Two new House bills would address health impacts of drilling operations by reversing industry exemptions, putting them on the same environmental regulatory framework as other industries. On March 14, two bills – “Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydraulic Environmental Regulation (FRESHER) Act” and “Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effects (BREATHE)…
A Department of Interior (DOI) report on Shell’s 2012 Arctic operations reveals inadequate management oversight and details key recommendations for conduct and oversight of future exploration projects. On March 14, 2013, DOI released its 2012 assessment of Shell’s Arctic operations. The review identifies inadequacies that led to a series of problems related to containment system deployment, marine transport,…
Department of Energy (DOE) study examines opportunities to attain significant reductions in emissions and petroleum use, revealing that the U.S. transportation sector has the potential to achieve 80% reductions by 2050. On March 14, the Department of Energy (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) released a study examining opportunities to…
Results from the Department of Energy’s methane hydrate test demonstrate potential for recovering natural gas by exchanging methane molecules with carbon dioxide. On March 11, 2013, the Department of Energy (DOE) made findings from its 2012 methane hydrate test available to the public on the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) website. The test, conducted in Alaska’s North Slope, was…
The NY State Assembly voted to enact legislation that would extend the moratorium on high volume hydraulic fracturing until 2015, aiming to facilitate additional health and environmental impact assessments. On March 6, 2013, the New York State Assembly passed a bill to further suspend issuance of permits for high volume hydraulic fracturing until May 15,…
In his Saturday Keynote speech at the 2013 MIT Energy Conference, Bill Richardson, former Governor of New Mexico, stressed the importance of connecting science and politics to fill the climate change knowledge gap, and proposed a macro-regional American collaboration to promote energy innovation and renewable energy diffusion. In the presence of recently appointed energy secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz, MIT…
On Friday, March 1st, 2013, NRG Energy President & CEO David Crane took the stage at the MIT Energy Conference to offer the Friday Keynote Address to a packed theater. MIT Energy Initiative Executive Director Melanie Kenderdine moderated the Friday Keynote in a one-on-one Davos-style conversational interview. In it, she asked Crane to offer his…
At the 2013 MIT Energy Conference opening plenary panel, a group of energy industry experts explored opportunities of innovation in the present political and economic scenario. From the two oil price shocks in the 70s to increasingly frequent superstorms, the energy industry has shown a great capacity of innovation during periods of crises. In times of…
On March 2nd, at the 2013 MIT Energy Conference, experts gathered from academia, government, and the business community for a lively discussion about CHP. Below, we highlight key takeaways from both technology and regulatory perspectives. Combined heat and power (CHP) systems are 30% more efficient than conventional separate heat and power (SHP), thus representing major efficiency opportunities to commercial…
The U.S. State Department’s draft environmental assessment report finds that the development rate of Canadian oil sands and the extent of crude oil refining in the Gulf Coast region would not be affected by rejection of the Keystone XL project, while contribution to a substantive change in global greenhouse gas emissions from project implementation is unlikely….
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a new study challenging EPA’s optimistic projections regarding air regulations and job creation. The data revealed EPA’s flawed analysis methods and emphasized the need for regulatory reform, showing evidence of potential negative economic impacts from regulations. On February 27, 2013, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a study evaluating the employment impacts of EPA’s regulations….
The Energy Production and Project Delivery Act of 2013 aims at opening more federal acreage for energy development and expediting permitting processes for energy projects to create millions of jobs and add trillions of dollars to the economy. On February 27, 2013, Senator David Vitter (R-La.) and Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) introduced the Energy Production…
