methane – California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Smithfield announces plans to cover hog lagoons, produce renewable energy

November 18, 2018

hog farms, methane, renewable energy, US, waste

“Smithfield Foods says it plans to cover most of its hog lagoons in North Carolina to generate renewable energy from methane gas and to protect the waste pits from heavy rains, which caused significant environmental concerns during Hurricane Florence last month.” Click here to read more from The Daily Yonder.

FDA approves elanco cattle drug, the first for reducing gas emissions

November 12, 2018

Sarina Soor

cattle, drugs, FDA, methane, US

No Comments

“The FDA has approved an Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) drug developed to reduce the ammonia gas released from cattle manure. The agency says its Tuesday decision on the product, lubabegron (Experior), marks the first time it has approved a drug that reduces gas emissions from either an animal or its waste.” Click here to read more…

California’s carbon-credit market often pays for greenhouse gas reductions that would’ve happened anyway

October 10, 2018

Sarina Soor

cap-and-trade, energy, methane

No Comments

“On a dairy farm in California’s Central Valley, Wesley Patterson squinted under a dusty baseball cap as he explained, over the roar of its natural gas-burning engine, the advantages of installing a methane digester. He pointed to several football-field-sized ponds of cow manure covered in industrial-strength tarps. The methane coming off the animal waste is…

IPCC: Radical energy transformation needed to avoid 1.5 Degrees global warming

October 10, 2018

Sarina Soor

fossil fuels, global warming, methane

No Comments

“Without a radical transformation of energy, transportation and agriculture systems, the world will hurtle past the 1.5 degree Celsius target of the Paris climate agreement by the middle of the century, according to a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Failing to cap global warming near that threshold dramatically increases risks to…

California, New Mexico sue Whitehouse over methane rules rollback

September 19, 2018

Sarina Soor

methane, natural gas

No Comments

“California and New Mexico teamed up to file suit against the Trump administration Tuesday after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced that it was eliminating Obama-era rules intended to reduce energy companies’ methane emissions on Indian tribal and federally controlled lands.” Click here to read more from NBC.

Whitehouse wants to make it easier to release methane into air

September 14, 2018

Sarina Soor

methane, public health

No Comments

“The Trump administration, taking its third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change, is preparing to make it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane into the atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency, perhaps as soon as this week, plans to make public a proposal to weaken an Obama-era…

How eating seaweed can help cows to belch less methane

July 5, 2018

Sarina Soor

climate change, methane

No Comments

“Emissions from the nearly 1.5 billion cattle on earth are a major source of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Now, researchers in California and elsewhere are experimenting with seaweed as a dietary additive for cows that can dramatically cut their methane production.” Click here to read more from yale360.

The natural gas industry has a leak problem

June 29, 2018

Sarina Soor

methane, methane leaks

No Comments

“New estimates puts the rate of methane emissions from domestic oil and gas operations at 2.3 percent of total production per year, which is 60 percent higher than the current estimate from the Environmental Protection Agency. That might seem like a small fraction of the total, but it represents an estimated 13 million metric tons…

An eye in the sky could detect planet-warming plumes on the ground

April 20, 2018

Sarina Soor

climate change, methane

No Comments

“An environmental group says it will spend millions to launch a satellite that could help fight climate change by identifying methane leaks with pinpoint accuracy. Methane remains one of the thorniest climate problems. It is the major component of natural gas, which produces half the carbon dioxide of coal when burned to run electric plants.…