Energy News
The ‘bomb cyclone’ is contradicting Rick Perry’s argument for coal
The Washington Post | Posted on January 11, 2018The cold weather and swirling winds gripping the northeastern United States have created the sort of winter scenario that Energy Secretary Rick Perry has cited as a reason to bolster the reliability of the grid by boosting coal and nuclear power plants. Perry said that only those power plants could assure reliability because only they could keep 90 days’ fuel supply on site. But so far in this windy two-week cold snap, the region’s electricity grid has responded with little disruption, and without any need to rev up aging coal plants, which supplied 6 percent of electricity in New England on Thursday. And the biggest failure Thursday came from a power line failure that forced Entergy Corp. to shut down its 688 megawatt Pilgrim nuclear power plant in eastern Massachusetts. No homes were affected, however, because the grid reserve was three times as big.
Billions From VW Settlement Boost Push to Clean Vehicles
Pew Charitable Trust | Posted on January 8, 2018South Carolina wants to replace aging school buses. Colorado plans to electrify Denver’s bus system. And Washington wants electric ferryboats for Puget Sound. As part of a 2016 federal court settlement after Volkswagen admitted programming its diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions tests, the automaker agreed to pay $2.8 billion to states to be used to reduce diesel pollution. And with money arriving as early as June, states are already deciding how to spend their share of the funds.The infusion of money comes at a time when states are struggling to meet air quality standards and believe they won’t be able to do it without widespread adoption of low- and no-emission vehicles, from the Nissan Leaf in someone’s driveway to propane-fueled city buses and electric freight locomotives in public and corporate fleets. The VW funds — ranging from $8 million to $423 million per state, depending on the number of diesel VWs sold — could jump-start a viable market for alternate-fuel and electric vehicles, clean energy experts and state officials say.
Tax bill rescinds tax on oil companies to fund spill response
The Washington Post | Posted on January 8, 2018Congressional Republicans allowed a tax on oil companies that generated hundreds of millions of dollars annually for federal oil-spill response efforts to expire this week — a move that amounts to another corporate break for the industry. The tax on companies selling oil in the United States generated an average of $500 million in federal revenue per year, according to the Government Accountability Office. The money, collected through a 9 cents-per-barrel tax on domestic crude oil and imported crude oil and petroleum products, constituted the main source of revenue for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.The fund has at least $5.75 billion in reserve. Intended to help the government respond quickly to accidents on land or offshore, it was established in 1986 but only got a stable source of funding in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.The tax, which expired on New Year's Eve, had lapsed before but was renewed under the bipartisan 2005 Energy Policy Act. Federal officials recently had debated whether it should be expanded to apply to oil sands products.
Gas, not renewables, driving coal, nuclear woes
Utility Dive | Posted on January 8, 2018Low natural gas prices, not high renewable energy penetrations, are the main cause of low and negative electricity prices that are negatively impacting coal and nuclear operators, a new report from two DOE national labs finds.
NC State project develops solar heaters for chicken houses
Meatingplace (free registration required) | Posted on January 2, 2018Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a practical solar heater for poultry houses as part of a project partially funded by USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation, the organization announced. Sanjay Shah and his colleagues developed and tested the low-cost solar heater that warms the air as it passes through a black plastic housing that has been heated by the sun. The system is designed to supplement the heat generated in poultry houses using propane-fueled equipment and should reduce overall heating costs at poultry farms where the systems are installed, the group said.
Court rules against Pa. drillers in royalty dispute
Farm and Dairy | Posted on January 2, 2018Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Dec. 20 a significant step towards economic justice for Pennsylvania landowners in his lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy Inc. and Anadarko Petroleum Co.Bradford County Common Pleas Court issued an opinion and order denying preliminary objections raised by the defendant companies.The Office of Attorney General’s lawsuit seeks to recover for thousands of Pennsylvania landowners the money wrongfully deducted from fracking royalty checks by Chesapeake Energy and Anadarko Petroleum — in violation of
Trump administration rescinding fracking rules on government land
Chicago Tribune | Posted on January 2, 2018President Donald Trump's administration is rescinding proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing and other oil- and gas-drilling practices on government lands. The rules developed under President Barack Obama would have applied mainly in the West, where most federal lands are located. Companies would have had to disclose the chemicals used in fracking, which pumps pressurized water underground to break open hydrocarbon deposits.
Ethanol-State Senators Wait for Proposal from Cruz, Who Maintains Hold on USDA Nominee
DTN | Posted on December 28, 2017Sen. Ted Cruz has now gotten multiple meetings at the White House over the Renewable Fuels Standard but the Texas Republican still maintains his hold on Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey's undersecretary nomination at USDA. And, following a meeting Wednesday with staff from several senators at the White House's Eisenhower Executive Office Building, it seems Cruz doesn't know what exactly he wants changed with the Renewable Fuel Standard."He just keeps moving the goalpost and moving the goalpost," said a frustrated Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, on Thursday.Staff from the offices of Sens. Ernst, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., joined White House staff Wednesday afternoon to discuss options, but staff from Cruz's office and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., did not have any proposals to offer and were not ready to negotiate.
Texas Senator Seeks RIN Cap
DTN | Posted on December 28, 2017Leaders in the biofuels industry wrote President Donald Trump on Friday after learning Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had floated a proposal to the White House that would essentially cap prices for renewable identification number (RIN) credits at 10 cents apiece. The proposal from the Texas senator, negotiating on behalf of oil refiners, spurred major players in both biofuels and commodity crops industries to send a letter Friday to President Donald Trump detailing why the RIN market exists, how it is operated by EPA, and some of the problems EPA has in providing transparency on RIN trading.Most importantly, the letter praised President Trump for his support of the biofuels industry and reiterated the need to ensure any policy changes don't undercut billions of dollars in biofuels infrastructure that has been put in place since the Renewable Fuel Standard was created.
Tallying Economic Effects of the RFS Decade
DTN | Posted on December 28, 2017Look no further than how falling commodity prices have affected rural America in recent years, and you'll get a feel for what the Renewable Fuel Standard has meant to the countryside. Back in 2005 when the first RFS was signed into law, it was challenging just to keep up on the seemingly endless number of announced plans to build corn ethanol plants. Investor groups made public announcements, followed by local, small-town meetings attended largely by farmers and community investors curious about ethanol's economic potential.Today, the farm economy continues on a decline as input costs have remained higher while corn remains priced in the $3 to $4 range. Imagine the state of things without the corn market created by ethanol.Prior to the first RFS from 1997 to 2004, average corn prices nationally averaged between $1.86 and $2.60 per bushel, according to farmdoc at the University of Illinois. From 2006 to 2016, farmdoc said the average annual corn price ranged from $1.96 to $6.67. That meant more money was injected into rural economies following the passage of the second RFS.Do the math: take away the ethanol market and rural America's challenges may be far more difficult.A nine-page analysis by the Renewable Fuels Association released this week provides a look at the numbers.