President Joe Biden’s administration is proposing emissions-reduction standards for fossil-fueled power plants that could require the plants to be equipped with carbon capture technology.
This follows the current government’s policies to tighten environmental safeguards in the energy supply chain, as well as promote renewables, to curb emissions of planet-warming gases and achieve a net zero economy by 2050.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a press release Thursday that its new proposal can prevent up to 617 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere by 2042, “the which is equivalent to reducing the annual emissions of 137 million passenger vehicles.” , about half of the cars in the United States”.
The proposed regulation, which has not yet been submitted to stakeholders for consultation, would require power plant operators to deploy carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) solutions and allow hydrogen co-firing, which is considered to have a smaller climate footprint.
“EPA’s proposal builds on proven and readily available technologies to limit carbon pollution and builds on the momentum already underway in the electricity sector to move toward a cleaner future,” the administrator said of EPA Michael Regan in the announcement.
The agency added, “EPA’s analysis found that electric utilities can implement the standards with negligible impact on electricity prices, within the range of historical fluctuations.”
EPA plans to enforce the proposal by 2030.
Performance standards
Part of the proposal is revised new source performance standards for gas-fired stationary combustion turbine power plants and coal-fired steam generating facilities.
The EPA wants gas stations to use low-emission fuels such as natural gas, distilled petroleum and hydrogen; directly capture and sequester their emissions; and operates on highly efficient generation technology.
“It should be noted that the use of highly efficient generation is a logical complement to both CCS and low GHG co-commissioning. [greenhouse gas] hydrogen because, both from an economic and emissions point of view, this configuration will provide the greatest reductions at the lowest cost”, stated a version prior to the publication of the proposal.
For coal-fired steam plants, EPA proposes co-firing CCS and natural gas.
“EPA is proposing that for units that expect to operate in the long term (ie, those that plan to operate after December 31, 2039), the BSER [best system of emissions reduction] is the use of CCS with 90 percent CO2 capture [carbon dioxide] with an associated degree of emission limitation of an 88.4 percent emission rate reduction (lb CO2/MWh-gross basis),” the pre-publication version said.
For coal-fired steam plants that continue to operate after 2031 but permanently cease operation before 2040, “EPA proposes that the BSER co-commit 40 percent of natural gas based on the input of heat with an associated degree of emission limitation of a 16 percent reduction in emission rate (lb CO2/MWh-gross basis)”.
The BSER for those permanently closing before 2032 would be “routine methods of operation and maintenance with an associated degree of emission limitation without an increase in the emission rate (lb CO2/MWh-gross basis)”.
Pollution control
In addition to reducing GHGs, the proposal also aims to avoid pollutants that endanger people’s health and the environment.
“The proposals would also result in the reduction of tens of thousands of tonnes of particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, harmful air pollutants known to endanger people’s health, particularly in communities that for too long have disproportionately borne the burden of high pollution and environmental injustice,” the EPA said in Thursday’s news release.
He said that by 2030 alone the proposal could prevent about 1,300 premature deaths, more than 300,000 cases of asthma attacks and 66,000 lost working days.
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