• Programs & Events
    • Event Calendar
    • The Energy Summit
    • COGA Programs
  • Community
    • Community Impact Report
    • Colorado Energy Foundation
  • News & Information
    • News & Media
    • Climate & Emissions >
      • Climate & Energy Transition
    • Fact Sheets >
      • CO Oil & Gas Resource Guide
      • Useful Links
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action >
      • COGA PAC
  • About COGA
    • COGA Board
    • COGA Staff
    • Jobs
    • Membership >
      • COGA Committees
      • Join COGA
      • Login
      • Membership Directory
Colorado Oil and Gas Association
  • Programs & Events
    • Event Calendar
    • The Energy Summit
    • COGA Programs
  • Community
    • Community Impact Report
    • Colorado Energy Foundation
  • News & Information
    • News & Media
    • Climate & Emissions >
      • Climate & Energy Transition
    • Fact Sheets >
      • CO Oil & Gas Resource Guide
      • Useful Links
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action >
      • COGA PAC
  • About COGA
    • COGA Board
    • COGA Staff
    • Jobs
    • Membership >
      • COGA Committees
      • Join COGA
      • Login
      • Membership Directory

Climate and Energy Transition


Natural Gas, The Key To A Lower Carbon Future
Picture
Study: The Role of Gas in Today’s Energy Transitions
This World Energy Outlook special report examines the role of fuel switching, primarily from coal to natural gas, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and air pollutants. Four case studies, covering the United States, the European Union, the People’s Republic of China (“China”), and India, reveal the various opportunities, hurdles and limits of fuel switching as a way to address environmental challenges.

It is clear that switching between unabated consumption of fossil fuels, on its own, does not provide a long-term answer to climate change, but there can nonetheless be significant CO2 and air quality benefits, in specific countries, sectors and timeframes, from using less emissions-intensive fuels. Deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies, for both coal and gas, is another crucial variable for the future. 
IEA Study
Study: The Effects of Fuel Prices, Environmental Regulations, and Other Factors on U.S. Coal Production
From 2008 to 2016, U.S. coal production fell 37%, from 1,172 million short tons to 739 million short tons (EIA, 2017). During this period, carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants fell by 718 million metric tons.
Cornell Study
Gas Turbines Have Become by Far the Best Choice for Add-on Generating Power​
Their near-instant availability makes gas turbines the ideal suppliers of peak power and the best backups for new intermittent wind and solar generation. In the United States they are now by far the most affordable choice for new generating capacities. ​
IEE Spectrum Article

100% Renewable Energy Is Not Feasible
Articles
Picture
German Failure on the Road to a Renewable Future
In 2011, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the country was turning away from nuclear energy in favor of a renewable future. Since then, however, progress has been limited. Berlin has wasted billions of euros and resistance is mounting.

The sweeping idea has become bogged down in the details of German reality. The so-called Energiewende, the shift away from nuclear in favor of renewables, the greatest political project undertaken since Germany's reunification, is facing failure.
Der Spiegel Article (english)

WSJ Article
Picture
If You Want ‘Renewable Energy,’ Get Ready to Dig​
Powering society entirely with wind and solar farms combined with massive batteries would require the biggest expansion in mining the world has seen and would produce huge quantities of waste. “Renewable energy” is a misnomer. Wind and solar machines and batteries are built from nonrenewable materials. And they wear out. Old equipment must be decommissioned, generating millions of tons of waste. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Cobalt: the dark side of a clean future​
Evaluation of a proposal for reliable low-cost grid power with 100% wind, water, and solar
​The material that built the modern world is also destroying it. Here’s a fix
​An estimated 35,000 children work in perilous conditions to extract cobalt from the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So what will the impact be on these exploited workers from rapid advances in electric cars, which are heavily reliant on this conflict mineral?
Previous analyses have found that the most feasible route to a low-carbon energy future is one that adopts a diverse portfolio of technologies.​ A policy prescription that overpromises on the benefits of relying on a narrower portfolio of technologies options could be counterproductive, seriously impeding the move to a cost effective decarbonized energy system.
Remarkably, the material that built the first modern civilization remains key to building today’s global economy. The cement we use in 2017 is not so different from the stuff used to build the concrete dome of the Roman Pantheon in 125 AD.
Raconteur Article
PNAS Study
QZ Column

Picture
Picture
Picture
Carroll: Meeting Colorado’s aggressive clean air goals will take a lot of ambition, innovation and a few breakthrough
We harness the power of innovation to build a secure, affordable, low-carbon energy future.
The Reason Renewables Can't Power Modern Civilization Is Because They Were Never Meant To
As Colorado officials begin their quest to decarbonize the economy at a record pace, in line with a number of new laws passed by the legislature, they could do worse than pause to consider the lessons from Germany’s recent past.
California has adopted aggressive goals to reach a low-carbon future at a scale and pace needed to meet the underlying Paris commitment of keeping temperature increases to two degrees Celsius, or even significantly lower, by the end of the century. 
Over the last decade, journalists have held up Germany’s renewables energy transition, the Energiewende, as an environmental model for the world. 

The Denver Post Column
EFI Stufy
Forbes Column

Videos & Podcasts
Picture
John Harpole: Texas Blackout 2021
In the blizzard of finger pointing that is happening in the wake of the Texas Blackouts, the natural gas sector has been getting lots of blame. In this episode, Robert talks to John Harpole, the president of Denver-based gas broker Mercator Energy  about the history of gas deregulation, ERCOT’s failure to heed the lessons from the 2011 blackouts, how power cuts by ERCOT reduced the flow of gas during last month’s blizzard, and why gas should be seen as a strategic fuel for the United States.  
Picture

Picture
Bernie Sanders' magical thinking on climate​
CNN's Fareed Zakaria gives his take on why Bernie Sanders has an unrealistic approach to achieving deep cuts in carbon.

Picture
Why renewables can’t save the planet
​Environmentalists have long promoted renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind farms to save the climate. But what about when those technologies destroy the environment? 

Wind Turbines Pose Recycling Challenge
Picture
Securing wind turbine blades. CREDIT: NPR, Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media
Picture
Wind turbine blade burial at the Casper Regional Landfill in Wyoming. CREDIT: Benjamin Rasmussen for Bloomberg Green
Picture
Decommissioned wind turbine hubs to be scrapped. CREDIT: Christina Stella/Harvest Public Media
Picture
Windmill fan blades wait for disposal at the Casper Regional Landfill CREDIT: Casper Regional Landfill staff
Picture
Wind Turbine Blades Can’t Be Recycled, So They’re Piling Up in Landfills
​
​A wind turbine’s blades can be longer than a Boeing 747 wing, so at the end of their lifespan they can’t just be hauled away. First, you need to saw through the lissome fiberglass using a diamond-encrusted industrial saw to create three pieces small enough to be strapped to a tractor-trailer.
Bloomberg Article

Picture
Wind turbine blades being disposed of in Casper landfill​
The Casper landfill will soon be the home of more than 1,000 decommissioned wind turbine blades and motor housing units. ​

The Casper Landfill is one of the few landfills with the proper permits and certifications to accept the decommissioned turbine materials. The turbine disposal project is slated to continue until the spring of 2020.
Cowboy State Daily Article

Picture
Unfurling The Waste Problem Caused By Wind Energy​
While most of a turbine can be recycled or find a second life on another wind farm, researchers estimate the U.S. will have more than 720,000 tons of blade material to dispose of over the next 20 years, a figure that doesn't include newer, taller higher-capacity versions.
NPR Article

Picture
Wind Turbine Landfill or Mass Grave?
Pictures surfaced of a landfill in Wyoming being filled with something you may not have imagined: wind turbine blades. It turns out that the fiberglass wind turbine blades are not recyclable, and the waste disposal site located near Casper, Wyoming will soon be the final resting place of more than 1,000 decommissioned wind turbine blades and motor housing units.
Center of the American Experiment Article

Picture
It Costs $532,000 to Decommission A Single Wind Turbine​
​According to utility documents filed by Xcel Energy for it’s Nobles Wind facility in Minesotta, it will cost approximately $532,000 per turbine for each of the 134 turbines in operation.
Center of the American Experiment Article


Resources

https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-national-summary
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=26352

From the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC)
Simple Steps. Better Air. 
Moderate Area Ozone SIP 
Oil and Gas – Technical Support Document (TSD) 
Monitoring Data from Fort Collins West and NREL

​From the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE) 
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/ozone-information 
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/ract 
From the American Lung Association
http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/sota/city-rankings/states/colorado/
​
Picture
Colorado Oil & Gas Association.  All Rights Reserved.
1800 Glenarm Place, Suite 1100  |  Denver, CO 80202
Phone: (303) 861-0362 | info@coga.org | sitemap
COGA Logo
  • Programs & Events
    • Event Calendar
    • The Energy Summit
    • COGA Programs
  • Community
    • Community Impact Report
    • Colorado Energy Foundation
  • News & Information
    • News & Media
    • Climate & Emissions >
      • Climate & Energy Transition
    • Fact Sheets >
      • CO Oil & Gas Resource Guide
      • Useful Links
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action >
      • COGA PAC
  • About COGA
    • COGA Board
    • COGA Staff
    • Jobs
    • Membership >
      • COGA Committees
      • Join COGA
      • Login
      • Membership Directory