Wyoming plans to plug 1,500 orphaned oil and gas wells

OIL & GAS: Wyoming officials plan to use $25 million in federal funds to plug and reclaim the state’s remaining 1,500 orphaned oil and gas wells. (Cowboy State Daily)

ALSO:
• A Colorado county approves 21 proposed oil and gas wells, exempting them from the state’s required 2,000-foot setback from homes. (Post-Independent)
• A ruptured generator fuel tank spills thousands of gallons of diesel into a pond at a northern California park, requiring the rescue of at least five birds. (CBS Sacramento)

ELECTRIFICATION: Marin County, California’s supervisors vote unanimously to require new residential and commercial construction be all electric beginning Jan. 1. (Marin Independent Journal) 

EFFICIENCY: Idaho officials table a proposal to slash energy efficiency regulations from the state building codes at least until February. (Boise State Public Radio)

BIOFUELS:
• United Airlines plans to invest up to $37.5 million into a proposed biofuel refinery near the Columbia River in Oregon even though the state recently revoked and denied key permits for the facility. (OPB)
• Arizona State University researchers find the U.S. aviation sector’s fuel demand could be met entirely by biofuels produced from a drought-tolerant grass planted on existing marginal agricultural land. (news release)

GEOTHERMAL: An environmental group calls on federal officials to extend endangered species protections to a rare Nevada fish, potentially affecting proposed geothermal developments. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Washington state officials race to develop a plan to meet Gov. Jay Inslee’s ban on new gasoline-powered car sales by 2035. (RTO Insider, subscription)

BATTERIES:
• Panasonic Corp says it will buy remanufactured battery cathode material from a Nevada electric vehicle battery recycling company beginning in 2025. (Reuters)
• Idaho researchers propose establishing a central data repository that would use artificial intelligence to speed battery technology development. (news release)

SOLAR:
• Colorado researchers and farmers collaborate to improve ways to combine agriculture and solar installations, also known as agrivoltaics. (Canary Media)
• A renewable energy firm expects to begin construction on its proposed 250 MW solar project in southern Arizona in 2024. (news release)
• Construction begins on a 2 MW solar-plus-storage microgrid that will provide power to a biofuel refinery in northern California. (news release)

COAL:
• Arizona researchers find planned coal plant retirements would free up substantial volumes of water now used for cooling and steam generation along the drought-diminished Colorado River. (Casper Star-Tribune)
• Montana regulators say Peabody Energy has completed reclamation of the Big Sky Coal Mine near Colstrip and will return the site to ranching and agricultural use. (news release)