Publications: GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 Southern Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese state-owned mining and energy company Shenhua Group to share research relative to technologies being used at its Kemper County Energy Facility in Mississippi. Kemper has been touted as a beacon in the clean coal community due, in large part, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 While the development of a full-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration facility at Mongstad was cancelled by the Norwegian government last September, research continues at the Technology Centre Mongstad, with plans for further expansion in the near future, Tore Amundsen, CEO of Gassnova said during a briefing at the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 The Australian government late this week issued a white paper outlining a new approach to addressing climate change—the Direct Action Plan—that would include a proposed Emissions Reduction Fund. The proposed ERF will work in a series of “reverse auctions” in which companies will be paid to volunteer to reduce […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 The Department of Energy this week released the long-awaited draft Request for Proposals for the Mission Execution and Strategic Analysis (MESA) contract at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which combines three previously separate support contracts into a single small business set-aside contract. The draft RFP envisions a three-year contract with […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 4/25/2014 Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said this week that the Department of Energy expects to close loan guarantees on fossil, nuclear, renewable and efficiency projects this year, with a particular emphasis on fossil energy proposals submitted under an $8 billion loan guarantee solicitation earlier this year. “As we go forward […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/25/2014   IN THE STATES Environmental officials from 13 states, along with industry officials, met with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week at an Energy-Producing States Summit held at Bismarck State College National Energy Center of Excellence in North Dakota. The meeting occurred as the EPA is […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 Pennsylvania environmental regulators are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to give states greater flexibility when the EPA develops carbon dioxide regulations for existing power plants. This week, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a white paper with suggestions for the Clean Air Act Section 111(d) proposal the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 The European Investment Bank has completed the second and final round of emissions allowance sales under the New Entrants Reserve (NER) 300 program, reportedly raising approximately €548 million from the sale of 100 million allowances. The first 200 million allowances were sold from 2011 to 2012 and generated €1.5 […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 Husky Energy and CO2 Solutions have entered into a collaborative agreement to install and operate a pilot unit that will employ CO2 Solution’s carbonic anhydrase enzyme-enabled carbon capture technology at Husky’s Pikes Peak South, Saskatchewan heavy oil site. The technology, which utilizes modified carbonic anhydrase enzymes in place of […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 Mantra Energy is on track to have an operational electrochemical reduction pilot plant at a Lafarge cement facility in Richmond, British Colombia, by the end of the year. The plant will utilize Mantra ERC technologies to convert CO2 emissions from the Lafarge cement kiln into salable chemicals such as […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 Michigan companies conducting enhanced oil recovery will benefit from a lower severance rate under House Bill 4885, signed by Lt. Governor Brian Calley April 1 at Western Michigan University’s Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education. Under the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) EOR projects will […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 The Canadian province of Saskatchewan will provide $400,000 in funding to the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, supplementing a $1.5 million grant awarded to the center by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy’s Carbon Storage Program. The funding supports the center’s Saskatchewan CO2 Oilfield Use for Storage […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on a proposed Class VI Underground Injection Control permit for a carbon sequestration injection well in Decatur, Ill. The well, which would be operated by Archer Daniels Midland, would store carbon captured during the production of ethanol at the company’s facility […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/18/2014 IN EPA The Environmental Protection Agency this week released five technical papers for peer review as part of the Obama Administration’s plans to reduce methane emissions. The five papers cover compressors, emissions from completions and ongoing production of hydraulically fractured oil wells, leaks, liquids unloading and pneumatic devices. The […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/21/2014 A broad array of industry groups and state officials have weighed in on the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft guidance for when operators must transition from Class II wells—in which CO2 is injected for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery—to Class VI wells—in which CO2 is injected for the purpose of […]

The following interview with Olav Falk-Pedersen, Business Development Manager at Technology Centre Mongstad, was conducted by ExchangeMonitor Publisher Ed Helminiski. Olav, there are a lot of changes going on at TCM.  What’s the status now and what do you see as the number one priority? Let me first just briefly go over what we have […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/21/2014 Rio Tinto Chief Executive Officer Harry Kenyon-Slaney emphasized the company’s broad support for carbon capture and storage technology in a speech in Sydney, Australia, this week, calling government support for CCS essential and highlighting the key role coal will play in baseload power generation for the foreseeable future. Citing International […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/21/2014 Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy Chris Smith will appear before House appropriators next week to discuss the FY 2015 budget request. Smith, whose nomination is pending in the Senate, will appear alongside DOE officials in charge of the nuclear, renewable energy and electricity delivery programs at the […]

Jeremy L. Dillon GHG Monitor 3/21/2014 The Natural Resources Defense Council’s proposed plan on how to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants can potentially achieve even greater reductions for a lesser cost than previously thought, according to the NRDC’s updated analysis released this week. The NRDC had originally proposed a plan in 2012 that […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/21/2014 The Illinois Commerce Commission will hold a public hearing next week to hear comment on the FutureGen Alliance’s 30-mile carbon dioxide pipeline for its proposed carbon capture and storage project. The March 27 hearing, which will be held in Jacksonville, Ill., follows the Commerce Commission’s approval of a certificate to […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/14/2014 A bill directing state regulators to develop a plan for coal-fired power plants to meet potential Environmental Protection Agency emissions rules without switching to natural gas or implementing carbon capture and storage technology was approved by the Kentucky legislature this week and now awaits Gov. Steve Beshear’s signature. The bill, […]

Martin Schneider GHG Monitor 3/21/2014 A delegation of senior Chinese officials traveled to Washington this week for bilateral meetings with Obama Administration officials on climate change and other environmental issues, the State Department said this week. The meeting, chaired by U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern and Vice Chairman Xie Zhenhua of the […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 The Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory last week issued a Request for Information seeking research on challenges related to subsurface engineering. Such information is desired due to its potential application in advancing research of the storage of energy, CO2 and nuclear waste. NETL may use information submitted […]

GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 IN THE INDUSTRY FutureGen 2.0 continues to make progress, having received approval on the pipeline to its storage site. The 30-mile underground pipeline which will carry CO2 to a storage site in Morgan County, Ill. received approval from the Illinois Commerce Commission Tuesday evening. The approval is contingent on the final federal […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 If another polar vortex were to hit while the nation’s coal fleet is under strict Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the energy system will not be able to meet increased demands, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) said Monday  “There are a lot of people on the lower end of the socio-economic […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received more than one million comments on the proposed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) at the close of the comment period last Friday, as stakeholders weighed in on number of issues including the current viability of carbon capture and storage technology. Comments, both positive […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 To help ensure the future of coal in the U.S. energy mix, incentives are a better approach to driving carbon capture and sequestration development rather than increased regulation, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said at a forum hosted by the Global CCS Institute (GCCSI) and the Atlantic Council this week. […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 Carbon capture and sequestration technology could be “turn-key” ready for power plants by 2030, if the United States is able to overcome the challenges posed by the current lack of large-scale CCS projects, which has hindered the adoption of the technology in recent years, Julio Friedmann, Deputy Assistant Secretary […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 The current status of the nation’s coal fleet is not optimal for a large scale deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, the National Coal Council reported at its meeting this week. The council approved a new report, Reliable & Resilient: The Value of Our Existing Coal Fleet, which […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 5/16/2014 Due to arguments over the addition of several amendments dealing with, among other issues, the U.S. Environmental Agency’s proposed New Source Performance Standards by Senate Republicans, a bipartisan energy efficiency bill died on the Senate floor Monday. Republicans should have been willing to sacrifice the amendments for a vote […]