Funding Released for Abandoned Energy Asset Cleanup
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from reuters
The energy transition doesn’t just include looking forward. It also means looking at historic harmful activities and taking steps to clean them up. Recent announcements from the Biden Administration moved cleanup plans and funding forward for abandoned coal mines and oil and gas wells.
Canary in the Coal Mine
The Department of the Interior released about $725 million in funding (of an expected $11.3 billion over the next 15 years) for cleaning up old coal mining facilities.
The funding is big. To give you an idea of how big, here’s what one researcher said:
“What we’ll clean up in the next 15 years is more than what we’ve already cleaned up over 44 years.” - Eric Dixon, a senior researcher studying economic development and energy transition in Appalachia at the Ohio River Valley Institute
Well, Well, Well
The Biden Administration's infrastructure bill also includes $4.7 billion for cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells. The EPA estimates that there are more than 3 million total abandoned oil and gas wells, about 2 million of which are estimated to be very old and never properly plugged, resulting in methane emissions.
The number of abandoned wells in the U.S. has grown over the last decade, and many experts believe the number will keep growing as fossil fuels are replaced with cleaner forms of energy.
These cleanup efforts are part of a holistic climate change approach as we work to undo damage that’s already done. They’re expected to curb a big source of methane emissions, create jobs in fossil fuel areas, and help surrounding communities.
Time to clean the slate.
