OIL & GAS: Researchers find 6% to 8% of the natural gas extracted in Utah’s Uinta Basin is leaking into the atmosphere, making it the source of one of the nation’s highest methane emission rates. (Salt Lake Tribune)

 ALSO:
• Hawaii environmental advocates call on the federal government to shut down a leak-plagued Navy fueling facility due to potential threats to a drinking water aquifer. (E&E News, subscription)
• Analysts say the Interior Department’s recommended oil and gas leasing reforms could raise drillers’ costs and reduce available acreage, but are unlikely to affect near- or medium-term production. (S&P Global)
• Federal regulators investigate oil spilling from a crack in a Sitka, Alaska, seawall. (KCAW)

SOLAR:
• Oregon researchers find passive solar from well-positioned skylights can provide at least one-third of a home’s heating needs, even in the cloudy Northwest. (OPB)  
• An Oregon craft beer brewery uses federal tax credits and clean power cooperative financing to install a 98 KW solar system. (Portland Business Journal)
• Nevada’s push to become a renewable energy leader faces a major challenge in some environmentalists’ and community members’ opposition to utility-scale solar installations. (NBC News)
• Nevada regulators fine a solar installation operator $220,000 for failing to control dust during construction. (Associated Press) 

GEOTHERMAL: Boise, Idaho, officials look to expand the city-wide geothermal heating system by 40% as part of its goal to become carbon neutral by 2050. (Associated Press)

STORAGE: Developers move forward with plans to build a 900 MW pumped hydropower storage facility in southern Wyoming to pair with existing and proposed wind projects. (Rawlins Times)

TRANSPORTATION:
• A Northwest transportation company plans to launch an electric bus line linking Seattle, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon, next year, but needs more charging infrastructure to do so. (Business Tribune)
• A Nevada public school district plans to purchase two electric school buses and install charging infrastructure with incentives from the state’s largest utility. (Nevada Appeal)

BIOFUELS: King County, Washington, and the Port of Seattle team up to study converting municipal solid waste into renewable aviation fuel. (Kirkland Reporter)

CLIMATE: A Colorado carbon capture task force urges lawmakers to fund carbon capture and sequestration research and streamline CO2 pipeline permitting to help the state reach emissions-cutting goals. (Colorado Sun)

COAL: Coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin fetches record high prices due to rising demand and high natural gas prices. (Bloomberg, subscription)

BITCOIN: Wyoming officials tout crypto-friendly policies and abundant energy resources in an effort to draw bitcoin miners to the state. (Bitcoin Magazine)

COMMENTARY:
• A Colorado environmental advocate says bonding levels in proposed state rules are far lower than the cost to plug and reclaim oil and gas wells, potentially leaving taxpayers to pay. (Colorado Sun)
• A Wyoming columnist says even though an experimental nuclear reactor proposed for the state would be the “ultimate lottery ticket” for a former coal mining community, state and federal regulators should take a “cautious approach.” (WyoFile)

Avatar photo

Jonathan P. Thompson

Jonathan hails from southwestern Colorado and has been writing about the land, cultures, and communities of the Western United States for more than two decades. He compiles the Western Energy News digest. He is the author of three books, a contributing editor at High Country News, and the editor of the Land Desk, an e-newsletter that provides coverage and context on issues critical to the West.