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EPA proposes power plant emission rules Standards would limit carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants; come as part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has proposed new standards limiting the emission of carbon dioxide from new power plants. The standards, which would impact the demand for more carbon-intensive fuels such as coal for electricity generation, come as the first milestone of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, a plan including the use of federal regulation to limit carbon emissions in the United States.
New facilities The proposed standards only apply to new facilities — EPA is still talking to potential stakeholders about additional standards for existing power stations, with the intention of publishing a proposed version of those standards by June 1, 2014, EPA says.
Most climate scientists blame manmade carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for rising global temperatures.
“Climate change is one of the most significant public health challenges of our time,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Sept. 20 when announcing the new carbon emission standards. “By taking commonsense action to limit carbon pollution from new power plants, we can slow the effects of climate change and fulfill our obligation to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our children. These standards will also spark the innovation we need to build the next generation of power plants, helping grow a more sustainable clean energy economy.”
Emission limits Under the proposed standards, new large natural gas-fired turbine plants would be limited to emitting up to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of power generated. New smaller gas fired-turbines would be limited to 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour. And new coal-fired facilities would be limited to 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide for the same amount of power generated.
EPA is opening a 60-day public comment period for the proposed standards.
According to data published by the Energy Information Administration, coal-fired power stations typically emit around 2,100 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour, while gas-fired facilities emit about 1,200 pounds per megawatt hour.
DOE support In a statement supporting EPA’s action, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said that the power generation sector currently contributes about 40 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
“To continue implementing the president’s (climate change) plan, the Department of Energy will work with our partners to further increase power plant efficiency across the range of generation types, promote advanced fossil energy technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), and deploy more clean energy,” Moniz said. “DOE is also working to encourage the growth of advanced fossil energy technologies through a new process for $8 billion in loan guarantees for projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions.”
DOE has already committed $6 billion to advance CCUS and other clean coal technologies to reduce carbon emissions, he said.
Environmentalist support EPA’s proposed standards have met with broad support from the environmental community. A group of environmental organizations including Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resource Defense Council issued a statement praising the Obama administration for its actions in addressing carbon dioxide emissions.
“This proposal is a major step forward towards meeting our obligation to protect our children and future generations from the growing threat of climate change,” the group said. “When this proposal is finalized, the president and the EPA will ensure that no future power plants can dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution in the air.”
Industry opposition Peabody Energy, a major U.S. coal producer, has a different perspective.
“Peabody believes that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule, if advanced, would cause consumers’ power bills to skyrocket over time and cause more pain at the plug than Americans have experienced at the pump,” Peabody said in a Sept. 20 statement. “Carbon capture and storage technology is simply not commercially available and not able to satisfy America’s need for low-cost electricity. Advanced supercritical generation is the best technology available today and the standard that EPA should follow.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, expressed her concern at the EPA action, accusing the administration of circumventing Congress, which, she said, is currently debating energy efficiency.
“I’m very disappointed by this latest rulemaking from the EPA,” Murkowski said. “Despite opposition, the administration has charged ahead with command-and-control regulations that will drive up energy costs for all Americans. And today we find that they are even willing to mandate the use of technologies that don’t exist on a commercial scale. This is the wrong way to advance our energy and environmental objectives.”
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