Tag: oil and gas
Are renewables making the US less energy independent?
Now that the U.S. has weaned itself off of its reliance on liquid fuel from across the ocean, it’s battling a dependency of another kind as the transition from fossil fuels to renewables continues.
Pennsylvania’s lack of regulation on solar may be problematic for farmland
The Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation program recommends prime farmland soil remain available for agricultural production and that solar development instead take place on rooftops, impervious surfaces or on less productive soils. The problem is there is no mechanism at the state level to control siting of utility-scale solar projects.
Ohio bills would do away with regulations for selling gas well...
Ohio Senate Bill 171 and House Bill 282 would do away with regulations around selling oil and gas wastewater to be used as deicer or to control dust on roads.
Appalachian shale gas production hits record high this year
The Energy Information Administration reported Sept. 1 that production in the Marcellus and Utica shales averaged 31.9 billion cubic feet per day during the first half of the year. That's the highest average for a six-month period since production began in 2008.
Pennsylvania catching up with Texas natural gas production
Pennsylvania was within 1,000 billion cubic feet of Texas’ natural gas production levels through the second quarter of 2021, according to the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office’s quarterly natural gas production report. This is the closest Pennsylvania has ever been to Texas production levels.
Drinking water not impacted by migrating injection well waste: report
Brine from the Redbird #4 injection well in Washington County, Ohio migrated out of its injection zone in 2019 and into several nearby oil and gas production wells. That brine did not affect the private drinking water wells tested, according to a study published by ODNR earlier this summer.
Sunoco fined again for Mariner East 2 pipeline violations
The Pennsylvania DEP fined Sunoco Pipeline’s Mariner East 2 pipeline $85,666 for violations in four counties. According to the DEP, Sunoco spilled more than 400 gallons of drilling fluids into wetlands in Blair, Cumberland and Juniata counties and a creek in Lebanon County.
Energy Transfer subsidiary fined for pipeline violations in western Pa.
A subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners was fined $140,000 by the Pennsylvania DEP for a landslide and other violations that happened during the construction of a pipeline in Beaver County. ETP is the same company that owns and operates the Revolution pipeline that exploded in September 2018 in Beaver County due to a landslide.
Fossil fuel use falls in 2020, while renewables hit all-time high
Fossil fuel consumption was at its lowest level in 30 years in 2020, while energy consumption from renewables hit a record high. While 2020 was not a normal year, the data point to a changing U.S. energy landscape.
OSU study looks into impact pipeline installation has on crop yields
Preliminary results of an Ohio State University study show that pipeline installation on farmland negatively impacts crop yields. Soils within the right-of-way also had more rock fragments, lower soil moisture and a higher resistance to penetration, which indicates some amount of soil compaction.
