Commentary Series - Payne Institute for Public Policy

Eyes on the Arctic: Satellite Monitoring of the Arctic LNG 2 Terminal 4/10/2025

Eyes on the Arctic: Satellite Monitoring of the Arctic LNG 2 Terminal

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Mikhail Zhizhin, Christopher Elvidge, and Morgan Bazilian write about how the Arctic LNG 2 project operated by Novatek, Russia’s largest independent natural gas producer, represents a significant undertaking in the global energy sector. The terminal’s capacity is crucial for Russia’s strategic goal of significantly increasing its share in the global LNG market, targeting a substantial portion of the expanding demand, particularly in Asia. April 10, 2025.

Better Together: The Case for Cooperative Regionalism in U.S. Energy Policy 4/3/2025

Better Together: The Case for Cooperative Regionalism in U.S. Energy Policy

Payne Institute Low Carbon Energy Technologies Program Manager Anna Littlefield, Student Researcher Siddhant Kulkarni, and Accelerated Methane Reduction Initiative Director Simon Lomax write about how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced plans for the most significant rollback of federal regulations in U.S. history, a critical question emerges: Will delegating power to states foster innovation and economic growth or could it jeopardize essential protections for public health, safety, and the environment? April 3, 2025.

The Functioning and Trade of Minerals and Metals on Exchanges vs. Chemical Markets 4/2/2025

The Functioning and Trade of Minerals and Metals on Exchanges vs. Chemical Markets

Payne Institute student researcher Sravan Lavudya, Grad Student, Mineral and Energy Economics, writes about how the future outlook for the metal and mineral market is positive, with continued growth expected, though challenges such as geopolitical risks and supply chain disruptions remain. April 2, 2025.

Three Satellites Confirm Malaysia Pipeline Explosion: VNF Thermal Detections Corroborate Major Industrial Fire Near Kuala Lumpur 4/2/2025

Three Satellites Confirm Malaysia Pipeline Explosion: VNF Thermal Detections Corroborate Major Industrial Fire Near Kuala Lumpur

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin writes about how on April 1, 2025, a significant gas pipeline explosion occurred in Putra Heights, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, resulting in a massive fireball that injured at least 145 individuals, including three children. Satellite-based thermal anomaly detection systems, such as the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nightfire (VNF), are instrumental in identifying and monitoring such incidents. April 2, 2025.

The Future of Carbon Dioxide Removal 2/17/2025

The Future of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Ben Tourkin, Nomadic Venture Partners (NVP), writes about the role that removal of atmospheric carbon will play in a global net-zero roadmap. From high-level market dynamics to comparisons of specific technologies and investment pathways, this exploration reflects a broad yet practical approach to understanding the opportunities and hurdles in this field. February 17, 2025.

Evolution of The Carbon Market for Addressing Distressed and Abandoned Assets 2/7/2025

Evolution of The Carbon Market for Addressing Distressed and Abandoned Assets

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Program Director Brad Handler addressed attendees at the inaugural SPE Decarbonization Congress in Texas on the evolution of carbon markets to finance the decommissioning of primarily orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells. Attached are his slides and prepared remarks. February 7, 2025.

CRITICAL MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN: ROLE AND IMPACT OF ASM 2/6/2025

CRITICAL MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN: ROLE AND IMPACT OF ASM

Payne Institute Critical Minerals Program Manager Clarkson Kamurai, Student Researchers Isabel Guajardo and Grace Akinyi, Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler and Faculty Fellow Ian Lange write about how a significant increase in the supply of dozens of so-called “critical minerals” will be needed in the coming decades, for uses ranging from defense to no- and low-carbon energy. Mineral endowment and production capacity have therefore become crucial assets for developing economies. Yet one set of the stakeholders — artisanal and small-scale mining (collectively referred to here as ASM) — tends to be overlooked and may prove to be crucial. February 6, 2025.

California Wildfires: Rapid Monitoring of Flames and Damage from Space

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Researcher Associate Mikhail Zhizhin looks at how the impact of wildfires in California has been both devastating and transformative. Recent reports from major media outlets highlight the escalating scale of destruction, with the Palisade Fire near Malibu and the Pasadena Fire serving as stark examples. January 13, 2024.

Satellite Analysis of the Los Angeles Fires

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge, Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, and Director Morgan Bazilian look at the deadly fires in and around Los Angeles, USA. The situation is rapidly evolving, of course. What we display here is an important tool in both analyzing and fighting these fires using our VIIRS Nightfire Data Product. January 9, 2025.

Small and Medium Infrastructure Development Projects – Policy Implications

Payne Institute Senior Fellow Jamal Saghir writes about how the many years of observations in developing countries make it very clear that no country can achieve sustained increases in GDP without spending on infrastructure, whether for energy services, water treatment plants, roads, railways, ports and airports, telecommunications, digital transformation, urban services, rural facilities, or environmental protection. November 26, 2024.

Policy, Regulatory, and Market Viability (Part 2)

DEMYSTIFYING HYDROGEN – Policy, Regulatory, and Market Viability (PART 2)

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and Student Researcher Siddhant Kulkarni write about how hydrogen is emerging as a cornerstone of global energy policy, with nations across the world setting ambitious goals to integrate hydrogen into their clean energy strategies. In Part One of this two-part commentary, they explored the production pathways and associated ‘color wheel’ of hydrogen, in addition to applications and methods for transporting and storing hydrogen. Building on that foundation, here we explore the policy incentives, regulatory frameworks, and the viability of hydrogen markets. November 13, 2024.

Carbon Credits for Mitigating Orphan & Idle Oil Well Methane Emissions 11/1/2024

Carbon Credits for Mitigating Orphan & Idle Oil Well Methane Emissions

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, and Student Researcher Vandan Bhalala write about how it is well understood that permanently plugging old, abandoned oil and gas wells in the U.S. can make a big impact in our nation’s efforts to combat global warming. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, public funding has increased to properly plug many orphan wells. November 1, 2024.

Demystifying Hydrogen: Production Pathways, Applications, Storage & Transportation (Part 1) 10/24/2024

DEMYSTIFYING HYDROGEN – PRODUCTION PATHWAYS, APPLICATIONS, STORAGE & TRANSPORTATION (PART 1)

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and Student Researcher Siddhant Kulkarni write about how as global efforts to decarbonize the economy intensify, hydrogen is emerging as an important component of the clean energy transition. Hydrogen offers a versatile, low-carbon solution that addresses the limitations of electrification in sectors like heavy industry and transportation, making it a critical tool in the global push toward sustainability. October 24, 2024.

FINANCING OPTIONS & LIABILITY MANAGEMENT IN CCS 10/24/2024

FINANCING OPTIONS & LIABILITY MANAGEMENT IN CCS

Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler presented at the Houston Strategy Forum’s “Carbon Conclave” held on October 22, in Houston, TX. This paper addresses some of the academic and advocacy communities’ thinking on the state of risk management and financing opportunities for the U.S. CCS sector, and the Payne Institute’s perspective on some of these issues that comes out of its ongoing work in carbon finance and some specific work looking at managing liability in CCS. October 24, 2024.

ELECTRICITY ACCESS IN THE NAVAJO NATION 10/10/2024

ELECTRICITY ACCESS IN THE NAVAJO NATION

Payne Institute Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, Daniel Cardenas, Fellow Richard Luarkie, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how many Navajo Tribal members, some 13,000 households, living on the Nation’s reservation still lack access to electricity services. These Navajo households make up most of the 17,000 native American tribal homes without electricity, according to the US Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Affairs. Want of electricity harms public health, education, and economic development outcomes. October 10, 2024.

Deployment of Climate Change Adaptation Technologies 9/20/2024

DEPLOYMENT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES

Payne Institute Fellow Jamal Saghir writes about how developing countries are seriously impacted by climate change, and achieving the long-term goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle climate change adaptation would require both new and emerging technologies as well as innovative business models and markets for their successful deployment at scale in developing countries. September 20, 2024.

COMPARISON OF CO-LOCATED LASER AND METAL OXIDE CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEMS 9/12/2024

COMPARISON OF CO-LOCATED LASER AND METAL OXIDE CONTINUOUS MONITORING SYSTEMS

Payne Institute Research Scientist Kellis Ward, Student Researcher William Daniels, and Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling write about how accurate measurement of methane (CH4) concentrations on oil and gas sites is essential for accurate estimates of methane emission rates via inversion algorithms. Different types of continuous monitoring sensors are offered as commercial solutions, with varying accuracy. In this paper we compare data from co-located Metal Oxide (MOx) and Laser Spectroscopy (LS) sensors on a midstream oil and gas site, with the goal of quantifying the differences in raw concentration measurements between the two technologies. September 12, 2024.

Forging a Greener Future: The Imperative of Decarbonizing Steel Production 8/26/2024

Forging a Greener Future: The Imperative of Decarbonizing Steel Production

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and PhD candidate at School of Mines Edikan Udofia write about the EVRAZ Rocky Mountain Steel mill, a longstanding institution in this industrial area for more than a century and how it is evolving as part of the push to decarbonize the global steel industry. Collaborating with Lightsource bp, the mill is shifting to solar energy, positioning itself as the first steel mill in North America to operate predominantly on solar power. The solar conversion is set to abate almost half a million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. August 26, 2024.

OIL DEPOT FIRE IN PROLETARSK RAGES ON FOR SIXTH DAY 8/23/2024

OIL DEPOT FIRE IN PROLETARSK RAGES ON FOR SIXTH DAY

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin writes about how firefighters are now in their sixth day of battling a massive blaze that erupted at an oil storage facility in Proletarsk, Russia. The fire ignited early on Sunday, August 18th, following the downing of Ukrainian drones by Russian air defense systems near the town. August 23, 2024.

The Colorado Geothermal Frontier

Payne Institute Program Manager Anna Littlefield and CSM PhD Candidate Edikan Udofia write about how in Chaffee County Colorado, residents and visitors alike have long taken advantage of the natural hot springs generated by thermal anomalies deep underground. Soon, this same heat may be tapped to provide energy for the local community. August 20, 2024.

Navigating Environmental Challenges in Iraqi Kurdistan Amid Ongoing Conflicts

Payne Institute Fellow Peri-Kwan Aqrawi-Whitcomb writes about how in the Kurdistan region of Iraq the scars of conflict are not just etched into the land but are also woven into the very air the people breathe, the water they drink, and the soil they till. This semi-autonomous region, once a cradle of ancient civilizations, is now at the epicenter of a different kind of battle—one against the relentless march of environmental degradation fueled by climate change and man-made disasters. August 16, 2024.

Locked Up for the Long Term: Risk Mitigation and Liability Assumption in the Geological Storage of CO2 8/5/2024

Locked Up for the Long Term: Risk Mitigation and Liability Assumption in the Geological Storage of CO2

The Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab looks at Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS is an integral activity in the effort to limit global warming and its harmful effects. That contribution requires a significant scaling of CCS operations, and initiatives for new CCS projects are indeed proliferating. August 5, 2024.

Satellite Data Shows Park Fire Devastation 8/2/2024

Satellite Data Shows Park Fire Devastation

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, Senior Research Associate Christopher Elvidge, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about the largest active wildfire in the U.S, the Park Fire in northern California, ignited last Wednesday (the 24^th of July) and quickly engulfed more than 360,000 acres – approximately 560 square miles – by Sunday. As of Monday (29 July), the fire was about 12% contained. Arson has been cited as the cause. August 2, 2024.

Satellite Data Reveals Scale and Intensity of Colorado’s Front Range Fires 8/1/2024

Satellite Data Reveals Scale and Intensity of Colorado’s Front Range Fires

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, Senior Research Associate Christopher Elvidge, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about the four separate wildfires that have erupted since Monday, July 29, along Colorado’s front range foothills, consuming more than 8,300 acres, and being fought by hundreds of firefighters. One person has died, and thousands have been forced to evacuate. On Wednesday, July 31, Gov. Jared Polis ordered the deployment of the National Guard to aid in the firefight. August 1, 2024.

Geological Storage Risk Mitigation: The Way Forward 7/29/2024

Geological Storage Risk Mitigation: The Way Forward

Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler, Lindene E. Patton, and student researcher Siddhant Kulkarni write the fifth and last paper in a series that identified the operational, financial and business model risks through the lifecycle of a geological storage project. These papers then discussed steps that are being taken to mitigate each risk, as well as to ensure that adequate funds are available to pay for closure and for environmental damages should any occur. In addressing these risks, this series averred that the regulatory landscape appears adequate to address them. July 29, 2024.