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EOG’S VIIRS SATELLITES CONFIRM DRONE ATTACKS ON RUSSIAN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE 2/16/2024

EOG’S VIIRS SATELLITES CONFIRM DRONE ATTACKS ON RUSSIAN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE

Payne Institute Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how using the VIIRS Nightfire satellites, the Earth Observation Group at the Payne Institute for Public Policy was able to confirm several of the recent Ukrainian drone attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in Russia that have occurred over the past several weeks.  February 16, 2024.

The cleaning of U.S. natural gas; evolution of differentiated gas and related crediting mechanisms 2/15/24

The cleaning of U.S. natural gas; evolution of differentiated gas and related crediting mechanisms

Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler and Student Researcher Felix Ayaburi write about the concept of differentiated gas, the emerging role of crediting mechanisms in promoting its adoption, and the prospects for demand growth and its evolution.  After rapid growth in the supply of U.S. differentiated gas through late 2021 and 2022, demand is rising from domestic utilities and industry as well as European energy companies. February 15, 2024.

Gore-Tex maker polluted some Marylanders’ drinking water with ‘forever chemicals,’ officials say. The question is how many. 2/15/2024

Gore-Tex maker polluted some Marylanders’ drinking water with ‘forever chemicals,’ officials say. The question is how many.

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Christopher Higgins contributes to this article about how the maker of the renowned Gore-Tex waterproofing for outdoor gear polluted groundwater near two of its plants in Northeastern Maryland with a hazardous “forever chemical,” according to the Maryland Department of the Environment. February 15, 2024.

SOLAR SURGE PUTS PRESSURE ON SILVER SUPPLY (BUT LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING) 2/14/24

SOLAR SURGE PUTS PRESSURE ON SILVER SUPPLY (BUT LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING)

Payne Institute Communications Associate Kristin Ziv and Director Morgan Bazilian write about the global demand for solar panels and as it soars, so does the demand for silver – a key component in the manufacturing of photovoltaic (PV) panels. Solar installations are breaking records worldwide in both volume and low price, according to BloombergNEF. February 14, 2024.

Mines, Lunar Outpost team heading to finals in NASA’s Break the Ice Challenge 2/13/24

Mines, Lunar Outpost team heading to finals in NASA’s Break the Ice Challenge

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow George Sowers contributes to this article about a team with members from Colorado School of Mines and Lunar Outpost, called the Ice Diggers, has been named a finalist in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.  The Ice Diggers will be one of six teams facing off head-to-head this spring at a NASA-designed test facility to see which prototype lunar excavation rover performs best. February 13, 2024.

The U.S. Military and NATO Face Serious Risks of Mineral Shortages 2/12/24

The U.S. Military and NATO Face Serious Risks of Mineral Shortages

Payne Institute Communications Associate Greg Wischer writes about how critical minerals undergird great power competition and war. These nonfuel minerals and mineral materials are vital to countries’ defense industrial bases, enabling the production of military platforms like tanks as well as munitions and artillery shells. Therefore, mineral supplies can help sustain military power, while mineral shortages can severely undermine it. February 12, 2024.

Does the US Military Have Enough Minerals for a Possible Conflict with China? Estimating Shortfalls for Military Materials 2/12/2024

Does the US Military Have Enough Minerals for a Possible Conflict with China? Estimating Shortfalls for Military Materials

Payne Institute Communications Associate Greg Wischer and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the National Defense Stockpile is a tool to both reduce America’s reliance on foreign materials, especially materials from China, and to prepare for a possible conflict.  Material shortfalls can impact—and have impacted—U.S. warfighting ability. Better understanding the military’s projected shortfall quantities for individual materials would inform what materials—and corresponding applications—the U.S. military will most likely have shortfalls of during a conflict.  February 12, 2024.

PAYNE INSTITUTE’S EOG MEASURES CHILEAN WILDFIRES

PAYNE INSTITUTE’S EOG MEASURES CHILEAN WILDFIRES

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Mikhail Zhizhin, Christopher Elvidge, Communications Associate Kristin Ziv, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about the Chilean wildfires which could be the deadliest on record, according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. With its VIIRS Nightfire satellites, the Earth Observation Group can detect wildfires all over the world within two hours after the satellite overpass. With this algorithm, EOG can not only detect, but characterize wildfires in size and temperature. February 9, 2024.

TRANSPARENCY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY: THE VITAL LINK BETWEEN MONITORING AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION IN CCS INITIATIVES 2/9/24

TRANSPARENCY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY: THE VITAL LINK BETWEEN MONITORING AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION IN CCS INITIATIVES

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and Project Canary’s Charlie Losche write about how the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has catalyzed significant growth in CCS, with projections indicating a substantial increase in capture capacity by 2035.  With this expansion comes challenges, notably in securing Class VI permits for CO2 injection, and most pressingly in maintaining public trust. February 9, 2024.

World continues to learn from Colorado’s oil-and-gas methane controls 2/8/2024

World continues to learn from Colorado’s oil-and-gas methane controls

Ten years ago this month, Colorado became the first U.S. state to directly tackle methane emissions from oil and natural gas production. Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Policy and Outreach Advisor for Responsible Gas Simon Lomax and, Program Manager of the Sustainable Finance Lab Brad Handler explore how the lessons learned in Colorado are reflected in national and international approaches to regulating methane, which has taken on new urgency recently.  February 8, 2024.

Letter from the US: Chesapeake-Southwestern merger is big deal for US LNG 2/6/2024

Letter from the US: Chesapeake-Southwestern merger is big deal for US LNG

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Policy and Outreach Advisor for Responsible Gas Simon Lomax and, Program Manager of the Sustainable Finance Lab Brad Handler comment on the Chesapeake-Southwestern merger’s potential to foster more differentiated gas use in LNG exports.  The merger comes amid a wave of multibillion dollar oil industry tie-ups, including ExxonMobil buying Texas-headquartered Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron buying New York-headquartered Hess. February 6, 2024.

Why lithium prices have been on a roller coaster ride 2/6/2024

Why lithium prices have been on a roller coaster ride

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange is interviewed on Marketplace talking about how the prices of the metal have fallen about 80% in the past year, and two U.S. lithium companies have cut jobs and pulled back their capital spending recently. The latest is a company called Piedmont Lithium, which announced cuts Tuesday. February 6, 2024.

Ignoring Indigenous rights is making the green transition more expensive 2/2/2024

Ignoring Indigenous rights is making the green transition more expensive

Payne Institute Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty (NAMES) Initiative Program Manager Rick Tallman contributes to this article about how as more companies look to build wind and solar farms or mine minerals for renewable energy, failing to recognize Indigenous sovereignty could make the clean energy transition a lot more expensive and much farther away.  February 2, 2024.

How Can Capturing Carbon and Monitoring Methane Play a Role in the Energy Transition? 2/2/2024

How Can Capturing Carbon and Monitoring Methane Play a Role in the Energy Transition?

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Paulina Lanz, and Justine Huang are on this podcast discussing how in 2022, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reached a high of 53 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent. To bring that down to net zero, we can either stop emitting GHGs into the atmosphere, or we can pull out CO2 that has already been emitted. Also in this episode, Will Daniels, a Payne Institute student researcher is interviewed, talking about methods for detecting methane emissions from oil and gas production and the role that data might play in reducing these emissions. February 2, 2024.

Biden’s EV agenda hits mining world’s boom-and-bust cycle

Biden’s EV agenda hits mining world’s boom-and-bust cycle

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributed to this article about how President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle agenda could be in for a roller coaster ride, but this time it can’t be blamed on thorny politics, range anxiety or the effect of falling temperatures on chargers. Instead the focus now is on the price of lithium. The price of the key EV battery ingredient plummeted in recent months, not because of any policy action but due to the simple laws of supply and demand.  January 31, 2024.

Colorado is a regional quantum hub, but what does that mean? 1/31/2024

Colorado is a regional quantum hub, but what does that mean?

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Lincoln Carr interviews with CPR News about how the U.S. government recently designated Colorado a regional tech hub for the quantum industry. That puts the state in line to receive a federal grant as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which aims to boost investment in emerging technologies. January 31, 2024.

LNG Exports Shouldn’t Be the Next Keystone Campaign 1/26/2024

LNG Exports Shouldn’t Be the Next Keystone Campaign

Payne Institute Fellow Liam Denning writes this article on the greenest White House the US has ever seen also happens to preside over a record-breaking domestic oil and gas boom. While that complicates Republican talking points, it also stokes a conflict within President Joe Biden’s own party that has now found its battleground: Liquefied natural gas. January 26,2024.

How Does a “Reverse Sprinkler” Work? Researchers Solve Decades-Old Physics Puzzle 01/26/24

How Does a “Reverse Sprinkler” Work? Researchers Solve Decades-Old Physics Puzzle

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Brennan Sprinkle contributes to this article about how for decades scientists have been trying to solve Feynman’s Sprinkler Problem: How does a sprinkler running in reverse—in which the water flows into the device rather than out of it—work? Through a series of experiments, a team of mathematicians has figured out how flowing fluids exert forces and move structures, thereby revealing the answer to this long-standing mystery. January 26, 2024.

What is the Cost of Going Green? (Part B) 1/23/24

WHAT IS THE COST OF GOING GREEN? Perspectives from Ghana (PART B)

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Paulina Lanz, and Justine Huang are on this podcast (part B) discussing what the real costs of going green are, and who is going to pay the bill?  In Part B of the episode, Jim chats with a panel of Payne Institute student researchers from Ghana at the Colorado School of Mines – Eben Manful-Sam, John Ayaburi, Rueben Anafo and Felix Ayaburi– who help us better understand the challenges of sustainable development from a sub-Saharan Africa perspective. January 23, 2024.

What is the Cost of Going Green? (Part A) 1/19/2024

What is the Cost of Going Green? (Part A)

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, Paulina Lanz, and Justine Huang are on this podcast discussing what are the real costs of going green, and who is going to pay the bill?  Brad Handler breaks down why we are still investing so much in fossil fuels, the investments that might be needed to support the growth of renewable energy, and how we might redirect investments towards developing countries that will play a large role in the energy transition. We also dive into why oil companies have been so profitable, whether divesting from fossil fuels is a good idea, and the role that Wall Street and the fossil fuel industry might play in the energy transition.  January 19, 2024.