Israel carried out covert attacks on two major gas pipelines inside Iran this week, disrupting the flow of heat and cooking gas to provinces with millions of people, according to two Western officials and a military strategist affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. The strikes represent a notable shift in the shadow war that Israel […]
Read MoreTag: Natural Gas
How Natural Gas has Become the Climate Enemy
Coal has long been the greatest climate villain, a carboniferous Darth Vader or Voldemort (I said it). As the environmental movement reenergized with Earth Day 1990 (my freshman year of college), one angle was basically: Let’s at least start by switching to natural gas. According to the American Geosciences Institute, coal can emit from 76% […]
Read MoreBiden’s Pause on LNG Export Terminals is a Big Deal
Natural gas has long been touted as a “bridge fuel” to a clean energy future that gets all its power from renewable sources like wind, solar, and geothermal power. That’s because natural gas produces about half as much carbon dioxide as coal when burned to generate electricity. But researchers have warned for years that natural […]
Read MoreU.S. Gas Producers Are Racing to Sell to Asia. And Mexico Is Key.
As soon as next year, the United States’ fossil fuel industry will gain its first foothold on a valuable shortcut to sell natural gas to Asia. The shortcut goes straight through Mexico. The new route could cut travel times to energy-hungry Asian nations roughly in half by piping the gas to a shipping terminal on […]
Read MoreSweden Closes Investigation Into Nord Stream Pipeline Explosions
The Swedish authorities on Wednesday closed a more than yearlong investigation into the undersea attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, citing a lack of authority to further pursue those responsible for sabotaging the critical piece of energy infrastructure intended to supply Western Europe with Russian gas. “Sweden does not have the jurisdiction to investigate this […]
Read MoreSummer Has Long Stressed Electric Grids. Now Winter Does, Too.
For decades, managers of electric grids feared that surging energy demand on hot summer days would force blackouts. Increasingly, they now have similar concerns about the coldest days of winter. Largely because of growing demand from homes and businesses, and supply constraints thanks to aging utility equipment, many grids are under greater strain in winter. […]
Read MoreJoe Biden’s Pause on Natural Gas Is Only a Partial Victory
It’s not Biden’s first good move on methane: he has signed onto international efforts to combat that pollutant, and in December, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule reducing permissible methane from the oil and gas industry. Biden’s move on LNG permitting, however, represents a shift in emphasis for the White House—which has tried […]
Read MoreThe Media Coverage of Biden’s Natural Gas Decision Is Ridiculous
“The Department of Energy’s methodology for assessing the public interest is woefully out of date,” says Slocum. “Until today, there has been no difference in the review process between the Trump and Biden administrations for LNG exports.” While climate activists are no doubt glad to see Biden acknowledge the outlandishness of the country’s current gas […]
Read MoreWorries in Europe Over the White House Move to Delay Gas Terminals
The Biden administration’s decision to delay approval of new liquefied natural gas terminals in the United States has been hailed as a major victory for environmental advocacy groups, but it is creating unease outside the United States about future energy supplies. “I think U.S. allies and trade partners will have some concerns about this, because […]
Read MoreBiden Administration Pauses Approvals of New Gas Export Terminals
President Biden on Friday paused the permitting process for new liquefied natural gas export facilities in order to analyze their impact on climate change, the economy and national security. “In every corner of the country and the world, people are suffering the devastating toll of climate change,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “This pause […]
Read MoreEx-Im Bank Faces Push Back on Funding of LNG Terminal in Papua New Guinea
Even as the Biden administration, under pressure from environmentalists, hits pause on its approval of a major natural gas export terminal in the United States, it faces another big gas decision overseas. A $13 billion natural gas export project in Papua New Guinea led by TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil is on a shortlist of projects […]
Read MoreWhite House Said to Delay Decision on CP2, a Liquid Natural Gas Export Terminal
The Biden administration is pausing a decision on whether to approve what would be the largest natural gas export terminal in the United States, a delay that could stretch past the November election and spell trouble for that project and 16 other proposed terminals, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. The White […]
Read MoreTexas Leads in Renewable Energy, but Gas Softened the Recent Chill
So far, they’ve been right. In areas of Texas where temperatures dipped the lowest, it has been frigid but sunny. Solar power performed well and, overall, provided a small share of total electricity generated. In Texas, winds die down in winter and aren’t expected to contribute as much to the energy mix as in the […]
Read MoreBiden Administration to Fine Oil and Gas Companies for Excess Methane
The Biden administration announced new moves on Friday to curb the release from oil and gas facilities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for more than a quarter of the warming the planet is currently experiencing. Under the new plan, oil and gas companies would be required for the first time to […]
Read MoreU.S. Carbon Emissions Fell in 2023 as Coal Use Tumbled to New Lows
America’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 1.9 percent in 2023, in large part because the burning of coal to produce electricity plummeted to its lowest level in half a century, according to estimates published on Wednesday by the Rhodium Group, a nonpartisan research firm. The drop means that United States emissions have now fallen roughly 17.2 […]
Read MoreNatural Gas Played Role in Fort Worth Hotel Explosion, Officials Say
Officials in Texas have yet to determine exactly what caused an explosion at a hotel in downtown Fort Worth that injured 21 people, but believe natural gas was involved, Jim Davis, the city’s fire chief, said at a news conference Tuesday evening. The blast, which occurred at about 3:30 p.m. on Monday at the Sandman […]
Read MoreCP2 Natural Gas Project Is Biden’s Next Big Climate Test
On a marshy stretch of the Louisiana coastline, a little-known company wants to build a $10 billion facility that would allow the United States to export vast stores of liquefied natural gas. Supporters of the project, known as CP2, say the export terminal would be a boon for the United States economy and help Europe […]
Read MoreWhat Does the Red Sea Crisis Mean for Oil Prices?
Why It Matters: A vital route for energy is threatened The Suez Canal and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at either end of the Red Sea are major routes for energy shipping. Tankers coming from Persian Gulf countries like Iraq and Saudi Arabia travel through the Red Sea to reach Europe. These vessels have become even […]
Read MoreOil Producers Back Climate Deal Despite Fossil Fuel Language
Oil industry executives on Wednesday said they more or less backed the agreement coming out of the United National climate summit in Dubai, despite its language calling for “transitioning away from fossil fuels.” “We support the outcome of COP28,” said a spokesman for Shell, Europe’s largest energy company. Eni, the Italian energy giant, praised the […]
Read MoreAt COP28, an Oil Man Got a Deal on Quitting Oil
It was an unlikely scene: Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of one of the world’s biggest oil companies, stood before negotiators from nearly 200 nations on Wednesday and heralded a major new climate agreement that pledges to transition the global economy away from fossil fuels. In language reminiscent of an award acceptance speech, Mr. Al Jaber […]
Read MoreTiny Electric Vehicles Pack a Bigger Climate Punch Than Cars
In Darbhanga, a new acid-battery rickshaw, like the one Mr. Rai drives, sells for around 175,000 rupees, or $2,100. That’s half the price of a new rickshaw powered by natural gas. Charging the battery costs 20 rupees (25 cents), one-fourth of the price of filling a gas tank. The rebates seem to be working. Reliance […]
Read MoreBiden Administration Announces Rule to Cut Millions of Tons of Methane Emissions
The United States will, for the first time, require oil and gas producers to detect and fix leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that wafts into the atmosphere from pipelines, drill sites and storage facilities and dangerously speeds the rate of global warming. Michael S. Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced […]
Read MoreSurging U.S. Oil Production Brings Down Prices and Raises Climate Fears
American oil fields are gushing again. Only three years after U.S. oil production collapsed during the pandemic, energy companies are cranking out a record 13.2 million barrels a day, more than Russia or Saudi Arabia. The flow of oil has grown by roughly 800,000 barrels a day since early 2022 and analysts expect the industry […]
Read MoreDocuments Show Plan for Leader of COP28 Climate Talks to Promote Fossil Fuels
As hosts of global climate talks that begin this week, the United Arab Emirates are expected to play a central role in forging an agreement to move the world more rapidly away from coal, oil and gas. But behind the scenes, the Emirates has sought to use its position as host to pursue a contradictory […]
Read MoreFossil Fuel Companies Are Plowing Ahead to Profit From Israeli Gas
The United States, for its part, approaches fossil fuels in the Eastern Mediterranean as both a business opportunity for American companies and a means to further its own diplomatic aims in the region, premised on the idea that economic interdependence (in this case on gas) breeds stability. A U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel last […]
Read MoreDon’t Expect Gas Companies to Pause Business on Gaza’s Behalf
The United States, for its part, approaches fossil fuels in the eastern Mediterranean as both a business opportunity for American companies and a means to further its own diplomatic aims in the region, premised on the idea that economic interdependence (in this case on gas) breeds stability. A U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel last […]
Read MoreComing Soon: More Oil, Gas and Coal
It’s no secret that fossil fuels are still going strong, as we discussed last month. But a new United Nations-backed report paints an alarming picture of how dramatically coal, oil and gas production is expected to grow in the coming years. If current projections hold, the United States will drill for more oil and gas […]
Read MoreFossil Fuel Use Increasing, Not Decreasing, as Key Target Looms
In 2030, if current projections hold, the United States will drill for more oil and gas than at any point in its history. Russia and Saudi Arabia plan to do the same. They’re among the world’s fossil fuel giants that, together, are on course this decade to produce twice the amount of fossil fuels than […]
Read MoreNatural Gas Is Way Worse Than Coal
Natural gas may be worse for the world than coal, but it’s got two important things on its side: the word natural and the seemingly unconditional support of the United States government. Preliminary research by Cornell University’s Robert Howarth, reported in The New Yorker by Bill McKibben this week, finds that “natural” (methane) gas may be 24 percent […]
Read MoreChasing Big Mergers, Oil Executives Dismiss Peak Oil Concerns
Exxon Mobil and Chevron, the two largest U.S. oil companies, this month committed to spending more than $50 billion each to buy smaller companies in deals that would let them produce more oil and natural gas for decades to come. But a day after Chevron announced its acquisition, the International Energy Agency released an exhaustive […]
Read MoreI.E.A. Sees Oil, Gas and Coal Demand Peaking By 2030
For more than a century, the world’s appetite for fossil fuels has been expanding relentlessly, as humans have continued burning larger amounts of coal, oil and natural gas almost every year to power homes, cars and factories. But a remarkable shift may soon be at hand. The world’s leading energy agency now predicts that global […]
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