Emissions

The sales outlook for natural gas in Canada’s chief producing province brightened Sunday when the Alberta government unveiled a new carbon emissions-reduction policy hitting coal-burning power plants and using a light hand on gas-burning oilsands production.

A leaking natural gas storage well at Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) largest underground storage field north of Los Angeles may not be fixed for months, officials said Monday, and that has government regulators and environmental groups expressing growing concerns.

With new challenges and opportunities emerging as natural gas markets become more global, the International Energy Agency (IEA) this week said it plans to develop potential options to enhance worldwide supply security as liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports overtake pipeline deliveries.

New air quality permitting requirements in Wyoming, adopted to meet federal standards, have raised concerns in the oil/natural gas industry about rising regulatory compliance costs at a time of falling commodity prices.

While coalition-backed research on natural gas vehicle (NGV) methane emissions is ongoing at the University of West Virginia (see Daily GPI, Sept. 14), a Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) study of potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from NGVs has some troubling findings.

Exporting liquefied U.S. natural gas (LNG) would have global environmental benefits because lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from LNG-fueled power generation are roughly half those of coal-fired power, according to a new study paid for by the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG).

Anger at the oil and natural gas industry was evident Tuesday at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) public hearing in Pittsburgh about its proposals to cut methane emissions from wells and downstream equipment, as testimony was primarily given by industry opponents.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has approved Moxie Freedom LLC’s air quality plan, satisfying the state’s emissions control requirements for the company’s planned 1,050 MW natural gas-fired power plant in the northeast part of the state.

While national and global market penetration is still modest, advocates for natural gas vehicles (NGV) could be heard at recent energy conferences in Chicago and Denver adding more fuel to the fire of enthusiasm among major fleet operators for natural gas as a transportation alternative.