http___blogs.worldwatch.org_revolt_bg_u-s-proposes-historic-but-lax-carbon-regulations-for-fossil-fuel-power-plants-part-1-of-2__1.xml
http___blogs.worldwatch.org_revolt_tag_coal_page_2_.xml
1.1 1.2 2.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 6.1 6.2 6.3 7.1 7.2 8.1 8.2 8.3 9.1 9.2 10.1 10.2 10.3 11.1 11.2 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 13.1
Американската агенция за защита на околната среда (EPA), предложени на страната първият федерален стандарт регулиране на въглероден диоксид (CO 2) емисии от електроцентралите миналата седмица. Въвеждането на стандарт въглерод е дългоочакваната от общността на околната среда, както и много групи са аплодирали предложеното правило като важна първа стъпка от страна на правителството на САЩ за справяне с изменението на климата. Стандартът на въглеродните емисии - което ограничава емисиите до 1000 паунда на CO 2 на мегават час (MWh) на електрическа енергия, произведена - ще се прилага за бъдещи изкопаеми горива електроцентрали с инсталирана мощност над 25 мегавата (MW); растения, които в момента са действащи или че ще започне строителството през следващите 12 месеца са освободени. Средно на растението природен газ в САЩ отделя между 800 и 850 паунда на CO 2 на MWh , безопасно в рамките на предложения стандарт. Средната растението въглища, от друга страна, излъчва £ 1768 на CO 2 за MWh, което би надхвърлило стандарта. Въпреки това, тези съществуващи централи няма да бъдат засегнати от регулацията, и EPA администратор Лиза Джаксън подчерта още, че в момента има "няма планове", за да поставят стандарти за емисиите на CO 2 от съществуващите инсталации , включително бъдещите изменения, които биха могли да увеличат емисиите си. Въпреки това е вероятно, че СИП ще регулира въглеродните емисии от съществуващите централи в някакъв момент по пътя, и предложеният стандарт за нови източници е важна стъпка, за да се гарантира, че това ще се случи. Регламентът е в отговор на 2007 Масачузетс срещу Агенция за опазване на околната среда постановление на Върховния съд, който възложи на СИП, за да се определи дали емисиите на парникови газове (ПГ) "застрашават общественото здраве или благосъстояние." В отговор на това, СИП пусна своя " застрашаване констатация "в 2009 г., който определя, че емисиите на парникови газове са вредни за хората и околната среда, тъй като те са основен двигател на причинени от човека изменение на климата. Въз основа на решението на Върховния съд, застрашаване намери законно изисква СИП, съгласно Закона за чистотата на атмосферния въздух, за регулиране на емисиите на парникови газове от превозни средства и стационарни източници - включително електроцентрали. Отчетът за EPA публикуван във вторник, за да обявят, че предлаганите стандарти за електроцентрали фокусира основно на стандарта е ограничено въздействие върху енергийния сектор. Освобождаването на новини заяви, че стандартът просто отразява " продължаващата тенденция в енергийния сектор , за да се изгради по-чисти растения. "Обявяването отиде по-далеч, за да се каже, че" предложените стандарти могат да бъдат посрещнати от редица енергийни мощности, изгарящи различни изкопаеми горива ", включително въглища. Докато съобщението се подчертава ново поколение и въглища с природен газ с улавяне и съхранение на въглерод (CCS) като примери за източници на енергия, които ще бъдат популяризирани в рамките на предложеното правило, то не се споменава на енергия от възобновяеми източници или технологии за енергийна ефективност. Преход Енергийната индустрия от въглища към природен газ е вече в ход, поради изобилие нови резерви на относително евтин шистов газ извлечена чрез хидравлично разбиване . Предложеният регламент EPA гарантира, че тази промяна ще продължи, дори ако цените на природния газ води драматично. Докато природен газ се отделят само около половината от размера на CO 2 като въглища, преход към енергийна система за природен газ все още не е достатъчно, за да се намалят емисиите на САЩ до ниво, в съответствие с избягване на катастрофалните промени в климата. Важен риск от предложената EPA въглероден стандарт е, че тя ще се заключи САЩ в икономика с природен газ. Мащабните инвестиции в нови електроцентрали на природен газ, направени през следващите няколко години в рамките на предложения регламент, ще продължат да работят и да излъчват изкопаеми горива през следващите няколко десетилетия - ключов момент за постигане на значително намаляване на въглеродните емисии. Изявлението на СИП продължава по същество да признаем, че регламентите, няма да доведат до значително намаляване на емисиите на въглерод в сравнение с бизнес както обикновено, се посочва, че EPA, Министерство на енергетиката, а прогнозите за индустрията показват, че " нови електроцентрали, които са изградени в над следващото десетилетие или повече, може да се очаква да се срещне тази Предложеният стандарт дори и в отсъствието на правилото . "Затова, СИП не очаква никакви допълнителни разходи за индустрията, за да се съобразят с този стандарт. (I ще проучи други прогнози за бъдещия капацитет въглищна електроцентрала в част 2 от този блог серия). По мое мнение това е безопасно да се каже, че внимателното език СИП по отношение на регламентите на въглеродни беше насочена предимно към минимизиране на ответен удар от страна на въглища енергетика и опозицията от републиканците и въглища-държавни демократите. За отбелязване е, президентът Обама не предложи изявление относно правилата, и те са били освободени по време на период, когато политическото внимание бе отклонено от аргументите на здравното законодателство пред Върховния съд. Въпреки сравнително леки, очакваното въздействие върху промишлеността, имаше незабавна реакция на предложението на СИП, с няколко републикански членове на Конгреса говорят открито срещу надхитрям на агенцията , въпреки че СИП е законно упълномощен от Върховния съд за регулиране на емисиите на парникови газове. The American Коалиция за Clean Coal Електрификация, индустриална група на въглища генераторите на електроенергия, заяви, че стандартът може да доведе до " преждевременното затваряне на въглищни централи, работещи днес . "Не е ясно как групата стигна до този извод обаче, тъй като регламентите, не се прилагат за съществуващите инсталации. Докато последните бум в наличност на евтин природен газ вече е сигнализирала за упадъка на значителен бъдещия капацитет на въглища в САЩ, предложеният стандарт въглероден поставя пирон в ковчега, за да се гарантира, че няма нови въглищни централи ще бъдат построени без CCS технологии. Бъдещият енергиен микс в САЩ е малко вероятно да се промени значително в резултат на новия стандарт, а гаранция за спиране на производството в бъдеще конвенционална въглища мощност е положителна стъпка все пак. Поставянето на регулаторни ограничения върху електроцентрала емисии на СО 2 е историческа стъпка за САЩ, и може да създаде прецедент за по-силни стандарти надолу по пътя. Въпреки това от несериозното предложените стандарти и отстъпчив тон EPA отразяват значително намалена амбицията на администрацията на Обама да приемат значителни ограничения на емисиите на парникови газове. СИП е проектиран да бъде експерт научна агенция имунизиран от политическите маневри и предизборната година влияния. Като такива, че предлаганите стандарти въглерод следва да се засили с течение на времето, за да отрази реалността на околната среда, че ние се нуждаем от бързо преминаване към система на възобновяема енергия, а не на парче преход към производство на природен газ. Shakuntala Makhijani е сътрудник на климата и енергетиката изследвания в Института Worldwatch.
1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 6.1 7.1 8.1 8.2 9.1 9.2 10.1 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 12.1 13.1 14.1 14.2 15.1 16.1 16.2 17.1 17.2 17.3 18.1 19.1 20.1 20.2 21.1 21.2 22.1 22.2 22.3 23.1 23.2 23.3 24.1 25.1 26.1 27.1 27.2 27.3 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 29.1 30.1 31.1 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 34.1 35.1 36.1 36.2 36.3 37.1 37.2 38.1 39.1 40.1 41.1 41.2 41.3 42.1 42.2 43.1 44.1 45.1 45.2 46.1 47.1 48.1 49.1 50.1 51.1 51.2 51.3 51.4 52.1 53.1
Last week I wrote about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new proposed standard for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel power plants. The long-awaited regulation would limit emissions to 1,000 pounds of CO2per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity produced, essentially guaranteeing that no new coal power plants will be built in the U.S. without carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Almost 30 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from coal power plants. Image source: epa.gov In an effort to minimize opposition to the proposed standard, the EPA emphasized the limited negative impact on industry, as utility companies are already choosing to invest in natural gas rather than coal plants for new capacity. This is due mostly to abundant new reserves of relatively cheap shale gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing. So just how accurate are the EPA’s claims that the proposed regulation is in line with industry business-as-usual? Other projections of future coal plant construction support the overall claim that the industry was already moving away from investing in new coal power. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected there would be “virtually no new coal in [the] reference case [scenario] following several CCS demos.” The EIA reports that there are 9.3 gigawatts (GW) of new coal capacity currently planned by 2015, and none thereafter. Nearly all of this new capacity will be built within the next 12 months and will therefore be exempt from the proposed CO2 standards. Any plants scheduled to begin construction in more than a year will need to include CCS technologies in order to comply with the 1,000 pounds of CO2 per MWh limit of the proposed EPA regulation. Power plant emissions can be averaged over a 30-year period to meet the regulations, so it is also possible for power producers to build coal plants in the near-term provided they install CCS systems in the future. carbon emission, Climate Policy, coal, EPA, United States Read the rest of this entry The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the country’s first federal standard regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from power plants last week. The introduction of a carbon standard has been long-awaited by the environmental community, and many groups are applauding the proposed rule as an important first step by the U.S. government to tackle climate change. EPA promotes the clean air and health benefits of carbon regulation on the agency homepage. Image source: epa.gov The carbon emission standard – which limits emissions to 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity produced – will apply to future fossil fuel-fired power plants with an installed capacity greater than 25 megawatts (MW); plants that are currently operating or that will begin construction in the next 12 months are exempt. The average natural gas plant in the U.S. emits between 800 and 850 pounds of CO2 per MWh, safely within the proposed standard. The average coal plant, on the other hand, emits 1,768 pounds of CO2 per MWh, which would exceed the standard. However, these existing plants will not be affected by the regulation, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson further emphasized that there are currently “no plans” to place standards on CO2 emissions from existing plants, including future modifications that could increase their emissions. However it is likely that the EPA will regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants at some point down the road, and the proposed standard for new sources is a vital step to ensuring that this will occur. carbon emission, Climate Change, coal, emissions limits, EPA, natural gas, United States Read the rest of this entry Earlier this week, a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) established by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met to discuss environmental and economic issues facing the country’s electricity generation sector. CoS members included the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, as well as representatives from the Ministries of Power, Petroleum, Coal, Environment, and Finance. The 4,000 MW Tata Power Ultra Mega Coal Power Project at Mundra, photo credit: Flickr - Joe Athialy The first day’s discussion focused on increasing difficulties of coal power production, including domestic production shortages and import costs. While the availability of domestic and supposedly cheap coal supplies was once cited as a central justification for pursuing coal power in India, which currently supplies about 70 percent of the country’s electricity generation, recent coal shortages, dramatic price increases, and environmental mismanagement by the coal industry have led policymakers, energy developers, and investors to acknowledge the need for the country to pursue an alternative energy path. In January, an Indian Power Ministry official expressed concerns regarding the pricing scheme of the state-owned coal mining company, Coal India, which would increase the cost of coal power generation by an estimated 35 percent. Coal India is responsible for over 80 percent of the country’s coal production. A Coal India executive cited the need to rework the company’s pricing scheme, as coal prices have recently risen by 50 to 180 percent, depending on fuel quality. coal, human rights, India, mining, sustainable development Read the rest of this entry In Part 1 of this blog, we analyzed the global CO2 emission trends published recently by the International Energy Agency (IEA), as well as the high divergence of emission trends among countries. In this follow-up, we discuss how these trends can inform negotiations at the UN climate summit that began this week in Durban, South Africa. Industrialized countries as a group have achieved significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Although national efforts vary greatly and a rebound in emissions is expected with economic recovery, the IEA estimates that “developed countries” (as defined in Annex I of the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) are on track to reach their target of reducing emissions 5.2 percent below 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012, as agreed to under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The numbers look somewhat different at the country level, however. The United States, the only major developed country that did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol, has seen a 6.7 percent increase in CO₂ emissions since 1990, according to the IEA. The U.S. is the world’s second highest CO2emitter after China, which has more than three times as many inhabitants. Certain signatories of the Kyoto Protocol, including Canada and Japan, have not stuck with their reduction commitments, clearly a sign of weakness of the treaty. But the agreement is functioning well for those who strive to abide by it. There is no doubt that Kyoto has prompted regional, national, and sub-federal action on climate protection and sustainable agriculture, energy, and transportation in many parts of the world. China, Climate Change, coal, developing countries, emissions reductions, India, negotiations, UNFCCC, United States Read the rest of this entry The 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change begins today in Durban, South Africa (Source: UNFCCC). This week the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) begins. In Durban, South Africa, delegations from countries around the world will continue negotiating greenhouse gas reductions in order to prevent global warming from spinning out of control. So it is just in time that the International Energy Agency (IEA) releases its latest statistics on global CO2 emissions. The provided figures contain CO₂ emission source breakdowns by fuel, sector and region over the period 1971 to 2009. According to the data, nearly two thirds of worldwide emissions come from two sectors – electricity and heat generation (41 percent) as well as transport (23 percent). Remaining emissions come from industrial processes (20 percent), residential (6 percent), and a multitude of additional sources (10 percent). Regarding energy, coal is the leading CO₂ emission source, accounting for 43 percent of those emissions, followed by oil at 37 percent and natural gas at 20 percent. China, Climate Change, coal, developing countries, emissions reductions, India, negotiations, UNFCCC, United States Read the rest of this entry Photo: Coyote Springs Generating Station by Portland General Electric On August 25, my colleagues at the Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors and I released a new greenhouse gas (GHG) life-cycle analysis of U.S. coal and natural gas-fired electricity. If you have been following my posts on ReVolt over the last year, you’ll know we began studying this issue after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced revisions to its methodology for estimating emissions from natural gas systems (basically from the production, processing, transmission, and distribution of natural gas) that resulted in a more than doubling of its estimate for methane emissions from those sources. Methane, in addition to being the primary component of natural gas, is a GHG some 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a hundred-year period. Consequently, some analysts have raised concerns that when the actual amount of methane emitted during the entire life cycle of natural gas (an amount which the EPA’s previous methodology apparently underestimated) is taken into account, natural gas might lose its GHG advantage over coal. Over the past year, a number of new life-cycle analyses have come out that all ask different versions of the question, “How clean is natural gas really, on a life-cycle basis?” Some focus on GHG emissions from shale versus conventional natural gas, while others focus on all natural gas produced in the United States. The life-cycle analyses use different underlying assumptions, methodologies, and sources of data, and nearly all comment on the implications of their findings for the GHG comparison between coal and gas. After all, if the Obama administration is (or at least was) considering a clean energy standard that gave natural gas-fired electricity a half-credit on the basis of its GHG savings over coal, this should be reflected by actual GHG savings. Climate Change, coal, emissions reductions, energy, EPA, natural gas Read the rest of this entry If you’ve been following U.S. power industry news for the last few years, you would be forgiven for believing that coal is about to surrender its long-term hold on the electricity sector. Utility after utility has announced plans to retire hundreds and even thousands of megawatts of coal-fired capacity, and to pull the plug on coal plants under development. In the absence of Congressional action, some analysts have even questioned whether just the threat of tighter EPA regulations could be enough to encourage utilities to shut down substantial amounts of coal generation. But the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in its 2011 Annual Energy Outlook released this week, is less sanguine about coal’s imminent demise. Although proposed EPA regulations on air emissions, coal ash, and water intake could make a major dent in coal’s market share, the report says, they won’t be enough to end coal’s reign as the largest source of electricity—at least not without a price on carbon dioxide. 2035, air toxics, Annual Energy Outlook, coal, coal ash, EIA, electricity, EPA, mercury Read the rest of this entry CCS Cost Development As of mid-April, nine pilot carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) power plant projects were in operation in China, Europe, and the United States. These projects are delivering important insights regarding the prospects for large-scale commercial application of carbon capture in coal and natural gas power plants. No large-scale CCS power plant is in operation yet, but the industry is working hard to push forward with 45 projects in various stages of development. Although it remains unclear when the first commercial CCS power plant project will start operation, new findings reveal greater certainty about another aspect of CCS development: cost. Several studies in the last few years suggest that CCS in coal and natural gas power plants is far more expensive than was anticipated even just six years ago. Capture, Carbon, CCS, coal, Combustion, Cost, IEA, IEAGHG, natural gas, Price, Sequestration, Storage Read the rest of this entry In recent months, several sources have called natural gas’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions potential over coal into question. Because the GHG benefit of a coal-to-natural gas shift in the power sector is a critical assumption in our common conclusion that natural gas can facilitate a reduction in power sector GHG emissions, the Worldwatch Institute and Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors are embarking on a joint study to assess the currently available emissions data, develop a rigorous and transparent life cycle assessment of electricity generated from gas and coal, and identify data gaps that must be prioritized in further research. Why is it commonly held that electricity generated from natural gas is 50-60 percent cleaner than coal, and why is this belief being challenged? coal, Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors, electricity, EPA, fuel-switching, greenhouse gas emissions, life-cycle analysis, methane leakage, natural gas, power sector Read the rest of this entry This is the fourth in a series of blog posts discussing the water-energy nexus. Natural Gas Wellhead in Pennsylvania - Courtesy of Emily Grubert Hydraulic fracturing, the technique used to extract natural gas from shale and coalbed reservoirs, typically uses between 2 and 4 million gallons of water per well over the course of a few days – as much as the city of Washington, D.C. consumes in an hour. With such “unconventional” gas contributing a growing share of U.S. natural gas supplies, this water-intensive process has raised concerns that a large-scale shift in the power sector from coal to natural gas could strain the nation’s water supplies. In a new Worldwatch briefing paper, my coauthor Emily Grubert of University of Texas – Austin and I compare the water needs of electricity generated from coal and natural gas, from the point of fuel extraction to the point of power generation. Our analysis shows that generating a kilowatt-hour of electricity from a combined cycle power plant, even if unconventional gas is used, can consume less than half the water that generating the same amount of electricity from a coal steam turbine plant does. Barnett Shale, coal, combined-cycle power plant, dry cooling, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus Shale, natural gas, steam turbine, unconventional gas, United States, water, water-energy nexus Read the rest of this entry