The December 28 PA Environment Digest is now available. Here are just a few of the headlines--
Electric Power Research Institute modeling has concluded the least cost option for Pennsylvania to meet the EPA Clean Power Climate Rule by 2030 is to use more low-cost ($6 or less) natural gas for electric power generation and the mass balance approach to regulating greenhouse gas reductions.
But, to meet broader climate goals of reducing climate-changing emissions by 80 percent by 2050, a mix of energy efficiency, renewables and new no-carbon nuclear power plants and extending the life of existing nuclear plants and other steps will be required.
The massive leak that has gone on now for more than two months from a natural gas storage facility near Los Angeles has put natural gas storage facilities in the news.
Pennsylvania’s own Connection for Oil, Gas & Environment in the Northern Tier (C.O.G.E.N.T.) has also posted information about the leaks in L.A.
Pennsylvania has 774,309 million cubic feet of underground natural gas storage facility capacity, more than California at 599,711 (Mcf) and the fourth largest capacity in the United States following Michigan, Illinois and Texas, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
There are approximately 60 underground gas storage fields in 26 counties in the state, mostly in Western and Northcentral Pennsylvania, according to a DEP fact sheet. A map of the facilities in Pennsylvania is available from the U.S. EIA.
The Public Utility Commission Tuesday released the results of its annual Cold Weather Survey, which showed that more than 24,175 Pennsylvania households are entering the winter season without heat-related utility service or using unsafe heating sources. In 2014, the same survey found 23,213 homes without heat-related utilities, in 2013 19,653 and in 2012 15,983.
Farmers considering the transition to organic production can apply for funding to help ensure a smooth process through the Organic Transition Assistance Program, the newest offering in the Department of Agriculture’s expanding suite of economic development assistance for farms and agribusinesses.
For more information on the Organic Transition Assistance Program or any of the department’s other economic development programs and opportunities visit Agriculture’s PAgrows website.
Pennsylvania’s young artists, in grades 6 through 12, are being encouraged by the Game Commission to participate in the 2016 Youth Wildlife Art Contest. Entries are due January 29.
To read the Digest, visit: www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com. Click Here to print the entire Digest.
PA Environment Digest is edited by David E. Hess, former Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and is published as a service of Crisci Associates.
PA Environment Digest was the winner of the PA Association of Environmental Educators' 2009 Business Partner of the Year Award.
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Questions?: Send email to David Hess at: DHess@CrisciAssociates.com
