Budget & Policy

As part of what has been hailed by its developers as the world’s largest start-to-finish demonstration of carbon capture and storage technology at a commercial power plant, an initial demonstration test phase for a project that aims to capture 500 metric tons per day of CO2 from a coal-fired plant has completed, it was announced this month.

Fluor Federal Petroleum Operations is now set to begin transition to take over management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after the Government Accountability Office denied the second of two protests filed over the Fluor-led team’s win of the contract.

An effort by Congressional Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), to stop President Obama’s draft rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants by using a novel application of an infrequently invoked legislative tool faces major hurdles, League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski said late last week.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) this week pushed the head of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S to explain the basis of the Ex-Im Bank’s new policy to no longer provide financing for coal-fired power plants in most countries unless the plants are equipped with carbon capture and storage technology.

Southern Company is setting aside an additional $40 million dollars to increase the contingency for risks associated with start-up activities of its flagship Kemper County IGCC project—the cost of which has already risen to more than $5 billion dollars—the company’s Chairman, President and CEO Tom Fanning said on a call with investors this week.

Murray Energy Corporation is planning to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over its draft rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new coal-fired power plants, arguing that the EPA did not adequately consider how the rule might affect jobs as required by the Clean Air Act.

President Barack Obama offered few surprises on the energy and environment front during this year’s State of the Union address, conducted this week, highlighting his commitment to an all-of-the-above energy strategy and urging swift action on climate change while also declaring success in moving the country closer to energy independence and lowering its carbon emissions.

A bill taking aim at the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial draft regulation that sets CO2 emission standards for new power plants and forces new coal plants to be equipped with carbon capture and storage technology passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week, paving the way for a potential vote by the full House of Representatives.

An interview with Advanced Resources International President Vello Kuuskraa was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publications President and Publisher Ed Helminski and GHG Monitor Reporter Karen Frantz.

The Environmental Protection Agency released a finalized rule and a guidance document this month that raised questions among some enhanced oil recovery industry officials over various regulatory issues surrounding the injection of CO2 into the ground—including whether the EPA recognizes that incidental geologic storage of CO2 can occur during EOR operations—prompting the agency to respond to industry questions late last week.

Wyoming may soon be home to a new carbon capture and storage test center that would explore novel uses for captured CO2 and develop new markets for carbon.

One of Congress’s most formidable crusaders against climate change, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), announced late this week that he has decided not to seek re-election at the end of the year.

Controversy over President Obama’s draft regulation limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants played out in testimony delivered at a day-long public hearing at the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters this week, with opponents and detractors alike speaking out about a particularly charged provision of the rule forcing coal-fired power plants to install carbon capture and storage technology in order to meet the new standards.

New greenhouse gas emission standards for power plants and the emergence of clean energy will pave the way for Congress to take up climate legislation in the next four to six years, said the President of the National Resources Defense Council, Frances Beinecke, at an event in Washington, D.C., this week exploring the legislative outlook for energy issues in 2014.

Opponents of President Obama’s efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants ramped up their efforts last week, with several prominent industry groups announcing a new initiative to fight the Environmental Protection Agency’s GHG regulations and a number of legislators arguing that the rules could be damaging to the economy.

In the latest legislative attempt to block President Obama’s plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced a bill this week that would allow any state to opt out of federal regulations governing electric generating units.

In a process that has the potential for driving a market for carbon, University of Delaware scientists have developed a more efficient tool for converting CO2 into carbon monoxide, which in turn can be used to produce useful chemicals. According to a paper published in Nature Communications late last week, the scientists found that using a nano-porous silver electrocatalyst, rather than polycrystalline silver, was more effective for converting CO2 into CO, with an efficiency rate of 92 percent.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT Greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom increased 3.2 percent in 2012 compared to 2011 levels, according to official government data released this week. The largest emissions increase in the energy sector—at 5.9 percent—was due to the greater use of coal in electricity generation: Coal consumption in power stations increased by […]

As the Environmental Protection Agency works to craft a new rule that will set greenhouse gas emission standards for existing power plants, some stakeholders have expressed that it is critical that the regulations provide adequate flexibility, as well as opportunities for inter-state collaboration, sufficient compliance time, and other conditions, acting Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation Janet McCabe said at a meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners held in Washington this week.

Despite delays of some key carbon capture and storage projects, Department of Energy officials emphasized to House lawmakers this week that DOE is making progress toward wide-spread deployment of CCS, noting a flagship project that is expected to come online later this year should provide DOE insight as to whether it is viable just a few years after it is operational.

The reliability of the electric grid could be threatened by an Environmental Protection Agency draft rule that sets greenhouse gas emission standards for new coal-fired power plants—and which some have argued will prevent new plants from being built—some Senators said this week.

As the Obama Administration has been working to advance the President’s Climate Action Plan, including crafting regulations setting standards for greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have placed a huge emphasis on conducting broad outreach to stakeholders, Administration officials said this week.

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 Utilities should consider partnering with oil companies in carbon dioxide-driven enhanced oil recovery projects in order to make better financial returns, a Department of Energy official suggested at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners winter meeting in Washington last week. Thomas Sarkus, Division Director at the National Energy Technology […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 Total methane emissions in the United States may be about 25 to 75 percent higher than estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a recent analysis from scientists at the University of Stanford, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Michigan, MIT and others. The analysis, published in […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/21/2014 DM Petroleum Operations Company is suing the Department of Energy over its failed bid for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve management contract, alleging that the Department’s evaluation of its proposal was flawed, causing DM Petroleum, the incumbent contractor and lowest-priced bidder, to lose the award to a team led by Fluor […]

IN THE EPA An Obama Administration official who helped craft the Climate Action Plan and who also worked for the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clinton Administration said in an interview late last week that since her early years at the EPA she has seen a shift in how businesses deal with climate change issues, […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz was pressed on the viability of carbon capture and storage technology at the winter meeting of the National Resources Committee of the National Governors Association earlier this week. In response to a question from Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead about the economic and technical viability of […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency’s new draft rule essentially mandating carbon capture and storage technology for new-build coal-fired power plants has helped spur renewed interest in the technology, Deputy Assistant Energy Secretary for Clean Coal Julio Friedmann said this week. The retooled rule—which sets greenhouse gas emission limits for new coal […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Chief Technology Officer Jim Spiers said this week that he would be happy if the cost of capturing carbon would reach $20 a metric ton when considering what price capturing carbon needs to be for the large-scale rollout of carbon capture and storage technology, but […]

Karen Frantz GHG Monitor 2/28/2014 The Supreme Court this week appeared divided over whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under a Clean Air Act permitting program—although there seemed to be consensus that the EPA still has other means of regulating ghgs from stationary sources. The […]