New climate law, new opportunities for gas supply planning in New York
4 years 8 months ago
By Natalie Karas and Erin Murphy New York recently enacted one of the most ambitious climate targets in the country. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires an 85% reduction in statewide greenhouse emissions by 2050 (from 1990 levels). All state agencies — including the New York Public Service Commission, which oversees utility companies […]
EDF Blogs
California implements revolutionary new utility model for gas leaks
4 years 8 months ago
It is widely expected that the Environmental Protection Agency will soon release a proposal to weaken methane standards from oil and gas production. Such a blunder would result in increased climate pollution, energy waste and regulatory uncertainty. So, while the federal government looks to take another step backwards on oil and gas climate pollution, California […]
Tim O'Connor
Pipeline damage prevention: A win-win for safety and the environment
4 years 8 months ago
By Mishal Thadani, Director of Market Development and Policy, Urbint Every year in the United States, 400,000 excavation projects damage underground infrastructure like water and gas pipes and electric and cable lines. A strategic mix of best practices, good policy and artificial intelligence will drive that number down. One of the advantages of burying critical […]
EDF Blogs
Federal regulators should reevaluate the incentive model for gas pipelines
4 years 10 months ago
The energy industry is in the midst of a massive transformation. Natural gas fired power plants are now the dominant source of electric power in the U.S., and according to numerous studies, natural gas will continue to have a role in our future energy system — even in stringent greenhouse gas reduction scenarios. For the […]
Natalie Karas
How to decarbonize California’s economy without breaking the bank
4 years 10 months ago
As temperatures rise and the impacts of climate change become more prevalent, California is aggressively implementing solutions that will take more greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. California has one of the most ambitious climate goals of any state in the country, pledging to get to 100% clean electric power by 2045. To get to […]
Michael Colvin
Trump’s EPA moves one step closer to dangerous proposal to eliminate methane pollution standards
4 years 10 months ago
By Rosalie Winn Over the last several weeks, widespread reporting has documented the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change. Recent reports have shown White House attempts to block a senior state department official’s testimony on climate change, and documents that EDF recently obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests show […]
EDF Blogs
New and better way to assess the climate impact of new pipelines
4 years 11 months ago
The urgent need to decarbonize the energy system makes it imperative for state and federal regulators to understand the climate impacts of proposed energy infrastructure. Officials deciding whether to approve new natural gas pipelines must be able to answer a crucial question: Will a particular pipeline reduce pollution by speeding the demise of more carbon […]
N. Jonathan Peress
Gas utility planning is behind the times. Rhode Island has a plan to fix it.
4 years 11 months ago
When it comes to how utilities plan for future gas needs and use, challenges abound: Pipelines are built before state regulators have an opportunity to assess whether it is prudent for a gas utility to take service from that pipeline; decisions are made behind closed doors with little opportunity for stakeholder input; and planning efforts […]
Natalie Karas
New whitepaper demonstrates how China can take a world class approach to underground gas storage
5 years ago
By Dan Mueller and Hanling Yang 点击这里用中文阅读 As China replaces high-polluting coal with cleaner burning natural gas to address its air quality concerns, natural gas demand in the country has undergone rapid growth. China is charting a course to aggressively increase its underground gas storage (UGS) capacity over the next two decades. Though UGS brings […]
EDF Blogs
Not all biogas is created equal
5 years ago
By Joe Rudek and Stefan Schwietzke In this climate-conscious economy, where many consumers demand cleaner energy options, gas companies are exploring more opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint. One option gaining traction is biogas – a form of natural gas that comes from decaying biological sources (like decomposing food and manure), rather than fossil fuels. […]
EDF Blogs
New Mexico’s million-ton methane problem
5 years 1 month ago
By Jon Goldstein and David Lyon You can’t see what you don’t look for. That axiom is at the heart of the problem with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) methane emission estimates. It is also why a new analysis based on empirical data and cutting-edge science finds a far larger methane emissions problem in New […]
EDF Blogs
California fixes a major problem with oilfield wastewater injection
5 years 1 month ago
A new rule goes into effect today that will help protect California’s groundwater. The rule applies to injection wells – the underground facilities that enable enhanced oil recovery and the long-term disposal of the oil industry’s wastewater. California has around 55,000 oilfield injection wells, nearly one-third of the nation’s total, and the state’s oil industry […]
Adam Peltz
New Mexico legislation marks new focus on improved oil and gas oversight under Gov. Lujan Grisham
5 years 1 month ago
By Jon Goldstein and Nichole Saunders When New Mexico legislators adjourned last Saturday, they had a long list of accomplishments for the first session under Gov. Lujan Grisham’s executive leadership. Near the top of that list is a bill that, once signed, will mark the first major legislative reform for the state’s oil and gas […]
EDF Blogs
Report reveals heavy burden of energy waste, methane emissions on Navajo communities
5 years 1 month ago
By Matt Miccioli, EDF Stanford Schneider Fellow A recent study of oil and gas methane emissions on the Navajo Nation reveals companies operating on tribal lands pollute 65 percent more than the national average, wasting millions in tribal resources every year and underscoring the opportunity for tribal leaders to reduce emissions. The analysis, conducted by […]
EDF Blogs
The right way for California to divest from natural gas
5 years 1 month ago
As California’s drive to wean itself from fossil fuels continues, important new challenges are emerging in its wake. Part of a broader effort to shift the state’s electric grid entirely to clean energy by 2045, for example, includes the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s recent announcement to retire three gas-fired power plants, while making […]
Tim O'Connor
The oil industry’s wastewater is one of the biggest challenges facing Permian producers
5 years 2 months ago
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 […]
Scott Anderson
The oilfield digitalization opportunity executives can’t afford to miss
5 years 3 months ago
At the Baker Hughes GE Annual Meeting this week in Florence, Italy, a CEO began his presentation with this bold adage: “Digital strategy equals business strategy.” Executives on nearly every panel pointed to the digital opportunity. As the oil and gas industry invests in the digital transformation to improve competitiveness, companies should seize the opportunity […]
Isabel Mogstad
Satellite data confirms Permian gas flaring is double what companies report
5 years 3 months ago
A new analysis of satellite data reveals natural gas waste and pollution in the Texas Permian Basin is two times higher than what industry reports to the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC). In 2017 alone, Permian oil and gas operators burned enough gas to serve all the heating and cooking needs of the state’s seven largest […]
Colin Leyden
Conservative Wyoming rises to the occasion as feds roll over on oil and gas pollution
5 years 3 months ago
Lost amid the wrapping paper this holiday season was a very important move in Wyoming to step up and better regulate air pollution from the state’s oil and gas wells. It was one more reason to pop some champagne corks as we rang in the New Year. Without much fanfare on Dec. 27, Wyoming finalized […]
Jon Goldstein
How oil & gas states did (and did not) protect land and water in 2018
5 years 4 months ago
By Adam Peltz & Nichole Saunders Keeping an eye on what happens with domestic oil and gas regulation is a bit like herding cats. We’ve seen encouraging progress on air quality issues related to oil and gas, but an equally critical front that’s seen major action is protection of our land and water resources. More […]
EDF Blogs
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