment Protection, joins Cindy Dunn, Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf at a Facebook town hall event Jan. 19 to announce plans to regulate methane emissions from the state’s oil and gas industry.

Pennsylvania leaders have a duty to protect Keystone residents from oil and gas pollution. Fortunately, Governor Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection took an important step in that direction this week when they released a blueprint for cutting methane pollution from the natural gas industry.

“The goal here is to cover not only new sources of methane and VOC emissions [from oil and gas facilities], but also existing sources over time,” DEP Secretary John Quigley told hundreds of viewers during a live Facebook town hall event yesterday. “We want to have a comprehensive emissions program that is nation-leading. I think it’s the strongest set of provisions in the country, and I think the number two natural gas producing state in the nation should have the best regulations. That’s what we’re going to have in Pennsylvania.”

That’s a bold and laudable commitment – one that deserves our support to help make sure the promise becomes reality. Read More »

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

The California Gas Disaster: What Comes Next and Where Else Could it Happen?

By Mark Brownstein / Published: January 14, 2016

The ongoing leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas facility owned by Southern California Gas has driven more than 2,000 families from their homes in the Porter Ranch area of Los Angeles and prompted Gov. Brown to declare a state of emergency. It’s dumped an estimated 83 thousand metric tons of methane into the atmosphere so far (see our leak counter here), with no clear end in sight.

But what are the next steps from here? What are the wider implications of this continuing disaster; and where else could something like this happen? What do we do to prevent another Aliso, and how will Southern California make up for the environmental damages once the leak stops?

The troubling fact is that Aliso Canyon is just the tip of a very big iceberg, reflecting both the industry’s widespread methane problem, and the potential local risks of over 400 other storage facilities nationwide. It spotlights a longstanding, largely invisible problem, promising to shift political dynamics around solutions. And the penalty phase, when it comes, will hopefully codify important principles that will also have a big effect on industry behavior. Read More »

Also posted in Aliso Canyon, California, General, Natural Gas / Read 2 Responses

Methane Emissions are Risky Business for Investors

By Sean Wright / Published: January 12, 2016

No one likes uncertainty, least of all investors. From changes in interest rates, to supply chain disruptions, the list of risks investors must monitor is long and growing. Good, actionable information is investors’ most important tool for risk management and integral to successful investing. Without proper data, investors are flying blind.

A new report published by EDF this week throws the spotlight on a growing risk for investors—methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. As so clearly demonstrated by the ongoing and massive leak at Aliso Canyon, methane emissions pose a multitude of expanding risks, with both short and long-term consequences.Three key risks from oil & gas methane

At 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the short-term, methane emissions represent a potent and fast-emerging form of carbon risk. In a world looking to reduce carbon pollution, methane emissions pose regulatory, reputational and economic risks. Preparedness to comply with forthcoming rules varies across the industry, methane undercuts natural gas’ ability to play a role in a carbon-constrained world, and emissions of methane are lost product amounting to $30 billion a year globally. Read More »

Also posted in Aliso Canyon, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Tech Innovation in the Energy Utility Space: Good News & Room for More

By Simi George / Published: December 17, 2015

A survey released this month by a top management consulting firm found that 80 percent of the companies polled – including Apple, Google and Tesla – rank innovation among their top three strategic priorities. Unfortunately, the nation’s utility sector seems to be behind the curve when it comes to embracing this idea.

Utility companies invested just 0.1 percent of revenue in research and development in 2013, according to the National Regulatory Research Institute. That’s less than 1/30^th the national average of 3.3 percent for all industries. In fact, R&D spending by energy utilities has declined in absolute terms since the mid-90s. But that’s only one piece of the problem. There’s also the related problem of low adoption of new technologies by the sector, which some have attributed to a culture of caution.

That’s why it was so noteworthy when Public Service Electric & Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest and oldest publicly-owned utility, announced it will use data gathered by EDF using cutting-edge leak quantification technology to prioritize a massive $905 million pipeline replacement program. After assessing public safety considerations, PSE&G will use data on methane emissions from its pipes to identify those most in need of replacement. Read More »

Also posted in General, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Infrared Camera Reveals Huge, Wafting Cloud of Methane over California’s Aliso Canyon

By Tim O'Connor / Published: December 10, 2015

Methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is a serious problem for our climate and communities, but it’s one most people aren’t even aware of. That’s because, while methane is a powerful pollutant, it is colorless, odorless and invisible to the naked eye.

But residents of Southern California’s Porter Ranch neighborhood had their eyes opened wide to the methane problem when a natural gas storage well in nearby Aliso Canyon ruptured and created a massive leak right next to their homes – an incident detected by residents in October from the putrid smell of mercaptan, an additive utilities use to more easily detect natural gas leaks.

Natural gas is made mostly of methane, and when it is released unburned, it has a warming power over 84 times that of carbon dioxide over 20 years. So, leaking or intentionally emitting unburned natural gas – which happens not just through malfunctions but often during routine production and transportation of oil and gas – can do major climate damage. The California Air Resources Board estimates that Aliso Canyon is pumping out methane at about 50,000 kg per hour, or about 62 million standard cubic feet, per day – that’s the same 20-year greenhouse gas impact as the daily emissions from 7 million cars.

Now, on day 48 in a very uncertain timeline of the one of the largest U.S. natural gas leaks ever recorded, infrared cameras are giving us a true glimpse at the size of this man-made methane volcano. Looking at side-by-side images of Aliso Canyon taken on Dec. 9 using an everyday camera and one equipped with infrared technology reveals just how blind we are to this kind of pollution:

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