Daily on Energy: Carbon-negative ammonia production, RFK Jr investigated for whale beheading, and natural gas has staying power

His daughter had mentioned the episode in an interview years ago, and her comments gained renewed attention in recent months online during RFK Jr.’s presidential run.

The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund had asked NOAA to investigate the incident.

Kennedy said Saturday that he was being investigated, and said he wrote a letter to NOAA in response accusing the agency of killing whales with “giant offshore wind farms off the East Coast,” CNN reported.

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DOE AIMS FOR WORLD’S FIRST CARBON-NEGATIVE AMMONIA PRODUCTION PLANT: The Department of Energy today approved a deal for a loan guarantee of up to nearly $1.6 billion for Wabash Valley Resources to build out an anhydrous ammonia fertilizer operation in West Terre Haute, Indiana.

The company is aiming to retrofit a former Duke Energy plant to produce the fertilizer using carbon sequestration, Inside Indiana Business reports.

Wabash Valley Resources Chief Operating Officer Dan Williams told the publication that the cost of anhydrous ammonia soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the domestic production would help the state. “Not only are we bringing in a cost advantage ammonia, a lower carbon ammonia, we’re also going to be stabilizing the supply chain and providing a little bit more of a more robustness to it in terms of pricing points and guarantee of supply, ” he said.

Ammonia manufacturing accounts for 1% to 2% of all CO2 emissions, DOE said in a statement on the deal. Building a carbon-negative ammonia facility would help reduce agricultural industry emissions, it said.

NATURAL GAS HAS STAYING POWER THANKS TO DATA CENTERS AND MORE: Analysts now see natural gas power generation growing for years to come, thanks to the added demand created by artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and electric vehicles, Bloomberg reports in a new deep dive.

Jed Dorsheimer, group head of the energy and sustainability sector at investment bank William Blair, told the publication that natural gas will make up as much as 60% of new generation. “A few years ago, there was the expectation that solar and wind would be able to solve our additional generation needs,” he said.

Natural gas advocates argue that it helps in achieving emissions goals because it replaces coal and serves as a bridge to clean energy sources. But the new plants being built today are expected to stay in service for 40 years or longer, and their methane emissions will linger in the atmosphere for decades beyond that. So their approval would mean locking in greenhouse gas emissions for long after 2035, which is President Joe Biden‘s target for a zero-emission electricity sector.

LOW PRICES ARE BIG PROBLEM FOR PENNSYLVANIA NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY: The New York Times published a report this morning focusing on the problem that low natural gas prices pose for producers in Pennsylvania.

While much of the national debate has been over how fracking should be regulated, the bigger near-term problem for the industry in the key swing state is that low prices have led to a decline in production and layoffs.

The key quote: “Domestically, the biggest issue we have is we don’t have a use for it,” Matt Kurzejewskichief executive of Costa’s Energy Services, told the publication.

Of note, there is demand for natural gas across the country and world, but companies have all but given up efforts to get new pipelines to transport gas from Pennsylvania into the Northeast, as previous efforts have met political and legal resistance. The article does not touch on President Joe Biden‘s pause on new LNG export approvals.

HIGH-SPEED EV CHARGING STATIONS TO BE DEPLOYED NATIONWIDE: LAZ parking, which manages over 3,000 lots and garages nationwide, is now partnering with EV charging company BP Pulse to increase charging stations for drivers.

The details: The partnership will see high-speed charging hubs developed in parking facilities across 20 cities over the next five years, including Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, and Las Vegas, Axios reported.

The charging stations will be available 24/7 and open to the public. They are expected to be rated 250kW or higher, meaning they will be able to charge an EV in only 30-45 minutes. EV drivers won’t even have to pay for parking when using the stations, as one hour of free parking is included when using the BP Pulse app.

What’s the big deal: As EVs become more popular, there are increased difficulties in finding a place to charge the vehicle, especially if you live in a large city or apartment. A February survey found that while 86% of EV drivers have access to a home charger, nearly 60% still use public chargers regularly.

INDIA SECURES BILLIONS IN GREEN ENERGY FUNDING: India has received a combined commitment of $386 billion from banks and financial institutions dedicated to meeting the country’s renewable energy goals.

Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi announced the commitment on Monday at the RE-Invest conference in Gandhinagar, saying the funds would help the nation meet its goal of reaching 500GW capacity of clean energy.

“We received overwhelming commitments from states and Union Territories as well as from the developers, manufacturers, and financial institutes to support our goal of 500 GW by 2030,” Joshi said, per Reuters.

In order to meet this goal, India needs to add around 44GW of non-fossil fuel energy every year up until 2030, according to calculations made by Bloomberg. This would triple the average that the country has been making from the last five years.

Some background: India is considered the world’s third largest carbon emitter, behind China and the United States. Its largest source of CO2 emissions (71%) is the burning of coal, according to the International Energy Agency.

SEVERAL DEAD IN EUROPEAN FLOODS: At least 16 people were dead as of this morning after multiple countries in central Europe were slammed with torrential rain and flooding over the weekend.

Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania were hit with heavy rains brought on by low pressure Storm Boris, which dumped more than a month’s worth of rain on the nations, according to CNN. Dramatic photos show towns nearly submerged, homes flooded or torn apart, with residents being evacuated by boat.

At least one heating plant in the Czech Republic was shut down, cutting off hot water for nearly 300,000 residents in the city of Ostrava. Poland, which saw dams and embankments burst by the floods, declared a natural disaster emergency in the impacted areas. Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised 1 billion zlotys from the government to the affected victims, to the Associated Press.

The heavy waters were expected to hit Slovakia and Hungary later in the week, expecting to breach part of Budapest by Tuesday morning.

Some background: The tragic floods come roughly six months after the European Environment Agency dubbed Europe the fastest warming continent in the world, warning of 36 climate risks that could threaten dozens of countries’ infrastructure and ecosystems, as well as energy, financial, and food security. Urban and coastal flooding were listed among the major risks.

ROUNDDOWN

CNN A polluting, coal-fired power plant found the key to solving America’s biggest clean energy challenge

Axios China’s oil slowdown has worldwide implications

The Guardian Hot queen conch seeks cool mates: Florida’s new ‘speed dating’ service to save endangered shellfish