Publications: GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 Australian energy company AGL will close all of its existing coal plants by 2050 and will not build, finance or acquire any new plants which do not utilize carbon capture and storage technology, the company announced in a new Greenhouse Gas Policy released late last week. “AGL is the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 With the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of the Parties less than eight months away, where a new international climate agreement is hoped to be reached, the world is closely monitoring the progress of the United States in its domestic efforts to combat climate change. The […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 House appropriators approved their version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill this week, releasing more detail as to how the bill would fund various Department of Energy fossil energy R&D programs. The bill, which is set to be debated on the House floor next week, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 The United States should support the expansion of existing CO2 pipeline infrastructure to increase opportunities for both carbon capture and storage and enhanced oil recovery, according to the Department of Energy’s first Quadrennial Energy Review, released this week. Currently, the United States is home to the majority of a […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have created a new system of artificial photosynthesis, which could potentially utilize CO2 captured from flue gas to create useful chemicals. The process requires little energy or feedstock to run, requiring only sunlight, water and CO2 and in turn […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power this week approved by a vote of 17-12 Chairman Ed Whitfield’s (R-Ky.) “Ratepayer Protection Act,” which is intended to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing proposed carbon emissions standards for coal-fired power plants. The EPA’s proposal, which is currently the subject […]

GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 IN DOE Ten million metric tons of carbon dioxide have successfully been captured and stored underground in Department of Energy carbon capture and storage projects, DOE announced this week. The programs contributing to the milestone are the Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (ICCS) Major Demonstrations program and the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 The World Bank Group, the Agence Française de Développment and roughly two dozen additional large development financial institutions have agreed to better track financial commitments for carbon capture and storage development as part of efforts to better monitor financial commitments aimed at mitigating climate change. The development banks agreed […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 A group of Democratic senators have begun to push back against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) effort to convince state officials to oppose the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for coal-fired power plants, issuing  a letter to governors this week urging them to support the proposal. […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 As the United Kingdom gears up for next month’s Parliamentary elections, manifestos released by the three main British political parties this week illustrate a range of support for future investment in carbon capture and storage, with the Liberal Democrat party voicing the strongest support for continued efforts to get […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 A group of state officials from Colorado, Virginia and Rhode Island warned this week that the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for coal-fired power plants would not provide enough time to implement market-based compliance options, such as a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system. Under the proposed […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 House lawmakers debated a provision in recently proposed legislation that would extend the deadlines for compliance under the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal fired power plants until all legal challenges against the proposed regulations had been concluded during an Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 At least two of the three judges hearing a trio of cases calling for the overturn of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants seemed to support the defendants’ position that the cases were premature as the rule has yet to be finalized, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 The Canadian province of Ontario announced this week that it has joined the Western Climate Initiative, a cap-and-trade system that administers carbon allowance auctions and tracks and monitors allowances and offset certificates. “Climate change needs to be fought around the globe, and it needs to be fought here in […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 Lockheed Martin has won the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s new Research and Development—Implementation and Support (RADIS) Services contract, according to a notice the Department of Energy issued this week. Lockheed Martin beat out two other bidders for the contract, which is worth approximately $169 million over 10 years—Battelle and […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 Funding for the Department of Energy’s fossil energy research activities would receive a small boost under the House version of the Fiscal Year 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill reported out of subcommittee this week. The bill would provide a total of $605 million, an increase of 8 percent […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 Cutting greenhouse gas emissions domestically will not only have a negligible effect on global climate change but will also put the United States at an economic disadvantage, lawmakers said during a House Committee on Science, Space and Technology hearing this week. The purpose of the hearing was to examine […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 A type of smectite clay called lithium-fluorohectorite has been discovered to have impressive carbon capture capabilities, according to research performed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and noted in a university news article last week. “Our experiments show that this kind of smectite can capture and retain […]

GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT Norway and the Czech Republic will work together to perform pilot studies and surveys on the deployment of carbon capture and storage in the Czech Republic, the two countries announced last week. Norway will contribute €5 million to the research program, which will consist of four projects: a […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 A federal court is set to hear arguments next week concerning a suit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to propose carbon emission standards for existing coal-fired power plants. The lawsuit, brought by Murray Energy, argues that the EPA has acted beyond its authority in issuing the proposed rule. […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 The use of captured carbon dioxide for activities such as enhanced oil recovery will serve as an important bridge to the full deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for Clean Coal and Carbon Management David Mohler said during a keynote presentation at the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 While no firm decision has yet been made, if Boundary Dam Unit 3 proves to perform well consistently after being retrofitted with carbon capture utilization and storage technology, SaskPower may consider retrofitting Units 4 and 5 at Boundary Dam as well, newly appointed SaskPower President and CEO Mike Marsh […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 Mississippi Power reported a new round of cost over-runs at their Kemper County Energy Facility in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, though at a much smaller level than had been the trend in recent months. The company reported a total over-run of $8 […]

Country to Focus on Storage, Not Utilization Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 Coal will continue to dominate Australia’s energy production well into the future and, as a result the country will strive to foster a growing carbon capture and storage industry, according to an energy white paper the Australian Department of Industry and Science […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 Because enhanced oil recovery operations differ from traditional oil production procedures in scope and timeline, they are potentially better situated to withstand falling oil prices, Patrick Falwall, Solutions Fellow with the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and member of the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiate, said during a […]

GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 IN CONGRESS The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power will hold a hearing April 14 to review Chairman Ed Whitfield’s (R-Ky.) “Ratepayer Protection Act.” The bill is aimed at preventing the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing proposed carbon emissions standards for coal-fired power plants, under which the EPA would set state-specific emissions […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/3/2015 Coal demand in the United States is likely to continue its downward trend due, in part, to the adoption of environmental regulations and the low cost of lower-carbon fuel sources, according to a study released this week by the think tank Carbon Tracker. The increase in production of cheap […]