Methane Clips: May 19, 2023

 

Company Eyes Cheap Direct Air Capture For 'Green Methane'. According to EE News, “Santos Ltd., Australia’s second-biggest gas producer, says it can slash the cost of sucking carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere, allowing it to manufacture a synthetic version of natural gas that it says would have no climate impact. The Adelaide-based company is testing technology that could bring the cost of “direct air capture” to just $75 a ton by 2030, far cheaper than current methods, CEO Kevin Gallagher told journalists on Thursday. Direct air capture is a nascent technology that its proponents argue could one day draw significant amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it underground, slowing global warming — provided the cost is brought down. So far only a handful of direct air capture projects are up and running and the cost is in the hundreds of dollars per ton of CO2 captured.” [EE News, 5/19/23 (=)]

 

EPA Faces Pressure On Landfill Methane Emissions. According to EE News, “EPA is failing to control methane from municipal landfills, one of the largest sources of the potent greenhouse gas, and some environmental groups are sounding the alarm for better methane capture systems and stricter regulations. According to a report released Thursday from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project, more than 1,100 landfills emitted at least 3.7 million metric tons of methane in 2021. That’s equivalent to the climate-warming impact of 66 million gas vehicles driving for a year or 79 coal-fired power plants, EIP found.” [EE News, 5/18/23 (=)]

 

Progressives Revive Effort To Ban Oil And Gas Exports. According to EE News, “Democratic lawmakers on Thursday reintroduced legislation to reimpose the crude oil export ban, but they also had special scorn for natural gas exports. ‘Our country doesn’t need more [liquefied natural gas] facilities or LNG exports,’ Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said outside the Capitol. ‘What it needs is an oil change.’ Markey’s bill, ‘Block All New (BAN) Fossil Fuel Exports Act,’ aims to reverse U.S. plans to build export ports to ship liquefied natural gas all over the world. ‘It’s time we bring back the ban on fossil fuel exports,’ said Markey, chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety.” [EE News, 5/19/23 (=)]

 

Granholm Backs Pipeline, Gas And ‘Backstop’ Authority. According to EE News, “Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm put her stamp of approval on a fiercely contested natural gas pipeline Thursday and provided new details about the Biden administration’s strategy to support large transmission lines critical for a surge in renewable power. ‘We know that there’s a real desire to have energy security in areas where there is huge demand for power,’ Granholm said at POLITICO’s energy summit in Washington. ‘We also know that we have got to accelerate investment in clean [energy].’ Those dual objectives — maintaining energy security with fossil fuels and unleashing renewables — have punctuated the Biden administration’s policies of late. In recent months, the Biden administration signed off on the Willow crude oil project and a major Alaska liquefied natural gas project, angering environmentalists.” [EE News, 5/18/23 (=)]

 

EPA Seeks Input On Methane Emissions And Waste Reduction Incentive Program For Petroleum And Natural Gas Systems. According to the EPA, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting small entities to participate as Small Entity Representatives (SERs) for a Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel. ‘Small entities’ are the small businesses, small governments, or small not-for-profit organizations that may be directly regulated by a rulemaking. This Panel will focus on the agency’s development of a rule that proposes to impose and collect a charge for methane emissions from applicable facilities that report to the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program petroleum and natural gas systems source category (40 CFR Part 98, subpart W) and that exceed emission thresholds specified in Title I of the Clean Air Act section 136(f). The Panel will include federal representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and EPA. The Panel members ask a selected group of SERs to provide advice and recommendations on behalf of their company, government, or organization to inform the Panel members about the potential impacts of the proposed rule on small entities.” [EPA, 5/18/23 (=)]

 

Federal Regulations Fail To Contain Methane Emissions From Landfills, A New Report Concludes. According to WUSF, “Methane emissions from landfills—one of the largest sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions—could be reduced through stronger regulations and better emissions monitoring, according to a new report by the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental organization based in Washington. The report, published Thursday, concluded that in order to reduce emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency needs to require more gas-collection systems at landfills, more monitoring and accurate reporting of emissions, and encourage more composting, recycling and reduction in the waste stream by consumers.” [WUSF, 5/18/23 (=)]