News
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.
Drinking water for 268,000 Coloradans exceeds new limits on “forever chemicals” 4/21/2024
Drinking water for 268,000 Coloradans exceeds new limits on “forever chemicals”
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributes to this article about how the utilities that provide drinking water to nearly 268,000 Coloradans will need tens of of millions of dollars over the next five years to comply with new federal limits on harmful “forever chemicals,” but finding the money will be a challenge — especially for small, rural systems. April 21, 2024.
How Quantum Computing Changed Our Understanding of Science 4/19/2024
How Quantum Computing Changed Our Understanding of Science
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Lincoln Carr is featured on this podcast discussing how while we await practical business advantage with quantum computing, has quantum information science already furthered our understanding of science? What’s the difference between a simulator and an emulator, and how does a physical quantum computer fit in? He explores these topics, along with everything from Tensor Networks, to thermodynamics, to complexity, with an eye to how the hardware timeline will make practical power a reality. April 19, 2024.
Potential for small and micro modular reactors to electrify developing regions 4/19/2024
Potential for small and micro modular reactors to electrify developing regions
Mines Faculty Guillaume L’Her, R. Scott Kemp, Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, and Faculty Fellow Mark Deinert write about how small-scale nuclear power is typically thought of for niche markets, however recent work has suggested that it could help address the massive gaps in energy access in developing countries. They present a global analysis of regions suitable for nuclear reactor deployment based on physical siting criteria, security, governance and economic competitiveness. April 19, 2024.
Jennifer Miskimins nominated as 2026 president of Society of Petroleum Engineers 4/17/2024
Jennifer Miskimins nominated as 2026 president of Society of Petroleum Engineers
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jennifer Miskimins, professor and head of the Petroleum Engineering Department at Colorado School of Mines, has been nominated to serve as the 2026 president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the premier global organization for oil and gas professionals. Dr. Miskimins is a Mines alum, Miskimins has 30 years of industry experience and has led Petroleum Engineering Department since 2020. April 17, 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.
The price of copper has been rising. That’s good news for the economy. 4/9/2024
The price of copper has been rising. That’s good news for the economy.
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange is featured on this podcast about the rising cost of copper. We say pretty regularly that if you want to figure out which way the global economy is headed, you should take a look at the price of copper. Because copper is used in so many things — power lines, appliances, vehicles, wind turbines, EV batteries. You get the picture. There is so much demand for the metal right now, the price of copper futures is at its highest since the middle of 2022. 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.
Boom goes uranium in Utah — again 4/7/2024
Boom goes uranium in Utah — again
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about the latest concerns of the La Sal Complex, a Uranium mine 32 miles southeast of Moab. The mine has been opened and closed and opened again over the years. The price of uranium has increased recently, and so has uranium production in Utah. The mining and processing of uranium have ignited old concerns. April 7, 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.
Inside the GOP probe of IEA 4/3/2024
Inside the GOP probe of IEA
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how the US government has changed their narrative on the energy transition over the years. Climate activists have been steadfast been criticizing the government for underselling the odds of an energy transition. April 3, 2024.
Exploring the Hidden World of Lighting Flicker with a High-Speed Camera 4/2/2024
Exploring the Hidden World of Lighting Flicker with a High-Speed Camera
Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Senior Research Associate Christopher D. Elvidge, Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, Director Morgan Bazilian, Ashley Pipkin, Sharolyn Anderson, and William S. Kowalik write about how alternating current can result in flickering—or pulsing—in the brightness of light emitted by luminaires. However, evidence indicates that many organisms perceive flicker with non-visual photoreceptors present on the retinas. April 2, 2024.
US ratification of the ocean treaty will unlock deep sea mining 4/2/2024
US ratification of the ocean treaty will unlock deep sea mining
Payne Institute Fellow Alex Gilbert and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how hundreds of former political and military leaders are calling for the US Senate to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the impetus being to open up deep sea mining to supply critical minerals needed for clean energy and military technologies. Deep seabed resources include highly valued minerals such as cobalt, nickel, and rare earths. April 2, 2024.
Panel of lawmakers considers whether carbon capture holds future in Colorado 4/1/2024
Panel of lawmakers considers whether carbon capture holds future in Colorado
Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield contributed to this article about how as Colorado aims to achieve 100% net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, leaders of key state agencies argue that they can’t meet that goal without employing carbon-capture-and-sequestration techniques in hard-to-decarbonize sectors. Ensuring the state has tools to allow and regulate such operations as fossil-fuel usage continues for the foreseeable future is a “strategic step to expediting the process.” April 1, 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.
Mapping of Dimmed Nighttime Lights in Ukraine During the War 3/27/2024
Mapping of Dimmed Nighttime Lights in Ukraine During the War
Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin writes about how the impact of the war in Ukraine on nighttime light intensity using satellite data. Nighttime light observations from Suomi NPP satellite (2012-2024) covering Ukraine and surrounding areas were analyzed. March 27, 2024.
New Method for Tracking Down Methane Emissions on Oil and Gas Sites 3/27/2024
New Method for Tracking Down Methane Emissions on Oil and Gas Sites
Payne Institute Student Researcher William Daniels, Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how reducing methane emissions is a key component of short-term climate action. Empirical data and transparent models are key pillars of emission reduction efforts. Payne Institute researchers William Daniels, Meng Jia, and Dorit Hammerling have developed a completely open-source analytical framework for detecting single-source methane emissions, determining the source location, and estimating an emission rate using data from continuous monitoring systems (CMS). March 27, 2024.
Biden’s Clean-Industry Grants Punch Above Their Weight 3/26/2024
Biden’s Clean-Industry Grants Punch Above Their Weight
Payne Institute Fellow Liam Denning writes about how one measure of success for President Joe Biden’s green energy agenda is that $6 billion of funding for new projects doesn’t even sound like that much anymore. The conditional grants announced this week for 33 projects aimed at decarbonizing industrial processes are equivalent to perhaps 1% of the headline clean-energy budgets of the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. March 26, 2024.
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DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed are those of the author alone and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of the Payne Institute or Colorado School of Mines.