EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 2/13/23
PIPELINE NEWS
Michigan Advance: Enviro groups urge answers from feds on prolonged Line 5 construction in U.P.
InsideClimate News: Navigator’s Proposed Carbon Pipeline Struggles to Gain Support in Illinois
Galesburg Register-Mail: Plans for a CO2 pipeline have changed. What does that mean for Illinois and Knox County?
KWQC: Discussions on CO2 pipeline ongoing
KTIV: Carbon pipeline company hoping to start construction this summer; 60% of easements achieved
Argus Observer: Protesting the expansion of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline
WV Public Broadcasting: Public Comment Period Extended For Mountain Valley Pipeline
Reuters: N. American pipeline operator Enbridge swings to loss on $1.86 bln charge
CNN: Pipelines resumes operations after fuel leak that prompted Nevada state of emergency
CBC: Can a new pipeline help the climate? ArcelorMittal Dofasco says it needs more gas to leave coal behind
Guardian: The pristine US forest threatened by a pipeline – in pictures
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Senate poised to revive probe of Big Oil climate claims
E&E News: Trump Vows 'Team Of Warrior Lawyers' To Destroy Energy Regs
STATE UPDATES
Associated Press: 1 injured in explosion and fire at North Dakota oil field
Guardian: Major US railroad merger could bring more tar sands to south-east Texas
EXTRACTION
RBN Energy: The Longest Time - For Carbon-Capture Projects, Storage Risks Require Decades Of Monitoring
OilPrice.com: Carbon Capture Is Coming Under Fire For Underperforming
E&E News: Landmark U.S. CCS coal project may restart
Bloomberg: Exxon Retreats From Major Climate Effort to Make Biofuels From Algae
Oil Change International: US gas exporters bemoan European climate goals deterring new LNG contracts
CLIMATE FINANCE
Indiana Capital Chronicle: Anti-ESG pension bill’s high price tag prompts concern for governor, top lawmakers
OPINION
Daily Press: Line 5 and reliable energy
Energy Voice: Carbon abatement or CCS? The answer is both
The Hill: Maximizing the climate benefits of natural gas exports
PIPELINE NEWS
Michigan Advance: Enviro groups urge answers from feds on prolonged Line 5 construction in U.P.
LAINA G. STEBBINS, 2/10/23
“Ten of the state’s leading environmental groups are raising concerns to the federal government about a prolonged construction project on Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline in the Upper Peninsula, while the Canadian company has dismissed fears over “routine maintenance,” Michigan Advance reports. “According to climate and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), heavy machinery was on site from roughly Jan. 14 to Jan. 27 at the pipeline segment five miles east of Watersmeet… “Those 13 days of construction on the pipeline occurred during “freezing conditions and a winter snow storm,” the coalition writes in its Tuesday letter obtained by the Advance, prompting activists to worry that emergency repair work was necessary due to a pipeline leak or other urgent issue. The letter was sent to U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Tristan Brown, who currently heads the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). PHMSA is an agency within USDOT that Enbridge argues has sole authority over Line 5… “The pipeline spot in Watersmeet is within roughly 50 miles of six known Line 5 spills that occurred from 1968 to 2017, the largest of which spilled 285,600 gallons near Lake Gogebic in the 1960s… “When members of our coalition asked about the project, we were told that it was ‘routine maintenance’ and it had been properly permitted. The situation brings to mind the 2011 ‘discovery’ of an Enbridge pipeline failure with massive contamination of 825 tons of soil in Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula that Enbridge failed to disclose until the news media reported on it 30 years later,” the letter reads.
InsideClimate News: Navigator’s Proposed Carbon Pipeline Struggles to Gain Support in Illinois
Aydali Campa, 2/13/23
“A farming county in Western Illinois doesn’t usually get many attendees at its board meetings. However, audiences—and their complaints—have grown over the last few months since Texas-based Navigator CO2 Ventures proposed running part of a 1,300-mile carbon dioxide pipeline through a chunk of farmland and residential areas,” InsideClimate News reports. “I feel very violated,” said Cheryl Allison, 67, a farmer in McDonough County. “It shouldn’t be here.” The system would run beneath three of Allison’s farms, where her family grows soybeans and corn, the top crops in Illinois. The pipeline would also run within a mile of her son’s and daughter’s homes. She worries that failures in the pipeline, Heartland Greenway, could put her family’s health at risk and permanently damage their farmland. Many other farmers in the state felt the same. McDonough and four other counties in Illinois issued two-year moratoriums last year on the construction of carbon pipelines, claiming that existing regulations for such projects don’t adequately prevent the pipelines from failing… “The company is offering up to $630,000 per year for the next 30 years in exchange for the county’s support of the project going forward… “Opponents, many of whom are farmers and landowners, asked board members to stand their ground. “Our side still wants protections against CO2 pipelines, and we know this committee will continue their support for those in the room whose land would be taken by eminent domain and would have a dangerous, under-regulated CO2 pipeline cross our land,” Marilyn Shelley, another McDonough resident whose farm would be adjacent to the pipeline, said in her testimony to the committee… “Some farmers tell ICN the latest offer is a desperate attempt at rushing the pipeline’s construction before current federal carbon dioxide pipeline regulations are updated… “Mike Kirby, a McDonough County board member, told ICN he is not confident in the technology’s greenhouse gas reduction promises. “We need our friends in labor who are speaking in favor of the pipelines to tell their leaders they want to work on real green energy projects, and not greenwashing one.”
Galesburg Register-Mail: Plans for a CO2 pipeline have changed. What does that mean for Illinois and Knox County?
Samuel Lisec, 2/10/23
“In July 2022, a company that specializes in the capture, transportation and storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) filed an application with the Illinois Commerce Commission to build a pipeline that would stretch across 13 Illinois counties. That company, Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC (Navigator), withdrew its application on Jan. 20 because it plans to file a new one this month for a pipeline that, if authorized by the commission, would have an even larger footprint in the state,” the Galesburg Register-Mail reports. “...Navigator is now looking at constructing sequestration sites in “multiple” central Illinois counties as opposed to just one in Christian County, Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, Navigator’s vice president of government and public affairs, told the Mail… “But Heartland Greenway opponents — who have argued the pipeline would erode soil, damage crop yield and endanger public safety in the event of a leak or rupture — cited Navigator’s withdrawal as evidence the project lacked the crucial landowner support it would need to store CO2 in Illinois and was on track to be dismissed by the Illinois Commerce Commission… ”Burns-Thompson told the Mail she cannot, before the new application is filed, provide an exact figure on how many additional sequestration sites Navigator wants. But Burns-Thompson told the Mail on Jan. 25 that the company has contemplated it will need 250 miles in Illinois for the project and the company has already begun communicating and re-communicating with Illinois landowners who would be in the pipeline’s path… “That survey permission history shows that Navigator needs easements on 42 parcels of land in Christian County, where the original sequestration site was planned. But by the end of 2022, according to the permission history, Navigator had gained zero easements in Christian County… “That Navigator did not have easements for a sequestration facility in Christian County is what led Mark Maple, the ICC’s senior gas engineer for its Energy Engineering Program of the Safety & Reliability Division, to recommend in written testimony Nov. 15 that the commission deny Navigator’s request for a certificate of authority. Burns-Thompson argued that Navigator is acquiring easements for pipeline right-of-way and sequestration right-of-way simultaneously and the company’s new application will reflect that Navigator already has “thousands of acres” under contract with landowners in multiple counties throughout Illinois that could accommodate well sites.
KWQC: Discussions on CO2 pipeline ongoing
Lindsey Voss, 2/12/23
“Members of the McCausland community are engaging in discussions about a proposed CO2 pipeline,” KWQC reports. “The Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement created a forum for McCausland farmers to explain the proposed CO2 pipeline that will stretch from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Decatur, Illinois, and allow affected farmers to discuss the dangers to their property if the pipeline were installed… “For many farmers this pipeline would run under their property, or nearby their land, and the potential danger liquified CO2 is has many against the installation. If the underground pipe were to leak, then the area around the leak is subject to an explosion. Discussed during the forum was an incident in Mississippi, back in 2020, which illustrates how hazardous carbon dioxide can be… “For now county supervisors in many Quad Cities towns are holding firm with their residents in keeping this pipeline out of Iowa, but negotiations are far from over.”
KTIV: Carbon pipeline company hoping to start construction this summer; 60% of easements achieved
Matt Hoffmann, 2/10/23
“A carbon pipeline company planning to build in all three Siouxland states says it’s acquired voluntary easements for 60% of the land along its proposed route,” KTIV reports. “Summit Carbon Solutions hopes to start construction on its carbon pipeline this summer, and be fully operational by the end of 2024. To do that, the company has signed 60% of landowners in the pipeline’s path to voluntary easements… “The remaining holdouts are likely the strongest adversaries of the project. A loose coalition of eminent domain opponents, environmentalists and private landowners have banded together to stop the project. They argue the pipeline is new, untested technology, and that the Iowa Utilities Board should not approve for eminent domain use because Summit is a private company. “I don’t know who they’re willing to sacrifice for this. A lot of counties and cities have taken action against the pipelines, simply because of the safety factor. It’s a big money grab,” Deb Main, a Woodbury County landowner who has refused to sign an easement with the company, told KTIV. Brian Jorde, a lawyer who represents the opponents, disputes the “voluntary” nature of the easements. He argues there’s no way to voluntarily agree because the company will seek to use eminent domain and take the land even if the landowner never agrees. “It’s like, I voluntarily gave my wallet to the person in the alley with the gun pointed at me. I gave them the wallet. That’s true. It wasn’t voluntary,” Jorde told KTIV.”
Argus Observer: Protesting the expansion of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline
Leslie Thompson, 2/12/23
“Oregon’s U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley will be among key speakers at a hearing organized by the people for the people regarding the expansion of a natural gas pipeline which travels through north Idaho, eastern Washington and Central Oregon,” the Argus Observer reports. “The People’s Hearing to Stop GTN Xpress will be held over Zoom at 6 p.m. local time on Monday. Registration for the public hearing is available online at http://bit.ly/3xb2f9G. Merkley will join environmental advocates and community members who live, work and play along the GTN pipeline rout in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, to share their stories and testimony. The event is being organized by multiple nonprofits, including Columbia Riverkeeper, Rogue Climate and Wild Idaho Rising Tide. In a news release last week, those organizations stated that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could reach a decision to expand the pipeline as early as Thursday. Monday’s people’s hearing was born because advocates say FERC didn’t hold a public hearing and “mostly ignored” citizen comments over the expansion of Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline, several nonprofit organizations have organized a hybrid town hall on Monday for people to provide testimony and learn about the impacts of GTN Xpress. FERC “mostly ignored thousands of comments on this pipeline expansion, sent by citizens, tribal organizations, and public officials and agencies since release of the project’s draft and final environmental impact statements during 2022,” reads the release. “So a coalition of Northwest groups will host a public hearing to gather testimony for the project record.” During Monday’s townhall, members of the public can provide testimony and learn about the potential impacts of GTN Xpress. People from as far away as British Columbia plan to participate. “
WV Public Broadcasting: Public Comment Period Extended For Mountain Valley Pipeline
2/12/23
“The federal government has extended the public comment period on the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” WV Public Broadcasting reports. “The controversial project needs to cross three and a half miles of the Jefferson National Forest along the border between West Virginia and Virginia. Public comment on a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was supposed to end this week. But the U.S. Forest Service has extended the comment period to Feb. 21. The 303-mile natural gas pipeline is a top priority for state leaders. But environmental groups have succeeded in slowing it down in court. The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, has overturned prior permitting decisions favorable to the pipeline.”
Reuters: N. American pipeline operator Enbridge swings to loss on $1.86 bln charge
Arshreet Singh and Rod Nickel, 2/10/23
“North American pipeline operator Enbridge Inc on Friday posted a quarterly loss from a year-ago profit as it took a non-cash C$2.5 billion ($1.86 billion) hit from higher cost of capital related to its natural gas transmission business,” Reuters reports. “...Enbridge, a leading transporter of crude oil and natural gas, delivered 3.1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) on its Mainline system, slightly higher than the 3 million bpd delivered a year ago. The Calgary-based company lost C$1.07 billion, or 53 Canadian cents, in the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of C$1.84 billion, or 91 Canadian cents per share, in the year-ago quarter… “Enbridge is in "constructive" negotiations with oil shippers on a new basis to charge for space on its Mainline, Ebel told Reuters, after the Canada Energy Regulator rejected in 2021 Enbridge's plan to sell nearly all of its space under long-term contract. Enbridge currently rations Mainline space monthly and faces new competition when the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion wraps up late this year.”
CNN: Pipelines resumes operations after fuel leak that prompted Nevada state of emergency
Rebekah Riess, Kaylene Chassie and Melissa Alonso, 2/12/23
“Energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan announced Saturday it has resumed operations after a leak was detected this week in a California gasoline pipeline that supplies unleaded and diesel fuel to storage facilities in southern Nevada,” CNN reports. “Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Katherine Hill said in a statement that "restart activities are complete for Watson Station's associated SFPP West and CalNev pipelines, and they have resumed operations." “...The leak, detected on Thursday, had prompted Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo to declare a state of emergency overnight. The declaration allows the state to receive federal resources and waivers as it deals with the pipeline repair time line and finds alternative fuel sources. Kinder Morgan's latest statement said the company had "isolated the source of the release within our Watson Station in Long Beach, California." “...Officials cautioned residents against panic buying while service is being restored.”
CBC: Can a new pipeline help the climate? ArcelorMittal Dofasco says it needs more gas to leave coal behind
Saira Peesker, 2/13/23
“If Hamilton city council agrees to build a new natural gas pipeline to ArcelorMittal Dofasco, it should also commit to reducing gas use and emissions in other parts of the city as a counter-measure, Environment Hamilton's interim executive director Ian Borsuk tells CBC. “The comments come after representatives from ArcelorMittal Dofasco and Enbridge Gas made a recent presentation to city councillors, explaining that plans to stop using coal in the steelmaking process will require double the amount of natural gas the facility currently uses. They say a new pipeline is required to make it happen. "We are so locked into fossil fuels that literally building out fossil-fuel infrastructure is seen as a win for the environment by a lot of people," Borsuk told CBC Hamilton. "To me, and to a lot of other environmentalists, I see it as extremely damning to the situation that we're in… If this is going to go forward, then in my mind, I think the onus is on the City of Hamilton to find ways to reduce emissions in other ways and in other sectors." He also noted that Enbridge is conducting public consultation on the proposal, which will form part of the OEB submission… “Dundas councillor Alex Wilson was among several on council who indicated they'd like to see more research on the alternatives to a new gas pipeline.”
Guardian: The pristine US forest threatened by a pipeline – in pictures
2/10/23
“Bernheim Forest in Kentucky is the largest privately held forest block in the eastern United States, and is currently fighting plans for a 12-mile gas pipeline, part of which would cross a northern section of the forest,” the Guardian reports. “In 2022, photographer Carla Rhodes became the forest’s first environmental artist-in-residence and captured the abundance and wonder of the 16,000-acre oasis…”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: Senate poised to revive probe of Big Oil climate claims
Corbin Hiar, Lesley Clark, Emma Dumain, 2/13/23
“A leading congressional critic of the fossil fuel industry plans to use his new position atop the Senate Budget Committee to continue investigating Big Oil’s alleged efforts to mislead the public about the causes and consequences of global warming,” E&E News reports. “The strength of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s inquiry could hinge on when — or if — he can get his hands on a massive tranche of internal industry documents obtained by House Democrats in the previous Congress that have been in limbo since Republicans took control this year… “Democrats are still evaluating the best way to move forward amid fears that the House Republican majority could seek to prevent transmission of materials across the Capitol… “Even if House Republicans push through additional rule changes or take other steps to prevent the document sharing, it would only delay the investigation, former congressional investigators told E&E. Whitehouse’s team could subpoena the documents again from the oil companies and trade associations… “The Center for Climate Integrity, which supports the climate lawsuits against the industry, told E&E that House Democrats risked “epic failure” if the materials did not see the light of day… “The House committee had uncovered compelling evidence that the industry continues to lie about its commitments to climate change, Wiles told E&E.”
E&E News: Trump Vows 'Team Of Warrior Lawyers' To Destroy Energy Regs
Robin Bravender, 2/9/23
“Former President Donald Trump on Thursday promised to torpedo the Biden administration’s energy and climate policies if he’s reelected in 2024,” E&E News reports. “‘When I’m back in the White House, I will bring back a pro-American energy policy at long last,’ the former president said in a video released Thursday outlining his energy campaign platform. Trump slammed President Joe Biden’s policies, which he called an ‘anti-American energy crusade,’ and vowed to bring back initiatives from his first term in office. ‘I will deploy a team of warrior lawyers to hunt down every unnecessary regulation in the federal registry that hampers domestic production, and we will wipe them off the books,’ Trump said. … ‘We will rapidly issue approvals for all worthy energy infrastructure projects with a focus on maximum speed to bring prices down rapidly,’ Trump said.”
STATE UPDATES
Associated Press: 1 injured in explosion and fire at North Dakota oil field
2/11/23
“One person was severely burned in an explosion and fire at an oil field in western North Dakota, fire officials tell the Associated Press. “The explosion was reported about 10:30 p.m. Friday at a saltwater disposal site north of Alexander on U.S. 65 in McKenzie County, the Williston Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Preliminary reports indicated several tanks exploded. The cause of the explosion and fire remains under investigation, the fire department said. One man was treated for severe burns and then flown to a regional trauma center, according to the statement.”
Guardian: Major US railroad merger could bring more tar sands to south-east Texas
Amal Ahmed for Floodlight and Katie Watkins for Houston Public Media, 2/13/23
“When Lindsay Williams moved into her home near the railroad tracks on Houston’s east side, she knew freight trains would pass by regularly. What she wasn’t expecting were trains longer than a mile frequently stalled for hours on the neighborhood tracks, blocking multiple intersections of traffic during the day and rumbling her house at night,” the Guardian reports. “...In the coming months, the rail traffic problems could get worse. Two major North American railways, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, have proposed a $27bn (£22bn) merger that would make it easier to move freight across North America with the first unified continental rail network. The merger is awaiting final approval from US regulators. In Houston, that would mean an additional eight trains passing through each day. However, the rail merger doesn’t just pose more inconveniences for residents of Houston’s East End. If it goes through, it would create the first direct route from Canada’s bitumen oil sands mines in Alberta to heavy crude refineries in Port Arthur, an industrial city on the Texas coast. “We fully expect that the combination of the two railroads will only strengthen their support for this new source of bitumen,” the vice-president of USD Group, a Texas-based midstream company, told a Canadian newspaper last year. Local environmentalists say the increase in fossil fuel refining along the Gulf coast will impact their health – and increase carbon emissions. It also could put residents like Williams at risk of a hazardous oil spill… “But if the railway opens up access to Gulf coast refineries, production from the Uinta basin could increase fourfold, to 350,000 barrels a day, according to a government estimate… “The burdens are going to fall largely on communities already facing environmental justice issues already – beyond the railroads, thinking of cancer clusters and port emissions, truck distribution centers, truck traffic,” Melissa Beeler, formerly an advocate with Air Alliance Houston, told the Guardian. “This is compounding air quality and public health impacts for our communities.”
EXTRACTION
RBN Energy: The Longest Time - For Carbon-Capture Projects, Storage Risks Require Decades Of Monitoring
Jason Lindquist, 2/9/23
“When carbon dioxide (CO2) is captured and stored deep underground, a process known as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), it’s supposed to remain there permanently,” RBN Energy reports. “Although much of today’s emphasis is on moving carbon-capture projects from aspirational to operational, there are long-term challenges to making sure those emissions stay put away for good, even if the odds of a significant leakage are considered remote. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the common risk factors for carbon-capture projects, explain why a site’s post-injection care-and-monitoring period can last for several decades, and detail the leakage risks that project planners must be prepared to handle… “EOR is only part of the CCS/CCUS story though — over the longer term, policymakers around the world are putting a lot of their chips on what we might call straightforward sequestration: that is, pumping mammoth volumes of captured CO2 down Class VI wells with the expectation — the legal commitment, really — that it will stay there, with virtually no leakage, for generations to come. Long-term risk management and the potential for project liabilities to extend for decades or longer — along with questions about who is responsible for those liabilities — have been a central concern of the industry and key stakeholders for years, even though leakage rates for CCS projects are thought to be minimal. A 2018 study published by Nature, “Estimating Geological CO2 Storage Security to Deliver on Climate Mitigation,” estimated that a well-regulated sequestration site would have a 50% chance of limiting leakage to below 0.00008% per year, with more than 98% of the injected CO2 retained in the subsurface over 10,000 years. (Study authors did acknowledge that the long-term behavior of subsurface CO2 remains an uncertainty.) Given the contrast inherent in any CCS project — leakage rates are considered to be very low, but the amount of CO2 susceptible to leakage is potentially massive — they must have a detailed safety plan that runs from planning to closure and beyond… “Specifically, owners or operators must monitor the site to show the position of the CO2 plume and demonstrate that underground sources of drinking water (USDW) are not endangered during the approved monitoring timeframe. This is done to ensure that any endangerment to USDW is detected quickly and appropriate remediation/corrective action is taken promptly. Owners or operators of Class VI injection wells (more on that shortly) must prepare, maintain and follow a PISC and site-closure plan, which must be submitted with the site’s permit application and relate to factors that may endanger USDW.”
OilPrice.com: Carbon Capture Is Coming Under Fire For Underperforming
Felicity Bradstock, 2/9/23
“Carbon capture and storage technology has exploded in recent years, with oil and gas companies seeing it as a way to decarbonize the industry,” OilPrice.com reports. “Critics argue that the CCS industry has continuously overstated its impact and underperformed, with shortcomings in both technology and the regulatory framework. Climate activists are now campaigning against a $10 billion project which claims to be the “greenest LNG project in the world” as the CCS system will capture less than 7% of emissions… “A 2022 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) revealed that CCS projects were underperforming, with significant challenges in terms of the technology and regulatory framework. The analysis of several projects showed that approximately 90 percent of the proposed CCS capacity in the power sector has not been realized, and many projects fail to achieve their anticipated maximum capture rates… “In Port Isabel, Texas, climate activists are now campaigning against a $10 billion project to export liquefied natural gas, Rio Grande LNG. The developer, NextDecade, has labeled the plant the “greenest LNG project in the world”, thanks to the incorporation of CCS technology into operations. But environmentalists say that calling the project ‘clean’ is an outright lie and a clear case of greenwashing… “And despite high hopes for CCS in the transition to green, at least in the mid-term, environmentalists worldwide are now worried that as Big Oil declines, another giant industry – that continues to contribute to climate change – will emerge. One media outlet said that “Big Oil has given way to Big Suck.” “...However, it should be viewed as a temporary solution rather than a long-term fix in the transition to green, to avoid the longevity of oil and gas operations beyond their need.”
E&E News: Landmark U.S. CCS coal project may restart
CARLOS ANCHONDO, SHELBY WEBB, 2/10/23
“Petra Nova — the largest U.S. retrofit of a coal plant with carbon capture — could resume operations in 2023, three years after shuttering because of low oil prices,” E&E News reports. “JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp., which owns the Texas facility, said Thursday it’s targeting a restart at the site after the part of a coal-fired power plant it’s connected to returns to service. The $1 billion Petra Nova project, located southwest of Houston, was the second commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility on a coal plant in the world, and the only one in the United States to date. But Petra Nova, which started up in 2016, has not operated since May 2020. Back in 2020, an NRG Energy Inc. spokesperson said the facility would stay in mothball status until economics improved. Oil prices are critical to Petra Nova because captured carbon was used to help boost oil production at an oil field operated by Hilcorp Energy Co… “Opponents of the project, however, have pointed to outages Petra Nova suffered during its years in operation. One advocacy group this week described Petra Nova as a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry, citing elements of a federal climate bill that passed last year. “The Inflation Reduction Act promises to supercharge these kinds of carbon capture schemes — but years of evidence and billions of wasted dollars tell us that carbon capture is nothing more than a scam,” Jim Walsh, policy director at the group Food & Water Watch, told E&E. “It is oil drilling masquerading as a climate solution.” “...And although storing CO2 through EOR is an established practice, the group said, the policy framework now in place has shifted how project developers are looking to store captured CO2. “Since the 2018 reform and expansion of the 45Q tax credit, there have been more than 120 publicly announced projects in the industry and power sectors, along with the direct air capture sector,” Jessie Stolark, the executive director for the Carbon Capture Coalition, a group of businesses, unions and environmental policy organizations, told E&E.
Bloomberg: Exxon Retreats From Major Climate Effort to Make Biofuels From Algae
Ben Elgin and Kevin Crowley, 2/10/23
“After advertising its efforts to produce environmentally friendly fuels from algae for over a decade, Exxon Mobil Corp. is now quietly walking away from its most heavily publicized climate solution,” Bloomberg reports. “Exxon has slashed its support for Viridos Inc., a biotech company based in La Jolla, California, that operated as the oil giant’s key technical partner since it began its algae push in 2009… “Exxon, meanwhile, has also halted funding for a multi-million-dollar algae project at the Colorado School of Mines at the end of last year, after supporting the work for eight years. Another Exxon-backed venture with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory is set to end within weeks. Exxon confirmed that it’s pulling back on funding for algae in favor of other technologies now being worked on by its Low Carbon Solutions division. “At this point we have other programs that are ready for deployment,” Vijay Swarup, Exxon’s senior director of technology who ran algae research, told Bloomberg. “We need to get on the deployment curve for carbon capture, for hydrogen, for biofuels. Algae still needs some more work.” It’s a remarkable shift for Exxon… “The green goop has for years been prominently featured as a climate-friendly possibility in television ads and investor presentations… “In an interview, Exxon officials rejected the suggestion that algae was some sort of greenwashing attempt… “All told, the company spent more than $350 million dollars trying to develop biofuels from algae, which was more than double what the company spent on algae advertising, spokesman Casey Norton told Bloomberg. While recent progress with Viridos was significant, Exxon is prioritizing other low-carbon solutions — including spending billions of dollars on carbon capture and storage — because it remains extremely challenging to produce large quantities of algae biofuels at a profit.”
Oil Change International: US gas exporters bemoan European climate goals deterring new LNG contracts
ANDY ROWELL, 2/10/13
“There are many winners and losers in war, but one of the biggest winners has been the U.S. LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) industry,” Oil Change International reports. “After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe scrambled to ween itself off Russian gas as soon as possible. And U.S. LNG suppliers profited handsomely from the opportunity. As Europe rushed to fill its gas storage to the brim before the onset of winter, LNG prices spiked, leaving some Asian buyers priced out. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that in the first eleven months of last year, the U.S. industry increased shipments to Europe by over 137% compared to the previous year. And it is equally unsurprising that the United States looks set to remain Europe’s top LNG seller in 2023… “But now, as European nations negotiate with US suppliers over new LNG deals, climate is forming a barrier to the deals U.S. suppliers are seeking. The Financial Times reports that Europe’s climate goals are deterring “buyers from making long-term fossil fuel supply commitments.” The U.S. LNG industry’s business model requires customers to sign decades-long contracts to secure the billions in finance needed to build new export capacity. Some Europeans were prepared to do this last year, but it seems they are pulling back. Leading LNG companies complain that European climate commitments are putting off European buyers. Nick Dell’Osso, chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest U.S. gas producers, told the FT: “[European] buyers are fearful of their governments telling them they can’t buy hydrocarbons 15 or 20 years from now.” He added that “[Things] are at a bit of a loggerheads right now.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
Indiana Capital Chronicle: Anti-ESG pension bill’s high price tag prompts concern for governor, top lawmakers
LESLIE BONILLA MUÑIZ, 2/10/23
“Indiana’s top government leaders said this week they are concerned about the potential multi-billion-dollar impact of a public pension bill intended to crack down on the environmental, social and governmental framework known as ESG investing,” the Indiana Capital Chronicle reports. “...House Bill 1008 mandates that Indiana’s public pension system divest from investment firms or funds that use ESG investment criteria. Author Rep. Ethan Manning, R-Logansport, and supporters say the proposal would ensure that the Indiana Public Retirement System puts finances first. But an updated fiscal analysis, first reported by the Capital Chronicle, revealed the measure could drop INPRS returns by a whopping $6.7 billion over the next decade. That drop in returns would cut INPRS’ estimated annual return on investment from 6.25% to 5.05%, likely forcing the state and local units of government to pay more toward pensions in exchange, according to the analysis. It could also prevent INPRS from running a specific pension fund it’s statutorily required to offer, and could cost an additional $550,000 in administrative costs per year, paid out from the funds… “Top Senate Democrat Greg Taylor, however, pushed back against the anti-ESG concept in both bill versions. “I don’t want to be explaining to my constituents that work for state government that they lost investment returns on their retirement because I didn’t agree to public policy of a company that we invested in,” Taylor told reporters Thursday. “So I hope my colleagues feel the same way.”
OPINION
Daily Press: Line 5 and reliable energy
Kate Houchard, Enbridge Operations Manager, 2/13/23
“The region’s ability to receive an uninterrupted supply of reliable energy from Enbridge’s Line 5, while protecting Michigan’s waters, is not an either-or situation as portrayed in a recent article,” Kate Houchard writes for the Daily Press. “Our region relies on Enbridge Line 5 to provide light crude oil and natural gas liquids, including propane, to heat our homes and power Michigan’s economy… “Last fall, we opened the Enbridge Straits Maritime Operations Center (ESMOC) in St. Ignace as a testament to our dedication to prevention. The ESMOC utilizes world-class technology, marine monitoring safety systems and highly skilled staff to protect the Straits 24/7. Enbridge also participates with the U.S. Coast Guard and other first responders in drills specific to the Straits to ensure preparedness… “To continue meeting the region’s energy needs, Enbridge is constructing the Great Lakes Tunnel. Housing a replacement segment of Line 5 deep below the lakebed in the Tunnel will eliminate chance of an anchor strike to Line 5 and virtually eliminate a leak from impacting the Straits. The tunnel is the next logical step to meeting Michigan’s energy and environmental needs, which is why 70 percent of Michiganders support its construction.”
Energy Voice: Carbon abatement or CCS? The answer is both
Sabrina Spencer, associate at Fasken, 2/13/23
“Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has long been touted as part of the solution to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions,” Sabrina Spencer writes for Energy Voice. “Fast forward to 2023 and global policy experts increasingly identify CCS as an essential part of the global path to maintaining the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global temperate rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. One of the persistent arguments against the use of CCS is that it will prolong the transition away from the use of fossil fuels and thereby prolong the ‘fossil fuel age’. Historically, the majority of CCS facilities under development or in operation were attached to natural gas processing or fossil fuel-fired power generation. Today, the development of CCS projects is expanding beyond the fossil fuel sector, moving into other hard-to-decarbonise industries, such as cement, pulp and paper. However, CCS is still seen – erroneously – as taking resources and focus away from carbon abatement… “We need to start implementing the proven technologies at hand to have a hope of meeting the commitments made in Paris. We live in an “all of the above” world, and we should implement the technologies we know will keep us on the path to net zero and 1.5C, while continuing to develop the technologies that will allow us to more rapidly reduce emissions and atmospheric concentrations of GHGs in the future. The answer is not “either/or” when it comes to carbon abatement and CCS: it must be “both”.
The Hill: Maximizing the climate benefits of natural gas exports
Paul Bledsoe is strategic advisor at the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, 2/10/13
“A major question facing American energy and climate policymakers today is what role abundant U.S. natural gas should play in the global clean energy transition,” Paul Bledsoe writes for The Hill. “Some environmental activists oppose all gas use. But a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) finds that expanding U.S. liquefied natural gas exports can lower global greenhouse gas emissions significantly, especially if fugitive emissions of methane are deeply reduced… “Coal to U.S. LNG switching delivers net greenhouse gas emissions reductions of between 40 to 50 percent… “The new PPI report makes policy recommendations needed provide the largest possible climate benefits of US LNG exports, including: Cut methane emissions from U.S. gas deeply. Adopt a national goal of cutting lifecycle methane emissions from U.S. gas to less than 0.3 percent by 2030, from about 1.7 percent today, making U.S. gas demonstrably the lowest emitting in the world… “Retire coal plants… “Double U.S. LNG exports. The U.S. should double LNG exports levels to coal-dependent nations to encourage coal-to-gas switching. But increased exports mean the U.S. must increase overall gas production by at least 10 percent to keep domestic prices low, while also enacting permitting reforms to expand gas pipelines and other infrastructure. Urge importing nations to establish methane standards… “Require U.S. natural gas power plants to have net-zero CO2 by 2040… “Some opponents of gas contend that new gas pipelines will lock in long-term emissions, but much gas infrastructure can be retrofitted to carry hydrogen or carbon dioxide captured from power plants. European companies announced recently they will build new power plants that will run first on gas, then on hydrogen produced from gas with carbon capture and storage, and finally on hydrogen made using renewable energy. These investments are an example of what many energy technology experts expect to be a variegated electricity production system, with the wide range of natural gas and hydrogen related plants getting power from differing but increasingly clean sources… “Along with larger investments in renewable and other forms of clean energy, making gas cleaner and more available for global export is a key way the U.S. gas industry can help combat climate change.”