Publications: GHG Reduction Technologies Monitor

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/11/2015 Carbon captured from power generation or industrial sources can be injected into offshore geological storage formations in multiple sites safely if done correctly, according to a report released this week by Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS). “The results of CO2 MultiStore research have also highlighted how use of […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/11/2015 The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity came out swinging this week with the release of a video and memo alleging that the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized carbon emissions standards are a “dressed-up version of the unpopular ‘cap and trade’ legislation from five years ago with a new […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/11/2015 In hopes of accelerating deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, BHP Billiton and SaskPower this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreeing to share access to data, information and lessons learned at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam CCS project. The Boundary Dam project, which reached full operation in October […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/11/2015 The potential leakage of carbon dioxide into marine environments from sub-seabed storage locations could have significant effects on marine environments due to a decrease in viral production, according to a report published this week in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. “Our experiment provides evidence, for the first time, that […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/4/2015 Mississippi Power this week reported an additional $25 million in cost overages at the Kemper County Energy Facility in its monthly status report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The report, which tallies costs through July 2015, attributes the extra$25 million in the total project budget to “additional […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/4/2015 The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory this week announced the selection of eight projects to receive $24.7 million in combined funding for small- and large-scale pilot projects on reducing the cost of carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and compression. Funding will be provided through DOE’s Carbon Capture […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/4/2015 After more than 1,000 hours of operation at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, near Montreal, Québec, CO2 Solutions’ carbon capture demonstration project continues to perform as anticipated, the company reported this week. “The results to date have fully met our expectations, and we are confident that the experience gathered in this demonstration will […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/4/2015 Meeting the international goal of limiting global temperature rise to 2-degrees Celsius could result in $100 trillion in stranded assets in the form of unburnable fossil fuels, unless carbon capture and storage is adopted at a large-scale, according to a new report released by Citigroup last week. “The one […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 9/4/2015 The Australian government has made available $25 million AUS ($17.6 million USD) in funding for carbon transport and storage research, development, and demonstration projects. Grants under the Carbon Capture and Storage Research and Development Fund are available to industry and research organizations. “Just as we are using science to […]

GHG Monitor 9/4/2015 IN CONGRESS Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Rep. Tom Price (R-S.C.), traveled to Saskatchewan, Canada, last week to tour SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Unit 3 carbon capture utilization and storage project. The Boundary Dam plant, which came online in October 2014, is the world’s first commercial-scale post-combustion coal-fired […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 BILLINGS, Mont. —The ability to put captured carbon to viable and valuable use is integral to the success of carbon capture utilization and storage efforts, representatives from the national and state governments as well as industry said here this week at the U.S. -China Clean Coal Industry Forum. Treating […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 An emergency temporary 18 percent rate increase for Mississippi Power Co. (MPC) approved by the Mississippi Public Service Commission on Aug. 13 faces an immediate challenge in the form of petition to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The petition from a local businessman asserts the new emergency rate increase is […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 The Department of Energy’s Office of the Inspector General has investigated allegations of misuse of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage program by project subrecipient Air Liquide. The IG “received a complaint alleging that a Project subrecipient had misused funds in […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 BILLINGS, Mont. —The U.S. and China this week initiated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signifying the countries’ intent to continued collaboration on development of clean coal technology. Assistant Energy Secretary for Fossil Energy Christopher Smith and Vice Administrator Shi Yubo of China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) initialed the MOU, […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 BILLINGS, Mont. — The greatest obstacle standing to large-scale adoption of carbon capture utilization and storage is not technical readiness, but a need for more investment toward deploying the technology to drive project costs down, a senior Department of Energy official said here this week. “Financing is the main […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 The Environmental Protection Agency, in drafting the final version of its carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants made changes so significant that some argue the agency has put itself in a precarious situation. “The final rule may well be more vulnerable, but careful analysis will need to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 It is unlikely any new coal-fired power plants will be built under the Environmental Protection Agency’s recently finalized New Source Performance Standards, which mandate the use of partial carbon capture and storage on any such facilities. While the reason for the hard stop in coal development is debated, with […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced tens of millions of dollars in funding for crosscutting research, carbon storage, and transformational carbon capture technologies. Funding is being provided through DOE and National Energy Technology Laboratory funding programs. Twelve projects have been awarded funding through the NETL’s Crosscutting Research Program’s […]

GHG Monitor 8/28/2015 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT In its recently submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Australia has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The INDCs are public commitments made by countries stating what they intend to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Following the release of a more stringent final version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon pollution standards for coal-fired power plants, the United States has been hailed a leader in efforts to combat climate change. In a meeting with President Barack Obama following the release of the final Clean […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 A proposed federal implementation plan (FIP), taking the form of a market-based system, was released this week alongside the Environmental Protection Agency’s final carbon emission standards for existing coal-fired power plants, giving states threatening noncompliance the first look at what their future might hold. The proposed FIP would be […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Despite their best efforts, Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works were unable to keep Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s (R-W.Va.) “Affordable Reliable Electricity Now Act” (ARENA) from being reported out of committee this week. The bill would repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly finalized carbon emissions […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 As states begin to wade through the final version of the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, announced early this week, initial reactions range from cautious optimism to stark disappointment. The rule, dubbed the “Clean Power Plan,” requires states to develop action plans to […]

As is our annual practice, GHG Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 28. We will issue a Special Bulletin should any major news break in the interim.

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Within the Environmental Protection Agency’s final New Source Performance Standards for new-build coal-fired power plants, the agency has introduced a process through which projects utilizing captured carbon for reuse in innovative ways may apply for recognition as a means for carbon storage. “The EPA recognizes that potential alternatives to […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 While the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology is an international goal, what path is taken to reach large-scale deployment in different areas is very much dependent on regional drivers, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency this week. The report notes that varying circumstances […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 8/7/2015 Carbon capture and storage alone will not be enough to keep global temperatures from exceeding the internationally recognized 2-degree Celsius limit, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications. ”We find that negative emissions are required at significant levels (that is, 41 [gigatonnes of carbon] […]