IN THE INDUSTRY
Combined cycle natural gas power plants emit less than half the amount of carbon dioxide as coal power plants per unit of energy produced, according to a recent study from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists. The study, accepted for publication in Earth’s Future, also found that, “as a result of the increased use of natural gas, CO2 emissions from U.S. fossil-fuel power plants were 23 percent lower in 2012 than they would have been, if coal had continued to provide the same fraction of electric power as in 1997.” Moreover, the study said that natural gas power plants emit less NOx and SO2 than coal power plants per unit of energy produced. But the study cautions that “these benefits to air quality and climate should be weighed against the increase in emissions of methane, volatile organic compounds and other trace gases that are associated with the production, processing, storage and transport of natural gas.”
ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
The global carbon market may rise 15 percent to EUR 46bn in 2014 from last year, according to projections from Bloomberg New Energy Finance released last week. The expected boost to the carbon market is largely due to the European Union’s plan to backload the auctions of its carbon allowances, although it will still not be enough to raise the global market to levels on par with its all-time-high of EUR 98bn in 2011, BNEF’s report said. “As a result of backloading, Bloomberg New Energy Finance anticipates European carbon prices will rise by more than 50 percent to average EUR 7.5 per tonne this year, compared with just under EUR 5 per tonne today,” the report said. “The value of the carbon markets in North America is also likely to climb slightly in 2014, driven by an increase in the floor price in the California scheme, although systemic oversupply will keep trading activity at a relatively low level.”
The European Parliament adopted a report crafted by MEP Chris Davies on developing carbon capture and storage technology in the EU this week. According to the Zero Emissions Platform, the report identifies elements needed for advancing CCS and calls on the EU to conduct and analysis of a potential certificates system for long-term CCS funding. Davies said that CCS should play a large part in allowing the EU to meet its carbon emissions goals. “It can enable the continued operation of fossil power plants and is the only means of dealing with CO2 emissions from major industrial installations,” he said on the European Parliament website.
IN CONGRESS
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is leading an attempt to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule that would limit greenhouse gas emissions from new coal-fired power plants by filing a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to review and potentially overrule a regulation. “I—along with about 40 Republican cosponsors, including my friend and fellow Kentuckian Rand Paul—intend to file a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to ensure a vote to stop this devastating rule,” McConnell said from the Senate floor this week. “We believe the EPA regulation in question clearly meets the definition for congressional review under this statute, and I am sending a letter to Comptroller General Dorado outlining the reasons why this is so.”
