OHIO – General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) announced today it will invest $760 million at its Toledo, Ohio propulsion manufacturing operations to prepare the facility for production of drive units that will be used in future Ultium-based battery electric trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC S
Oil and Gas Industry News
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has taken aim at President Biden over his ESG veto, accusing the president of prioritizing a radical policy agenda” over the economic desires of Americans.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed to a watered-down proposal punishing Big Oil companies for charging high prices after a more aggressive version was swatted down.
STORY: On paper, the planned revamp of this Rodeo, California, plant seems promising. Instead of processing crude oil into traditional gasoline and diesel, the facility will begin turning things such as used cooking oil, soybean oil, and beef fat into renewable diesel, which can fuel heavy-duty trucks.And Phillips 66 has bragged that the change will slash greenhouse gas emissions from the site in half. But skeptics say the plan, called Rodeo Renewed, might instead see little change in emissions and swap out one set of risks to the local air and environment for another package of possible problems.The Phillips 66 facility, across the bay from San Francisco, is a test case for similar efforts efforts worldwide, and it’s yet to be seen whether it’s a model, or a cautionary tale.Jolie Rhinehart is the general manager of the refinery.After we complete our Rodeo Renewed facility conversion and convert our facility into renewables, we will no longer process crude oil. And so all of our historical operations again have been based on processing and refining crude oil into transportation fuels. After our facility conversion, we will no longer process crude oil.The company says the changeover will cut the number of regulated pollutants emitted from the facility, and the switch to renewable diesel will mean more trucks burning cleaner fuel across the country.”Heavy-haul trucking is a vital aspect to our way of life in this country and in this world. And renewable diesel is the lowest emission way to fuel that energy that we need to keep our trucks moving.But the company’s claim that it will cut greenhouse gases in half doesn’t match emissions estimates published by county regulators, which shows a one percent reduction, according to a Reuters analysis of the data.The county data encompassed the overall facility, including pollution from increased hydrogen use and changes in transportation to the plant. And in changing to renewable diesel, the facility will need to bring in more fuel stocks by rail and boat, potentially raising the risk of leaks or spills. And some researchers say that the emissions produced in raising and harvesting the soy and beef needed to create renewable diesel offset those saved by moving away from petroleum.Mark Jacobson is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University.I expect to see no improvement whatsoever. You’ll just get a different set of chemicals coming out of the refineries compared with the traditional refineries of diesel and gasoline.The results will be closely watched. Several dozen new U.S. renewable diesel plants are planned and production capacity could triple by 2026 according to biofuels consultancy Stratas Advisors.The community here has long lived with the fallout from the refinery operations. Maureen Brennan is a resident and a member of Rodeo’s air monitoring committee.I’ve been a clinical lab scientist for 45 years and in the public health realm a lot. And I think that’s partly why I’m fascinated by what’s going on here and saddened as well. It’s a toxic soup that we live in every day. And no one’s… We’re basically a disposable community here.Whether a switch to renewable diesel will mean cleaner air or less emissions is left to be seen, but those who will feel it first are likely to be those living here.”So there’s a lot of unknowns here because they have not been open with us about what the feedstock will be. So unknown feedstock, unknown effects. So we’re in a place where we just don’t know what’s going to happen here.
In Winterport, Back Ridge Sugar House decided to bring maple syrup production into the future.
An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report says the world is likely to pass a dangerous temperature threshold within the next 10 years, pushing the planet past the point of catastrophic warming. Lin Boqiang, director of the China Institute for
Jane Fonda said on her Instagram post that her cancer is treatable and about 80% of people survive.
Czech power utility CEZ says its 2022 net profit reached 80.7 billion Czech crowns ($3.6 billion), eight times as much as the previous year, resulting in record dividends
Czech power utility CEZ says its 2022 net profit reached 80.7 billion Czech crowns ($3.6 billion), eight times as much as the previous year, resulting in record dividends
Humanity still has a chance, close to the last one, to prevent the worst of climate changes future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists said Monday. But doing so requires quickly slashing carbon pollution and fossil fuel use, 60% by 2035, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The United Nations chief said it more bluntly, calling for an end to new fossil fuel exploration and rich countries quitting coal, oil and gas use by 2040.
Czech power utility CEZ says its 2022 net profit reached 80.7 billion Czech crowns ($3.6 billion), eight times as much as the previous year, resulting in record dividends
Special Report: Tropical Storm Kay 14:01 Parts of Southern California were lashed by severe winds from a tropical storm Friday that brought high humidity, rain and possible flooding to the parched region but also the promise of cooler temperatures after a 10-day heat wave that nearly overwhelmed the state’s electrical grid. Firefighters had feared powerful […]