EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/18/24
PIPELINE NEWS
Pipeline Fighters Hub: South Dakota Attorney General Jackley Says Will Vote “No” on RL 21 Carbon Pipeline Ballot Initiative
North Dakota Monitor: Democrat House candidate questions ties to Summit; Republican says claims are bogus
South Dakota Searchlight: Company proposing Lake Preston jet fuel plant receives $1.46 billion federal endorsement
Canary Media: DOE makes $3B commitment to two sustainable aviation fuel projects
Press release: Redshaw Advisors announces marketing agreement with Summit Carbon Solutions for large-scale carbon removal initiative
Law360: Mich. Urges 6th Circ. To Toss Enbridge's Line 5 Countersuit
Reuters: Texas natural-gas pipeline eases bottlenecks, paves way for higher shale output
Reuters: Cheniere Energy Moves Closer to Starting New Texas LNG Export Operation
Northern Journal: Data centers face growing opposition Outside. Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants them in Alaska.
U.S. Dept. of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration: Probabilistic Performance Evaluation of Cathodically Protected Pipeline Considering Alternating Current (AC) Corrosion
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Trump has vowed to gut climate rules. Oil lobbyists have a plan ready.
Energy News Network: One year in, U.S. clean hydrogen hubs face questions — and have few answers
E&E News: Power plant rule avoids SCOTUS pause. Will it survive surging energy demand?
E&E News: Red states hoped for a climate rule delay. They got a deadline instead.
E&E News: Carbon markets — safe from possible Trump attack — could expand
STATE UPDATES
KXAN: Lee County: Proposed power plant gets pushback
Heatmap: The Collapse of the Northeast’s Biggest Hydrogen Plant
Inside Climate News: Appalachian Hydrogen Hub Plan Struggles Amid Economic Worries, Study Says
Portland Press Herald: CO2 shortages led Maine breweries to adopt this sustainable solution
EXTRACTION
Calgary Herald: Massive oilsands carbon capture project gains 'hope' after Wilkinson, Freeland meet with Pathways Alliance
DeSmog: Oil Companies Insist Carbon Capture Is Safe – So Why Are Albertans Saddled with the Risks?
Canary Media: A new demo plant will repurpose mining waste and also capture CO2
CLIMATE FINANCE
Rainforest Action Network: Activists Crashed a Black Tie Gala, Demanding Chubb Stop Insuring Methane
Morningstar: Why Carbon Capture Stocks Remain a Tricky Business
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Sarnia News Today: 'Alarming' initiative aims to reduce risk of fire, CO deaths
OPINION
Center for American Progress: Project 2025 Would Put the Oil and Gas Industry Before Americans and Their Public Lands
Morning Star: Carbon capture is big oil’s ‘green’ baby
PIPELINE NEWS
Pipeline Fighters Hub: South Dakota Attorney General Jackley Says Will Vote “No” on RL 21 Carbon Pipeline Ballot Initiative
Mark Hefflinger, 10/17/24
“During an Oct. 1 forum hosted by the Watertown, SD Chamber of Commerce and streamed via Facebook Live, South Dakota Attorney General Martin Jackley spoke about the various initiatives on the November ballot, and inferred that he will Vote “No” on Referred Law 21 — on the same side as landowners who are fighting against eminent domain for Summit’s proposed carbon pipeline,” the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports. “During his public remarks at the forum, where he reiterated several times that he himself is a landowner, SD AG Jackley stated: “I’ll just be up front with you. I’m probably voting for [ballot measures] “E” and “F”, and I’m voting against the rest, that’s just my personal feelings.” South Dakota landowners fighting Summit’s proposed multi-state CO2 pipeline gathered enough signatures this year to mount a ballot challenge to a new, Summit-friendly and lobbied for law (SB201), passed with the help of its allies in the State Legislature, which would strip any local control from county and local governments. While the law’s Summit-friendly backers have framed SB201 as a “Landowner’s Bill of Rights,” the law is a Trojan Horse that upon inspection is clearly a “Summit bill of Rights,” that would block counties from enforcing duly enacted commonsense and legally enforceable ordinances to protect their communities from the dangers and negative impacts from CO2 pipeline leaks and ruptures. Landowners and communities across the Midwest who are fighting eminent domain and dangerous CO2 pipelines are urging South Dakotans to Vote NO on Referred Law 21, to protect local control, and protect South Dakotans.”
North Dakota Monitor: Democrat House candidate questions ties to Summit; Republican says claims are bogus
Amy Dalrymple, 10/17/24
“Republican U.S. House candidate Julie Fedorchak continues to face questions from her opponent about her family’s connection to a controversial carbon dioxide pipeline project, as well as criticism about accepting campaign donations from the industry she regulates,” the North Dakota Monitor reports. “Democrat Trygve Hammer, who is running against Public Service Commissioner Fedorchak for North Dakota’s at-large House seat, told the Monitor Fedorchak will “profit quite handsomely” if the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline and storage wells are approved. Fedorchak said she publicly disclosed her conflict and recused herself from all decisions related to the project. She told the Monitor Hammer is repeating “bogus claims” to distract voters because his party’s agenda is bad for North Dakota… “Fedorchak’s family owns land in Oliver County and has signed a contract with Summit Carbon Solutions to store carbon dioxide… “She said during a debate in May the family received $22,000 for the contract and will be eligible for future payments if the CO2 storage well is approved… “Fedorchak faced criticism about her connection to the Summit project from Republican opponents ahead of the June primary. Now the Democrat running against Fedorchak is raising some of the same questions, including comments during an hourlong interview Wednesday night on BEK TV. “We’re supposed to believe that it’s just a happy accident that it’s going in the ground out there where she and her husband bought that land when she was involved in politics during the time when this was all coming together and could’ve had information,” Hammer told the North Dakota Monitor… “Fedorchak told the Monitor she’s not fielding questions from voters about Summit.”
South Dakota Searchlight: Company proposing Lake Preston jet fuel plant receives $1.46 billion federal endorsement
John Hult, 10/17/24
“The U.S. Department of Energy has granted a conditional loan guarantee worth $1.46 billion to Gevo, the Colorado company that aims to build the nation’s first ethanol-to-jet-fuel facility near Lake Preston in South Dakota,” South Dakota Searchlight reports. “A news release from the department’s Loan Programs Office said the loan guarantee “supports the Biden-Harris administration’s goal” of producing 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel nationwide by 2030, and 35 billion gallons a year by 2050. The conditional commitment indicates an intent to finance the project after a federal environmental review, as well as other technical, legal, environmental, commercial and financial conditions… “Under the Biden administration, the loan guarantee program requires applicants to have a “Community Benefits Plan” that would “meaningfully engage” with community and labor groups “to create good-paying jobs and improve the well-being of residents and workers.” “The Lake Preston facility is located near disadvantaged communities that face high rates of expected population loss,” the release says. The Energy Department announced its loan guarantee for Gevo on Wednesday afternoon. It also announced a $1.44 billion loan guarantee for a company called Montana Renewables on Wednesday, meant to support a project that aims to produce sustainable aviation fuel using vegetable oil. In its own news release on the loan guarantee, Gevo pointed to a report prepared for it by Charles River Associates that says the Lake Preston project would support the local agricultural operations and the businesses supported by them, create 1,300 jobs during construction and 100 permanent jobs… “Noem’s son-in-law, Kyle Peters, is a registered lobbyist for Gevo… “Some landowners are vehemently opposed to the project, and have lobbied lawmakers for legislation to prevent Summit from using eminent domain to build beneath their property. Some county commissions, meanwhile, have passed restrictions on pipeline projects that Summit argues would make the project all but impossible to complete… “Gevo donated $167,000 to support efforts to convince voters to support the pipeline law at the ballot box in November… “The loan guarantee is tied to the South Dakota site, Gruber told South Dakota Searchlight in an email. The funds would not be used for the facility in North Dakota. But Gruber also reiterated his confidence in the future of the Summit pipeline. “It’s hard to imagine a scenario where a pipeline in SD doesn’t eventually get built,” he told Searchlight.”
Canary Media: DOE makes $3B commitment to two sustainable aviation fuel projects
Maria Gallucci, 10/16/24
“Airlines are banking on sustainable aviation fuel to reduce the industry’s planet-warming pollution. But the amount of lower-carbon alternatives available to them right now represents just a few drops in an ocean of petroleum,” Canary Media reports. “On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a nearly $3 billion effort that it said could significantly boost America’s output of sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, over the next few years, Canary Media has exclusively learned… “Montana Renewables, a subsidiary of the industrial manufacturer Calumet, could receive a loan guarantee of up to $1.44 billion to expand its existing renewable fuels facility in Great Falls, Montana… “Colorado-based Gevo is vying for a loan guarantee of $1.46 billion to build a new jet-fuel refinery in Lake Preston, South Dakota. The facility, named Net-Zero 1, would turn corn into ethanol to produce up to 60 million gallons of SAF per year. Because the ethanol-making process creates carbon dioxide emissions, Gevo is planning to capture CO2 at the refinery and send it via the proposed — and highly contentious — Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline to a storage site in North Dakota. Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo, told Canary the announcement “marks a watershed moment for the Net-Zero 1 project and a critical step forward” in the company’s mission to produce low-carbon jet fuel. “
Press release: Redshaw Advisors announces marketing agreement with Summit Carbon Solutions for large-scale carbon removal initiative
10/17/24
“Redshaw Advisors, a leading environmental markets risk management company, is pleased to announce its marketing agreement with Summit Carbon Solutions, the world’s most prominent global biogenic carbon capture and storage project developer. This collaboration will support the development of one of the world’s largest carbon dioxide removal (CDR) initiatives. “We are delighted to partner with Summit Carbon Solutions to bring this groundbreaking, large-scale removal opportunity to our European clients,” said Bill Goldie, Environmental Markets Director at Redshaw Advisors… “Ben Nelson, VP of Carbon said “Our collaboration with Redshaw Advisors marks an important step forward in delivering scalable, near-term carbon removal solutions that address the urgent need for climate action. By leveraging biogenicCO2 , we are not only providing a path for companies to have access to megaton scale removals but we’re also unlocking new opportunities for sustainable aviation fuel. This initiative reinforces our commitment to a future where large-scale carbon removal is accessible and effective for businesses looking to lead in a low-carbon economy.” Redshaw Advisors will play a key role in marketing the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits generated by this ground-breaking project and will make them available to environmentally conscious businesses in Europe seeking to procure high-quality carbon removals as part of their net zero strategy… “This project will adhere to the Gold Standard for the Global Goals’ new, robust methodology to ensure the integrity and long-term permanence of its climate impact. With over USD 1 billion already raised and deployed, Summit anticipates the first issuance of CDRs for vintage year 2026.”
Law360: Mich. Urges 6th Circ. To Toss Enbridge's Line 5 Countersuit
Carolyn Muyskens, 10/16/24
“Michigan’s governor has told the Sixth Circuit she and another official are immune from Enbridge Energy LP’s lawsuit over efforts to shut down a natural gas and oil pipeline because the dispute implicates the state sovereignty issues that place it beyond federal jurisdiction,” Law360 reports.
Reuters: Texas natural-gas pipeline eases bottlenecks, paves way for higher shale output
Georgina Mccartney, 10/18/24
“A new pipeline carrying shale natural gas from west Texas toward export hubs on the U.S. Gulf Coast has eased constraints that crashed local prices this year, and will help pave the way for higher U.S. oil production, energy executives said,” Reuters reports. “Pipeline companies largely quit adding new capacity following the pandemic, when shale production dried up and pipeline utilization plummeted. The 580-mile (933-km) Matterhorn Express pipeline is the first new natural-gas pipeline built in the Permian basin in three years. Matterhorn began operations last month, relieving bottlenecks that had forced producers at times to pay other parties to receive their gas, or to seek state permits to burn the gas… "Matterhorn has freed up space, and the price we are getting for gas now has been positive for almost a month," Mike Oestmann, CEO of Midland producer Tall City Exploration told Reuters. "We produced a lot of gas that we not only didn’t get paid for, we paid for it to be taken away.” “...For oil and gas producers, the pipeline is helping drive up profits with gas fetching higher prices, allowing them to increase crude production growth with less gas flaring, analysts told Reuters...”Matterhorn will likely be filled next year, resulting again in pipeline constraints, market participants told Reuters.”
Reuters: Cheniere Energy Moves Closer to Starting New Texas LNG Export Operation
10/17/24
“Cheniere Energy moved one step closer to producing first liquefied natural gas from a Corpus Christi, Texas, expansion project on Thursday after it received permission from federal regulators to put a supply line into operation,” Reuters reports. “...The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order on Thursday allowing Cheniere to take liquefied gas from the plant to refrigerated liquid storage facilities and then onto an LNG tanker for export. Cheniere has said it wants to produce first LNG from its Corpus Christi Stage 3 facility by the end of the year, which will expand U.S. LNG export capacity.”
Northern Journal: Data centers face growing opposition Outside. Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants them in Alaska.
Nathaniel Herz, 10/16/24
“The Republican governor says Alaska has in excess what the data industry is finding increasingly scarce Outside: land and water, if not cheap electricity. He also says new data centers would boost the case for Alaska’s proposed natural gas pipeline,” Northern Journal reports. “Amid a growing backlash to the factory-sized data centers that power the global internet, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has started pitching his state as a new home for the industry — citing Alaska’s cool temperatures and abundant land and water. In the past few weeks, Dunleavy has formally invited more than a dozen tech businesses to build “data farms” in Alaska, including affiliates of Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. He also personally accompanied executives from a major data firm, Las Vegas-based Switch, on driving tours of potential sites in the Fairbanks and Anchorage areas… “He also told the Journal that demand for electricity from new data centers would strengthen the economic case to build a multi-billion dollar natural gas pipeline to urban Alaska from the North Slope oil fields — a project long sought by the state that’s so far been thwarted by insufficient demand… “Dunleavy’s new push comes as the industry — and its sharply increasing use of power and water — faces growing skepticism across the rest of the country, where some 5,000 facilities have been built.”
U.S. Dept. of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration: Probabilistic Performance Evaluation of Cathodically Protected Pipeline Considering Alternating Current (AC) Corrosion
10/16/24
“The main objective is to probabilistically evaluate the performance of cathodically protected pipelines under AC-induced corrosion. This project utilized experimental testing and numerical analysis to examine AC-induced corrosion, which was used for identifying key influencing factors and understanding the AC corrosion mechanism. Meanwhile, the corrosion profile was used for the probabilistic defect time evolution model development, which is crucial for the reliability evaluation of pipeline performance. Meeting Information: Thursday, November 7, 2024, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Washington Post: Trump has vowed to gut climate rules. Oil lobbyists have a plan ready.
Evan Halper and Josh Dawsey, 10/18/24
“An influential oil and gas industry group whose members were aggressively pursued for campaign cash by Donald Trump has drafted detailed plans for dismantling landmark Biden administration climate rules after the presidential election, according to internal documents obtained by The Washington Post. The plans were drawn up by the American Exploration and Production Council, or AXPC, a group of 30 mostly independent oil and gas producers, including several major oil companies. They reveal a comprehensive industry effort to reverse climate initiatives advanced during nearly four years of Democratic leadership. At the same time, the documents contain confidential data showing that industry’s voluntary initiatives to cut emissions have fallen short. The lobbying blueprint takes particular aim at a new tax on emissions of methane, a gas that the International Energy Agency (IEA) says is responsible for nearly a third of human-caused global warming. The documents show the methane emissions of nine of 19 AXPC member companies that responded to an internal survey are increasing — in many cases sharply. The policy plans, contained in documents distributed to a wide group of company executives at AXPC board meetings in April and August, also call for a repeal of more than a half dozen executive orders that lie at the center of the Biden administration’s efforts to combat climate change. Taken together, the group’s goals amount to a monumental rollback of some of the most aggressive federal tools to cut emissions… “They want to take climate out of the policy process entirely,” said Paasha Mahdavi, director of the Energy Governance and Political Economy Lab at University of California at Santa Barbara, who also reviewed the plans at the request of The Post. “They want government to stop regulating climate issues and stop thinking about climate risks.”
Energy News Network: One year in, U.S. clean hydrogen hubs face questions — and have few answers
Jeff St. John, 10/18/24
“A year ago, the U.S. announced ambitious plans to build large-scale clean hydrogen hubs. Now, 12 months later, those plans have advanced little and are still shrouded in uncertainty,” Energy News Network reports. “Last October, the U.S. Department of Energy picked seven consortiums across the country to receive up to $7 billion in federal grants. The goal of this startup money? To help the hubs attract tens of billions more in private-sector investment to pay for construction costs. These projects, located around the country, aim to bring together a wide array of organizations to scale up the production, storage, and transport of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen, which some experts view as a way to replace fossil fuels in industries such as steelmaking and aviation. There’s still little publicly available information to indicate whether these “clean hydrogen hubs” are likely to attract the needed private sector investment, however. Just as opaque are their potential community and climate impacts. Environmental groups, community advocates, and energy experts have grown concerned that the projects are off track — and increasingly dismayed that the DOE and the hub projects are not giving them the transparency needed to confirm or deny these worries… “The hydrogen hubs are a cornerstone of not only the Biden administration’s clean hydrogen strategy, but its overall approach to clean energy. Without the hubs, the U.S. may not be able to supply the tens of millions of tons per year of clean hydrogen needed to decarbonize key industries in the decades to come… “However, community and environmental groups hounding the hydrogen hubs and DOE for information over the past year say that engagement isn’t happening… “Last December, the U.S. Treasury Department proposed rules that would require green-hydrogen producers to source newly built and consistently deliverable clean electricity — restrictions that energy analysts say are vital to ensure hydrogen production doesn’t end up increasing carbon emissions. But those proposed rules are being challenged by a number of industry groups and politicians who say they’ll stifle the nascent industry — including the seven hydrogen hubs themselves. The Treasury Department aims to finalize the rules by January… “In particular, many fear that participants — including oil and gas giants such as bp America, Chevron, Enbridge, EQT, ExxonMobil, Sempra Energy, and TC Energy — will subject communities already burdened with fossil fuel pollution to further harms from hydrogen production.”
E&E News: Power plant rule avoids SCOTUS pause. Will it survive surging energy demand?
Benjamin Storrow, 10/18/24
“EPA’s power plant rules and rising electricity demand are on a collision course,” E&E News reports. “Analysts are increasingly concerned about the power sector’s ability to keep pace with mounting electricity demand while satisfying EPA’s new limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants. Those concerns were thrust to the forefront this week amid numerous forecasts of larger-than-expected energy demand — and the Supreme Court’s decision to keep the EPA rule in place, for now, as litigation continues… “If the EPA rules get implemented as proposed, that will be yet another constraint on the system that makes it more difficult and expensive to meet the demand growth,” Chris Seiple, Wood Mackenzie vice chair of energy transition, power and renewables, told E&E… “Coal plants planning to operate after 2039 would be required to install carbon capture and storage (CCS) by 2032, as would new gas plants coming online that year… “The fight over the rules is set to continue, with lawsuits playing out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Some utilities and grid operators say the rules threaten the reliability of the country’s electric grid at a time when power demand is growing… “I don’t see how we comply with that wide-scale CCS requirement if we are to really have this 4-5 percent (annual) load growth,” Harrison Fell, a professor who studies the industry at North Carolina State University, told E&E.”
E&E News: Red states hoped for a climate rule delay. They got a deadline instead.
Jean Chemnick, 10/18/24
“The Supreme Court ruling that allowed EPA to proceed with its power plant climate rule means the clock is ticking for states and utilities,” E&E News reports. “The high court on Wednesday rejected a request by Republican attorneys general and fossil fuel groups to suspend the carbon standards for new gas plants and existing coal-fired facilities as litigation over the rule continues. That means states and utilities won’t get a reprieve from the rule’s deadlines. “The rule is in effect, and so if you’re a utility or a state you should be planning that this rule is in effect,” Frank Sturges, an attorney with Clean Air Task Force, told E&E.”
E&E News: Carbon markets — safe from possible Trump attack — could expand
Anne C. Mulkern, 10/17/24
“Former President Donald Trump filed a little-noticed lawsuit in 2019 to weaken a California program that addresses climate change,” E&E News reports. “His administration lost its legal challenge to California’s carbon-trading market, and experts now say the markets are likely safe from litigation that Trump might file if he becomes president… “Carbon markets run by California and Washington — and markets being considered by other states — aim to address climate change by forcing regulated polluters to cut carbon emissions each year or pay the state a penalty. States spend the money on their own climate-related projects. The states considering creating carbon markets will face pressure to accelerate their efforts if Trump becomes president and weakens federal rules and programs that address climate change. Experts told E&E state-run carbon markets are protected from federal interference. “What could Trump do?” Ethan Elkind, director of the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at University of California, Berkeley’s law schoo, told E&El. “Nothing really by himself, because the cap-and-trade-program is pursuant to state law.” The Clean Air Act gives states broad power to regulate emissions from facilities such as power plants and refineries, said Dan Farber, faculty director at the law center. The law also requires state emissions standards to be at least as strict as federal standards “As long as states don’t dip below federal [pollution] standards,” Farber told E&E, “anything goes.”
STATE UPDATES
KXAN: Lee County: Proposed power plant gets pushback
Nabil Remadna, 10/17/24
“A proposed power plant in Lee County has some residents worried that their peaceful country lifestyle might be ruined,” KXAN reports. “It is just a great quiet piece of rural Texas that we want to protect,” Travis Brown, who is on the “Move the Gas Plant” steering committee, told KZAN. Brown told KXAN the construction and operations at the proposed plant could change the area he lives in. “There will be noise, lights, traffic and of course there are concerns about our property values,” Brown told KXAN. “Most of us invested all our savings we ever earned here.” “...Sandow Lakes Energy Company, LLC is pursuing the construction of a 1200-megawatt, ultra-efficient, natural gas-fueled power plant… “We are literally out in the middle of nowhere and they decide they want to put this out here and it is going to take away our country life,” Trish Siler told KXAN. “I worry about the affects of any emissions that come off of this.” “...Signs have been posted around the property, but neighbors tell KXAN it’s hard to tell what they are for. “The sign just says proposed air quality permit, it does not say what it is an air quality permit for, which leaves the door wide open,” Siler told KXAN. “People out here still don’t know that there is a power plant proposed.” Siler and Brown tell KXAN they will continue raising awareness and fighting the plant. They have formed a “Move the Gas Plant” steering committee and launched a legal challenge to the company’s state air permit.”
Heatmap: The Collapse of the Northeast’s Biggest Hydrogen Plant
Jael Holzman, 10/16/24
“In 2021, top elected officials in New York state promised that Plug Power, a nascent company in the growing hydrogen industry, would build a large hydrogen fuel production facility in the Buffalo-Rochester area. It was supposed to make the state an industry leader. Today, the project is looking more like a warning sign about the perils of being a first-mover in the unproven hydrogen business,” Heatmap reports. “...And this New York plant would on paper be particularly attractive from a climate perspective: It would be powered by hydroelectric dams at Niagara Falls, offering a potential carbon reduction of an estimated 14,000 tons of CO2 per year… “Three years later and the project appears to be on ice, according to a phone call recording between New York county officials and a real estate developer that was obtained by Heatmap News… “Even though the project relies on carbon-free hydropower, it may not qualify for the IRA’s hydrogen production tax credit because of proposed requirements for fuel to rely on new renewable energy sources (known as “additionality”). This has been a major sticking point in implementation of the credit, and Plug Power is quoted in InvestigativePost last week linking the work stoppage at the production facility on waiting for the final regulation implementing the credit… “Environmental justice issues have also been a drag on development. The native Tonawanda Seneca Nation is opposed to the entire industrial park because of the resulting impacts on wildlife, noise and the visual landscape.”
Inside Climate News: Appalachian Hydrogen Hub Plan Struggles Amid Economic Worries, Study Says
Jon Hurdle, 10/18/24
“Plans to build a hydrogen “hub” in western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are under strain as a third of its projects have been scrapped and four development partners have left, according to a new report,” Inside Climate News reports. “Driving those changes at the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub are uncertainties over whether the fuel would have enough end users, and how federal tax credits will apply to developers, said the Ohio River Valley Institute, a think tank that studies the economy of the Appalachian region and published the research brief. The group has previously criticized the hydrogen effort, ARCH2 for short, arguing that the project will have little environmental or economic value while using up to $925 million in federal funds. “Hydrogen hub projects are unraveling due to high costs and uncertain demand,” Sean O’Leary, a senior analyst at the institute, wrote in the report. “The entire ARCH2 enterprise may amount to no more than a blip, albeit a very expensive one, on Appalachia’s economic and environmental landscape.” “...Some of the hubs plan to produce so-called green hydrogen, which generates the fuel using carbon-free energy sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power. But others, including ARCH2, aim to produce “blue hydrogen” generated by burning natural gas, a fossil fuel that is plentiful in the Appalachian Basin. Critics dismiss blue hydrogen and say it prolongs the climate crisis by emitting more carbon from the gas… “According to the Ohio River Valley Institute, five of the 15 originally proposed projects have been canceled.”
Portland Press Herald: CO2 shortages led Maine breweries to adopt this sustainable solution
Peggy Grodinsky, 10/17/24
“...For Maine’s about 150 craft breweries, the COVID-19 pandemic engendered scary shortages of CO2, a gas that is essential to make beer,” the Portland Press Herald reports. “The funny thing is, breweries also produce CO2, or carbon dioxide, in the beer-making process. Recently, a few Maine breweries have turned to technology newly adapted to small craft breweries that allows them to recapture the CO2 they produce and reuse it to make their beer. These closed-loop systems can save the breweries money, offer security in the event of future CO2 shortages and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. They may well be the future. “As these systems become more customizable and affordable, they really will be the new normal,” Dave Love, Maine Beer Company’s sustainability manager, told the Herald… “Being able to collect what we have has tremendous implications because we are making it (in the fermenting process), wasting it and also buying it,” Peter Dahlen, Sebago’s director of brewery operations, told the Herald about CO2 gas. “So when we heard there was technology sized for our facility, that really made a lot of sense for us to connect those dots. “If you can wrangle the finances for it, it makes a whole lot of sense to any craft beer producer,” Dahlen continued, as he and Sebago Brewing founder and owner Kai Adams excitedly led a tour of their new system… “Most CO2 is a byproduct of the fossil fuel and ethanol industry; it’s a finite resource, dependent on disruptions that might seem remote from the beer industry… “It’s not made by gas. It’s not made by fossil fuel,” Adams told the Herald. “It’s made by beer.”
EXTRACTION
Calgary Herald: Massive oilsands carbon capture project gains 'hope' after Wilkinson, Freeland meet with Pathways Alliance
Chris Varcoe, 10/18/24
“Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson seemed to be running out of patience with the country’s biggest oilsands producers this spring over the slow progress on their proposed $16.5-billion carbon capture network in Alberta. Today, the tone has changed,” the Calgary Herald reports. “In fact, Wilkinson hopes an agreement between the Pathways Alliance consortium, Ottawa and Alberta can soon be reached to get one of the world’s largest carbon capture networks moving, perhaps even by year’s end. On Thursday, Wilkinson and federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland met face-to-face in Calgary with members of the oilsands producer group… “I’d probably be going out on a limb to say this year, but ideally it would be before the end of the year — but certainly, if not, early in the new year would be my hope,” Wilkinson told the Herald. After Thursday’s meeting, officials with the Pathways Alliance — the group includes Cenovus Energy, Imperial Oil, Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, MEG Energy and ConocoPhillips Canada — called it a “constructive conversation” with the two federal ministers… “A final investment decision (FID) hasn’t been made, although Pathways made a regulatory application in March for the pipeline… “Wilkinson told the Herald Pathways has been talking with the Canada Growth Fund, the federal government’s cleantech financing agency. “We’ve engaged the Canada Growth Fund to work with Pathways to see if there are some additional things that can be done to provide comfort to Pathways with some of the questions that they have,” the minister told the Herald.”
DeSmog: Oil Companies Insist Carbon Capture Is Safe – So Why Are Albertans Saddled with the Risks?
Mitch Andersonon, 10/17/24
“Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been hyped by industry groups like the Pathways Alliance as a credible solution to help decarbonize the Alberta oil industry, despite several studies questioning both the effectiveness and the economics of storing carbon dioxide underground,” DeSmog reports. “But there may be a simpler way to assess whether this is a real effort or just PR smoke and mirrors. Are oil companies willing to play with their own money on CSS? Are they transparent with documentation and process? And are they willing to assume their own risks? The answer to all these questions seems a resounding “no.” Freedom of information documents unearthed by The Narwhal reveal that Pathways Alliance demanded the federal government pony up 50 percent of the operating costs of their proposed CCS project at Cold Lake Alberta, estimated to cost over $16 billion. This same trove of lobbying documents also shows that Pathways insisted on assurances that the project would not be subject to a federal environmental assessment. At the provincial level, it is being broken into 126 separate parts to avoid triggering an Alberta environmental assessment… “Who would assume the long-term liabilities associated with injecting up to 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year into an underground area three times the size of Prince Edward Island? Under a system unique to Alberta and described as having some of “the most generous transfer provisions” of any CCS regulatory scheme, the provincial government would assume virtually all long-term legal risks. Unlike oil production liabilities that remain legally attached to the companies that created them, CCS operators like those in the Pathways Alliance would have their regulatory and tort liabilities transferred to the Alberta government in perpetuity after the Minister of Energy issues a closure certificate. That such a weighty technical determination would be made by a politician rather than an arm’s length expert regulator raises obvious red flags regarding saddling the public with even more unfunded oil patch problems… “However, if the stored CO2 for whatever reason eventually escapes to the surface after a closure certificate is issued, it is the province on the hook for any third-party damages.”
Canary Media: A new demo plant will repurpose mining waste and also capture CO2
Allison Prang, 10/17/24
“Travertine Technologies, a Colorado-based climate tech company, is building a multi-million dollar demonstration plant alongside a metals refining facility near Rochester, New York,” Canary Media reports. “...For the project, Travertine is partnering with Sabin Metal Corp., a precious metals refiner and recycler. Travertine’s new demo plant will take gypsum — a mineral that can be used in anything from fertilizer to building materials — that is sitting near Sabin’s facility and turn it into sulfuric acid using the carbon dioxide it traps through direct air capture. Travertine will then sell the sulfuric acid to Sabin to use in its metallurgical processing. When she founded the company in 2022, Travertine CEO Laura Lammers initially planned to build a low-cost, scalable, and permanent method for trapping carbon dioxide. But in talking with lithium miners, she realized waste from the industry could be used to permanently store the greenhouse gas, she told Canary Media. That proposition is particularly interesting in that it could simultaneously serve to recycle waste from the mining industry and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. But Travertine’s 50 foot by 50 foot demo plant will be capable of removing only 45 tons of carbon dioxide a year on a net basis, according to Owen Cadwalader, the startup’s chief operations officer. That’s a minuscule amount compared both to what some other direct air capture facilities are able to remove and the amount that a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report says must be removed from the atmosphere to fight global warming… “Travertine has $10.7 million in funding to pay for the project, including $7.5 million in venture debt financing from Builders Vision and $3.2 million in grant funding from the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, according to a news release.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Rainforest Action Network: Activists Crashed a Black Tie Gala, Demanding Chubb Stop Insuring Methane
10/16/24
“Last night, Manhattan’s business elite gathered at a prestigious black tie gala for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, where millionaires and top executives from coal companies, insurance companies and banks got together to share cocktails and receive awards for their so-called “business leadership.” But there’s nothing to celebrate when these leaders’ business choices are driving the climate crisis,” according to Rainforest Action Network. “Dolled-up attendees were greeted by a lively picket as they entered the reception. New York City-based grassroots activist group, Planet over Profit, refused to let CEOs and other wealthy executives get away with celebrating while they’re destroying our future. They were there to demand another New York resident, Chubb Insurance CEO Evan Greenberg, stop insuring methane gas. Chubb was a leading sponsor of the event and Greenberg himself was a previous honoree for his longtime role as the Executive Vice Chair of the NCUSCR Board. He also happens to be the highest-paid insurance CEO in the country, making over $27 million a year. “Evan Greenberg claims to be a climate leader but Chubb is one of the biggest fossil fuel insurers in the world and continues to insure methane export terminals that are wreaking havoc on Gulf communities and unleashing more deadly hurricanes. We challenge Mr. Greenberg to demonstrate true climate leadership by dropping coverage for dangerous fossil fuel projects, like Cameron LNG and Freeport LNG,” said Ricky Gonzalez, People Over Profit… “Chubb was named and shamed because of their role in continued methane gas (aka liquefied “natural” gas or LNG) expansion. As the United States grows its role as a gas exporter, climate activists have set their sights on stopping the expansion because of the risks methane poses to air, water, and community health — with recent studies showing that emissions from LNG are worse than any other fuel.”
Morningstar: Why Carbon Capture Stocks Remain a Tricky Business
Yan Barcelo, 10/18/24
“Carbon capture is often seen as key technology for battling climate change. But from a stock investor’s standpoint, it’s been a challenging theme to build into a portfolio,” Morningstar reports. “There are few pure-play stocks in this space, its performance has been poor, and while some see promise in the concept, others are skeptical about its cost-effectiveness at bringing down greenhouse emissions… “But the field faces hurdles, highlighted by the cancellation earlier this year of a C$2.4 billion carbon capture and storage facility near Edmonton, run by Canada-based Capital Power CPX. “There is controversy around the cost of the ton of carbon that you can capture,” John MacDonagh, senior analyst of emerging technology at PitchBook, told Morningstar. Looking forward, “people believe the cost will still be too high compared with other options.” “...Amid these crosscurrents, the stocks of publicly traded carbon capture companies have been difficult propositions for investors… “Few stocks are pure carbon capture plays, and the sector has performed poorly. Take Norwegian Aker Carbon Capture AKCCF. After hitting a high of US$3.90 in November 2021, it has slowly declined to US$0.55. LanzaTech Global LNZA, after going public through a special purpose acquisition company in 2023, has seen its stock price slide to US$1.97 from around US$10.00 when it began trading. Most companies are not listed… “The venture capital pipeline has many promising players in the works.”
TODAY IN GREENWASHING
Sarnia News Today: 'Alarming' initiative aims to reduce risk of fire, CO deaths
Natalia Vega, 10/17/24
“A public safety campaign will ensure more Sarnia residents have working fire and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in their homes,” according to Sarnia News Today. “Enbridge Gas has provided the Sarnia Fire Department with 282 combination alarms through the Safe Community Project Zero campaign, held in partnership with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council. "It's a public education campaign that will provide more than 14,500 alarms to residents in 75 communities across Ontario," said Enbridge Gas' Sarnia Operations Supervisor Robin Ellwood.”
OPINION
Center for American Progress: Project 2025 Would Put the Oil and Gas Industry Before Americans and Their Public Lands
Mariel Lutz, Jenny Rowland-Shea, 10/17/24
“More than $250 billion: That is how much profit the five largest oil and gas companies based in the United States made between 2021 and 2023—more than the federal government spent on student loan programs in fiscal year 2023,” Mariel Lutz and Jenny Rowland-Shea write for the Center for American Progress. “The oil and gas industry also received billions of dollars in the form of subsidies from the federal government in FY 2022, while not using more than 23 million acres of public lands and waters they had under lease as of 2021 nor acting upon thousands of permits they had for drilling as of 2022. Despite this abundance of money and land that the industry already holds, the far-right policy road map known as Project 2025 would give it even more public resources. Project 2025 aims to further enrich the oil and gas elite at the expense of everyday Americans’ health, well-being, and economic freedom. Policies that benefit the oil and gas elite at the expense of the public riddle the Project 2025 chapter focused on public lands. Despite the staggering profits and financial benefits the industry already receives, this plan would further shift the balance of America’s public lands and waters toward oil and gas… “This includes assessing and changing practices, such as natural resource protections, at the U.S. Department of the Interior—which manages public lands and waters—that could hinder oil and gas activities… “Project 2025 also includes proposals for how to get more land and water into the hands of oil and gas companies with changes to lease sales for oil and gas, which are when companies can bid for the right to rent and develop on public lands and waters.. “Project 2025 would reduce accountability for polluters by removing safeguards that were implemented by the Biden-Harris administration… “Project 2025 takes aim at specific and precious places across the country… “Increased oil and gas activities from Project 2025 would damage more of the country’s public lands and waters, from more drilling in natural areas to more pollution from oil and gas activities. The potential damage extends well beyond nature, to people both near and far from the actual operations… “Project 2025’s handouts to the oil and gas industry would not only harm America’s public lands and waters but would also negatively affect public health and the U.S. economy. Instead of benefiting the majority of the country, these policies would make CEOs and investors richer through exploiting the country’s natural resources. The American public deserves to benefit from their public lands and waters, but Project 2025 would ensure that the oil and gas elite have access first.”
Morning Star: Carbon capture is big oil’s ‘green’ baby
Solomon Hughes, 10/17/24
“This month, Keir Starmer announced a £21.7 billion subsidy for “carbon capture and storage” schemes, claiming this was all about “clean energy” and jobs,” Solomon Hughes writes for Morning Star. “But the big worry is that Labour has put an oil industry scheme at the heart of its “environmental” policies. It is going to throw big money at a “green” scheme which isn’t really green at all. It is going to hand billions to companies like oil firm BP or wood-burning mega-power station Drax or Italy’s energy giant Eni, mostly because these companies could afford to lobby the government and hire their mates… “This means what was once meant to be a Green New Deal now rests heavily on subsidising schemes with Eni (Hynet), Drax and BP (East Coast Cluster) at the core… “First, it’s a very unproven technology. We don’t know if it will really work… “Second, it is clearly influenced by the oil and gas companies. It allows their oil and gas to get burned or converted into hydrogen. And they just happen to have the old empty oil fields that are being proposed to store the carbon. They are the biggest supporters of carbon capture because they are the main beneficiaries. Other “green” technologies could reduce “greenhouse gases,” but they are not backed by companies as big and rich as Chevron or BP. It’s hard not to suspect the oil giants are pushing this very uncertain technology that may not work because if it does, they are the main winners, and if it doesn’t, this has been a useful diversion that allowed them to keep working and stopped their non-oil competitors getting ahead… “The fourth problem is the energy giants have got loads of money to pay for lobbying, so it’s easy to believe that lobbying, not the technology, wins government support… “The simple fact that carbon capture looks to have the bigger, better-funded lobby and is backed by energy firms like BP or Drax, who have a very bad record of fake “green” claims, makes me think this will not end well.”