Category: Net Zero Emissions

Methane emissions from gas flaring being hidden from satellite monitors 5/2/2024

Methane emissions from gas flaring being hidden from satellite monitors

The Payne Institute Earth Observation Group‘s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) continues to be the the standard product that scientists use globally to monitor methane emissions. It’s the best, most consistent product they currently have to assess flares by fossil fuel companies.  The World Bank, alongside the EU and other regulators, has been using satellites for years to find and document gas flares, asking energy companies to find ways of capturing the gas instead of burning or venting it.  May 2, 2024.

Revitalizing the future economy: Critical mineral derivatives could bring stability 4/29/2024

Revitalizing the future economy: Critical mineral derivatives could bring stability

Payne Institute Student Researcher Reese Epper, Sustainable Finance Laboratory Program Manager Brad Handler, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how despite very likely high demand growth for some minerals, recent price drops give poor signals to investors.  Slower-than-expected growth in the electric vehicle sector, especially in China, combined with supply increases, has weighed heavily on the prices of several critical minerals. Given the long lead times to develop new supply sources, investments in mining these minerals must begin now. Yet, in the face of low prices, the mining industry is delaying projects, scaling back work and suspending operations.  April 29, 2024.  

Colorado School of Mines awarded $10.5M in fuel cell funding 4/26/2024

Colorado School of Mines awarded $10.5M in fuel cell funding

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Robert Braun is featured in this article about how his research team received three federal awards boost funding for fuel cell and hydrogen technologies research.  The team is approaching this challenge from a multidisciplinary lens, with researchers bringing experience across cutting-edge fuel-cell research capabilities including new materials development, high-temperature electrochemistry, device design and characterization, ammonia chemistry, and systems integration.  April 24, 2024.

Greenhouse Gases Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas 4/23/2024

Greenhouse Gases Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this report from the National Petroleum Institute on titled Reducing GHG Emissions from the U.S. Natural Gas Supply Chain.  His contributions were made to Chapter 4 – Greenhouse Gases Life Cycle Assessment for Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas.  The chapter introduces the fundamental concepts of LCA, discusses modeling GHG emissions from U.S. natural gas and LNG supply chains, quantifies life cycle GHG emissions, and explores application of LCAs in public and corporate policies.   April 23, 2024.

Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules Must Sync With Biden’s Climate Agenda 4/10/2024

Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules Must Sync With Biden’s Climate Agenda

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Deputy Director Greg Clough, and Responsible Gas Program Advisor Simon Lomax write about how President Joe Biden’s climate change agenda is more aggressive than anything previously in US energy and environmental policy.  But involving many federal departments and agencies in administering these initiatives introduces risks that must be managed, such as the danger of disorganization and conflicting policies from different parts of the US government that will make reducing carbon emissions slower and more expensive.  April 10, 2024.

The United States’ Strategy for Securing Critical Minerals Supplies: Can It Meet the Needs of the IRA? 4/9/2024

The United States’ Strategy for Securing Critical Minerals Supplies: Can It Meet the Needs of the IRA?

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Raphael Deberdt published this policy brief about how the United States reliance on foreign supplies of raw and processed critical minerals is pressing Washington to devise a strategy to secure short-, medium- and long-term solutions. Pressure only increased with the booming demand spurred partly by the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) policies. April 9, 2024.

Making Sense of the U.S. LNG Pause: Five Key Data Points 4/9/2024

Making Sense of the U.S. LNG Pause: Five Key Data Points

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Deputy Director Greg Clough, and Responsible Gas Program Advisor Simon Lomax write about how the Biden administration’s pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals will be over in a matter of months.  They provide five data points offer some critical clues.  April 9, 2024.

Colorado School of Mines, Chevron announce partnership for Global Energy Future Initiative 4/8/2024

Colorado School of Mines, Chevron announce partnership for Global Energy Future Initiative

Mines Global Energy Future Initiative Vice President John Bradford contributes to an article about a new partnership between the Colorado School of Mines and Chevron to support the Mines Global Energy Future Initiative.  Through this partnership, Chevron will sponsor research projects and participate in steering committees and working groups, adding industry expertise to solve complex problems related to the energy transition. April 8, 2024.

Greening the black gold? How private carbon finance can tackle oil & gas 4/5/2024

Greening the black gold? How private carbon finance can tackle oil & gas

Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler writes about how a set of entrepreneurs in the U.S. are considering how carbon finance and the Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM) can be harnessed in new ways to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Their target: oil and natural gas wells. These entrepreneurs are looking across the “lifecycle” of a well or a whole oilfield and, in the process, targeting different GHGs. April 5, 2024.

Hydropower production took a hit in 2023 3/28/2024

Hydropower production took a hit in 2023

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Adrienne Marshall is on this podcast discussing how U.S. hydropower production was down 11% from the year before and dipped to a 22-year low last year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. To make up for the hydro deficit, the U.S. bought natural gas power, which emits more carbon than hydro does, as well as some solar energy.  March 28, 2024.