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Methane fast facts: Methane is responsible for 20% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution; In 2018, the food system contributed 33% of all human-caused GHG emissions; In 2015, livestock contributed to 10% of US methane emissions; Methane is about 30 times more potent than CO2 over the span of a century; Europe and the Arctic are the only two regions whose methane emissions decreased from 2000 to 2018; Atmospheric methane concentrations have more than doubled in the last 200 years.Credits: NASA/Jesse Kirsch
By Matthew Choi, Politico Morning Energy
THE METHANE FACTOR: Though carbon emissions get much of the spotlight when talking about global emissions, Democrats are looking for ways to combat the second most responsible greenhouse gas for climate change: methane. The gas traps heat 86 times more effectively over 20 years than carbon dioxide, and emissions have boomed in the past several years, with the shale revolution playing no small part. The UN’s latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report shows that methane concentration in the atmosphere is at its highest now in 800,000 years.
Combating methane emissions is becoming a major target for some Democrats in Congress and the administration. And fossil fuel majors would seem like a likely supporter for stopping emissions, with the methane lost to the atmosphere a potential commodity they could sell.
But efforts could be at a nexus of conflict with the agriculture sector and small drillers who find additional regulationspotentially onerous and harmful to their bottom lines. Agriculture accounts for about 40 percent of methane emissions, and any regulations that would impact everyday Americans’ access to beef is a political third rail.
“Our hard-working livestock producers should not have to worry about being subject to onerous regulations and increased production costs,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said this month on the Senate floor about Democrats’ proposal for a fee on methane emissions. “This ‘cow tax’ will just result in higher food costs for Americans at the grocery store at a time when inflation already has caused prices to skyrocket.”
Democrats are eyeing a methane polluter fee to include in their $3.5 trillion budget resolution, and several lawmakers introduced their own legislation this month for refiners and producers to pay into a fund based on a share of their global carbon and methane emissions. Meanwhile, in the administration, EPA is working on new rules for next month that build on methane regulations revived by the Congressional Review Act earlier this year, Pro’s Zack Colman reports. And White House climate czar Gina McCarthy’s office is working on a social cost of methane.
Henri, which strengthened into a hurricane on Saturday morning, was projected to make landfall on Long Island or in southern New England on Sunday afternoon.
The Northeast was bracing on Saturday for the arrival of Hurricane Henri, which had gained strength in the Atlantic Ocean with winds of up to 75 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Henri is expected to make landfall on Long Island or in southern New England on Sunday afternoon, the center said, adding that it is expected to be “at or near hurricane strength when it reaches the coasts” of those areas. The Category 1 storm is expected to bring several inches of rain across the Northeast and in some areas may produce a storm surge of up to five feet.
Steven Bellone, the Suffolk County executive, issued a voluntary evacuation for residents and tourists on Fire Island, on the southern shore of Long Island.
There are also storm watches and warnings across the Northeast, including a hurricane warning for much of Long Island, and from New Haven, Conn., to west of Westport, Mass. A tropical storm warning is in effect for coastal New York and New Jersey, west of East Rockaway Inlet to Manasquan Inlet, including New York City.
Before it makes landfall, Hurricane Henri is expected to bring heavy storms to the Lehigh Valley, which could cause flash flooding, the National Weather Service warned.
National Hurricane Center projections show Henri is expected to make landfall Sunday in southeast New York and New England. Though the hurricane isn’t expected to directly hit Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley is under a flood watch that will continue through Monday morning, due to tropical moisture associated with Henri’s bringing heavy storms to the area.
Throughout the weekend, 2-4 inches of rain are expected, but it could be higher in some areas. The highest risk for heavy storms and flooding is across northern New Jersey, but there is some risk throughout New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, according to NWS.
The Florida Power and Light (FPL) Company’s Manatee Energy Storage Center, the world’s largest solar-powered battery system, is capable of powering Walt Disney World for around seven hours.
By MichelleLewis electrek
It’s in Parrish in Manatee County, which is south of Tampa and north of Sarasota, on Florida’s west coast. In March 2019, Electrekreported that Florida Power and Light had announced plans for its huge Manatee Energy Storage Center, and now it’s on the home stretch to completion.
Crews have installed the center’s first battery modules. It’s now 75% finished, with 100 out of 132 containers installed, and all 132 of the project’s inverters set. Each container will hold around 400 battery modules.
The Manatee Energy Storage Center will have a 409-megawatt (MW) capacity with the ability to deliver 900 MWh of energy – enough to power 329,000 homes for more than two hours. That’s the equivalent of around 100 million iPhone batteries, and when operational, it’ll be four times the capacity of the current largest battery system in operation.
Charged by the existing Manatee Solar Energy Center, the battery will increase the predictability of solar – extending its benefits even when the sun’s not shining, such as at night or on a cloudy day. By deploying energy from the batteries when there is higher demand for electricity, FPL will offset the need to run other power plants – further reducing emissions and saving customers money through avoided fuel costs.
FPL’s solar boost
The Manatee Solar Energy Center is expected to be launched later this year and replaces FPL’s coal plants.
In June, FPL demolished its last coal-fired plant, the Indiantown Cogeneration Plant in Martin County, east of the Everglades. And right before the plant imploded, FPL CEO Eric Silagy announced that the utility will build a solar center near the site.
The public-health picture for New Jersey took a sharp turn in the wrong direction Friday, with an overnight jump of nearly 50% in newly confirmed COVID-19 infections.
From NJ Spotlight
The public-health picture for New Jersey took a sharp turn in the wrong direction Friday, with an overnight jump of nearly 50% in newly confirmed COVID-19 infections.
Newly confirmed cases rose above 2,400 — a level not seen since April when they were falling from the top levels of what was then viewed as a third wave of the coronavirus in the state.
Hospitalizations also rose, but by a much smaller degree, and have now been in the 900s for two straight days.
The rate of transmission again held steady, remaining at 1.27 for a third straight day; the number has fallen consistently for nearly three weeks, but anything above 1.0 signals a wider spread of the virus.
