Publications: GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/12/2014 The United States will kick off in April 2015 a Business Development Mission to China focused on clean energy technology, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced this week. The mission will help U.S. companies develop or expand business in China in various energy […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 The recently announced climate agreement reached between the U.S. and China could have a significant impact on global climate negotiations, Todd Stern, Special Envoy for Climate Change with the U.S. State Department, said at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress early last week. Under the agreement, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 Testing of a new carbon capture solvent developed by Shell Cansolv has begun at the Technology Centre Mongstad’s amine test facility, TCM and Shell announced last week. Testing will be done utilizing exhaust gas from TCM’s Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant. Shell Cansolv’s capture technology is currently being […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 A cap and trade system as employed by Europe and parts of the U.S., is not feasible in China, leaving the regulators of China’s pilot cap and trade programs to find innovative ways to tailor a cap and trade system to fit their unique circumstances, researchers from Resources for […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 As the public comment period for the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants came to an end this week, several environmental and industry groups released their final comments on the proposed rule, raising questions on, among other things, the proposed timeline for the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 The U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change announced late last week that half of the £5 million in funding made available through phase four of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund competition will be reserved for carbon capture and storage projects. “The CCS element builds on the success of the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 Carbon capture and storage must continue to be acknowledged and incentives for the development and deployment of the technology must be present within the post-Kyoto global climate treaty planned to be signed next year in Paris, the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said in a document released last […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 The United States can reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, according to a report released last week by the Deep Decarbonizatrion Pathways Project (DDPP). The DDPP is led by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for Sustainable Development […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 Because of the many variables created by the flexibility of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, developing an accurate estimate of the costs of implementing the plan is extremely difficult, according researchers from the Electric Power Research Institute and Resources for the […]

Abby L. Harvey                  GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 NRG Energy has announced plans to cut its carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050 below a 2014 baseline by increasing the development and use of renewables and carbon capture and storage. “Our portfolio allows us to pursue everything from fuel conversions and carbon capture […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 A lawsuit challenging the Illinois Commerce Commission’s authority to require other state utilities to foot some of the bill for the costly FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage project will come before the Illinois Supreme Court, the court announced early this week. This appeal, as well as an appeal […]

GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY Engineering company Amec Foster Wheeler plc and Societe Générale Corporate & Investment Banking were selected last week as leading advisors for the development of the United Kingdom’s Teesside Industrial CCS Network. The network, which is being spearheaded by Tees Valley Unlimited, would initially consist of four Teesside plants; the […]

GHG Monitor 12/5/2014 An article in the Nov. 21 issue of GHG Monitor incorrectly stated that legislation recently proposed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) would institute a fee of 42 per ton of carbon emitted. The fee would be applied to carbon dioxide, not carbon. GHG Monitor regrets the error.  

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 Two lawsuits filed by Murray Energy challenging the legality of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal fired power plants have been combined, according to documents filed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit late last week. The suits were filed shortly […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency will not adjust their carbon emissions regulation for existing coal-fired power plants to meet the level of emissions reduction agreed to in the recent climate deal struck between the United States and China, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said at a breakfast hosted this week by […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 The U.S. energy market will change as a result of the proposed Environmental Protection Agency carbon emissions standards for existing coal-burning power plants, likely resulting in increased use of natural gas, according to an analysis released this week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Rhodium […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 While the United States cannot solve the problem of climate change alone, efforts being taken to reduce emissions domestically will be integral in securing a position as a world leader on the issue, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said during an event hosted this week by the Center […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 North America currently leads the world in terms of carbon capture and storage deployment, but globally, progress must be accelerated if climate goals are to be met, Global CCS Institute General Manager for the Americas Elizabeth Burton said during a webinar hosted by GCCSI this week. Progress needs to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 China’s relatively young coal fleet is likely to continue running well into the future, ensuring continued business for companies exporting coal to the country even in the wake of the climate agreement reached between the United States and China last week, according to industry and environmental officials. Under the […]

As is our annual practice, GHG Monitor will not publish next week in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The next regular issue will be in your inbox Dec. 5. The Weapons Complex Morning Briefing will continue to be published Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and we will issue bulletins should any major news break in the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 Companies using carbon capture and storage technologies would be eligible for a refund under the carbon fee proposed in a bill introduced by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I) this week. The “American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act” would put in place a carbon fee starting in 2015 at $42 per ton […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 Contrary to a popular myth, China has been working to combat climate change since long before its recently announced climate agreement with the United States, World Resources Institute Senior Associate Sarah Forbes said during an event hosted by the Unites States Energy Association this week. “This is myth that […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/21/2014 In the face of a veto threat from the White House, the House of Representatives this week passed two bills targeting the Environmental Protection Agency—one that would change the rules for who can sit on the EPA’s Independent Science Advisory Board and one that would require that all scientific […]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab to Play Role Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/14/2014 The United States and China will launch a new joint carbon capture, utilization and storage project in China as part of a new climate agreement announced this week. Relying in part on research from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the project will […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/14/2014 While coal will account for roughly 25 percent of the global energy mix in 2040, the United States’ reliance on the fuel will decrease by that time, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2014, released this week. “By 2040, the world’s energy supply mix divides into […]

Republicans Eye Appropriations Process, Other Maneuvers to Limit Action Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/14/2014 With Republicans taking full control of Congress in last week’s mid-term elections, measures to block some actions by the Environmental Protection Agency, including the EPA’s proposed emissions standards for new and existing power plants, will likely move forward, though it […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 11/14/2014 A Sierra Club challenge to the FutureGen 2.0 project under development in Meredosia, Ill., was thrown out by the Illinois Pollution Control Board late last week when a motion for summary judgment was issued in favor of the FutureGen Alliance. The Sierra Club had argued that the incorrect permit […]