| | |

EQT’s Path to Net Zero Plants Trees Rather Than Buys Carbon Credits

As we’ve stated many times, we’re not fans of so-called “net zero.” Net zero emissions refer to balancing the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere with an equivalent amount of GHG removed, resulting in no net increase in atmospheric GHG concentrations. Scope 1 and 2 emissions are part of the broader framework defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which divides emissions into three categories (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) based on their source. We told you in October that EQT Corporation had achieved net zero for Scopes 1 and 2 about a year earlier than expected (see EQT Hits “Net Zero” Scope 1 & 2 Emissions Targets Early). Today’s post is about how EQT achieves net zero, which differs from many of its peers. Read More “EQT’s Path to Net Zero Plants Trees Rather Than Buys Carbon Credits”

| |

Penn State Says Bullying Companies to Reduce Emissions Works

Some interesting research coming from Penn State (and Binghamton University). A paper recently published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists found that companies contributing the greatest pollution and emissions were more committed to reducing pollution because they faced greater public scrutiny and risked being labeled as “greenwashers” — entities that make false claims about their environmental impact. In other words, public shaming and bullying (our words) make companies change their behavior. But there was another finding that equally intrigued us… Read More “Penn State Says Bullying Companies to Reduce Emissions Works”

| | | | |

Seneca Resources, NFG Midstream Recertified as Responsible

Two different subsidiaries of National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), Seneca Resources (shale driller) and National Fuel Gas Midstream Company (gathering pipelines), were certified by two different certification authorities, MiQ and Equitable Origin, respectively. Yesterday, NFG announced both companies have been recertified by their respective authorities. Everyone is still responsible. 🙂 Read More “Seneca Resources, NFG Midstream Recertified as Responsible”

| | |

EQT Hits “Net Zero” Scope 1 & 2 Emissions Targets Early

Yesterday, EQT announced that the company had reached so-called “net zero” emissions for Scopes 1 and 2 more than a year earlier than planned. The milestone includes assets purchased and added to the company from Alta Resources and Tug Hill/XcL Midstream. However, it does not include the assets added from the Equitrans Midstream merger in July. The company has replaced over 9,000 pneumatic devices, electrified its fracking fleet, and implemented new technologies to monitor methane emissions. According to EQT, it has paid off. Read More “EQT Hits “Net Zero” Scope 1 & 2 Emissions Targets Early”

|

Law Firm Predicts “Natural Gas is Not Going Away”

Net zero is a goal to balance the amount of so-called greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere with the amount removed. Mythical net zero can be achieved by reducing emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere. One of the ways net zero dreamers think they can save Mom Earth is to eliminate natural gas-fired power plants and replace them with alternatives like unreliable solar and wind. According to an article by law firm Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC, “The primacy of natural gas is not likely to change soon.” Translation: Natgas isn’t going anywhere. Read More “Law Firm Predicts “Natural Gas is Not Going Away””

|

MiQ Certifies Europe’s Largest LNG Terminal, Helps US Exporters

MDN reported a few weeks ago that EQT Corporation, now the U.S.’s second-largest natural gas producer (following the merger of Chesapeake Energy and Southwest Energy to form the country’s largest producer), was about to ship a fully-MiQ-certified LNG cargo to Germany (see EQT Provides MiQ-Certified LNG Cargo to Europe in World First). MiQ is an independent methane emissions measurement and certification authority. MiQ’s certification is (so far) the only one that satisfies the EU’s new regulation requiring tracking methane emissions in the energy sector. Now comes word that MiQ is certifying Europe’s largest LNG import facility, which is located in the U.K. Read More “MiQ Certifies Europe’s Largest LNG Terminal, Helps US Exporters”

| | |

Net Zero Creates “Crippling” Energy Costs with No Enviro Benefit

Net-zero energy policies in the Pacific Northwest will produce staggering (“crippling”) costs to individuals and businesses without providing any meaningful environmental benefits, warns a monumental new research report from Discovery Institute’s Reasonable Energy program. “The effects on your monthly electric bill are going to absolutely devastating,” says economist and report author, Jonathan Lesser. “The average person is going to see their electric bill balloon 450% by 2050. Small business owners won’t escape, they’ll see their bills going from an average of $600 a month today to almost $4,000 in the next 25 years.” Read More “Net Zero Creates “Crippling” Energy Costs with No Enviro Benefit”

| | | | |

EQT Provides MiQ-Certified LNG Cargo to Europe in World First

In May, the socialists of the European Union (EU) adopted into law a new regulation aimed at tracking and reducing methane emissions within the energy sector (see MiQ Claims Its Cert the Only One to Meet New EU Methane Regs). The onerous new reg introduces new requirements for measuring, reporting, and verifying methane emissions. The reg mandates operators to measure emissions at the source and submit monitoring reports verified by independent bodies. If drillers, including those from the Marcellus/Utica, want to export LNG to any country that’s part of the EU (many M-U drillers export LNG to Europe), they must comply with these crazy new regs. According to MiQ, an independent methane emissions measurement and certification authority, its certification is the only one that satisfies the EU’s new regulation. EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. (exclusively working in the M-U), uses MiQ and is about to send an LNG cargo to Germany as a test of the MiQ certification system. It’s a worldwide first. Read More “EQT Provides MiQ-Certified LNG Cargo to Europe in World First”

|

MiQ Expands Methane Monitoring Options for Responsible Gas Cert

MiQ is one of two major gas certification authorities that certify low methane emissions and is used by nearly every Marcellus/Utica driller. Last October, MDN brought you information about the two major gas certification authorities, MiQ and Project Canary, and the effort by drillers to get their gas officially certified as responsibly sourced (see Former “Responsible Gas” Becoming “Certified” or “Differentiated”). MiQ is expanding the options that drillers and others can use to verify their methane emissions including verification by aircraft, continuous monitoring, and satellites — so-called advanced LDAR technologies. Read More “MiQ Expands Methane Monitoring Options for Responsible Gas Cert”

| |

Carbon Credit Scam Alert: One-Third of All Credits Fail Standard

In August 2023, MDN told you about a Cambridge University study published in the journal Science exposing the sale of carbon credits as a scam (see Cambridge Study Finds Carbon Offsets Using Trees is a Scam). With the carbon credit scam exposed, big companies like Shell, Nestle, and Gucci exited the market, refusing to spend money on pretend solutions to global warming (see With Carbon Credits Scam Exposed, Big Names (Like Shell) Exit Market). Now comes more bad news for the carbon credit market: The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) said eight renewable power methodologies, which cover around 236 million unretired or unused carbon credits making up 32% of the market, had failed to meet the requirements of its standard on additionality grounds. Read More “Carbon Credit Scam Alert: One-Third of All Credits Fail Standard”

| |

Georgia Natural Gas Claims Customers Blocked 500 Million Lbs of CO2

According to an announcement from Georgia Natural Gas (GNG), the utility company’s “Greener Life” program, which helps customers make their natural gas usage carbon neutral, has reached a new milestone of 500 million pounds of carbon emissions offset from the atmosphere. That amount is equivalent to taking over 50,000 cars off the road for a year. GNG buys natural gas from producers (in the Marcellus/Utica) that certify their gas as low-emissions using the MiQ protocol.
Read More “Georgia Natural Gas Claims Customers Blocked 500 Million Lbs of CO2”

| |

Antis Launch Satellite to Detect CO2 & Methane Emissions

Tanager-1

On Friday, the Tanager-1 methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) sniffing satellite launched from California. Tanager-1 can detect major emitters of CO2 and methane. It was created by a coalition involving Carbon Mapper, Planet Labs, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with funding from groups such as Mike Bloomberg and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. Yeah, your contributions to the Children’s Fund literally went up in smoke to help pay for a satellite (instead of for worthy causes like kids fighting cancer in hospitals). But here’s the thing: If it’s operated honestly, this satellite is going to find the biggest emitters of CO2 and methane are not oil and gas operations but landfills. Read More “Antis Launch Satellite to Detect CO2 & Methane Emissions”

| | |

Va. AG Warns State Retirement System to Avoid ESG Investments

Add Virginia to the list of states refusing to invest in companies and investment funds that push so-called ESG investing. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an official Attorney General’s Opinion on the permissibility of basing Virginia Retirement System (VRS) investment decisions on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. The Opinion confirms that the VRS Board of Trustees must prioritize financial returns and the best interests of beneficiaries above ESG policies when making investment decisions. Virginia joins a growing list of states, including West Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee that eschews investing in funds and companies that advocate anti-fossil fuel positions.
Read More “Va. AG Warns State Retirement System to Avoid ESG Investments”

| | | |

Thailand’s Banpu Lays Out Net Zero Path for U.S. Subsidiary BKV

Over the past seven-plus years, BKV Corporation (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), the American arm of Banpu (96% owned by Banpu, Thailand’s largest coal mining company), has become one of the top 20 gas-weighted natural gas producers in the U.S. BKV originally entered the American shale sector by investing $500 million in 2016-2017 to buy existing Marcellus wells and acreage in northeast Pennsylvania. Then the company went wandering into other shale plays, including the Barnett (see Banpu Expands Again – Buys Exxon’s Texas Barnett Assets). In addition to shale drilling, BKV purchased gas-fired power plants in Texas and is now working on a carbon capture project in the Lone Star State (see Bumpy Financial Road for BKV – Company Bets on Carbon Capture). In a media briefing yesterday, Banpu’s new CEO, Sinon Vongkusolkit, discussed his company’s efforts and investment in technology to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Read More “Thailand’s Banpu Lays Out Net Zero Path for U.S. Subsidiary BKV”

| | |

Range Resources Publishes 2023/24 Corporate Sustainability Report

Yesterday, Range Resources, the very first driller to sink a Marcellus shale well back in 2004, released its 2023-2024 Corporate Sustainability Report (CSR). Some companies call these CSR or sustainability reports, while others still use the now hugely unpopular ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) label. We’re glad to see Marcellus/Utica drillers moving away from using the ESG label. In this latest report, Range says it has made “significant strides” in meeting its emissions targets, including progress towards its goal of net-zero scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2025.
Read More “Range Resources Publishes 2023/24 Corporate Sustainability Report”

| | |

Privately Held Ascent Resources Releases ESG Sustainability Report

Yesterday, Ascent Resources, LLC, Ohio’s largest shale driller, released its 2023 Sustainability Report (formerly called its Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG, report). The new report chronicles the company’s environmental, health and safety, social, and governance efforts and accomplishments in 2023. We’ve recently highlighted some other ESG reports, namely EQT and CNX. So why bring you Ascent’s ESG report? It’s not for the reason you might think…
Read More “Privately Held Ascent Resources Releases ESG Sustainability Report”