Environment
The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) and nonprofit Carbon Mapper announced they are teaming up to launch a new collaboration aimed at accelerating practical and measurable reductions in methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
The tools to reduce flaring are well within reach, but the results will depend on a long-term commitment by operators and governments.
Geothermal development is gaining steam and entering a transformative era, driven by breakthroughs in adapting and improving on engineering, drilling, completion, and production technologies to the efficient extraction of heat from the Earth.
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At the State Council on 17 January, Ola Elvestuen was appointed as minister of climate and environment. Elvestuen is a member of parliament and represents Oslo. He was first elected to parliament in 2013 and has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since 2008. -
A US-government-sponsored program is putting new methane leak detection systems to the test with a goal of achieving functionality costs of $3,000/year/wellsite while hitting stringent performance criteria.
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Wärtsilä plans to develop a harbor tug design to maximize ecological operational sustainability to be used a new port facility being built in the Brazilian city of São Mateus, which will have environmental demands among the most stringent in the world.
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Belize, home of the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, has permanently suspended oil operations in its ocean waters.
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Weights used in the original construction of TransCanada’s Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota were identified as a preliminary cause of the failure that resulted in a 210,000-gal spill in November.
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Congress is close to lifting a 40-year-old ban on energy development in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but drilling for oil in that frozen wilderness may still be years away as the effort faces exhaustive environmental reviews and likely lawsuits.
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Public perceptions matter. The industry needs to take a proactive and solution-centric position with respect to the Paris Agreement and join the battle for the clean and affordable kilowatts of energy the markets will increasingly favor.
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On 23 May 2017,the Ukrainian parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine "On Environment Impact Assessment." The newly adopted law requires mandatory assessment of effect on the environment of certain industrial objects and activities.
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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said in his first testimony before Congress on 7 December that he plans to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, instead of just killing it outright.
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Between 2005 and 2015, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions decreased in 43 states (including the District of Columbia) and increased in 8 states. On a per capita basis, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions decreased in 49 states (including the District of Columbia) and increased in 2 states.
