Penn State Spending $750K to Research Cow Burps
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research is spending $750,000 in precious grant money, giving it to Penn State University Distinguished Professor of Dairy Nutrition Alexander Hristov to see if he can figure out how to make cows burp less. When cows burp, they burp methane, like fire-breathing dragons do. That methane (called enteric methane) escapes, like a fugitive, into the atmosphere where supposedly it toasts Mom Earth into a cinder. No, we’re not joking. That’s what the left believes. Some nonprofit is spending three-quarters of a MILLION dollars to try and figure out how to make cows burp less. It would be funny if not so tragic.
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OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian CEO sees road to success for Driftwood LNG; NATIONAL: Shale merger mania heats up amid falling rig counts; INTERNATIONAL: UK charges former OPEC president with bribery; Talks start to avert strike at Australia’s biggest LNG terminal; Reaching 2050 net zero demands large & rapid oil consumption drop.
With the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) now in construction high gear to finish the final 6% of the project, the question becomes can and how will an extra 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of Marcellus/Utica gas make it to the end of the pipeline, and from there, onward to other destinations in the Southeast? The short answer is yes; there’s certainly enough demand for an extra 2 Bcf/d of gas. The longer answer is that it will take time to ramp up to the point a full 2 Bcf/d is being transported and sold. If MVP comes online by the end of this year, it’s doubtful a full 2 Bcf/d will flow. Not because of supply issues–there are plenty of customers, and the pipeline has contracts to fill it to capacity. And not because of technical issues–the pipeline is rated for a full 2 Bcf/d. More gas won’t flow initially because connecting pipelines on the other end currently can’t handle the extra 2 Bcf/d that will come at them. Right now, there’s not enough capacity on other pipelines, which means when MVP begins to flow, it may be flowing only one-third of its rated capacity of 2 Bcf/d.
One year ago, in July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to–places outside the borehole being drilled (see 
It’s really sad, and sick, and twisted to watch what’s happening after University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) researchers released three deeply flawed “studies” that don’t prove anything (see 
It will be lights-out in Times Square if New York insists on forcing peaker plants to close in 2025. That’s according to Rich Dewey, president and CEO of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the nonprofit that oversees the state’s electricity system. Dewey has warned the state for YEARS of coming blackouts if peaker plants in New York City are forced to close in 2025. NY Dems, who irrationally hate fossil energy, are forcing the closure of NYC’s peakers, believing unreliable renewables and a big, fat power line from Canada will be enough to keep the lights on. Good luck with that.
Last week, the heaviest of the heavy hitters representing U.S. pipelines, including the American Gas Association (AGA), filed comments opposing the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) new methane rules for all pipelines. The gas associations said extensive changes need to be made to PHMSA’s proposal for it to be technically and economically feasible. Will the tone-deaf Bidenistas at PHMSA listen? Probably not.
The left is always full of good intentions. They declare if we hit so-called “net-zero” carbon dioxide emissions (holding carbon emissions to levels from years ago, even though there are more mammals on earth breathing out CO2 with every breath), we’ll save Mom Earth from toasting herself to death. And they set a target date 30 years into the future (2050). It’s always “do this by that date or we all die” with the left. Those dates come and go and…we don’t die. But being wrong every single time doesn’t bother them. Let’s assume for a moment we do need to reach net-zero (however you define it) by 2050. What would that look like here in the U.S.? In a word, it’s a nightmare.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) experienced an explosion and fire at Compressor Station 860 near Centerville (Hickman County), TN, last Friday around 8:30 a.m. The location is about 60 miles southwest of Nashville. The explosion blew out the upper tier of the walls of the building. One employee experienced a medical emergency not directly related to the blast and was taken to an area hospital. That employee has since been discharged. The six on-site employees during the incident are okay and accounted for. A one-mile evacuation was ordered but lifted later in the day on Friday.
It’s getting even uglier out there. For the sixth week in a row and the 15th of the last 16 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. A lot of rigs. Last week the number decreased by a whopping 12 rigs after falling by five rigs per week for the three weeks prior. The total is now down to 642 active rigs across both oil and gas. Sadly, the Marcellus/Utica dropped three rigs last week (after losing two the week before) for a combined M-U rig count of 40–the lowest this year. Last week Pennsylvania picked up two rigs after losing two the week before, but the additions in PA came at the expense of Ohio (lost 2 rigs) and West Virginia (lost 3 rigs).
In August 2020, MDN brought you the news that Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) wanted to build a state-of-the-art 1,250-megawatt natural-gas-fueled, combined-cycle electric generation facility in Grundy County, Illinois (see 
This is so frustrating. Last week, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) issued fake research reports that supposedly link proximity to shale wells with a minuscule (less than one-tenth of one percent) rise in one type of childhood cancer (see 
Last week we told you about a new $2 billion hydrogen project coming to West Virginia (see