Budget & Policy

The Department of Energy expects budget constraints to restrict the amount of high-level waste that can be transferred from Savannah River’s H-Canyon to the site’s tank farms, potentially impacting future missions for the facility. DOE requested $260 million for Fiscal Year 2015 for nuclear material stabilization and disposition at Savannah River, compared to $272 million […]

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Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 The Department of Energy announced early this month the selection of 13 carbon storage projects to receive a combined $13.8 million of DOE funding. The projects explore technologies, methodologies and characterization tools for geologic storage of carbon and fall into one of two categories: geomechanical research or fractured reservoir […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 A bipartisan group of 26 Senators remains upset with the Obama Administration’s commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and is asking the Administration to request more funding for nuclear security work in Fiscal Year 2016. Led by Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the Senators criticized the Administration for reducing […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 In a letter sent to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy last week, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) called on the agency to develop a new analysis of its recently proposed carbon emissions guidelines for existing coal-fired power plants. The proposed regulations in question set emissions reduction targets for each […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 The settlement between Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power and the Sierra Club resolving legal challenges to the company’s Kemper County Energy Facility in exchange for closing or converting several coal plants in the near future includes important wins for both sides, Natural Resources Defense Council Climate Programs Director David […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 Mississippi Power’s Kemper County Energy Facility’s combined cycle was put into commercial operation using natural gas as fuel last week. Once completed, the facility will utilize Mississippi lignite, a low-rank brown coal, to produce electricity. The plant will employ a custom gasification system and carbon capture and storage technology […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 Lisa Feldt has stepped into the position of Acting Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency following the departure of Bob Perciasepe early this month. Feldt served previously as associate Deputy Administrator for the EPA as well as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the agency’s Office of Solid Waste and […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 Developing carbon emissions regulations before carbon capture and sequestration technologies are available will prove counterproductive, according to a report published last week by the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources. The report states that proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations on carbon emissions from new and existing coal-fired power […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 Using copper foam can provide a new, potentially more specialized, means to convert carbon dioxide into useful chemicals like hydrocarbons, researchers at Brown University assert in a paper published earlier this month. Research into using copper as an electrocatalyst for the reduction of CO2 has been ongoing for decades, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 Prior to leaving for summer recess, Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) proposed a bill which would fund the development of a minimum of 10 commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration projects in the next 10 years. The bill, dubbed the “Ten in Ten Act,” would establish a fund in the treasury […]

D&D work at Oak Ridge will continue on track in the likely event of a continuing resolution at the start of the new fiscal year in October, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, LLC, President Ken Rueter told WC Monitor this week. The contractor completed D&D of the enormous K-25 gaseous diffusion plant earlier this year and is […]

A bipartisan group of 26 Senators remains upset with the Obama Adminstration’s commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and is asking the Administration to request more funding for nuclear security work in Fiscal Year 2016. Led by Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the Senators criticized the Administration for reducing nonproliferation funds in recent years […]

Connie Flohr has been named the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Planning and Budget in the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management and Barry Gaffney has been named Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Planning and Budget, acting DOE cleanup chief Mark Whitney said in a message to employees Friday. Flohr most recently […]

The Bipartisan Policy Center announced yesterday the date of its latest meeting to identify barriers and obstacles hindering the progress of the nation’s high-level radioactive waste disposal program. The Sept. 5 meeting will take place in Atlanta at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and it will feature two panels of experts, business leaders, academics, and […]

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz brushed off questions this week about consequences for contractors for managers who might have been at fault in a disruptive radiological release that closed the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant earlier this year. A preliminary accident investigation by DOE in April found numerous deficiencies and errors in the safety documents and emergency […]

Department of Energy cleanup official Matt Moury will serve as DOE’s permanent Associate Under Secretary for Environment, Health, Safety and Security after heading up the newly created office in an acting capacity for the last six months, Deputy Under Secretary for Management and Performance David Klaus said in a message to employees late last week. […]

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Tea Party favorite Clint Didier (R) earned the most votes in the Washington state primary election Tuesday to advance to the November ballot for the 4th Congressional District seat held by retiring Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.). Also on the ballot will be fellow Republican Dan Newhouse. Washington state uses a top-two voting system that allows […]

A new study of U.S. defense policies suggests that plans to modernize the nation’s nuclear deterrent are “unaffordable” under current budget constraints and calls for “reasonable decisions about the appropriate structure for U.S. nuclear forces.” The study, “Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense for the Future: The National Defense Panel Review of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense […]

Mike Nartker WC Monitor 8/1/2014 With no explanation, the Department of Energy abruptly changed the management of the DOE Berkley Site Office late last week. Paul Golan was named acting director, replacing Aundra Richards, who had headed up the Berkley Site Office since 2005. Golan also continues to serve as Director of the DOE SLAC […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Use of natural gas to generate energy is expected to increase under the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for coal-fired power plants, Janet McCabe, acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA, said during a lunch hosted by the American Gas Association […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Businesses are feeling the effects of climate change and will be helped, not hurt, by proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations on carbon emissions EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said last week during a call hosted by Business Forward. “It’s important for us to remember that businesses are being hurt today, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Interagency collaboration between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in the drafting of the EPA’s carbon plan was no more than a “box-checking exercise,” Charles McConnell, former Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy testified before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology this week. “A true […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Environmental Protection Agency officials heard from a wide range of individuals this week during a series of four, two-day-long public hearings on the agency’s proposed carbon pollution standards for existing coal-fired power plants. The hearings took place in Washington, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Denver. Comments ranged from those calling for […]

As is our annual practice, GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 22. In addition, we will issue a Special Bulletin should any major news break in the interim.

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Delaying action to address climate change could cost the nation billions of dollars annually, according to a report released by the White House this week. “Delaying climate policies avoids or reduces expenditures on new pollution control technologies in the near term. But this short-term advantage must be set against […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) this week pulled language from a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank that would have reversed a restriction placed on the bank preventing the financing of coal plants unless they use carbon capture technology. The restriction in question, which the Ex-Im Bank approved in December, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) this week introduced legislation to establish a “cap and dividend” program to reduce carbon emissions. The “Healthy Climate and Family Security Act,” which will face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House, would cap carbon emissions, sell permits and return revenue from those sales […]

GHG Monitor 8/1/2014 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT The University of Hull in the United Kingdom received £1.27 million this week to advance ongoing research into carbon capture technology. The grant was awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to a consortium consisting of researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Leeds […]