JL Daeschler reports that there has been no wind for the past 4 days at his home in Scotland, and his wind gauge is droopy. (See his sketch below and read the fine print 😉)
Archive for the ‘climate’ Category
JL’s wind monitor
Posted in climate, energy, Wind Energy, tagged Anemoi, JL Daeschler, no wind, Wind Energy on September 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Slippery slope …
Posted in Canada, climate, energy policy, Uncategorized, tagged ads, Canada Action, free speech, Toronto transit on September 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »
… when you seek to restrict speech because you don’t like the speaker or disagree with the message.
A Toronto politician wants to ban “misleading fossil fuel ads” on public transit. The pictured ad presents a straightforward message that is reasonable for an organization like Canada Action to convey. Opposing views are well represented in government and the media.
Ocean City NJ and Ocean City MD are of one mind regarding offshore wind projects
Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, Regulation, tagged Ocean City MD, Ocean City NJ, opposition to offshore wind, wind leasing pause, wind litigation on September 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »
To those of us from Philly, Ocean City is in New Jersey. To those living in the DMV, Ocean City is in Maryland. These popular beach resorts have distinct personalities, but both are heavily dependent on tourism. They are also aligned against offshore wind development.
OCNJ and surrounding Cape May County have been called the epicenter of resistance to offshore wind. They sued the Federal government over the approval of the Construction and Operations Plan and issuance of the Incidental Harassment Authorization for the Ocean Wind 1 project. Orsted has since elected not to pursue that project, but somehow the leases have remained in effect.
On Aug. 5, Ocean City MD Mayor Rick Meehan said the town has hired a law firm, and will join several local co-plaintiffs in suing BOEM if it issues a federal permit to US Wind to construct the US Wind project offshore Maryland. Exactly one month later (9/5/2024), BOEM approved the project. (The 2 US Wind leases have been consolidated, and the project is now known as the Maryland Offshore Wind project).
Halting Atlantic wind projects has been a difficult proposition for local governments, tribes, and grass roots environmental groups given that the wind industry, State and Federal govt, and the large environmental NGOs have been firmly aligned against them. Indeed, the Federal govt considers wind developers to be their partners.
Disputes between State and local governments regarding offshore wind policy are becoming increasingly strident. Such disconnects are not common for offshore oil and gas given that State and local govts are typically aligned either for or against.
The growing level of discord is neither in the best interest of wind developers nor their opponents. Unfortunately, election year politics probably stand in the way of a pause in wind leasing that would facilitate open and unpressured collaboration with coastal residents, power customers, tribes, and fishing organizations on the best path forward.
Typhoon Yagi overwhelms wind turbines on Hainan Island, China
Posted in Wind Energy, climate, tagged wind turbines, Yagi, Hainan, destruction on September 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Floating wind turbine to be installed at Total’s Culzean field
Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Offshore Wind, UK, tagged CO2, Culzean field, floating turbines, natural gas, offshore safety, Total on August 30, 2024| 2 Comments »
Total has announced plans to install a 3 MW floating wind turbine 2 km west of the Culzean platform, 220 km off the coast of Scotland. This turbine, expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025, will supply around 20% of Culzean’s power requirement. This project is interesting from an R&D standpoint, but makes little sense otherwise. Here’s why:
- Culzean is a gas condensate field that is capable of meeting 5% of the UK’s gas demand. There is thus ample produced gas to reliably and economically power the platform.
- Gas will be required to meet 80% of the power requirement even after the wind turbine is operating.
- In light of installation, maintenance, and decommissioning costs for the floating turbine, the cost of the intermittent wind power will no doubt be much higher than the cost of the power generated by platform gas.
- Some tax benefits may be associated with adding the wind turbine, but this won’t affect the real costs, other than to perhaps make them higher.
- In addition to affecting profitability, higher operational costs could reduce the ultimate recovery of gas and condensate from the field.
- Gas not consumed at the offshore facilities will be marketed and consumed onshore, so there is essentially no net reduction in global CO2 emissions.
- As JL Daeschler reminds me, the floating turbine complicates operations and could create safety issues: obstruction for helicopters and supply boats to avoid, trenching and installing power cable in a spare “J” tube, and feeding power to an electrical distribution system in accordance with standards and platform specifications. As JL notes, “I think we have plenty to do offshore already!”
- And what if there are mooring failures and the turbine drifts toward the platforms? Turbine blade failures?
- Bottom line: adding costs and risks for no apparent benefit.
Germany issues Nord Stream arrest warrant
Posted in climate, Offshore Energy - General, pipelines, tagged Denmark, germany, new charges, Nord Stream, Seymour Hersh, Sweden, Ukraine on August 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Skepticism about these charges is running high given the apparent political convenience of the “private Ukrainian citizens” sabotage scenario. The German govt has been under pressure to identify the responsible party following the decisions by Denmark and Sweden to drop their investigations.
Many of us are waiting for responses from the insurers, Seymour Hersh, Erik Andersson, and other private parties who have been actively investigating the Nord Stream sabotage.
SCOTUS Chevron deference decision could factor large in the 5 Year Leasing Plan litigation
Posted in climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 5 year leasing plan, API, Chevron Doctrine, DOI, litigation, offshore oil and gas on August 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »
API is challenging the Dept. of the Interior’s 5 year oil and gas leasing plan, which includes the fewest lease sales in program history. That challenge was filed on 12 February, 60 days after Secretary Haaland approved the 5 plan and the first day appeals could be filed pursuant to 43 U.S. Code § 1349.
18 weeks after the API suit was filed, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Doctrine. That doctrine (described above) instructed judges to defer to agency interpretations when the language in a law was unclear.
Interior’s 5 year OCS oil and gas leasing plan provides for the fewest (3) lease sales in history and may not have included a single sale were it not for legislation prohibiting the issuance of offshore wind leases unless an offshore oil and gas lease sale was held during the prior year.
This unprecedented oil and leasing decision was based on “the need to confront the climate crisis through reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and on achieving “net zero pathways.” Neither of those objectives is articulated in the OCS Lands Act or other governing legislation.
Extending the Secretary’s general safety and environmental authority for OCS operations to include global climate considerations is a stretch and the type of interpretive administrative decision that the Supreme Court struck down.
Quaise ultradeep geothermal update – field tests of drilling technology “upcoming”
Posted in climate, drilling, energy policy, tagged field test, gyrotron, millimeter wave drilling, Quaise Energy, ultradeep geothermal on August 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Ultradeep geothermal has enormous potential for power generation without being handicapped by the intermittency, space preemption, aesthetic, and wildlife protection challenges inherit in wind and solar projects.
Quaise Energy is an exciting company, not only because of ultradeep geothermal’s unlimited energy potential, but also because of their fascinating gyrotron technology that vaporizes hard rock and could enable drilling to depths of 20-30 km and temperatures of >1000° C.
Quaise Energy’s latest update includes some good photos of laboratory tests of their drilling technology. The first field tests of their drilling technology are supposed to be conducted later this year, but no details have been provided.
Quaise describes millimeter waves (MMWs) as follows: “… a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and infrared. Named for their wavelength measuring 1-10 millimeters, MMWs are everywhere yet invisible to the naked eye. The fingerprints of the Big Bang still linger as MMWs all around us in the cosmic microwave background. And if you’re reading this on a phone, chances are it was transmitted by 5G using MMWs.”
The plan is to drill through sedimentary rocks with conventional technology and use MMWs to vaporize basement rock with dielectric heat. There are many hurdles to clear, starting with the field tests, but the enormous energy potential is undeniable.
Tough on cows, soft on Nord Stream saboteurs
Posted in climate, energy policy, natural gas, pipelines, tagged Denmark, Gulf of Mexico methane, livestock emissions, methane tax, Nord Stream on July 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Danish Tax Minister Jeppe Bruus boasts that other countries will be inspired by the world’s first tax on livestock emissions. Are you inspired?
Not at all inspiring was Denmark’s weak-kneed response to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. After 17 months of investigation, Denmark meekly declined to pursue criminal charges or even to release a report on their findings. How does the “world’s climate leader” simply shrug its shoulders after investigating a massive methane release in their waters?
A recent professional paper concludes that 478,000 tons of methane were released to the atmosphere as a result of the Nord Stream sabotage, making this “the world’s largest natural gas leak.” The Nord Stream sabotage thus released 3.6 times the amount of methane (133,000 tons) contributed by Danish livestock in an entire year. The total amount of methane released by the Nord Stream pipelines is also 2.5 times the entire amount attributed by EPA to all Gulf of Mexico producers in 2020.
Denmark and Sweden have concluded that “there was deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines.” The Nord Stream insurers claim that “a government did it.” So which government was it? Why are sovereign governments of affected nations afraid or otherwise unwilling to comment on such a consequential attack?
Important CO2 leakage study included in BOEM Studies Plan
Posted in CCS, climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged BOEM, carbon disposal, CCS regulations, CS leasing, environmental studies, Gulf of Mexico, leakage study on June 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Carbon sequestration (i.e. subsurface disposal) is a controversial and divisive topic, and important questions regarding the costs and benefits remain. Nonetheless, the Infrastructure Bill of 2021 authorized the disposal of CO2 on the OCS, and stipulated that the Secretary of the Interior promulgate regulations for that purpose. However, that major task cannot be completed without a better understanding of the potential environmental impacts.
BOEM has announced a study (see attached pages from their new Environmental Studies Plan) to consider the potential for CO2 leakage and related environmental concerns. A few excerpts from BOEM’s summary follow:
Problem: Potential CO2 leakage from carbon sequestration (CS) project activities could occur via a number of pathways. Few studies model and/or measure CO2 leakage, transport, dispersion, attenuation, and environmental impacts in the offshore environment, and those that do exist are preliminary.
Intervention: BOEM needs more information about the dynamics, fate, transport, and potential environmental impacts of CO2 leakage under various scenarios, including worst-case, on the OCS to inform the new nationwide CS Program and to protect the environment from CO2 leakage.
Comparison: The study will model CO2 leakage under various scenarios, including worst-case scenarios, using the GOM OCS Region as a case-study and can be applied to all OCS regions. Outcome The leakage and worst-case scenario modeling will aid BOEM’s ongoing rulemaking efforts, program development and implementation, and future operational needs including NEPA analyses, lease planning, lease stipulations, consultations, plan and permit approvals, mitigation measures, risk assessment and monitoring requirements, etc. Study results will also provide direction for future studies to include field and/or laboratory analyses.
The performance period for this important study extends through 2027, so it’s hard to envision final CS regulations prior to that date. You can’t issue regulations without first assessing the potential harm that could result from their promulgation (as required by NEPA).
BOEM’s summary mentions “the anticipation of a CS lease sale in the GOM after final regulations are published.” Hopefully, this also means that BOEM will not permit improperly acquired oil and gas leases (Sales 257, 259, and 261) to be converted to CS leases.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 