Japan Asking for More US Natural Gas

Japan is feeling the effects of shuttering its nuclear power plants, and needs liquified natural gas  to run its power plants.  According to Bloomberg News, Prime Minister Abe is going to ask President Obama to approve more outlets for LNG in the US, to allow Japan some alternatives to LNG it is buying now.

The U.S. has only approved one export plant for shipments to countries without a free-trade agreement. Cheniere Energy Inc.’s plant at Sabine Pass is due to begin exports in 2015. The U.S. may ship about 50 million tons of LNG by the end of the decade, Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser said last month. That compares with 77 million tons a year from Qatar, currently the world’s top exporter.

Japan paid an average of 67,210 yen a metric ton for LNG in December, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Finance. That’s equivalent to $15.79 per million British thermal units. U.S. gas futures traded in New York hit a 10-year low in April of less than $2 per million Btus. The gas price rose 0.2 percent to $3.3 per million Btus today.

Some politicians, such as Rep Markey of Massachusetts, oppose sending gas overseas because they think it will drive up prices here in the US.  As prices are uneconomical for drilling at this time in many locations, a little higher price for gas would be welcome,  and would help keep America producing an abundant resource.  Here's hoping President Obama will recognize the godsend that the Japanese Prime Minister's request represents.  

West Virginia to Change Aluminum, Beryllium Criteria

 The DEP will be holding a public hearing to discuss the proposed emergency rule establishing new criteria for aluminum and beryllium. The rule is found here; to see the changes  scroll back to the chart in Appendix E.  The aluminum  criteria are being updated to reflect hardness-based approaches to criteria setting, and beryllium is being changed to reflect the Safe Drinking Water Act  maximum contaminant level goal  of 4 mg/l.  EPA has never had a recommended beryllium criterion, and the reason for the current West Virginia number is  unclear.  All agree, though, that it is unnecessarily stringent.  Some mining companies were running afoul of it, even though there was no environmental harm being done. 

Here's the DEP's press release:

     The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Division of Water and Waste Management has scheduled a public hearing and comment period on emergency rule changes to 47CSR2, “Requirements Governing Water Quality Standards.”  The DEP proposes an emergency rule to revise the dissolved aluminum criteria and human health Category A beryllium criterion in 47CSR2.

The hearing will be held at DEP’s Charleston headquarters, 601 57th Street S.E., Charleston, WV  25304, in the Coopers Rock Training Room on March 27,

2013 at 6:00 p.m.  In addition to oral comments provided at the hearing, the agency will accept written comments at any time up to the conclusion of the public hearing.  No comments will be accepted after that time.  Written comments may be submitted to the following address:

Kevin R Coyne

Water Quality Standards Program

WV Department of Environmental Protection

601 57th Street SE

Charleston, WV  25304

Comments may also be e-mailed to dep.comments@wv.gov  Comments will be made a part of the rulemaking record.  Copies of the emergency rule and other rule documents are available from the Secretary of State’s office or from the agency website www.dep.wv.gov/wqs.  Hardcopies of this information may also be obtained by calling Kevin Coyne at (304) 926-0499, ext. 1110. 

Ohio Proposes Higher Severance Fees for Oil and Gas Producers

Pam Kasey of the State Journal reports that Ohio's Gov. Kasich is proposing an increase in oil and gas severance fees, but at rates lower than West Virginia's :

In the proposal, the state would tax the production of natural gas from shale at 1 percent of market value and natural gas liquids, condensate and oil at 4 percent of value. The tax rate for liquids would be 1.5 percent in the first year to allow producers to recover the cost of establishing new wells. 

Low-volume gas wells — those producing less than 10 thousand cubic feet per day, or Mcf, on average — would be taxed at the lesser of 3 cents/Mcf or 1 percent of market value, and small, conventional natural gas producers would see their severance tax eliminated. 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Decrease Without EPA Controls

For those worried about Global Warming, EPA's greenhous gas emissions report shows reductions in GHG emissions from 2010 to 2011.  EPA's press release follows:

WASHINGTON – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the second year of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions data on its website, which provides public access to emissions data by sector, by greenhouse gas, and by geographic region such as county or state.

Greenhouse gases are the primary driver of climate change, which can lead to hotter, longer heat waves that threaten the health of the sick, poor or elderly; increases in ground-level ozone pollution linked to asthma and other respiratory illnesses; as well as other threats to the health and welfare of Americans.

“Transparency ensures a better informed public, which leads to a better protected environment,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “With this second data release, communities, businesses and others can track and compare facilities' greenhouse gas emissions and identify opportunities to cut pollution, minimize wasted energy, and save money.”

The 2011 data, collected through the congressionally mandated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reporting Program, includes information from facilities in 41 source categories that emit large quantities of greenhouse gasses. The 2011 data also contains new data collected from 12 additional source categories, including petroleum and natural gas systems and coal mines.

For facilities that are direct emitters of GHGs the data show that in 2011:

- Power plants remain the largest stationary source of GHG emissions, with 2,221 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (mmtCO2e), roughly one-third of total U.S. emissions. 2011 emissions from this source were approximately 4.6 percent below 2010 emissions, reflecting an ongoing increase in power generation from natural gas and renewable sources.

- Petroleum and natural gas systems were the second largest sector, with emissions of 225 mmtCO2e in 2011, the first year of reporting for this group.

- Refineries were the third-largest emitting source, with 182 mmtCO2e, a half of a percent increase over 2010.

EPA now has two years of greenhouse gas data for 29 source categories. Some industrial sectors, such as metals production and chemicals production, reported overall increases in emissions, while others, such as power plants, reported decreases. Overall emissions reported from these 29 sources were 3 percent lower in 2011 than in 2010. In the future the data collected through the program will provide the public with the opportunity to compare emissions and developing trends for all 41 industry types –by facility and sector.

This data is accessible through the Facility Level Information on Green House gases Tool (FLIGHT) – a web-based data publication tool. EPA has also expanded accessibility of this data through EPA’s online database EnviroFacts that allows a user to search for information by zip code.

The data collection program is required by Congress in the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which requires facilities to report data from large emission sources across a range of industry sectors, as well as suppliers of certain greenhouse gases, and products that would emit GHGs if released or combusted. EPA’s GHG Reporting Program includes information from more than 8,000 sources and represents 85-90 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions. This data only includes large facilities and does not include small sources, agriculture, or land use, which can also be significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Access EPA’s GHG Reporting Program Data and Data Publication Tool:

http://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/

Access EnviroFacts:

http://epa.gov/enviro/

Android App Could Improve Local Weather Forecasting

These new phones and their apps continue to amaze me.

Evidently some recent Android phones come with a pressure sensor that measures barometric pressure.  By downloading an app that reports those pressures to forecasters, local weather reporting can be improved. Read about it here.

Lawsuit Threatened Over West Virginia's Impaired Streams List

            The Sierra Club, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition have advised EPA that they intend to file a citizen suit under the Clean Water Act because of EPA’s failure to approve or deny West Virginia’s 303(d) list of impaired streams. West Virginia recently sent a revised 303(d) list to EPA on December 21, 2012.  EPA was required to approve or disapprove it within 30 days, but did not do so.  The environmental groups contend that EPA not only had an obligation to act on West Virginia’s 303(d) list, EPA had an obligation to disapprove it.

Streams are impaired if they violate water quality standards, including narrative standards that prohibit “materials in concentrations that are harmful, hazardous or toxic to man, animal or aquatic life” and “adverse impact to the chemical, physical, hydrologic, or biological components of aquatic ecosystems. . . .”  47 C.S.R. §§2-3.2(e) and 3.2(i).  In previous 303(d) lists West Virginia used the West Virginia Stream Condition Index (WVSCI) to determine which streams showed biologic impairment.  However, in 2012 the Legislature changed the W. Va. Code to require the Secretary of the DEP to propose rules for “measuring compliance with the biologic component of West Virginia’s narrative water quality standard. . .”  W. Va. Code §22-7(b).  Because those new rules/new standard have not been adopted, the DEP did not list new streams for biologic impairment, preferring to wait until the new standard was set.

            Environmental groups are contending that the DEP could not refuse to list streams that were impaired as it waits for the DEP to develop a process for setting a biological standard.  Furthermore, they felt that the DEP should have used a different assessment methodology (Genus-Level Index of Most Probable Stream Status (GLIMPSS) for the 2012 303(d) list. 

            For each waterbody on the 303(d) list, the DEP us to develop a plan for meeting water quality standards, called a total maximum daily load, or TMDL.  West Virginia has a well-developed TMDL and 303(d) listing program, one of the best in the nation.

      

Lynas Recants Views on Genetically Modified Food

Mark Lynas, one of the environmental activists who helped to organize  the opposition to genetically modified organisms, has recanted and now apologizes for his actions, according to a recent Slate article by Tori Bosch.  It appears that he now acknowledges that to insist on food purity, and to oppose development of   GMO crops and animals that could feed the world, would condemn hundreds of millions to lives of hardship and starvation.  Kudos for him to for having the courage to change his mind when he better understood the facts.

You can see his full presentation to the Oxford Farming Conference on January 3, 2013 here.