Energy Exchange

NYC’s small businesses want congestion pricing

By Andy Darrell / Published: March 12, 2019

Most people following New York City’s traffic and transit problems understand that more traffic and congestion is bad for air quality and commute times. And they know that the city’s buses and subway system need significant improvements to get people from here to there faster.

The impact of New York City’s traffic and transit woes on small businesses, however, is often overlooked. New York City is teeming with small businesses that depend on quick, smooth and reliable transit for their employees and customers. The harder the commute, the more likely an employee will be late, or the easier it is for a customer to say “not today.”

That’s why small business owners are some of the most enthusiastic supporters of congestion pricing.

Also posted in Air Quality, Congestion pricing, New York / Comments are closed

Texas Public Utility Commission defends competitive markets, customer interests

By John Hall / Published: March 7, 2019

The Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) might not be a household name, but electricity customers across Texas have plenty of reason to be thankful for its latest actions.

Over the past month, the PUC has made some key decisions to protect Texas’ competitive electricity markets and make sure all Texans have access to affordable and clean electric energy.

As we move toward the hot summer months and ERCOT projects record demand and potential grid alerts, these policy moves will hopefully be paired with further support of tools like distributed energy resources to ensure a reliable and resilient grid.

Also posted in Clean Energy, Demand Response, Texas / Comments are closed

The oil industry’s wastewater is one of the biggest challenges facing Permian producers

By Scott Anderson / Published: February 21, 2019

This post originally appeared in the Midland Reporter Telegram.

Nowhere is the current energy boom more apparent than in Midland, Texas. But with this dramatic growth in oil and gas also comes a growing amount of wastewater. Texas oil and gas companies alone produce over 300 billion gallons of wastewater a year, twice as much as any other state, and that volume is expected to increase. This is no ordinary water. In addition to the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process, it can contain radioactive materials and a number of naturally occurring pollutants – including high concentrations of salt that can kill plants and ruin soil for decades if not handled properly.

Most of the time, companies dispose of wastewater by reinjecting it deep underground. This is a cost-effective and largely environmentally sound solution. However, there is growing concern that this option may be less available or more costly in coming years due to a range of challenges from earthquakes to capacity. This, paired with growing demands for water, particularly in drought-stricken regions, is driving companies and policymakers to look at new options for disposing or reusing industry’s wastewater.

These newer options – while promising – are not without their own sets of risks. Read More »

Also posted in General, Natural Gas, produced water, Texas / Comments are closed

Satellites become valuable new tool for governments, industry to cut emissions

By Mark Brownstein / Published: February 5, 2019

For years, people used satellites to observe the Earth’s climate. Now, orbital sensing offers a crucial new way to protect it, by giving us new abilities to identify, measure, and ultimately verify cuts in emissions of methane – a highly potent greenhouse gas.

Two new pieces of research led by EDF scientists demonstrate the growing potential of space-based monitoring tools, and offer a preview of things to come when EDF launches its own dedicated methane satellite in 2021.

Offshore Flaring in Mexico

First is a paper published this week in Geophysical Research Letters, explaining how researchers used space-based readings to calculate the enormous volume of natural gas being burned off (or “flared”) by oil and gas platforms in the Southern Gulf of Mexico. From 2005 and 2017, data from NASA’s Aura satellite show that operators flared as much as 710 billion cubic feet of gas per year.

Also posted in Methane, Texas / Tagged global methane | Comments are closed

No time to waste: What lies ahead in New Mexico on methane policy?

By Jon Goldstein / Published: February 4, 2019

The Cabinet Room was buzzing with (clean) energy on Tuesday as New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was joined by her Energy Minerals and Natural Resources (EMNRD) Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst and Environment Secretary Jim Kenney to sign one of the strongest climate executive orders in the nation.

Crucially, the order also directs New Mexico’s state agencies to move expeditiously and develop comprehensive, statewide methane regulations to cut energy wasted from the oil and gas industry and improve air quality.

Now the question becomes, “what next?”

Governor Lujan Grisham made her wishes for a speedy methane rule development clear in the executive order, directing her EMNRD and Environment Department to enact rules “as soon as practicable.”
And she set a high bar for the strength and inclusiveness of the methane rules when she said that, “Our goal is to eclipse states that are successfully doing this work.”

Also posted in Air Quality, Methane / Tagged air quality, Methane emissions, New Mexico | Comments are closed

Energy efficiency goldmine hiding in plain sight in half a million NYC apartments

By EDF Blogs / Published: January 31, 2019

By Rory Christian and Ferit Ucar

Replacing regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent or LED lamps and upgrading to energy efficient appliances are approaches anyone can take to use less electricity and lower greenhouse gas emissions. And significant new opportunities to save energy are becoming available to New Yorkers thanks to Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), the state’s initiative to transform the way electricity is generated, moved, and used. But, for 20 percent of New Yorkers who don’t receive an electric bill from their utility, these benefits are not an option. Without properly metering these apartments, New York will miss out on opportunities to make significant energy reductions and risk falling behind in achieving its ambitious environmental goals.

Also posted in Clean Energy, New York / Read 2 Responses