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Cooperating microbes convert methane to alternative fuel source

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | Posted on May 23, 2017

Oil and gas wells and even cattle release methane gas into the atmosphere, and researchers are working on ways to not only capture this gas but also convert it into something useful and less-polluting. Now scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a new system to convert methane into a deep green, energy-rich, gelatin-like substance that can be used as the basis for biofuels and other bioproducts, specialty chemicals — and even feed for cows that create the gas in the first place."We take a waste product that is normally an expense and upgrade it to microbial biomass which can be used to make fuel, fertilizer, animal feed, chemicals and other products," said Hans Bernstein, corresponding author of a recent paper in Bioresource Technology. The PNNL process produces a much cleaner product, either liquid or solid, with simply the flick of a light switch or exposure to sunlight. When there's methane to convert, the cyanobacteria absorb light and use carbon dioxide as fuel to produce oxygen, fueling the methane-munching bacteria. When there is not much methane, researchers dim the lights, reducing the oxygen, which slows the action of the methanotrophs. In recent tests the PNNL team ran the system continuously for about two months.


Major fossil fuel firms are using renewable energy to cut costs

Independent | Posted on May 18, 2017

Major mining companies, including some of the world's biggest suppliers of fossil fuel, are seeking to use more renewable energy themselves as they strive to drive down costs and curb emissions. Glencore, the world's biggest shipper of seaborne coal, said in its 2017 sustainability report that it gets 19 per cent of its energy from renewable sources, up a percentage point from last year's report.At the same time, the company reiterated its view that the wider world would carry on burning coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, and it does not see a risk of its own coal operations becoming stranded assets. "While it is clear that the relative share of renewable energy will grow, the absolute volume of fossil fuels will also grow due to overall growth of energy demand," the report said.


Iowa senator slams energy chief for grid study undermining wind energy

Business Insider | Posted on May 18, 2017

Iowa's Republican senator on Wednesday raised concerns that U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has commissioned a "hastily developed" study of the reliability of the electric grid that appears "geared to undermine" the wind energy industry.In a letter sent to Perry, Senator Chuck Grassley asked a series of questions about the 60-day study he commissioned. Grassley also said the results were pre-determined and would show that intermittent energy sources like wind make the grid unstable.Last month, Perry ordered the grid study and said Obama-era policies offering incentives for the deployment of renewable energy had come at the expense of energy sources like coal and nuclear. "I'm concerned that a hastily developed study, which appears to pre-determine that variable, renewable resources such as wind have undermined grid reliability, will not be viewed as credible, relevant or worthy of valuable taxpayer resources," wrote Grassley, whose state is home to a booming wind energy industry.He pointed to a previous study conducted a few years ago by the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which took two years to complete, not two months.


‘Big Ethanol’ Ad Criticized by Recreational Boating Group

Sporting Fish Magazine | Posted on May 18, 2017

Recreational boating organization BoatUS criticized one of America's top ethanol trade associations, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), for a new advertising campaign published on the Ethanol Producer Magazine's website. The campaign, tied to the start of boating season, supports the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a 2005 law which BoatUS said mandates the blending of biofuels such as corn-ethanol into our gasoline. Groups have long opposed this legislation and made attempts for change. BoatUS said the advertisement includes a lot of alternative facts and issued a press release explaining how the RFA is misrepresenting information.First, BoatUS highlighted the ad campaign's claim that “E10 is the fuel of choice for many boaters because of its high performance and lower emissions.” Boat US says this is misleading because E10 is "simply the most common fuel sold in America today," but that does not mean it is recreational boaters’ preferred choice of fuel.According to those surveyed by BoatUS, 91 percent prefer non-ethanol fuel for their boats," BoatUS says. "Unfortunately, non-ethanol gas is facing more uncertainty as the government mandate to increase the volume of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply may actually reduce the availability of ethanol-free gas."The second misleading fact BoatUS highlighted was the RFA's claim that E10 is the "preferred choice by professionals" with quotes quotes by the National Boat Racing Association and Crappie Masters offered as examples of such experts. BoatUS notes that both organizations are sponsored by the RFA.The third "spin" noted was the ad campaign's tip to "ensure a tight seal, if water is found, dry the tank before refueling." BoatUS called this suggestion "impractical and potentially very unsafe" because "removing and disposing of phase-separated fuel – a result of too much water in moisture-attracting ethanol fuels – can only be done safely by professionals and is expensive."


Virginia is proposing its own power plant rules

Huffington Post | Posted on May 18, 2017

Virginia became the first state since President Donald Trump abandoned rules to reduce power plant emissions to begin drafting rules to replace the federal mandate.At a press conference on Tuesday morning, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) ordered state air regulators to propose rules by the end of the year to scale back carbon dioxide emissions from the utility sector and increase renewable energy investments throughout the state. “This should be done on the federal level,” McAuliffe told HuffPost by phone ahead of the announcement. “But obviously with the pronouncements now coming out of the Trump administration, we cannot rely on them to do it, so we will be taking it into our own hands on the state level.”The move lays the groundwork for a cap-and-trade system, which would set a fixed limit on the state’s carbon dioxide emissions and allow companies to buy and sell the rights to pollute. Once in place, Virginia will be allowed to participate in the carbon permit trading programs such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

 


Energy Company Unhooks Gas Lines After Fatal Colorado Blast

US News and World Report | Posted on May 18, 2017

The company that owns a gas well linked to a fatal home explosion in Colorado said Tuesday it will permanently disconnect other pipelines in the area like the one blamed in the explosion.Anadarko Petroleum, which owns the well, did not say how many pipelines would be disconnected. But the company has said it operates more than 3,000 similar wells in northeastern Colorado.Fire investigators have said unrefined, odorless natural gas from a severed 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) pipeline seeped into a home in the town of Firestone, causing the April 17 explosion that killed two people. A third was badly burned.The pipeline was thought to be out of service, but investigators said it was still connected to a well near the home. They have not determined why it was connected.

 


Diane Sullivan is a hero, but not the type HSUS seeks

Watt Ag Net | Posted on May 12, 2017

Massachusetts woman not intimidated by animal rights activists, persists on her quest to keep food affordable to all. By now, we have probably all seen those Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) ads that show a sad little puppy or kitten, asking people to be a hero. Hero is a word that is overused. Yes, if a person donates to their local animal shelter or goes to the local animal shelter to adopt an animal, he or she could be a hero in that pet’s eyes. But that doesn’t appear to be HSUS’ intent with these ads. They want people to donate to their organization, and studies have shown that only a minute percentage of HSUS funds go to helping animal shelters.To me, a hero can be defined as someone who seeks to improve the lives of others and is undeterred in his or her efforts to do so in an honest and ethical way.People attending the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit recently in Kansas City got to hear a hero tell her story. That hero is Dianne Sullivan, and fortunately, her story hasn’t ended.


Dakota Access pipeline leaked 84 gallons of oil in April

Telegraph Herald | Posted on May 11, 2017

The Dakota Access pipeline leaked 84 gallons of oil in South Dakota early last month, which an American Indian tribe says bolsters its argument that the pipeline jeopardizes its water supply and deserves further environmental review. The April 4 spill was relatively small and was quickly cleaned up, and it didn’t threaten any waterways. The state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources posted a report in its website’s searchable database, but it didn’t take any other steps to announce it, despite an ongoing lawsuit by four Sioux tribes seeking to shut down the pipeline.Brian Walsh, an environmental scientist with the agency, said Wednesday that the state doesn’t issue news releases on spills unless there is a threat to public health, a fishery or a drinking water system. He said there was no such threat with the Dakota Access leak, which happened nearly 100 miles east of the Missouri River’s Lake Oahe reservoir, which is the tribes’ water supply.“We realize Dakota Access gets a lot of attention. We also try to treat all of our spills in a consistent manner,” Walsh said. “We treated this as we would treat any other 84-gallon oil spill.”


U.S. blocks major pipeline after 18 leaks and a 2 million gallon spill of drilling mud

The Washington Post | Posted on May 11, 2017

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has curtailed work on a natural-gas pipeline in Ohio after the owner, Energy Transfer Partners, reported 18 leaks and spilled more than 2 million gallons of drilling materials. The pipeline regulator blocked Energy Transfer Partners, which also built the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, from starting horizontal drilling in eight areas where drilling has not yet begun. In other areas, where the company has already begun horizontal drilling, the FERC said drilling could continue.The FERC also ordered the company to double the number of environmental inspectors and to preserve documents the commission wants to examine as it investigates the spills.The biggest spill, in a pristine wetland along the Tuscarawas River about 50 miles south of Akron, covered 6.5 acres, the commission said, “coating wetland soils and vegetation with bentonite clay and bore-hole cuttings.” A video provided by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency showed drilling mud a foot or two deep.


Senate Can’t Pass Methane Rollback So Interior Decides To Do It Anyway

The Huffington Post | Posted on May 11, 2017

Hours after Senate Republicans’ failed attempt to overturn an Obama-era rule regulating methane emissions, the Trump administration announced it will take matters into its own hands. Kate MacGregor, the acting assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Department of the Interior, said shortly after Wednesday’s vote that as part of President Donald Trump’s America-first energy plan, the agency has flagged the methane rule as one it will “suspend, revise or rescind given its significant regulatory burden that encumbers American energy production, economic growth and job creation.” The rule is one of several the Interior Department is reviewing as part of an executive order signed by Trump in March.In other words, the agency intends to do what Senate Republicans could not. It’s a move that would be seen by environmentalists as yet another attack on the climate and public health.


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