Exxon Holds Back on Technology That Could Slow Climate Change
By
January 8, 2021
(Bloomberg) Elk and pronghorn antelope migrate each fall through southern Wyoming, where the sparsely vegetated landscape slowly gives way to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Interrupting this serene vista is a dense web of steel pipes, tanks, and pumps owned by Exxon Mobil Corp.
The industrial complex provides a clue about what lies beneath: an ancient sea of coral and marine life, petrified by time and pressure into a thick layer of rock. Known as the Madison formation, this geologic structure is miles wide and reaches more than 10 Empire State Buildings below the ground. It contains natural gas, helium, and carbon dioxide. Two of these gases are consistently valuable to Exxon’s business. The third is not and that’s a problem for everyone on the planet.
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Several recent targets set by big oil companies from Europe and, increasingly, the US to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions have drawn attention.
Although they include famous names such as Shell, Total and BP, these are relative bit-part players in the global industry. National oil companies produce 55 per cent of the world’s oil and gas – and scrutiny is now falling on them.
The industry’s greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide and methane, come from three sources. The first is oil and gas combusted by oil companies to power their operations, or leaked or deliberately flared when unwanted.
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Governors Wind Energy Coalition
Message to Biden: Boost FERC, expand grid Source: By Arianna Skibell, E&E News reporter • Posted: Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Decarbonizing the power sector through construction of long-distance transmission lines can be achieved without congressional action, according to a new report. Chris Hunkeler/Flickr
Policy analysts are urging President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration to use existing authority to expand the nation’s electric grid and to consider boosting the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
A study out of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and New York University’s Institute for Policy Integrity focused on the need for more long-distance transmission capacity to ship carbon-free solar and wind power across the country.
North America LNG export growth ambitions face test over emissions
North American LNG export developers may have a smaller field of potential buyers in 2021 as European utilities appear hesitant to sign new long-term commitments for shale gas amid the bloc’s carbon emission reduction goals.
That wrinkle could shorten the list of projects that advance, raising the possibility of a supply shortage around the middle of the decade.
The 17 liquefaction trains across five terminals in the US, Canada and Mexico that S&P Global Platts Analytics forecasts to be online in the next five years have all been sanctioned. The forecast does not include any of the more than 16 other projects that are under active development, some of which are still proposing to start up their first trains within that time frame despite having not yet begun construction.