Energy News for week ending June 14, 2019

Bury it | Major Risks | Sandwich Solar

Happy Flag Day! Here is this week’s energy news.

From the Washington Post, “The new plan to remove a trillion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: Bury it. It sounds like an idea plucked from science fiction, but the reality is that trees and plants already do it. Last month, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere surpassed 415 parts per million, the highest in human history. Environmental experts say the world is increasingly on a path toward a climate crisis. The most prominent efforts to prevent that crisis involve reducing carbon emissions. But another idea is also starting to gain traction — sucking all that carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it underground. It sounds like an idea plucked from science fiction, but the reality is that trees and plants already do it, breathing carbon dioxide and then depositing it via roots and decay into the soil. That’s why consumers and companies often “offset” their carbon emissions by planting carbon-sucking trees elsewhere in the world. But an upstart company, Boston-based Indigo AG, now wants to transform farming practices so that agriculture becomes quite the opposite of what it is today — a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.”

If we don’t do something about carbon emissions, the New York Times reports, “Climate Change Poses Major Risks to Financial Markets, Regulator Warns. A top financial regulator is opening a public effort to highlight the risk that climate change poses to the nation’s financial markets, setting up a clash with a president who has mocked global warming and whose administration has sought to suppress climate science. Rostin Behnam, who sits on the federal government’s five-member Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a powerful agency overseeing major financial markets including grain futures, oil trading and complex derivatives, said in an interview on Monday that the financial risks from climate change were comparable to those posed by the mortgage meltdown that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.”

To help get us out of this mess, one company is proposing a solar farm for the Cape. From the Cape Cod Times, “Large-scale solar project proposed for Sandwich. A Denver-based renewable energy company is seeking a special permit to install a large-scale solar panel in a forested area in Sandwich. ASD Cotuit MA Solar is proposing a roughly 5.6 megawatt “ground-mounted solar energy system” for an 18.8-acre site off Cotuit Road. The project will generate clean and renewable energy for homes and businesses and help the state meet its Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards goals, proponents say.”

Those are the highlights for this week. There are a lot more stories below.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

Trump’s Plan for Finding Oil in Alaska May Put Polar Bears at Risk, Reuters

Kempic “confident” disasters won’t happen again, Andover Townsman

Killingly energy plant plans clear Siting Council hurdle, The Bulletin

DEM to Hold Public Hearing on Invenergy’s Draft Air Permit, GoLocalProv

Gas Pipelines Take a Huge Toll on Delaware River Basin, New Report Finds, Yahoo!

New and better way to assess the climate impact of new pipelines, Environmental Defense Fund

Weymouth

Rep. Lynch urges state to hit reset on compressor project, Patriot Ledger

Charlie Baker pressed to halt Weymouth compressor station, Boston Herald