Filtered News
Insight: Western miners push for higher metals prices to ward off Chinese rivals 7/22/24
Insight: Western miners push for higher metals prices to ward off Chinese rivals
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributes to this article about the only U.S. cobalt mine in the northern Idaho woods and how it is too expensive for its owner to operate because Chinese rivals have flooded global markets with cheap supplies of the bluish metal used in electric vehicle batteries and electronics. July 22, 2024.
Financial Risk Management for Geological Storage 7/22/24
Financial Risk Management for Geological Storage
Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler, Lindene E. Patton, student researchers Siddhant Kulkarni and Felix Ayaburi, and Darshil Shah write the third paper in a series of papers on the use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as a climate mitigation tool envisions the permanent underground storage of CO2. The U.S. government has implemented several policies designed to position Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects for growth. These include a regulatory framework and financial incentives such as Internal Revenue Service Section 45Q tax credits and grants. July 22,2024.
A Systems Engineering Approach to Decarbonizing Mining: Analyzing Electrification and CO2 Emission Reduction Scenarios for Copper Mining Haulage Systems 7/21/2024
A Systems Engineering Approach to Decarbonizing Mining: Analyzing Electrification and CO2 Emission Reduction Scenarios for Copper Mining Haulage Systems
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Dr. H. Sebnem Düzgün, student researcher Kemalcan Aydogdu, Evren Deniz Yaylaci, and Fatih Aranoglu write that due to climate change risks, the public, regulators, and investors require solid actions to minimize the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of mineral extraction and metals production. The mining sector considers alternatives to reduce its carbon footprint by transforming the business and adopting new technologies into operations. July 21, 2024.
Readying for war or being prepared for crises? China’s stockpiling of resources raises eyebrows and questions 7/18/2024
Readying for war or being prepared for crises? China’s stockpiling of resources raises eyebrows and questions
Payne Institute Fellow Gregory Wischer contributes to this article about how while China’s stockpiles are a tightly guarded state secret, analysts CNA spoke to agree that a heightened degree of resource amassing is being carried out, citing recent news reports. Grain, oil, copper, cobalt and iron ore are some of the key resources and minerals China has recently been amassing, in an alleged pattern of behaviour that has blared red for some observers and rival superpower the United States. July 18, 2024.
RADIOACTIVE 7/17/2024
Radioactive
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how Energy Fuels Inc., a Denver company, is seeking to mine uranium near the Grand Canyon — and an Indigenous tribe’s long fight to stop it. Prices for uranium rose enough for the company to seek to bring uranium ore to White Mesa from one of the company’s mothballed uranium mine sites. July 17, 2024.
BP Releases Energy Outlook 2024 7/17/2024
BP Releases Energy Outlook 2024
Our Payne Institute Earth Observation Group provided bp with historical data for natural gas flaring taken from their VIIRS Nightfire (VNF) product. The Energy Outlook report explores the speed and shape of the energy transition out to 2050 and to help shape a resilient strategy for bp, using two scenarios, Current Trajectory and Net Zero. The two scenarios are informed by recent trends and developments in the global energy system. In emerging trends, they discuss these recent developments across areas including energy security, energy demand, carbon emissions and investment. July 17, 2024.
Preliminary Evaluation of Community-Oriented Risk Analysis of Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage in the United States 7/15/24
Preliminary Evaluation of Community-Oriented Risk Analysis of Carbon Capture, Transport, and Storage in the United States
Mines Civil and Environmental Engineering PhD student researcher Nicolas G. Perticari Pesci writes the second in a series of papers on the use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS projects are slated to be multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects comprised of carbon dioxide pipelines, capture sites, and injection wells for the sub-surface. While the technical feasibility of carbon capture projects is explained systematically, for example as part of the permitting application for Class VI wells for geological storage, the social implications of projects are equally important and must also be evaluated to better understand risks and holistic mitigation of liability for all involved parties. July 15, 2024.
La Niña is coming. Here’s how it could change the weather. 7/11/24
La Niña is coming. Here’s how it could change the weather.
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Nathan Lenssen contributes to this article about how the planet is officially on alert for La Niña, the foil to the El Niño climate pattern, scientists declared Thursday. It could have a cooling effect on the ongoing stretch of record global heat, and is likely to help trigger a flurry of intense Atlantic hurricanes this fall. July 11, 2024.
Assessment of Peer-to-Peer Trading Benefits 7/10/2024
Assessment of Peer-to-Peer Trading Benefits
Emon Chatterji and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about how a Peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity trading model can enable customers to support each other with potentially significant economic benefits, yields technical benefits to reduce losses/congestion, and presents a greater opportunity to maximize variable renewable development. This study uses a two-stage optimization model to generate supply curves for individual customers, followed by an optimization by the P2P operator to maximize the savings. July 10, 2024.
U.S. researchers build 16%-efficient mini perovskite solar module resistant to UV light-induced degradation 7/10/24
U.S. researchers build 16%-efficient mini perovskite solar module resistant to UV light-induced degradation
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Allan Sellinger contributes to this article about how a U.S. research team has built a 15 cm2 perovskite solar module with improved stability and efficiency thanks to a polymer hole transport layer that reportedly improves the panel stability and efficiency. July 10, 2024.
Why steel prices have been sagging all year 7/9/2024
Why steel prices have been sagging all year
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange is featured on this podcast about how there are two reasons steel prices have dropped? Slowed construction spending and flat-ish manufacturing activity. In China, because their economy is faltering so significantly, yet they’re still producing a lot of steel, they’re exporting their steel market weakness to the rest of the world, and it could be a while before the market picks up. July 9, 2024.
Scientists say they can now forecast a strong El Niño years in advance 7/9/24
Scientists say they can now forecast a strong El Niño years in advance
Payne Faculty Fellow Nathan Lenssen contributed to an article about how scientists used thousands of years of past climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance. July 9, 2024.
Mineral Supply Chains and Space Assets 7/9/2024
Mineral Supply Chains and Space Assets
Payne Institute Fellow Gregory Wischer, Gregory Autry, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how both the United States and China seek to build and deploy significant numbers of space assets, most of which are mineral intensive. The mineral compositions of three important space assets—satellites, direct-ascent antisatellite weapons, and rocket bodies—require the United States to import minerals, particularly from China, for their construction. Consequently, the US space industry, and thus the US government, faces the associated risks of supply chain disruptions that can restrict mineral availability and cause price volatility, negatively impacting space asset production. This article proposes three policies to mitigate such risks to the mineral supply chains. July 9, 2024.
GEOLOGICAL STORAGE: RISKS AND OPERATIONAL RISK MITIGATION 7/8/2024
GEOLOGICAL STORAGE: RISKS AND OPERATIONAL RISK MITIGATION
Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, Payne Institute CCS Program Manager Anna Littlefield, and student researcher Felix Ayaburi write the first in a series of papers on the use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as a climate mitigation tool envisions the permanent underground storage of CO2. The prospects for large scale adoption of geological storage has raised concerns regarding the risks — of property damage, environmental degradation, and to human health— if stored CO2 were to leak to the surface or into shallow water resources. July 8, 2024.
INTRODUCTION: RISK MITIGATION IN GEOLOGICAL STORAGE OF CO2 7/8/2024
INTRODUCTION: RISK MITIGATION IN GEOLOGICAL STORAGE OF CO2
The Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab writes the introduction to a series of papers that 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. July 8, 2024.
A tell-tale sign that China could be preparing for war 7/4/24
A Tell-tale Sign that China Could Be Preparing For War
Payne Institute Fellow Gregory Wischer’s ‘Statement for the Record’ was highlighted in an article discussing how a telling similarity has been noticed between what Germany was doing before it invaded Poland in September 1939 and what China is doing now – stockpiling resources and raw materials. July 4, 2024.
UNITED STATES FOSSIL FUELS AND PROVIDING ENERGY TO OTHER COUNTRIES IN BALANCE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
Energy Security and Geopolitics
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian is on this PBS show during CERA Week discussing the trade off between the dependency of the United States on fossil fuels and providing energy to other countries in balance with climate change. Also, the balance between energy security, energy independence, and the environment. July 3, 2024.
Elevate Quantum awarded $40.5M to expand quantum ecosystem in Colorado, Mountain West 7/2/2024
Elevate Quantum awarded $40.5M to expand quantum ecosystem in Colorado, Mountain West
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Eliot Kapit is featured in this article about how Mines is part of regional consortium receiving federal funding to support efforts to strengthen the quantum workforce over the next decade. The federal funding, alongside Colorado’s recently passed $74 million Quantum Tax Credit and New Mexico’s substantial quantum investments, will enable Elevate Quantum to deliver on its key objectives, such as launching 50+ quantum startups, upskilling 30,000 workers, and establishing a world-leading quantum lab to provide state-of-the-art hardware and expertise to startups. July 2, 2024.
Why New Tech is Key for EPA Methane Rule Compliance 7/2/2024
Why New Tech is Key for EPA Methane Rule Compliance
Payne Institute Fellow Arvind Ravikumar is featured on this podcast discussing how the EPA’s methane rules for the oil and gas industry will depend on new technologies to monitor and verify climate impacts. For the new rules to be effective, emissions will need to be measured across vast and geographically dispersed oil and gas infrastructure. July 2, 2024.
Mines-developed molecule improves performance of perovskite solar cells 7/1/2024
Mines-developed molecule improves performance of perovskite solar cells
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Alan Sellinger is featured in this article about how a new molecule, called EtCz3EPA, was designed, and synthesized by his research group. The molecule, which forms stronger bonds within the solar cells, enhancing the connection between different parts of the cells. In doing so, the molecule increases the cell’s stability and efficiency – even when exposed to UV radiation and tested outdoors. July 1, 2024.