DOE Advisory Panel Offers ‘Sobering’ View On Hydrogen – “According to a new report from the National Petroleum Council (NPC), the hydrogen industry won’t generate enough supply and demand for the emerging low-to-zero carbon fuel to help the U.S. achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 under current federal policies. The council makes recommendations to the Energy secretary on oil and natural gas issues. NPC’s hydrogen report was released Tuesday along with another report from the council focused on reducing U.S. natural gas supply chain emissions. It found that under an existing policies path, where current policies and regulatory actions are implemented, a 59 percent reduction in methane emissions from America’s natural gas supply chain can be achieved by 2050 — but that carbon dioxide emissions would go up by 25 percent because under the current pathway CO2 isn’t prioritized to the same degree as methane.” [Politico, 4/24/24 (=)]
Estimating Emissions Potential Of Decommissioned Gas Wells From Shale Samples – “Extracting natural gas from shale formations can provide an abundant, lower-carbon footprint fossil fuel, but also creates concerns over increased methane emissions. A team led by Penn State researchers has developed a new tool that can estimate the emission potential of shale wells after they are no longer active. The findings, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, revealed that methane begins diffusing from the shale formation after a well is decommissioned and that this represents a notable source of methane emissions—comparable to the most significant emissions during drilling and operation of the well.” [Phys.org, 4/24/24 (=)]