Energy Exchange

California paves the way to an electric vehicle future with new electrification framework

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 8, 2022

Last month California took another significant step forward in advancing the deployment of zero-emission vehicles, with the adoption of a Transportation Electrification Framework by the state’s Public Utilities Commission. The framework establishes a $1 billion, 5-year suite of programs, and it provides a pathway for the state’s large electric utilities to continue to build on what is far and away the most successful deployment of electric vehicles in the country.

Posted in California, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

Throwing Down the Gauntlet: The European Challenge to IMO on Carbon Pricing

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 8, 2022

By Sam Yarrow-Wright

The International Maritime Organization knows that the shipping industry needs to change course to address the climate crisis. By committing to the Initial Greenhouse Gas Strategy in 2018, which requires the shipping industry to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050, it formally recognized this. Such a declaration, despite being forged through difficult negotiations and missing the level of ambitions of many member states and NGOs, was broadly welcomed. Since then, there have been several agreements on the short-term measures. These measures have attracted their own share of criticism for lack of ambition or through lack of effective enforcement or implementation mechanisms. The EU countries have been an engaged and active part of this process, but that has not stopped them from considering action under their regional banner, in particular the recent inclusion of shipping within their Emissions Trading System.

Posted in Europe, General / Comments are closed

S&P Global Analysis Says Industry’s Wasted Gas Could Bring Quick Relief to Energy Market

By Matt Watson / Published: December 7, 2022

Russia’s war on Ukraine has sent painful shockwaves through global gas markets — not only in Europe but across Asia and in developing economies that can least afford it. The crisis is accelerating efforts to transition to cleaner, safer, more reliable energy, while setting off a scramble for new gas supplies to backfill what once came from Russia. How to meet that near-term need without a massive new infrastructure buildout that would undermine climate goals and risk stranding billions in capital? One key solution – identified by EDF, the International Energy Agency and others — lies in the vast amounts of gas currently wasted by the oil and gas industry through flaring, leaks and other emissions.

Posted in Flaring, General, Methane, Methane regulatons / Comments are closed

Proposed Acquisition of New Jersey Utilities Must be Consistent with Climate Goals

By Erin Murphy / Published: December 7, 2022

Two New Jersey gas utilities owned by South Jersey Industries, SJI,— South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas — are petitioning the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, BPU, for approval to be acquired by JP Morgan-backed investment firm IIF. The companies’ proposal relies on a business model of continued expansion of the natural gas distribution system, and suggests that decarbonization can be achieved by blending hydrogen and biomethane into gas pipelines. But increasing gas use is not aligned with state climate policy, and the proposed blending options are not assured climate solutions. The BPU should impose conditions on the proposed transaction to ensure consistency with state climate goals. Additionally, all New Jersey policymakers must recognize the importance of avoiding wasteful investments in gas system expansion — in particular, legislation promoting gas utility spending on biomethane and hydrogen raises serious concerns.

Posted in Natural Gas, New Jersey / Comments are closed

How Japan and other energy importers can spur global methane action

By Mina Berkow / Published: December 4, 2022

Negishi LNG Terminal, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Pref., Japan

Announced at COP 27, the joint declaration by key natural gas exporters, the United States, Norway and Canada, and importers, the European Union, Japan and Singapore, demonstrates the growing recognition that the supply and demand sides of energy markets must work together to reduce global methane emissions.

Methane, the main ingredient of natural gas, is a powerful climate pollutant, and the oil and gas industry is a main source of global emissions. As methane has shot up the international climate agenda, a great deal of attention has focused on countries that produce the lion’s share of the world’s oil and gas. But big energy importers like Japan, which often don’t have significant domestic fossil fuel resources, also have significant opportunities to stimulate and speed emission reductions industrywide.

A new analysis conducted for Environmental Defense Fund by independent global research firm Rystad Energy explores how Japan can leverage its unique market position to drive global methane reductions.

Posted in General / Comments are closed

New maps unveil scale of U.S. orphan well challenge, highlight solutions at hand

By Adam Peltz / Published: December 2, 2022

Last year, for the first time, EDF and McGill University mapped every existing documented orphan well across our country. Shortly after, Congress passed the Infrastructure and Investment Act, IIJA, which included $4.7 billion to document, plug and remediate orphan wells. This new funding, secured through EDF’s leadership, provides federal support for the first time for states, Tribes, and federal land management agencies to find and plug orphan oil and gas wells that are inactive and unplugged with no solvent owner of record.

Prior to this legislation, states, which oversee 90% of the wells in the country, had a fraction of the funding needed to plug wells with the unfortunate result that they often sat unplugged for decades. Now, we’re publishing an updated orphan wells map that draws on newly available data to offer decision makers and the public a clearer picture of the issue.

Posted in General / Comments are closed