Category: Low Carbons and Renewables Initiative

How Big Oil’s wastewater could fuel the EV revolution 9/12/2023

How Big Oil’s wastewater could fuel the EV revolution

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how since oil and gas drilling began nearly 150 years ago, the salty wastewater it produces has been a nuisance for operators. Now, the electric vehicle revolution could turn the industry’s billions of barrels of brine into dollars. Oil and gas companies are eyeing their own byproduct — along with naturally occurring brine found deep underground — as a source of lithium, a highly sought-after metal needed to make EV batteries.  September 12, 2023.

New Arizona mines unearth new conflicts: resist climate change or protect fragile landscapes? 9/7/2023

New Arizona mines unearth new conflicts: resist climate change or protect fragile landscapes?

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Rod Eggert contributed to this article about how South32 is one of many prospective miners in the West in a position to capitalize on a national appetite for homegrown US sourced minerals.  However, in Arizona, It also would change a landscape that many prize as a unique biological mixing zone in forested mountain ranges like the Patagonias. Arizona’s Sky Islands form an archipelago of oases above the desert, alive with migratory birds, bats and big cats.  September 7, 2023.

How Colorado’s oil and gas industry helps and hurts the economy 8/30/2023

How Colorado’s oil and gas industry helps and hurts the economy

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how economic benefits, like jobs and tax revenue, weigh against costs, like clean-up of environmental damage.  As Colorado’s oil and gas industry plans to drill hundreds of new wells along the Front Range in the coming years, residents want to know how the financial benefits and costs of those operations will affect their lives. The answer is complicated, and not all economists agree.  August 30, 2023.

The need for balance in the regulation of the oil and natural gas industry 8/29/2023

The need for balance in the regulation of the oil and natural gas industry

Payne Institute Faculty Fellows Jennifer Miskimins and Jim Crompton write about how to get the balance between environmental action and economic reality right, we all need more collaboration.   Over the past several years, Colorado has implemented precedent-setting regulations, from baseline groundwater testing and monitoring, to air regulations targeting methane leak detection and repair. But we still have a long way to go, and while it’s not an easy road for regulators, it’s crucial we stay the course.  August 29, 2023.  

Olympus deal is key first for RSG market 8/8/2023

Olympus deal is key first for RSG market

Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler writes about how the long-term deal signed by Olympus Energy marked an important evolution in the development of a market for environmentally responsible US natural gas. Olympus Energy, a private upstream and midstream natural gas developer, entered into a long-term agreement with natural gas marketing firm Tenaska Marketing Ventures to sell ‘responsibly sourced gas’ (RSG).  August 8, 2023.

The Economics of Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions in US Shale: An Agenda for Research and Policy 7/26/2023

The Economics of Natural Gas Flaring and Methane Emissions in US Shale: An Agenda for Research and Policy

Mark Agerton, Payne Faculty Fellow Ben Gilbert, and Gregory B. Upton Jr. write about how natural gas flaring and methane emissions (F&M) are linked environmental issues for US shale oil and gas operations. Flaring refers to burning natural gas when regulatory, infrastructure, and market constraints make it infeasible to capture it when drilling for oil. In this paper, we lay out an agenda for researchers and policy makers. We describe why F&M are linked, both physically and in terms of policy. July 26, 2023.

Today’s energy economy is building Colorado’s zero-carbon future 7/26/2023

Today’s energy economy is building Colorado’s zero-carbon future

Payne Institute Program Managers Anna Littlefield and Simon Lomax and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the transition to a zero-carbon economy may look like a case of “out with the old, in with the new.” Dig deeper and the reality is much different, however.   Many of the skills, technologies and scientific research that support the energy sources we use today are also essential for developing the new energy sources of tomorrow.  July 26, 2023.

The Energy Transition Will Require Cobalt. America’s Only Mine Can’t Get Off the Ground. 7/22/2023

The Energy Transition Will Require Cobalt. America’s Only Mine Can’t Get Off the Ground.

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Rod Eggert contributed to this article about how the U.S. is playing catch-up in battery supply chains dominated by China.  Economists and executives warn similar challenges lie ahead in the race to build renewable-energy infrastructure. Many of the richest deposits of commodities required lie elsewhere, while firms extracting them in the U.S. or its allies face higher environmental standards, greater labor costs and limited interest from Wall Street. July 22, 2023.

The Defense Production Act’s Role in the Clean Energy Transition 7/17/2023

The Defense Production Act’s Role in the Clean Energy Transition

Payne Institute Fellow Joshua Busby, Emily Holland, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Paul Orszag write about how the Defense Production Act (DPA) has been invoked by President Biden to address U.S. dependence on imports of critical minerals and the battery supply chain.  The Biden administration has been pushing for greater domestic production and sourcing of minerals to assist with the clean energy transition, a process that the administration classifies as an existential security priority.  July 17, 2023.  

Minnesota locked in global dilemma: More copper and nickel are needed, but mine development slow 7/15/2023

Minnesota locked in global dilemma: More copper and nickel are needed, but mine development slow

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about how the demand for copper and nickel is surging thanks to a worldwide transition to clean electricity and electric vehicles, which is driven by government policy and improving economics. But the mineral supply is not keeping up: No one, it seems, wants a hardrock mine as a neighbor. July 15, 2023.