Tom Russo's blog

On July 16, 2020, the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) finalized an overhaul of the guidelines for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations (rule). Supporters of the new regulations applauded the changes, but the states and numerous national environmental groups vowed to challenge the new rule in the courts. The timing of the final rule just prior to the Presidential election in November will also create a great deal of uncertainty for projects currently undergoing NEPA reviews and possible delays by those planning projects. Read more

This article was co-authored by Ethan Martin, a student at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. The full article can be accessed below. Read more

We continue the analysis of hydrogen which began in Part 1. This time we cover the following topics:

• The status of efforts to blend hydrogen in the U.S. grid,
• What hydrogen blending means for decarbonizing natural gas,
• Regional opportunities to increase hydrogen in the U.S. and to serve Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV), and
• The Disconnect between hydrogen policy and green hydrogen production shortages
  

Existing technologies that produce blue hydrogen with carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) could be a bridge to widespread production of green H2, which is produced with renewable energy without carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. By incentivizing and encouraging higher production of blue H2, which primarily uses natural gas, and green H2, the transportation sector could be decarbonized to combat the adverse effects of climate change. Read more

Why aren't state regulators getting behind renewable natural gas as they have for wind, solar and other renewable energy projects? The answer may be a one-size fits all mindset where electrification is viewed as the only solution to a successful energy transition. I'm not so sure that this is the case. The conventional wisdom is that RNG is the domain of state regulators, but a closer look at the challenges that RNG projects face shows that the FERC could reduce the costs of RNG projects wishing to interconnect to interstate natural gas pipelines. Read more

The year 2019 was unusual due to major efforts to reform renewable energy and environmental impact asse Read more

The U.S. and the world are undergoing an accelerated energy transition with high stakes regarding energy security. Concerns about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions are dominating the debate about which energy technologies are politically most acceptable to meet energy needs. Renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric battery storage technologies appear to be the preferred technologies. However, we believe the notion that renewables and electric storage (batteries) are “clean” has been overstated. Read more

The use of electric storage is a critical component to the integration of intermittent clean energy technologies on the electric grid. That being said, however, just mentioning Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) to some stakeholders often unleashes a torrent of criticism of how its use adversely affects riverine and lake aquatic systems. Nevertheless, PSH deserves another look, especially the Closed-Loop variety which does not affect rivers and lakes. Read more