Emissions

Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (LNGL) subsidiary Magnolia LNG LLC has received FERC authorization to site, construct, and operate its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Lake Charles, LA.

The oil/natural gas industry remains the largest source of U.S. methane emissions, according to the latest survey from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was released Friday. Oil/gas emissions are now pegged at being 34% higher than previous EPA estimates.

Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (LNGL) subsidiary Magnolia LNG LLC has received FERC authorization to site, construct, and operate its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Lake Charles, LA.

California air quality regulators have issued a proposed climate impacts mitigation program to counteract the climate change setback from the four-month Aliso Canyon natural gas storage well leak. Aliso operator Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) now finds itself at odds with stakeholders and news media alike.

The natural gas pipeline industry’s concerns about U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to regulate methane emissions from existing sources are similar to those it has for an earlier proposal to limit emissions from new and modified sources, a pipeline trade association president said Tuesday. Much could depend upon the upcoming presidential election.

Imperial College London researcher Paul Balcombe has confirmed from a review of more than 250 global emissions studies that reducing methane emissions globally is a key to mitigating climate change impacts. However, measurements of the extent of the problem vary widely and are not always very accurate. “The range of emissions is extremely large across the natural gas supply chain, everywhere from identifying and drilling the well, processing the gas to delivery to the end-user,” Balcombe said. “While some emissions are extremely large, the vast majority of estimates are at the lowest end of the scale, suggesting that only a small number of ‘super emitters’ are skewing the distribution of emissions.” In the United States, methane research work over recent years spearheaded by the Environmental Defense Fund with various industry, government and university research partners has zeroed in on the so-called “super emitters” (see Daily GPI, July 9, 2015).

Global energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, considered the largest source of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, remained flat in 2015 for the second year in a row, in part on the rising use of natural gas, according to an analysis of preliminary data by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In California earlier this month, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board voted to petition the federal government to adopt tougher emission standards for large trucks to help the region meet its clean air goals. Heavy-duty trucks are the largest source of smog-forming emissions in the four-county air district.

Stymied, for now, in attempts to further regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the utility level, the Obama administration Thursday announced plans — in collaboration with Canada — to target methane emissions from existing oil and natural gas production/transmission facilities.