FUTURE OF OIL & GAS
Designing a future interdisciplinary and shared research agenda to understand the role of oil and gas in the energy transition
Designing a future interdisciplinary and shared research agenda to understand the role of oil and gas in the energy transition
As the world confronts an energy transition, the global energy system is being re-imagined and the role of oil and natural gas in that transition is not entirely clear. Governments are pursuing increasingly ambitious initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diversify their energy systems. At the same time, the world is facing significant energy demand growth from emerging and developing economies. The dual pressures of reducing their carbon footprint, while also providing the necessary resources to fuel energy growth creates another layer of complexity for the oil and gas industry.
Mines and the world
The Payne Institute extends to public policy Mines’ conviction that energy and the environment must– and can – fruitfully coexist. We are in an enviable position to tap into a deep well of on-campus and alumni leaders in industry and environmental groups around the world. We foster collaboration with a focus on problem-solving rather than furthering entrenched agendas.
COLORADO
Colorado has been at the forefront of establishing regulations for the oil and gas industry and working in a coherent inclusive manner between the industry and other stakeholders. That form of broad engagement based on science should continue. It will serve to both evolve the discussion in the state and at the local level, but also serve as a lodestar for the national and global discussion.
NEWS
Giant sinkholes in a South Dakota neighborhood make families fear for their safety 9/21/2024
Giant sinkholes in a South Dakota neighborhood make families fear for their safety
Payne Institute Fellow Paul Santi contributes to this article about how sinkholes are fairly common, due to collapsed caves, old mines or dissolving material, but the circumstances in South Dakota stand out, said Paul Santi, a professor of geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. The combination of such large sinkholes endangering so many homes makes the Hideaway Hills situation one to remember. September 21, 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.
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.
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.
UN climate summit host Azerbaijan’s gas flaring hits decade-high, study shows 7/28/2024
UN climate summit host Azerbaijan’s gas flaring hits decade-high, study shows
Payne Institute Earth Observation Group provided bp and the World Bank with historical data for natural gas flaring taken from their VIIRS Nightfire (VNF) product. Methane reduction in the atmosphere is regarded by scientists as among the most effective ways of limiting climate change in the near term. July 28, 2024.
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.
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.
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.
For more information about the Future of Oil & Gas Research Area at the Payne Institute for Public Policy, please contact our Deputy Director, Gregory Clough, at gclough@mines.edu.