EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 8/18/23
PIPELINE NEWS
KGAN: Opponents of carbon capture pipelines call on Iowa Utilities Board to delay Summit hearing
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Summit says it wants to withhold safety report to protect public safety
KUMV: North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources warns more CO2 needed to sustain oil production long-term
Law360: FERC Accused Of Rushing W.Va. Pipeline's Coal Waste Plan
Oil & Gas Journal: Proposed gas pipeline safety rule has big problems, trade groups say
World Pipelines: API LEPA publishes CO2 safety guide
DeSmog: Industry Plans Thousands of Miles of New Gas Pipelines to Boost LNG Exports
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: How a Republican president could hobble the climate law
The Hill: Markey, Cohen call on Tennessee Valley Authority to phase out fossil fuels
STATE UPDATES
New York Times: Maui Sued Big Oil in 2020, Citing Fire Risks and More
Associated Press: Oil worker health care fund is sought by New Mexico congressman in swing district
E&E News: Treasury: IRA tax credits draw huge interest for coal community projects
E&E News: CCS 2.0: Company reboots bid to save N.M. coal plant
Louisiana Illuminator: LSU awarded millions from federal government to study carbon capture
Odessa American: Produced water to grow cotton?
E&E News: Lawsuit claims California lets polluters off the hook
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Would You Vote to Halt Drilling? In Ecuador, They’re Getting the Chance.
NBC News: Millions in the U.S. live near abandoned oil and gas wells linked to explosions and toxins
Offshore Energy: TotalEnergies equips LNG carrier with EverLoNG’s carbon capture system
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: Wealthy oil nation lays groundwork for ‘eye-popping’ climate fund
OPINION
Kenosha News: Shut down Line 5 as a climate imperative
Bloomberg: Sorry, Kids, the Courts Won’t Save the Planet
Bloomberg: Carbon Capture Must Avoid Recycling’s Failures
PIPELINE NEWS
KGAN: Opponents of carbon capture pipelines call on Iowa Utilities Board to delay Summit hearing
Skylar Tallal, 8/16/23
“Iowa landowners facing impacts from the carbon capture pipelines will be in Fort Dodge next week, to give testimony in front of the Iowa Utilities Board,” KGAN reports. “Expecting hundreds of them to testify, the Sierra Club is helping landowners prepare. “Eminent domain should not be used for private projects seeking private profits," Jessica Mazour, the conservation program coordinator for the Sierra Club, told KGAN. "There's tons of environmental and land concerns that'll be raised and then safety." For the past two years, Kathy Stockdale has been fighting to keep pipelines off her land, with safety as her main concern. The Hardin County landowner told KGAN EMT's in her area are limited, worrying what will happen if an accident occurs. "They don't have the apparatus and the devices to use to go in and rescue, so they'll have to wait at least an hour for people from Waterloo to come and help," Stockdale told KGAN. However, Summit Carbon Solutions has had a setback after North Dakota rejected its permit to build the pipelines, which is where the CO2 is planned to be stored… "So, it's pretty much the same case we are asking for the same information," Mazour told KGAN. "We are making the same arguments and if Summit failed to meet the burden of proof in North Dakota they have failed to meet it here as well." “...It should give our IUB pause and holding off on the hearing since there is no place for this CO2 to go to," Stockdale told KGAN.
Iowa Capital Dispatch: Summit says it wants to withhold safety report to protect public safety
JARED STRONG, 8/17/23
“Dispersion models that are sought as evidence for Summit Carbon Solutions’ upcoming pipeline permit hearing could enable someone to breach the pipeline to cause maximum human casualties, the company argues,” the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports. “The company on Wednesday appealed a judge’s decision earlier in the week that compelled the company to provide the information, which attempts to predict where a plume of carbon dioxide might go if it escapes Summit’s proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. The judge’s ruling “ignores the underlying public-safety reasons for protecting information that could give a roadmap to someone intent on harming the pipeline and — more importantly — Iowans,” the company said in its appeal… “Summit initially sought to withhold the dispersion models from the Sierra Club of Iowa, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and several counties because pipeline safety considerations are outside the purview of state regulators… “But Toby Gordon, an administrative law judge for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, said the safety models might be necessary to determine the pipeline route. In Summit’s appeal, it shifted its focus for withholding the information to the potential for pipeline sabotage… “The IUB needs to know how far the carbon dioxide plume from a leak or rupture of the Summit pipeline would disperse in order to properly approve ‘the location and route’ of the pipeline so as to protect persons and property,” Wally Taylor, a Sierra Club attorney, has argued… “It’s unclear when the IUB will decide the issue. Summit’s evidentiary hearing is set to start Tuesday. There are pending requests with the board and in district court that seek to delay that hearing… “There is also a pending appeal of a separate decision by Gordon that ordered Summit to provide its unredacted contracts with ethanol plants to the attorneys of groups that requested them… “On Monday, an attorney for several counties that obtained redacted versions of the documents allegedly filed the agreements inadvertently in Summit’s public IUB docket. “Counsel for the counties subsequently contacted IUB staff and the publicly-filed offtake agreements were removed from the docket, but not without a window of time during which the offtake agreements were publicly available to any person with an internet connection,” the company said in a Wednesday IUB filing.
KUMV: North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources warns more CO2 needed to sustain oil production long-term
Michael Anthony, 8/16/23
“State Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said more carbon dioxide will be needed in order to sustain oil production for the long term,” KUMV reports. “This comes following the Public Service Commission’s decision to deny a permit for the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 Pipeline. While Helms didn’t comment on the matter, he said the state needs to get the gas from somewhere to help with enhanced oil recovery. The emerging technology uses CO2 and other materials to help producers to take more oil than traditional methods. Helms said current CO2 production only meets about 10 percent of what is needed for enhanced oil recovery. “We’ve got to find a way for carbon capture and utilization to become a part of North Dakota’s economy or we will leave billions of barrels of oil in the ground,” Helms told KUMV. Helms told KUMV there were three draft applications submitted for carbon storage facilities that would have utilized the Summit pipeline but will now most likely be postponed.”
Law360: FERC Accused Of Rushing W.Va. Pipeline's Coal Waste Plan
Peter McGuire, 8/17/23
“Plans to treat and remove overheating waste coal excavated during construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline has conservation groups raising alarms that federal regulators rubber-stamped the proposal without full considering of its impacts to the environment, safety and endangered species,” Law360 reports.
Oil & Gas Journal: Proposed gas pipeline safety rule has big problems, trade groups say
Alan Kovski, 8/17/23
“Groups representing the natural gas industry filed comments Aug. 16 that warned of fundamental flaws of legal authority and practical details in a proposed rule on gas pipeline leak detection and repair published by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA),” Oil & Gas Journal reports. “Basic elements of the proposal would exceed the mandate Congress has given PHMSA, would be infeasible, needlessly burdensome, and based on inadequate cost-benefit analyses, according to the groups. The proposed rule, published May 18 in the Federal Register, is intended to implement Sections 113 and 114 of the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2020, or the PIPES Act of 2020. Those sections focus not only on leak detection and repair but inspection and maintenance programs… “Industry groups jointly filed recommendations Aug. 16 in hopes of improving the proposal. The joint filing came from the American Gas Association, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), American Public Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, GPA Midstream Association, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, and Northeast Gas Association… “PHMSA’s proposed definitions would result in an expansive regulatory regime that, contrary to Congress’ intent, would require operators to identify and repair all detectable leaks, including those so inconsequential that they pose no potential hazard to public safety and no or de minimis impact on the environment, the groups said. The associations also said the 6-month time frame for a final rule to become effective is not realistic or achievable. They urged a 3-year effective date be adopted. They also said proposed standards for alternative leak detection technology were unreasonable and, in some cases, infeasible. PHMSA’s analysis understates the costs and overstates the benefits of the proposed compliance activities, the associations said… “The regulatory agency “is poised to enact burdensome measures on natural gas pipeline operators and natural gas utilities” and cannot escape its obligation to conduct an adequate cost and benefit assessment in accordance with the Pipeline Safety Act and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget, the groups said.
World Pipelines: API LEPA publishes CO2 safety guide
Elizabeth Corner, 8/18/23
“Building on the oil and natural gas industry’s commitment to ensuring safe operations, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Liquid Energy Pipeline Association (LEPA) today released a carbon dioxide (CO2) pipeline safety tactical guide for pipeline operators and emergency response personnel,” World Pipelines reports. “...This guide, developed with input from the National Association of State Fire Marshals, helps operators advance a zero-incident safety culture by outlining best practices for CO2 pipeline safety and emergency preparedness… “While government data shows CO2 pipeline incidents are rare, this new tactical guide will help pipeline operators and first responders prepare in advance and respond to a CO2 pipeline release,” said LEPA President and CEO Andy Black. “We are pleased to work with the oil and natural gas industry on a guide for CO2 pipeline safety, helping ensure CO2 operations remain safe and secure,” said National Association of State Fire Marshalls Chief of Operations and Training Phillip Oakes.
DeSmog: Industry Plans Thousands of Miles of New Gas Pipelines to Boost LNG Exports
Sara Sneathon, 8/16/23
“U.S. fossil fuel firms are pushing to build more than 2,900 miles of natural gas pipelines to feed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and Alaska, in a bid to send more of the fuel to Asia and Europe, a new analysis by Global Energy Monitor shows,” DeSmog reports. “The pipeline projects would transport fracked natural gas from drilling sites to compressor stations and onto LNG export terminals where the fuel would be supercooled and loaded into tankers. The proposed build-out also includes 20 new LNG export terminals. But as coastal communities and tribes watch the infrastructure build up around them, many worry about the impact it may have on their safety, livelihoods, and culture. Others wonder why billions of dollars are being sunk into economically and environmentally risky projects that appear redundant. “Enough is enough. We don’t need any more of these here,” Cindy Robertson, who lives in Sulphur, Louisiana, about two miles from a proposed natural gas pipeline, told DeSmog. “We don’t need any addition to the burden we’re already feeling.” Sulphur lies close to existing fossil fuel infrastructure, including two LNG export facilities, and chemical manufacturing plants. It is also near the coast, making it vulnerable to damage from hurricanes. In an analysis for DeSmog, Global Energy Monitor identified 32 natural gas pipelines that have been proposed, are under construction, have been shelved, or are idle and intended for future use… “The pipelines would cost billions of dollars to build. The combined cost of 13 of them — those with cost data available — is more than $62 billion. Some of the pipelines may not be built, but the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC) has already approved more than 1,200 miles of pipeline, including the Alaska Nikiski LNG Project, an 800-mile pipeline that bisects Alaska. High rates of return on federally permitted natural gas pipelines allow companies to charge their customers more and incentivize overbuilding pipelines, Megan Gibson, chief counsel for the Niskanen Center, who is representing Louisiana landowners against the 90-mile CP Express pipeline, told DeSmog. “There’s a perverse incentive structure in place for companies to continue building projects that we don’t need.”.
WASHINGTON UPDATES
E&E News: How a Republican president could hobble the climate law
Hannah Northey, Timothy Cama, 8/16/23
President Joe Biden’s signature climate law will soon face a new threat: the 2024 presidential election,” E&E News reports. “The Inflation Reduction Act has so far survived Republican-led attempts on Capitol Hill to repeal major parts of its $369 billion in clean energy and climate spending. But a Republican president like Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis would have multiple avenues for hindering the law through executive action — including by tightening limits on its tax credits, holding back some of its loans and grants, or revising Treasury Department rules that haven’t yet reached the finish line when Biden leaves office. That would likely hurt U.S. efforts to be a world leader on climate change and meet the international commitments that the Obama and Biden administrations have made, and undercut Democrats’ top achievement of recent years. The fight could mirror the years of GOP attacks that Obamacare faced after Congress enacted it in 2010, including multiple repeal attempts and Trump’s use of executive actions to undercut it. Some Republican presidential candidates, including Trump, are already targeting the IRA’s grant and loan spending, which provide a major piece of the federal government’s support for shift to clean energy. “They’re just pouring money out,” Trump told supporters during a rally in New Hampshire this month. “All these crazy deals, this Inflation Reduction Act … it increases inflation.” Nikki Haley slammed the law Wednesday and said she’d repeal it. “The IRA is a communist manifesto filled with tax hikes and green subsidies that benefit China and make America more dependent on Beijing,” she said in a statement. “As president, I will repeal Biden’s green energy handouts and make sure Americans are not dependent on China for vital goods.” Among other options, a GOP president could have the Treasury Department rework the guidance it has issued on the climate law’s tax credits, including contentious mineral sourcing requirements for electric vehicles and their components.”
The Hill: Markey, Cohen call on Tennessee Valley Authority to phase out fossil fuels
ZACK BUDRYK, 8/17/23
“Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) led a letter this week calling for the federal Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to phase out the use of fossil fuels by the middle of the next decade,” The Hill reports. “In the letter to TVA President and CEO Jeffrey Lyash and board Chairman William Kilbride, Markey and Cohen wrote that the TVA “should be leading the nation’s transition to a clean, renewable energy future, not dragging its feet.” But the TVA continues to rely on fossil fuels, they wrote. These fuels, they wrote, “are not only supercharging the climate crisis, but are subjecting TVA customers to electric grid blackouts and energy insecurity. It is long past time for TVA to begin the transition to a renewable and reliable electric grid.” “...Markey and Cohen further wrote that failure to transition off fossil fuels will trickle down to the TVA’s customers, with a January report from the Government Accountability Office indicating climate change-related threats could cost the utility’s customers billions of dollars… “In addition to Markey and Cohen, the letter was signed by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Nanette Díaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).”
STATE UPDATES
New York Times: Maui Sued Big Oil in 2020, Citing Fire Risks and More
Hiroko Tabuchi, 8/18/23
“The words were strikingly prescient: Because of climate change, lush and verdant Maui was facing wildfires of “increased frequency, intensity, and destructive force.” They appeared in a 2020 lawsuit filed by Maui County seeking damages from Exxon, Chevron and other giant oil and gas companies, accusing them of a “coordinated, multifront effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge” that the burning of fossil fuels would heat the planet to dangerous extremes,” the New York Times reports. “Now, after wildfires driven by conditions linked to climate change have devastated the Hawaiian island, the lawsuit carries renewed heft. The Maui fires “are clear and concrete evidence of something that otherwise might seem and feel abstract” that could “greatly strengthen” Maui’s case, Naomi Oreskes, professor of the history of science at Harvard who has written about climate change disinformation, told the Times. But, she cautioned, “for decades, the fossil fuel industry has worked to undermine scientific understanding of climate change and its damaging effects. One way they have done this, repeatedly, is by questioning the link between climate change, in general, and specific damaging consequences.” Ryan Meyers, senior vice president and general counsel at the American Petroleum Institute, an oil industry lobby group, called the Maui wildfires a tragedy, but stressed that their immediate cause was still under investigation. He called the litigation brought my Maui part of a “coordinated campaign to wage meritless lawsuits against our industry,” and “nothing more than a distraction from important issues and an enormous waste of taxpayer resources.” Maui is among more than two dozen states and municipalities, including Honolulu, about 100 miles from Maui, that are suing fossil fuel companies for climate damages. This week, a group of youths in Montana won a landmark lawsuit after a judge ruled that the state’s failure to consider climate change when approving fossil fuel projects was unconstitutional. And while lawsuits like the one filed by Maui have been delayed by procedural issues, the fires could be an important part of the county’s claim for damages should the case go to trial, legal experts said. Maui’s arguments are also likely to resonate with a local jury.”
Associated Press: Oil worker health care fund is sought by New Mexico congressman in swing district
MORGAN LEE, 8/17/23
“U.S. oil field workers and their immediate relatives would be compensated for uninsured medical costs related to air pollution and heat-related illness, under a bill introduced by a first-term Democratic congressman from New Mexico,” the Associated Press reports. “U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez said Wednesday his bill would require oil and natural gas companies to pay into a trust that provides reimbursement to workers for health costs associated with ailments linked to methane and smog, including respiratory problems such as asthma. Workers would be eligible to seek reimbursement for costs not covered by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, he said. Eligibility for specific medical conditions would be determined under federal labor and workplace safety guidelines. Vasquez said the proposal is an outgrowth of concerns he has heard from oil field workers in southeastern New Mexico — and his observations about extensive profits and executive compensation among major petroleum companies. New Mexico is the nation’s second-largest oil producer behind Texas. “If you’re an energy worker in Hobbs or Carlsbad who has a child who has asthma, you would benefit from this legislation,” Vasquez told AP.
E&E News: Treasury: IRA tax credits draw huge interest for coal community projects
Kelsey Tamborrino, 8/16/23
“Demand to take advantage of federal incentives to pour money into former coal communities and expand industrial and manufacturing facilities is far outpacing the funding contained in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Treasury Department said Wednesday,” E&E News reports. “Applicants have submitted concept papers seeking almost $42 billion in federal funding for projects under the qualifying advanced energy project credit program. That’s more than four times the $10 billion that Congress allocated for the IRA program, which was first established by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and more than 10 times what’s available this year. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told E&E the strong demand showed the IRA, which was enacted exactly one year ago, is succeeding in driving an investment and manufacturing boom. “Investments made under this program will improve the nation’s energy security and create good-paying jobs in vital fields like clean-energy manufacturing and critical materials processing,” Adeyemo said in a statement. “They will also unlock private capital and allow for existing energy infrastructure to be retooled for the clean energy economy, particularly in coal communities.”
E&E News: CCS 2.0: Company reboots bid to save N.M. coal plant
Carlos Anchondo, Jason Plautz, 8/6/23
“A New Mexico startup isn’t abandoning efforts to install carbon capture technology on a coal-fired power plant in the state — even after its first attempt flopped,” E&E News reports. “Enchant Energy Corp. is pursuing a retrofit of the Four Corners plant on the Navajo Nation, less than 15 miles from the now-closed San Juan Generating Station, which the company failed to keep open last year. The bid arrives amid a heated debate over EPA’s proposed power plant rules and whether carbon capture and storage (CCS) is adequately demonstrated on fossil fuel generation. Currently, there are no commercial-scale CCS projects operating in the U.S. power sector, even though EPA’s proposal considers the technology to be a chief option to keep certain gas and coal plants online past 2040… “While the mothballed Petra Nova project in Texas — the only power project ever to capture CO2 in the United States at scale — is aiming to restart operations this year, other proposals on U.S. power plants haven’t broken ground. That puts Enchant’s project in a race with other proposals to be the second large U.S. power plant ever with installed CCS… “While there could be economic benefits to installing CCS at the site, some advocates say they would like to see the Navajo Nation and the region move beyond their coal past. “You hope to have things come in that won’t do the harm that other industries have done,” Wendy Atcitty, a program manager for the Indigenous energy team at Naeva, a nonprofit on the Navajo Nation that works on a range of issues, including addressing climate change, told E&E. “I would like us to come together on a better use of resources, rather than relying on the past…“It seems like we’re not being communicated to, as far as the communities close to the plant,” Atcitty, who lives in the area and said her father once worked at the Four Corners plant, told E&E. Questions like what the project will mean for air and water quality still need to be answered, she told E&E.”.
Louisiana Illuminator: LSU awarded millions from federal government to study carbon capture
PIPER HUTCHINSON, 8/17/23
“The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded nearly $5 million to an LSU-led consortium to study the feasibility of building a carbon capture hub in Louisiana,” the Louisiana Illuminator reports. “The Pelican Consortium, which includes Shell and the University of Houston, will evaluate the potential for scaling up and deploying multiple carbon capture technologies. “Collaborative carbon removal research like this supports efforts to keep pace with the global movement toward a less carbon-intensive economy,” Greg Upton, LSU Center for Energy Studies interim executive director, said in a press release… “Carbon capture has the support of the fossil fuel industry, though critics say it would be better for oil and gas companies to reduce their CO2 output directly. Many feel the environmental and safety impacts of underground carbon storage have not been fully vetted. Louisiana has been at the forefront of carbon capture projects, although not without controversy. A proposed project under Lake Maurepas has provoked outrage among neighboring community members who fear that the untested technology will spoil the lake.”
Odessa American: Produced water to grow cotton?
Bob Campbell, 8/15/23
“What to do with the 15-18 billion barrels per day of water that’s produced in the fracking of oil and natural gas wells in the Permian Basin is the big question being reviewed Tuesday and Wednesday at the Produced Water Summit and spokesmen say great progress is being made,” the Odessa American reports. “Produced Water Society President Steve Coffee of Austin said Tuesday morning as 300 participants listened to a panel discussion at the Horseshoe Pavilion that treated produced water has already been used to green up the San Joaquin Valley in Central California and the Abu Dhabi area of the United Arab Emirates. Coffee said the water that comes out of wells chemically contaminated is being used to grow non-edible crops like hemp and to recharge underground aquifers… “Keynote speaker Robert Crain, executive vice president of Texas Pacific Water Resources in Midland, said another key recent development has been to move from the deep discharge of produced water via saltwater disposal wells to shallow discharge to decrease the incidence of earthquakes in the region… “Dobson said the produced water is desalinized and thermally distilled to remove as many of the chemicals as possible. “We’re looking at non-consumptive products,” she said.”
E&E News: Lawsuit claims California lets polluters off the hook
Sean Reilly, 8/16/23
“In a region beset by some of the nation's heaviest smog, Southern California regulators aren't using a potentially powerful tool to make polluting companies pay, according to a new lawsuit,” E&E News reports. “The federal suit, filed Tuesday by a coalition of environmental groups, alleges that the South Coast Air Quality Management District has failed to set mandatory Clean Air Act fees for refineries and other major industrial sources that don't cut smog-forming emissions by 20 percent. Those fees, based on a formula, are supposed to be representative of 20 percent of their emissions, the suit says, and are payable for every year after the area fails to meet an EPA attainment deadline for locales with particularly severe smog problems.”
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Would You Vote to Halt Drilling? In Ecuador, They’re Getting the Chance.
Manuela Andreoni and Catrin Einhorn, 8/17/23
“Should Ecuador continue drilling in one of the most biodiverse corners of the Amazon or should it keep the oil underground? On Sunday, its people will decide in a binding referendum that landed on the ballot after a decade-long fight by young activists,” the New York Times reports. “As the world faces twin ecological crises of climate change and ecosystem collapse, the vote will determine what one country’s citizens are willing to give up to protect the planet… “But oil is Ecuador’s most important export and the government is campaigning for drilling to continue. According to official estimates, the country stands to lose $1.2 billion in revenue a year if the oil is left underground. “It’s historic,” Pedro Bermeo, one of the founding members of Yasunidos, the group behind the referendum, told the Times. “We’re democratizing environmental politics.”
NBC News: Millions in the U.S. live near abandoned oil and gas wells linked to explosions and toxins
8/16/23
“Abandoned oil and gas wells can cause toxins and dangerous greenhouse gasses to leak into water supplies and, in some extreme cases, cause explosions,” NBC News reports. “They are often left unplugged by companies that are long out of business. Nearly five million people live within a half mile of an abandoned well. NBC News’ Cynthia McFadden has the investigation.”
Offshore Energy: TotalEnergies equips LNG carrier with EverLoNG’s carbon capture system
Jasmina Ovcina Mandra, 8/17/23
“A ship-based carbon capture (SBCC) prototype developed under the EverLoNG project was installed on an LNG-powered LNG carrier owned by energy major TotalEnergies while in drydock in Spain,” Offshore Energy reports. “The carbon capture unit was built in the Netherlands by carbon capture solutions provider Carbotreat. The installation was completed in July as part of a project led by the Dutch research and development organization TNO which aims to demonstrate ship-based carbon capture technology and capture CO2 from the ship’s exhaust. Under the initiative, the project developers aim to capture ten tonnes of CO2 on board TotalEnergies’ LNG carrier, during a 3000-hour test campaign. The test is expected to provide data on environmental emissions and the impact of motion on capture rates, capture solvent behavior and degradation. The captured CO2 will be stored onboard as a liquid in a pressurised vessel and off-loaded and transported to an industrial site or stored permanently in the subsurface… “The overarching objective of this initiative is to achieve a remarkable 70% reduction in CO2 emissions from ships, with a focus on vessels powered by LNG but not equipped with SBCC.
CLIMATE FINANCE
Politico: Wealthy oil nation lays groundwork for ‘eye-popping’ climate fund
ZACK COLMAN and KARL MATHIESEN, 8/18/23
“The United Arab Emirates is considering creating a multibillion-dollar fund to spur clean energy investments across the world that it plans to unveil at this year’s U.N. climate talks in Dubai, according to people familiar with the plan,” Politico reports. “The fund could amount to tens of billions of dollars, with a sizable slice of the money coming from the UAE’s sovereign wealth reserves, according to seven people with knowledge of the discussions. A G-7 government official told Politico envoys from the oil-rich Mideast nation had privately mentioned the idea of a fund of at least $25 billion. “It’s an eye-popping figure,” one of the people familiar with the concept told Politico. Creation of the fund would be one of the largest ever state-sponsored financial efforts to help countries fight climate change. And it comes as the UAE and Sultan al-Jaber, the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. who is leading the climate talks, have drawn criticism from environmental advocates and some U.S. and European lawmakers for hosting the international gathering despite being one of the world’s largest contributors of greenhouse gases… “But climate finance experts and officials from low-income countries fear that this fund would inject cash into profitable projects largely in North America, Australia or Europe, rather than riskier economies in Africa or South Asia that have a massive clean energy funding deficit.”
OPINION
Kenosha News: Shut down Line 5 as a climate imperative
Yvonne Besyk, Salem, 8/17/23
“Enbridge recently stopped in Kenosha’s Union Club with a huge piece of pipeline “for people to sign” like a big cast on a broken elbow. It's a good analogy considering how many leaks/aquifer breaks Enbridge has in their “safety” record,” Yvonne Besyk writes for the Kenosha News. “In an article about the event, Enbridge touts Line 5 as benefiting Wisconsin laborers and families with needed supplies. But when you piece together other parts of the article, the picture comes into focus… “It says pipelines are the safest way to transport oil. States we need to cut back on oil production to mitigate the dangerous effects of climate change. Tell families who recently lost their homes to climate change related wildfires that oil is safe in any way.I asked a person from Canada why they needed to run Line 5 through the US; why not just reroute through Canada? Turns out the regulations in Canada are more restrictive regarding proximity to major water bodies. So let the US take the risk while foreign companies get the resources and profits. Wisconsin doesn’t need Enbridge’s dangerous pipeline.”
Bloomberg: Sorry, Kids, the Courts Won’t Save the Planet
Mark Gongloff, 8/16/23
“The decision sounds monumental: A Montana court has ruled that climate change is real and caused by humans and that governments owe their constituents’ children a clean environment,” Mark Gongloff writes for Bloomberg. “Surely this will eradicate the last traces of America’s climate denialism and accelerate the transition to a green-energy future. Except … no. The Montana decision may sound as big as the local sky, but its practical implications are far narrower. It’s a win for climate activists, but a small one. Mainly, it’s a reminder that the global climate emergency is too complex for any one solution. Few, if any, will be crafted in courtrooms… “It won’t compel Montana to adopt its version of a Green New Deal, as state leaders had warned, or even change energy policy much at all. This is mainly because, in response to many state motions, the judge has winnowed down the relief the kids could seek in their suit… “What the Montana ruling will do is add to the growing consensus that the runaway emission of greenhouse gases is warming the planet, throwing the climate into chaos and threatening the well-being of current and future generations… “And though Montana’s ruling doesn’t have the authority of, say, a US Supreme Court decision, its existence makes life more awkward for any court that wants to take an opposing stance… “And little victories are the best anybody should expect from the courts… “Every little bit helps. Countless bad decisions, big and small, by politicians, companies and voters over long decades got us into this mess. It will take almost as many good decisions to get us out of it. Even small victories add up.”
Bloomberg: Carbon Capture Must Avoid Recycling’s Failures
Kevin Crowley, 8/17/23
“It’s been a good few weeks for carbon capture investment in the US: Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to buy the country’s biggest network of carbon dioxide pipelines for $4.9 billion; the Department of Energy committed $1.2 billion to sucking CO2 out of the atmosphere; and Occidental Petroleum Corp. struck a deal to buy a Canadian direct air capture startup for $1.1 billion,” Kevin Crowly writes for Bloomberg. “But the jury is still out on whether the technology, which promises to keep the benefits of fossil fuels without the emissions, will ever become a serious weapon in the fight against climate change. Critics say carbon capture is just a way to make people feel good about using fossil fuels while providing minimal benefit to the environment. Big Oil has past form on this count. The industry has long championed recycling as a way of perpetuating the use of plastic, which is made from petrochemicals. But even after billions of taxpayer dollars and four decades of public awareness campaigns, less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled in the US. For the last 15 years, carbon capture and sequestration has been long on promise and short on delivery, despite large taxpayer support. Most projects failed to overcome the simple economic fact that it’s cheaper to release CO2 into the atmosphere than paying to clean it up… “By the DoE’s own numbers, US carbon capture has to scale up between 20 and 90 times to reach Biden’s goal of a net zero economy by 2050, costing $100 billion by 2030 and $600 billion by 2050. The DoE calls this a “massive investment opportunity.” Shareholders may take a different view. But if the fossil-fuel industry is serious about carbon capture, then it needs to start thinking about how to stump up the cash over the long term.”