Data Reveals Climate Impacts of the Gigantic, Ongoing Gas Leak in California

From:  Blog EDF

By Tim O'Connor | Bio | Published: November 21, 2015

 

Last week, it appeared that the Southern California Gas Company was close to containing the flow of natural gas coming from a monster leak at its Aliso Canyon storage field in Northridge, California.  Now, four weeks after it started, the leak persists, and data released Friday, from the California Air Resources Board shows that the uncontrolled emissions of methane, the primary component of natural gas, is having significant climate change impacts in addition to affecting public health.

Using data collected from airplanes flying near the leak site, and supported by data gathered from vehicles, satellites and nearby air monitoring platforms, the Air Board’s initial estimates show the rupture at Aliso Canyon has released methane gas with an estimated warming impact over the next 20 years equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions of 2.6 to 2.9 million metric tons.  While these estimates are likely to be refined over time and compared to facility estimates of lost gas, conducting aerial methane surveys to calculate emissions rates is a proven scientific measurement method.

These are staggering numbers, even in their preliminary form.

At a calculated rate per hour of about 50,000 kilograms of methane emissions, this single leak is likely responsible for over 25% of the state’s daily total methane emissions from all sources, including landfills and agriculture. Depending on when it is fixed, this one leak is also likely to single handedly double the methane emissions associated with natural gas use in California this year.  MORE

INSIGHT: Communities displaced by 2011 disaster deprived of rights to vote, live

From:  The Asahi Shimbun

By TOSHIHIDE UEDA/ Senior Staff Writer

In the lead-up to the fifth winter since the 2011 disasters, a man from Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, was speaking into a microphone at the side of Hachiko, the iconic statue of the faithful dog, in front of Tokyo's Shibuya Station.

“I am giving this stump speech here because I don’t quite understand,” said Keizo Oguro, who was running in the Namie mayoral election, on Nov. 9.

Oguro, 59, a former chairman of the Namie town assembly, was canvassing for votes from residents of his town who had evacuated from the nuclear accident. He was unsuccessful in his bid on Nov. 15.  MORE

What Went Wrong at Porter Ranch?

From:  LA Weekly

By Gene Maddaus

Tuesday, December 22, 2015 | 12 days ago

Matt Pakucko, president of Save Porter Ranch, has called for the closure of the Aliso Canyon storage site.

Photo by Danny Liao

Before she retired in 2014, Anneliese Anderle was a field engineer for the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermic Resources, which regulates oil drilling. She worked out of offices in Bakersfield, Cypress and Ventura, and for a while she was responsible for monitoring the massive natural gas storage field at Aliso Canyon.

Southern California Gas owns the facility, which distributes gas to 14 power plants and 21 million customers. In her years monitoring wells at Aliso Canyon, Anderle says she got to know the gas company as "a first-class operation."

The company tended to be conservative, and to do things rigorously and by the book. But the wells at Aliso Canyon were aging, and many were starting to wear out.  MORE

New infrared video shows gas plume billowing above Porter Ranch

From:  Daily News 

By Dana Bartholomew, Los Angeles Daily News

From the air through a special lens, it looks like a giant smokestack on top of Oat Mountain belching a black plume over Porter Ranch.

The first aerial infrared video of natural gas spewing from the Aliso Canyon natural gas field that has plagued Porter Ranch residents for 10 weeks was released Wednesday by the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group.

“Events of this size are rare, but major leakage across the oil and gas supply change is not,” said Tim O’Connor, director of the EDF’s California oil and gas program, in a statement. “There are plenty of mini-Aliso Canyons that add up to a big climate problem — not just in California, but across the country.”  MORE

Charts: The Smart Money Is on Renewable Energy

From:  Mother Jones 

COMMENT - Kudos for M. Jones!  And the chart should be used as art - and worn as Tee-Shirts!  I just love the way oil is being squeezed out. 

—Tim McDonnell on Mon. April 22, 2013 5:08 PM PDT

Fossil fuel cheerleaders take note: Renewable energy ain't going nowhere—and it may prove to be the better bet in the long run.

By 2030, renewables will account for 70 percent of new power supply worldwide, according to projections released today from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Bloomberg analysts examined gas prices, carbon prices, the dwindling price of green energy technology, and overall energy demand (which, in the US at least, is on a massive decline), and found solar and wind beating fossil fuels like coal and natural gas by 2030.

The chart below shows annual installations of new power sources, in gigawatts; over time, more and more of the new energy supply being built each year comes from renewable sources (like wind turbines and solar panels), by 2030 representing $630 billion worth of investment, while new fossil fuel sources (like coal- or gas-burning power plants) become increasingly rare.

Courtesy BNEF

The effect of this projected growth, BNEF CEO Michael Liebreich told Climate Desk at a gathering of clean energy investors today in New York, is that damage to the climate from the electricity sector is likely to taper off even as worldwide electricity use grows. "I believe we're in a phase of change where renewables are going to take the sting out of growth in energy demand," he said.  MORE

The Future of Energy: How to Transition to a Renewable Economy

From:  Green Tech Media 

by Tam Hunt
October 21, 2014
We need to ride the waves already coming our way and do our best to start new waves where we can.

This is the third in a series on the future of energy. Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here.

***

I like data. There, I said it. Actually, I love data, so this piece will contain quite a few numbers and charts looking at how we should make the transition to a predominantly renewable energy economy here in the U.S. There are many reasons to make this transition, but I’ll take as a given that we should make this transition, focusing instead on how we can best do this.

For those who are allergic to numbers, let me sum up the conclusions here in the beginning. If we are to be successful in mitigating climate change and achieving a sustainable and independent energy system, we need to ride the waves already coming our way and do our best to start new waves where we have the power to do so.

The biggest wave by far, which is already underneath us and swelling, is solar power. We need to ride this wave as far as it will go -- and it will go far. The cost of solar power has plummeted in the last few years by more than 50 percent, and we are already seeing solar power costs at or below the cost of utility power in an increasing number of jurisdictions; this is generally known as “grid parity.” A recent report (see p. 7) found that Germany, Italy and Spain are now at grid parity for solar PV and many other countries are close. MORE

Peak Affordable Oil

From: Resilience 

by Matt Mushalik, originally published by Crude Oil Peak  | Feb 3, 2015 

 

 

 

It is quite obvious that high oil prices in the last 3-4 years.

Prices on oil production, volume, and sources.  No mention of the impact alternatives have had, and will have more steeply, on their market.