The Colorado Oil and Gas Association shares the concerns of both governments and citizens about climate change and climate change risks. Oil and natural gas are the primary source of energy for the global economy, supplying roughly 80 percent of total global energy demand. The U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects a significant drop in coal being offset by rising usage of natural gas, wind, and solar energy. The environmental benefits are, and will continue to be profound, as natural gas as an energy source has a low carbon dioxide emissions profile.
View/Download COGA's Climate Change Whitepaper: Current Status, Challenges, and the Way Forward
Facts on Climate, Emissions, and Ozone
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Voluntary Ozone Reduction Efforts
The 2019 voluntary industry program runs from June 1 to September 30
A variety of voluntary emissions reduction measures during forecasted high-ozone days can be deployed based on individual company assets, facilities, and production schedules. Possible ozone mitigation activities include but are not limited to the following:
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The Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) develops and proposes effective and cost-efficient air quality planning initiatives with input from local government agencies, the private sector, stakeholder groups, and citizens of the Denver metropolitan area and the Denver Metro/North Front Range Ozone Non-Attainment Area. The RAQC assists with regional public/private initiatives to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, mobile sources, and other sources.
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Colorado Emissions Reduction Calculator |
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Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Colorado: Can You Comply?
The Common Sense Policy Roundtable (CSPR) has created a simple calculator to give users the opportunity to test alternative ways to comply with Colorado’s new greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions targets.
During the 2019 legislative session, several climate and energy-related bills passed that attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the state. The sectors impacted range from electricity production to transportation to the construction of new buildings. Under HB19-1261, the state’s air quality regulatory authority has a new mandate to reduce total state greenhouse gas emissions as a percent of 2005 levels by 2025, 2030 and 2050.
The most recent projection of greenhouse gases from 2014 estimated that total emissions in 2030 would be 15% higher than 2005 levels. If this holds up, then emissions must actually be reduced by a net of 65% in 2030 to achieve the desired target of 50% of 2005 levels.
Click below to access the CSPR Emissions Reduction Calculator to input your own reductions in different emission sectors, to test how far reductions will need to go, in order to comply with the mandate.
The Common Sense Policy Roundtable (CSPR) has created a simple calculator to give users the opportunity to test alternative ways to comply with Colorado’s new greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions targets.
During the 2019 legislative session, several climate and energy-related bills passed that attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the state. The sectors impacted range from electricity production to transportation to the construction of new buildings. Under HB19-1261, the state’s air quality regulatory authority has a new mandate to reduce total state greenhouse gas emissions as a percent of 2005 levels by 2025, 2030 and 2050.
- 26% reduction by 2025
- 50% reduction by 2030
- 90% reduction by 2050
The most recent projection of greenhouse gases from 2014 estimated that total emissions in 2030 would be 15% higher than 2005 levels. If this holds up, then emissions must actually be reduced by a net of 65% in 2030 to achieve the desired target of 50% of 2005 levels.
Click below to access the CSPR Emissions Reduction Calculator to input your own reductions in different emission sectors, to test how far reductions will need to go, in order to comply with the mandate.
Studies & Research
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Significant over estimations of methane emissions from oil and natural gas production in the United States were made by relying on faulty measurements, according to research sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Studies show conflicting estimates of trends in methane (CH4) emissions from oil and natural gas operations in the United States resulting in previous studies showing increases of methane emission volume may have been overestimated by as much as 10 times.
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Natural gas production in the United States has increased 46 percent since 2006, but there has been no significant increase of total U.S. methane emissions and only a modest increase from oil and gas activity, according to a new CIRES-led study.
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BOULDER, Colo. — Scientists made "major overestimations" of methane emissions from oil and gas production in the United States by relying on faulty measurements, according to new research sponsored by NOAA.
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The probe, led by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Colorado Boulder, also found some previous studies showing significant hikes in methane emissions overestimated the amount of pollution coming from oil and gas activity, by as much as 10-fold in some cases.
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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. |
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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.
Not only has Germany fallen short of targets for reducing greenhouse gases, but “German CO2 emissions have only slightly decreased this decade.” Green energy projects face lawsuits and local opposition, while progress on decarbonizing other sectors of the economy hardly registers at all. And the price of electricity? The highest in Europe. |
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.
To develop decarbonization pathways and technology options for California, this study focuses on two targets, identifying separate but overlapping tracks: aggressive decarbonization by 2030 and deep decarbonization by midcentury, both from a 2016 baseline. Each target presents its own unique challenges and opportunities. To support these different tracks, the analysis emphasizes the value of technology optionality and flexibility. |
Over the last decade, journalists have held up Germany’s renewables energy transition, the Energiewende, as an environmental model for the world.
With Germany as inspiration, the United Nations and World Bank poured billions into renewables like wind, solar, and hydro in developing nations like Kenya. But then, last year, Germany was forced to acknowledge that it had to delay its phase-out of coal, and would not meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction commitments. It announced plans to bulldoze an ancient church and forest in order to get at the coal underneath it. |
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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. |
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, although some of those reductions were offset by increased CO2 emissions from natural gas for power generation. The decline in coal CO2 emissions drove a 23% reduction in total power sector CO2 emissions 2008 to 2016. The decline in the burning of coal to generate electricity also provided significant health benefits arising from reductions in emissions of fine particulates and other pollutants. At the same time, this decline in coal consumption has had a substantial impact on the economic prospects of coal mining communities, with employment in coal mining falling from 87,000 in 2008 to 52,000 in 2016.
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/
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/
