Post-closure liability management may be a rather obscure part of the burgeoning carbon capture and sequestration , or CCS, industry. But more and more lawmakers and regulators in U.S. states and around the world recognize it’s an important piece of their climate change agenda.
By Lila Harmar and Valerie Miller
The start of summer hurricane season in the Caribbean has only just begun, yet the region has already weathered its first category five tropical storm, Beryl. Beryl caused major damage to homes, power lines and more across the southeast Caribbean, fueled by high temperatures in the Atlantic. The increase of extreme weather events fueled by climate change will continue to have outsized impacts on island nations that often face annual hurricane recovery efforts. Beryl missed Cuba but brought back memories of Ian in 2022, a tropical storm that also rapidly strengthened into a massive hurricane in very little time, causing damage across the region.
By Marie Cabbia Hubatova and Angie Farrag-Thibault
At a time when it is critical to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels, the shipping industry is endeavoring to do its part to decarbonize and keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Its success depends on there being sufficient clean fuel supply to substitute fossil fuels — but we are not on track. We need robust near-term decisions at the International Maritime Organization and in member states to bring investment security to steer the industry transition onto course.
Image courtesy of © Audioundwerbung | Dreamstime.com
The EU’s hydrogen ambitions are facing a reality check. Despite an ambitious strategy launched in 2020 and ongoing work to establish a comprehensive policy framework, recent forecasts suggest hydrogen deployment is lagging behind initial targets. However, this moment offers an opportunity for reflection and provides valuable lessons not just for Europe, but also for other regions.
Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2020.
By Magdalen Sullivan & Kate Roberts
As the U.S. oil and gas industry expands, the vast network of largely unregulated pipelines that transport unprocessed natural gas —known as gathering pipelines — has crept closer and closer to residential communities. Most gathering pipelines are currently exempt from regular inspection, which means that leaks and other problems in these pipes can, and routinely do, go undetected.
By Scott Seymour and Ari Pottens
The Canadian government is likely overlooking an important source of climate pollution. Surface casing vent flow and gas migration (types of underground leakage from oil and gas wells) has the potential to leak a lot of methane, but according to new research, neither governments nor companies know how much.
Canada has made a pledge to reduce 75% of the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions by 2030 as way to help combat climate change, but poor data and inaccurate estimates on well leakage makes it increasingly difficult to know if that goal is in sight.
New research reveals that across Alberta and British Columbia oil and gas well leakage could represent anywhere between 2-11% of the industry’s emissions. This huge range means policy makers can’t reliably know how this problem stacks up against other emission sources making it nearly impossible to set priorities or to craft regulations.
