Energy Exchange

Here’s what you need to know about EPA’s landmark methane proposal

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 9, 2021

Last week the Environmental Protection Agency proposed methane standards that will, for the first time, apply to the nation’s nearly one million existing oil and gas wells and other facilities. A critical step that charts a path to major emission cuts.

As methane takes the spotlight on the world stage and countries raise their ambition for cutting this potent greenhouse gas, EPA’s final rules will play a central role in U.S. commitments to reducing methane and achieving climate goals.

The proposals to reduce oil and gas methane emissions, the largest industrial source of methane in the U.S., were met with widespread public support, not only from environmental groups, but also health and child advocates, tribal officials and investors concerned about climate risk.

To comprehensively protect our communities and climate, EPA must further strengthen its proposal — as it has stated it plans to do in a supplemental proposal issued next spring — by requiring monitoring across smaller, leak-prone wells and eliminating the wasteful and polluting practice of routine flaring.

Posted in Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

U.S. in for the long-haul on zero-emission freight

By Jason Mathers / Published: November 2, 2021

The U.S. Department of Energy joined by Vice President Harris yesterday announced a $127 million investment to drive the future of zero-emission trucks. The announcement demonstrates the growing role that electric trucks are playing today — both in the trucking industry and as a climate solution — and how the capacity of these vehicles can be further enhanced in the coming years, especially as Congress considers making bold investments in the weeks ahead.

While trucks only represent 4% of vehicles on the road, they are responsible for more than half of transportation smog pollution and are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases in the U.S.

They are also projected to be the largest driver of the sector’s oil demand growth.

Thankfully, America’s fleets are embracing zero-emission trucks. Recent EDF analysis found over 100 fleets are currently operating or ordering zero-emission trucks, and this demand is driving massive investments by vehicle manufacturers.

But more work remains to develop zero-emission solutions for the most challenging truck uses, including long-haul trucking, which is responsible for the majority of fuel use and emissions from this sector. DOE’s investments announced today will begin to get at this hard-to-decarbonize sector, while also providing funding for charging infrastructure.

Posted in Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

New research shows Boston methane emissions continue, despite pipe replacement efforts

By Erin Murphy / Published: October 28, 2021

New peer-reviewed research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure and buildings in the Boston area have remained consistently high over the last eight years, despite multiple programs aimed at reducing methane pipeline leakage.

This study indicates that more action is needed in Massachusetts and around the country to tackle the urban methane problem.

A potent greenhouse gas and the primary component of natural gas, methane has at least 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide during the first 10-20 years after release. Emissions from oil and gas operations, livestock and other industries are responsible for at least 24% of current global warming.

Posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Climate planning is key for New York’s gas infrastructure

By Erin Murphy / Published: October 25, 2021

Next month, the New York Public Service Commission will be deciding whether a rate case settlement proposal between National Grid’s upstate gas and electric utility (Niagara Mohawk) and other groups is in the public interest, and whether the proposal is consistent with New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. This is the first major utility rate case to be conducted fully under the CLCPA as effective law, and makes clear the need for commission action to implement standards to achieve state climate goals.

But there is a cloud hanging over this proposal: the utility rate case paradigm guiding this proceeding is outdated and inconsistent with New York’s climate goals.

There is no question that to achieve the CLCPA targets — to reduce New York greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050, below 1990 levels — natural gas use and combustion must decrease significantly. But the commission has not set clear standards to require that gas utilities plan for this transformational future, or to ensure utility rate applications and outcomes are consistent with the law. Decisive action is needed to address this disconnect.

Posted in Natural Gas, New York / Comments are closed

Not-so-marginal wells and the need for strong EPA regulations

By Rosalie Winn / Published: October 15, 2021

There’s a common misconception that “marginal” or low-producing wells are nothing more than a marginal problem when it comes to the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions.

The reality is that these wells make up about 80% of all active wells in the U.S, over 560,000 in total. These are not the mom-and-pop operations some portray — rather, the vast majority of marginal wells are owned by large, well-capitalized companies with significant resources to curb wasteful emissions.

As the Environmental Protection Agency readies landmark rules to limit methane pollution from the nation’s existing oil and gas wells, ensuring those standards apply to marginal sites is critical for protecting our climate and the local communities breathing harmful pollution from these wells.

Posted in Air Quality, Methane, Methane regulatons / Tagged New Mexico | Comments are closed

New mapping tool could help communities, policymakers prioritize clean transportation solutions

By Aileen Nowlan / Published: October 14, 2021

My children’s daycare, which is on a commercial strip between supermarkets and restaurants, often has three refrigerated trucks idling outside the front door. These diesel trucks can emit harmful pollution, even when they aren’t moving. The impact of transportation pollution on vulnerable populations is often striking. In downtown Oakland, where more than 70% of the population are people of color, one in two new cases of childhood asthma are attributed to transportation pollution.

Companies are being questioned about the impacts that truck-attracting facilities like warehouses are having on local communities. The pressure will only increase as e-commerce and distribution facilities expand right by population centers.

Posted in Air Quality, California, Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed