Publications: GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor

GHG Monitor 9/12/2014 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT China intends to implement a nationwide carbon trading scheme in 2016, Reuters reported early last week. The country has been launching pilot markets in a regional structure for several years and will implement knowledge gained from those experiences into the national market. Once in place, the market would […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 The Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy is seeking information regarding advanced post-combustion carbon capture technologies that are ready to be tested at a large pilot scale, according to a request for information issued early this week. Information obtained in response to the RFI will be used in […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy stressed this week the importance of the agency’s proposed carbon emissions regulations for existing coal fired power plants while the proposed regulations continue to come under fire from lawmakers and a coalition of attorneys general from a number of states. The proposed regulations […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that four Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) permits have been issued to the FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and sequestration project. The permits, which will allow the FutureGen Alliance to construct and operate four wells to inject carbon dioxide into the Illinois […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 While capturing carbon is the most expensive part of the carbon capture and storage process, carbon storage takes the longest to implement and is not on track for a large-scale deployment of CCS technology, Stefan Bachu, Distinguished Scientist at Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures, said during a presentation at […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 A three-year project being carried out by the National Energy Technology Laboratory to determine and test the capability of FuelCell Energy’s Direct FuelCell (DFC) carbon capture technology has moved into the third and final phase, FuelCell Energy announced late last week. The technology has the potential to significantly increase […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 More than three years after submitting applications for two Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) permits, Archer Daniels Midland is expecting approval by the year’s end. The permits would allow the construction and operation of two wells for the injection of carbon dioxide more than 5,000 feet underground into […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 The United Kingdom’s Liberal Democrat party is looking to enact a ban on electricity production from unabated coal as one of five “green laws” to be included in the party’s manifesto, according to information released this week. Key measures of the “Zero Carbon Britain Bill” would include “introducing a […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 In-depth research into carbon capture and sequestration will take place at the University of Melbourne in Australia over the next five years under an $18 million contract between the university and the Cooperative Research Centre on Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) the centre announced this week. The contract will cover […]

GHG Monitor 9/5/2014 IN CONGRESS The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power is scheduled to hold a hearing next week on the impact on states of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants. The hearing will be held Sept. 9 at 10 a.m. in Room 2123 […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 Drilling to further explore the potential for underground storage of carbon dioxide in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia is on track to begin this fall, Carl Poirier, President and CEO of the Carbon Capture and Storage Research Consortium of Nova Scotia, told GHG Monitor this week. The proposed […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 The Industrial Technology Research Institute has developed a technology capable of using calcium as an absorbent in the carbon capture process. The High Efficiency Calcium Looping Technology (HECLOT) is inexpensive and efficient, according to a fact sheet provided to GHG Monitor by ITRI this week. According to the fact […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 Work on the Quest CCS project in the Canadian province of Alberta is now 70 percent complete, with the last of the project’s 69 modules recently put in place, Shell Canada announced this week. Further, the project remains on schedule and on budget, a feat that can be attributed […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 U.K.  Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey called for increased commitment to development of carbon capture and storage technology in a policy scoping document released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change earlier this month. “The U.K. is leading Europe in developing CCS technology, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 The World Bank posted a tender late last week calling for consultants to explore the development of a regulatory framework for carbon capture utilization and storage in Mexico. Consultants are asked to submit an expression of interest by Sept. 4 providing information relevant to their qualifications. This information should […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 A sharp increase to the social cost of carbon estimate developed by an interagency working group has been attributed to updated academic models and new scientific data, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released this week. The GAO was asked by House Republicans to look into the […]

GHG Monitor 8/29/2014 IN DOE The National Coal Council, a federal advisory committee to the Secretary of Energy, announced this week that the council’s fall meeting will be held Oct. 16 from 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at the Gaylord National Resort, located at the National Harbor in Oxen Hill, Md. Speakers at the meeting will include […]

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 […]

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 […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 The provincial government of Nova Scotia announced late last week that an industrial approval permit will now be required for all carbon capture and storage projects within the province. The move is the first attempt by the government of Nova Scotia to regulate the practice as currently no activity […]

GHG Monitor 8/22/2014 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT A contract to supply pipe to transport carbon for the Abu Dhabi Carbon Capture and Sequestration Project was awarded to TMK Gulf International Pipe Industry (GIPI) early this week according to a TMK GIPI release. The project is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company […]