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international news

US SENATE VOTES TO REINSTATE

METHANE RULES LOOSENED BY TRUMP

administration rule targeting methane
emissions from oil and gas drilling,
reports The Guardian.
The resolution was approved, 52-42.
Three Republican senators – Susan
Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of
South Carolina and Rob Portman of
Ohio – joined Democrats to approve the
measure, which only needed a needed a
simple majority under Senate rules.
The EPA approved the looser methane
rule last year. The agency’s former
administrator Andrew Wheeler declared
the change would “strengthen and
promote American energy” while saving
companies tens of millions of dollars a
year in compliance requirements.
THE ROLLBACK IS PART OF BIDEN’S Democrats and environmentalists
BROADER CLIMATE CHANGE EFFORTS called it one of the Trump
administration’s most egregious actions
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS administration to tackle climate change. to deregulate US businesses. Methane
are moving to reinstate regulations The Senate approved a resolution is a potent greenhouse gas that
designed to limit potent greenhouse that would undo an environmental contributes to global warming, packing
gas emissions from oil and gas fields, rollback by Donald Trump that relaxed a stronger punch in the short term than
as part of a broader effort by the Biden requirements of a 2016 Obama even carbon dioxide.

GAS GRID OPERATORS OUTLINE PLANS FOR

EXPANDED EU ‘HYDROGEN HIGHWAY’

GAS NETWORK OPERATORS from 11 building a pure hydrogen network, said
THE HYDROGEN HIGHWAY WILL
countries have joined the European Daniel Muthmann, the coordinator of the CONNECT 21 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
hydrogen backbone initiative, European hydrogen backbone initiative.
presenting an updated vision for a According to its promoters, 69 sustainability website edie.
pure hydrogen network of nearly per cent of the proposed hydrogen The opportunity for Europe,
40,000km by 2040. backbone could consist of repurposed Muthmann said, is to create “a liquid
The vision document, outlined existing natural gas grids, keeping the market for renewable and low carbon
in April, is the updated version of overall cost of the infrastructure at hydrogen,” which can be used to
a report presented last July, which relatively modest levels. decarbonise hard-to-abate industries
envisioned a hydrogen pipeline In total, the investment is estimated like chemicals and steelmaking.
network of 23,000km covering 10 at between €43 billion and €81 billion But developing a hydrogen market
European countries: Belgium, Czech by 2040, says the report prepared by will require advance planning, he added,
Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, consultancy firm Guidehouse and saying European policymakers “need
Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden supported by 23 gas transmission to make decisions relatively quickly”
and Switzerland. system operators, including Italy’s on infrastructure in order to connect
The updated version is now almost Snam, France GRTgaz, Spain’s Enagas, future supply and demand centres.
double in size, reaching 39,700km by and the Netherland’s Gasunie. The vision document appears
2040, and connecting 21 European Compared to last year, the price to be in line with the European
countries, including central and per kilometre has even been revised Commission’s hydrogen strategy
eastern Europe, the UK, Ireland, downwards because the updated presented last year. In July, the EU
Greece and Nordic countries. version takes into account that executive outlined plans to produce
The key message is that “the existing hydrogen infrastructure can consist up to 10 million tonnes of renewable
gas infrastructure offers a technically of smaller pipelines, which are hydrogen in the EU by 2030, based on
and economically plausible” way of cheaper to repurpose, according to 40 gigawatts of electrolysers.

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News.indd 6 13/05/2021 15:56