Edison International says that California's climate goals will be met only with more clean energy. Edison International CEO says
Edison International's chief executive told reporters on Wednesday that to fully decarbonize California's electric grid, it will be necessary to use more clean energy sources, such as advanced geothermal, natural gas, and carbon-captured natural gas. California, the most populous state in the United States, has set itself a goal of producing zero net emissions through its electrical grid. Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind will play a major role in California's plans for power generation. "We don't just need clean power; we also need electricity that can be delivered every minute of the day," stated Pedro Pizarro.
Castle Wind signs MoU for 1GW California OWP
Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) and Floating wind power developer Castle Wind, a joint venture between Trident Winds and EnBW North America, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enter into a future, long-term power-purchase agreement for approximately 1 gigawatt of renewable energy.The MoU is said to outline the mutual interests and intent of the two parties to enter into the future long-term PPA for the 1GW floating offshore wind project being planned off the Central California coast.According to Castle Wind…
US' First Planned Floating Wind Farm Taking Shape
Plans for America’s first floating offshore wind farm are taking shape with the news that California’s Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) has selected a consortium to enter into a public-private partnership to develop the project off the Northern California coast. The consortium is comprised of Principle Power Inc., EDPR Offshore North America LLC, Aker Solutions Inc., H. T. Harvey & Associates, and Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc. and was one of six respondents to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) issued by the RCEA on February 1, 2018.
Trump Aims to Open Nearly All US Offshore to Oil Drilling
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed opening nearly all U.S. offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, a move aimed at boosting domestic energy production that sparked protests from coastal states, environmentalists and the tourism industry. The effort to open previously off-limits acreage in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans comes less than eight years after BP Plc's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - the largest in American history. The disaster caused billions of dollars in economic damage and led former President Barack Obama's to increase regulation of the industry.
US Marine Sanctuary Oil Drilling Report Sent to Trump, Not Public
U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross sent a report to the White House on Wednesday containing recommendations on whether to change the boundaries of 11 marine sanctuaries to allow more oil and gas drilling, but the report was not made public. Commerce reviewed sanctuaries containing 425 million acres of coral reefs, marine mammal habitats and pristine beaches, as part of an administration strategy to open new areas to oil and gas drilling. The goal was to “put the energy needs of American families and businesses first,” according to the order Trump signed in April that triggered it.
Energy Industry Says 'No Thanks' to Trump Offer of Marine Sanctuaries
In a bid to boost energy development, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is considering shrinking or eliminating 11 marine sanctuaries designed to protect 425 million acres of coral reefs, marine mammal habitats and pristine beaches. The review is part of a broader strategy to open new areas to oil and gas drilling and “put the energy needs of American families and businesses first,” according to the order Trump signed in April that triggered it. But interviews with energy industry representatives signal the effort will likely miss its target.
California Task Force Will Examine Offshore Renewables
Planning is underway for establishing an Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of California to examine development opportunities for offshore renewable energy along the Golden State. California Governor Jerry Brown requested formation of the task force in a May 12 letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. The announcement was made during a BOEM-sponsored Offshore Wind Roundtable that brought together representatives from foreign governments, state policymakers, experts in offshore wind, and members of industry to share information on offshore wind development.
Offshore Fracking: Accord Reached to stop offshore fracking in California
A conservation group said the federal government must stop approving offshore fracking from oil platforms in California's Santa Barbara Channel under the settlement of a lawsuit it filed. The group, the Center for Biological Diversity, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, had challenged what it said was the U.S. Department of the Interior's practice of rubber-stamping fracking off California's coast without engaging the public or analyzing fracking's threats to ocean ecosystems, coastal communities and marine life.
Feds Asked to Inspect Offshore SoCal Pipelines
An environmental group petitioned the federal government on Thursday to immediately inspect more than 200 miles of undersea oil pipelines off California's coast. The Center for Biological Diversity cited extensive corrosion that is believed to have caused an onshore pipeline to burst in May west of Santa Barbara, unleashing the biggest oil spill to hit that region in more than four decades. The failed pipeline, which had been inspected by its owner, Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline, weeks before the rupture, is decades younger than much of California's offshore infrastructure, the group said in its petition.
USCG Investigates Oil Slick off California Coast
The U.S. Coast Guard was investigating a large oil sheen off the California coast west of Santa Barbara on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the agency said. The slick, which was about 60 feet (18 meters) wide, was spotted about 1,000 yards (meters) offshore from Goleta State Beach west of Santa Barbara, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Andrea Anderson. Anderson could not give the approximate length of the sheen. In May, as much as 2,400 barrels of crude oil were spilled onto a pristine beach about 15 miles (24 km) west of Goleta when a pipeline ruptured along the coast.
US Orders Owner to Clean Up Ruptured Pipeline
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a joint federal Clean Water Act order to ensure the cleanup of heavy crude oil leaked from a pipeline near Refugio State Beach, Santa Barbara County, Calif. The order requires Plains Pipeline, L.P. (a.k.a. Plains All American Pipeline), the pipeline owner and operator, to continue its cleanup work inland, beachside, and in the ocean, to contain the oil and prevent further shoreline contamination. Today’s order establishes federally enforceable…
Around-the-clock Cleanup Effort on Oil-fouled California Beach
Cleanup teams labored on Thursday for a third day to remove patches of crude petroleum that stained a California beach and fouled offshore waters from a pipeline rupture that may rank as the biggest oil spill to hit the Santa Barbara coastline in more than four decades. Working around the clock, about 300 people on the beach were scooping up globs of oil from the sand and raking tar balls. Crews will also scrub soiled rocks and hose down contaminated areas, Coast Guard Captain Jennifer Williams said. Nine cleanup vessels plied the ocean, six to corral the slick with booms and three others skimming oil from the surface.
Pipeline Breaks on Calif. Coast
A pipeline ruptured along the scenic California coastline on Tuesday, spilling some 21,000 gallons (79,000 liters) of oil into the ocean and on beaches before it could be secured, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman said. The pipeline, which runs parallel to Highway 101 near Santa Barbara, left a slick extending about four miles (6.4 km) along Refugio State Beach, extending about 50 yards (46 meters) into the water, Petty Officer Andrea Anderson of the Coast Guard said. Anderson said the company responsible for the 24-inch (61- cm) pipeline was identified as Plains All American Pipeline…
California Fines 4 Shipping Firms
The California Air Resources Board has fined four shipping companies a combined $146,719 for failing to switch from dirty diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters – within 24 nautical miles of the California coast. “State anti-pollution laws require shippers to do their part to protect air quality,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. “Shippers who comply are helping to protect the health of those who live, work, and go to schools near ports and shipping lanes.
The History of Offshore Energy
Offshore exploration is a history of man v. Prospecting for oil is a dynamic art. From a lake in Ohio, to piers off the California coast in the early 1900s, to the salt marshes of Louisiana in the 1930s, to the first “out-of-sight- of-land” tower in 1947 in the Gulf of Mexico, the modern offshore petroleum industry has inched its way over the last roughly 75 years from 100 ft. of water ever farther into the briny deep, where the biggest platform today, Shell’s Perdido spar, sits in 8,000 ft. of water. As a planet, we have two unquenchable thirsts – for water and for oil. Everybody knows oil and water don’t mix.
Vandenberg Air Force Base: New Offshore Drilling Site?
The U.S. Air Force will consider leasing land on Vandenberg Air Force Base for private companies to extract offshore oil and gas from the central California coast, according to a Los Angeles Times report. The proposal would allow oil companies to use onshore equipment with new extended reach “slant drilling” technology to access deposits several miles offshore. Sunset Exploration and Exxon Mobil recently asked the Air Force to revisit their proposal to use the technology to build an oil and gas drilling project on the base near Lompoc, explains the Los Angeles Times, citing an official source.
