March 17, 2014

WRAP UP

By ExchangeMonitor

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
10/11/13

IN CONGRESS

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unanimously approved Elizabeth Robinson’s nomination to be Under Secretary of Energy for Management and Performance by voice vote during a meeting this week. Robinson had breezed through her confirmation hearing before the panel last month. The Under Secretary position, created as part of a DOE reorganization effort announced in July, oversees the Department’s offices of Environmental Management and Legacy Management, as well as several other support offices. Robinson currently serves as NASA’s Chief Financial Officer, and has also previously held positions at the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office, among others.

IN THE STATES

The Kansas Supreme Court unanimously rejected the air permit issued to the proposed Sunflower coal plant late last week. The ruling invalidated the pollution permit granted to Sunflower Electric Power Corp. by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in December 2010 for an 895 MW coal plant planned for Holcomb, Kan. The justices argued that the Department failed to adequately require the plant to adhere to stricter emissions standards finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency before the permit was issued. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment must now reconsider Sunflower’s permit and take into account all current air pollution regulations finalized since its initial assessment of the project. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, which both strongly opposed the project, said the ruling is enough to effectively kill the $3 billion Sunflower project. “With new standards in effect since the project was first proposed, the likelihood of the expansion plant legally meeting those standards or finding financial backing for unneeded coal-fired generation are dim,” Earthjustice said in a release. Sunflower officials vowed to continue with the project in a statement.

New Jersey lawmakers are considering rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Bloomberg reported this week. The news organization said the New Jersey State Assembly’s Telecommunication and Utilities Committee heard arguments Oct. 10 about rejoining the regional cap-and-trade scheme. New Jersey was one of 10 Northeast states to initially join RGGI when it was established in 2005. However, Republican Gov. Chris Christie pulled the state from the program in November 2011, arguing that the scheme did not reduce emissions and gave New Jersey a competitive disadvantage compared to neighbor Pennsylvania, which is not a member of RGGI. Christie, who is running for reelection next month, has vetoed two bills in recent years that would have forced the state to rejoin RGGI. Environmental groups also sued the state of New Jersey last year aimed at compelling the state to rejoin. RGGI Inc., the company that oversees the cap-and-trade scheme, recently announced plans to tighten its emissions cap 45 percent by next year.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Mississippi Power said it has successfully synchronized the steam turbine generator at its Kemper County facility to the electric grid over the weekend. “While commissioning activities and equipment testing will continue in the combined cycle portion of the plant, this milestone signals the readiness of the steam turbine to power the generator and produce electricity,” the utility said in a release. The Southern Company subsidiary said that 6,000 construction workers remain onsite in eastern Mississippi as startup activities continue on the new-build 582 MW integrated gasification combined cycle plant. The news comes a week after the utility announced that construction on Kemper is behind schedule and that it would not be able to achieve Kemper’s planned in-service date in May 2014. Mississippi Power attributed the delay to “abnormally wet weather and lower-than-planned construction labor productivity.”

The Sierra Club said this week that 150 coal plants have been announced for retirement nationwide since 2010. The environmental group’s Beyond Coal Campaign celebrated this week’s announcement that the Brayton Point Power Station in Massachusetts would be mothballed in mid-2017. “By moving our country off of dirty, dangerous coal, we are creating new opportunities for clean energy and thousands of new American jobs to protect workers and public health,” Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said in a statement. The announcement brings the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign one step closer to its goal of shuttering one-third of the country’s coal plants by the end of the decade. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity quickly slammed the Sierra Club for celebrating the news. “Sierra Club’s celebration of its 150th coal plant retirement is akin to partying at the funeral of the families and communities whose livelihoods have been devastated by these plant closures,” Senior Vice President of Communications Laura Sheehan said in a statement.

Eileen Claussen, the longtime president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (formerly the Pew Center on Climate Change), announced plans this week to step down after 15 years at the organization’s helm. A former Assistant Secretary of State and a high-ranking official at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Security Council, Claussen co-founded and led C2ES since its inception. “But after 15 years as president, I feel it’s time to step aside,” Claussen said in a statement. “I’ll be pursuing new endeavors, such as teaching and consulting.” Claussen said she plans to remain involved with C2ES even after she steps down and that she plans to continue as head of the group until a successor is named during the first quarter of 2014. Last year, C2ES notably led efforts to incentivize CO2 enhanced oil recovery under the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

The European Investment Bank announced plans this week to begin selling CO2 allowances to fund carbon capture and renewable energy technologies under the second round of the New Entrants Reserve (NER 300) clean energy competition. The bank said it would commence gradually selling off the 100 million in set-aside emissions credits on the European Union’s Emissions Trading System in mid-November. NER’s first tranche of 200 million CO2 credits awarded €1.2 billion ($1.62 billion) to 23 renewable energy projects and no money to large-scale CCS projects. Only one CCS demonstration project was submitted to compete under NER’s second round. It will be competing against 32 ‘innovative renewables’ projects. The European Investment Bank said awards will likely be made to projects in mid-2014. Credits are currently trading at roughly €4.80 ($6.50) each.

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March 17, 2014

WRAP UP

By ExchangeMonitor

Tamar Hallerman and Mike Nartker
GHG Monitor
10/18/13

IN DOE

Bradley Crowell was confirmed by the Senate late this week to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Crowell, who was nominated to the position last month, previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Senate Affairs. Prior to joining DOE, he served as Senior Policy Advisor to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) from 2007 to 2010. “Brad’s deep experience with Congress and expertise in outreach on the Department’s behalf make him more than qualified for this role. I am personally grateful for his stewardship of my nomination, and I am confident that he will lead the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs with distinction,” Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said in a release. “I thank the Senate for its quick confirmation of Assistant Secretary Crowell, who will help promote the Department’s goals by working with our stakeholders in Congress and across the country.”

IN THE STATES

The organization that operates the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative appears to be in talks with five states to join the nine-member cap-and-trade scheme. Point Carbon reported late last week that officials from RGGI Inc. are in talks with the still unidentified states in a move that, if finalized, could lead to 30 percent of the country’s states being covered under the cap-and-trade system, the country’s oldest. The news outlet quoted Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell, who said that the states are considering joining RGGI in order to get a head start on complying with upcoming EPA standards for new and existing power plants. “What these states are interested in seeing is what the federal rule will look like and the degree to which it will give credit to RGGI states,” Kimmell reportedly said at a conference in Brussels last week. Reports last week indicated that New Jersey, one of RGGI’s original 10 members that dropped out in 2011, is considering rejoining the scheme, although it’s unclear whether that is one of the five states talking with RGGI Inc.

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March 17, 2014

WRAP UP

By ExchangeMonitor

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
10/25/13

IN THE EPA

Emissions from power plants have decreased 10 percent since 2010, according to new data released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency. Figures from the agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which collects greenhouse gas emissions data annually from more than 8,000 of the country’s largest industrial emitters, indicate that fuel switching from coal to natural gas in the electricity generation sector was what spearheaded the greenhouse gas reductions. A slight decrease in electricity production in 2012 also helped account for the drop off, according to the EPA.

IN THE INDUSTRY

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell 3.8 percent in 2012 to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years, according to new data released this week by the Energy Information Administration. The data analysis arm of the Department of Energy said the drop is due in part to utility coal-to-gas fuel switching, more renewable energy capacity coming online and milder weather last year leading to lower residential sector electricity consumption. Last year’s emissions level is 12 percent below the 2007 peak, according to the data.

M. Granger Morgan, the head of Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy, is stepping down. Morgan has worked at the Pittsburgh university since 1974 and has written extensively about carbon capture and storage and other climate-related issues. He currently serves as Chair of the Scientific and Technical Council for the International Risk Governance Council and was until recently head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board. A departmental committee is searching for Morgan’s successor and is currently accepting applications.

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March 17, 2014

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By ExchangeMonitor

IN DOE

The Obama Administration this week nominated two individuals to fill senior-level management positions at the Department of Energy. Joseph Hezir has been tapped to serve as DOE’s Chief Financial Officer. He currently serves as a Research Engineer and the Executive Director of The Future of Solar Energy Study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative. Since 1992, Hezir has also been the Vice President and Managing Partner of EOP Group, Inc. as well as Executive Vice President of EOP Education, LLC and EOP Foundation, Inc, according to a White House release. Jonathan Elkind has been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs position. Elkind currently serves as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in DOE’s Office of Policy and International Affairs. From 2006 to 2009, Elkind was a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with The Brookings Institution. From 2002 to 2009, he was a Principal with Eastlink Consulting, LLC, according to the White House.

Michael Goo has joined the Department of Energy as a Senior Advisor in the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis. Goo previously served as Associate Administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Policy. In his new role at DOE, Goo will “work on the Quadrennial Energy Review, the first ever integrated plan for energy infrastructure, and special projects for the Secretary’s new policy shop,” OEPSA Director Melanie Kenderdine said in a statement this week.

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz this week announced three new members of the leadership team of DOE’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. Christopher Davis, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs, will serve as acting Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs. For Intergovernmental and External Affairs, DOE has brought on Alice Madden as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. She comes from the University of Colorado, and was formerly the Colorado State House Majority Leader. DOE also has brought on Jaime Shimek as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Senate Affairs. Shimek was previously Senior Policy Advisor for Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

IN THE INDUSTRY

Advanced Emissions Solutions announced last week that it has won two Department of Energy research contracts intended to help the company further development of carbon capture technologies for coal-fired power plants. The contracts were awarded to one of the company’s subsidiaries, ADA-ES, Inc., and have a combined value of $1.6 million. They are for a program “focused on reducing operating costs of a carbon capture plant based on ADA’s technology by managing energy demands and recovering heat from other processes” and for a program to evaluate a sorbent made with aerogels, a material that has significantly different thermal properties than other sorbents. Both programs are designed to enhance the energy efficiency of the carbon capture process, according to a company release.

A group of business and investor associations representing the energy, finance, commerce and a number of other sectors sent an open letter to European Commission President Jose Barroso calling for “a clear carbon price signal” last week. “A clear carbon price signal and long-term visibility are essential to drive investments and growth,” the letter said. “We therefore call on the Commission to bring forward draft legislation for [Emissions Trading Scheme] structural reform by the end of the year, in order that the EU-ETS can deliver in line with the EU’s long-term decarbonisation goal and remains a central climate policy instrument.” Signatories to the letter included Carbon Capture and Storage Association, Climate Change Capital, Danish Energy Association, Deutsche Telekom, Energy UK, EUTurbines, Schneider Electric, Shell, Zero Emissions Platform and others. European lawmakers narrowly rejected a plan that would have propped up the European Union’s rapidly nose-diving Emissions Trading System (ETS) in April. The European Parliament voted to reject a proposal that would have temporarily removed 900 million carbon allowances from the ETS in order to boost the carbon market’s prices in the near term.

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March 17, 2014

WRAP UP

By ExchangeMonitor

IN DOE

The Obama Administration nominated Ellen Williams this week to serve as director of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. Williams currently serves as chief scientist for BP, and is on a leave of absence from the University of Maryland where she has served as a distinguished university professor in the Department of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology since 2000, according to a White House release. She is also the founder and former director of University of Maryland’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

President Barack Obama this week hailed his top energy and climate adviser Heather Zichal, who is stepping down to move to the private sector. Obama commended Zichal’s service, saying she “has been a strong and steady voice for policies that reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, protect public health and our environment, and combat the threat of global climate change. Heather has overseen some of our biggest achievements in energy and climate change, including establishing historic new fuel economy standards that save consumers money, reducing mercury pollution from power plants to keep our kids safe, supporting the growth of homegrown clean energy that creates good new jobs, and enacting my Climate Action Plan that will help us leave a safer planet for our children.”

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March 17, 2014

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By ExchangeMonitor

The White House this week nominated two to serve in the Department of Energy’s top science positions. Franklin Orr has been nominated to serve as under secretary for Science and Energy. He is currently the director of the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University, and has been an associate professor and professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering since 1985. From 2002 to 2008, Orr served as the director of the Global Climate and Energy Project at Stanford. Marc Kastner has been nominated to serve as director of DOE’s Office of Science. Kastner is the dean of the School of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a position he has held since 2007. Previously, Kastner was the department head of the MIT Department of Physics from 1998 to 2007.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

In a communiqué released at the conclusion of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum’s ministerial meeting last week, ministers and other heads of delegations of CSLF member countries affirmed that CCS is indispensible in the response to climate change. “We are convinced that the demonstration and global deployment of carbon capture and storage must be accelerated and we are committed to taking necessary actions individually and collaboratively to make this happen,” the communiqué said. The officials outlined seven key actions for CCS deployment, including developing predictable financial frameworks and incentive mechanisms, developing workable CCS demonstration and deployment strategies, stressing the importance of global coordinated efforts on CCS R&D, establishing permitting frameworks, recognizing the need for pre-commercial storage validation, strengthening efforts to improve public understanding of CCS and supporting efforts to grow capacity in CCS.

DeTeam Company Limited, a company engaged in coal upgrading in China and elsewhere, said this week that two of its subsidiaries have signed a contract for the “construction and operation of production facilities for the upgrading of low-rank coal” in Xilinhaote City in Inner Mongolia. DeTeam estimated that the facility would be capable of processing 3 million tons of low-rank coal and 2 million tons of clean coal each year. It put the cost of the project at RMB 458.85 million and projected that construction would be complete before October 2014.

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March 17, 2014

WRAP UP

By ExchangeMonitor

IN THE NATION

Colorado proposed new rules this week that aim to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations, making it the first state to require “leak detection from tanks, pipelines and other drilling and production processes,” according to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office. The proposed rules would require monthly inspections of large emissions sources, an “aggressive timeline” for repairing leaks, “leak detection and repair of storage tanks, at well-site production facilities and at compressor stations,” and “requirements for detection and repair of leaks of a wide variety of hydrocarbons, including VOCs and methane.” The proposed rules were developed with help from the Environmental Defense Fund and various energy companies.

IN THE INDUSTRY

About two-thirds of Americans favored giving tax breaks to companies that deploy carbon capture and storage technology between 2010 and 2012, a new study from the Stanford Political Psychology Research Group found. The survey, released last week, looked at public support for various policy measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and found that support for CCS tax breaks has remained fairly constant at just below 65 percent since 2010. In contrast, public support for tax breaks for renewables was about 70 percent in 2012, and support for tax breaks to build nuclear power plants was at about 40 percent in 2012—with support for both forms of tax breaks falling since 2009. Respondents also strongly supported policies to limit the emissions produced by utilities during electricity generation, with 78 percent supporting such limits in mid-2012.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance projected this week that the California Emissions Trading Scheme may run a greater surplus than originally thought, with emissions coming in 7 percent below the cap expected in 2015 and not going into a deficit until the end of the decade. BNEF’s projection was based on its analysis of figures released from the California Air Resources Board earlier this month that double-counted raw CO2 emissions data due to the way it reports emissions for natural gas suppliers and gas burned in power generation, finding that emissions rose 2 percent between 2011 and 2012. Rather, BNEF said like-for-like carbon emissions actually remained flat. “Flat or falling emissions shows that the Californian carbon market will remain in a state of substantial oversupply throughout the decade,” William Nelson, senior analyst at BNEF, said. “A link with Quebec will help the situation as the Quebec scheme will be in deficit much earlier, but its smaller size means the California scheme will still be in surplus for many years.”

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March 17, 2014

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By ExchangeMonitor

IN THE INDUSTRY

Hitachi recently announced it has begun construction on a Carbon Capture Test Facility that will capture carbon emissions from SaskPower’s Shand Power Station (298MW) near Estevan, Saskatchewan in Canada. Using a chemical scrubbing method with an amine-based absorbent, Hitachi said the test facility will be able to capture 120 tons of CO2 per day from the power station’s flue gas, and the company said it is producing and supplying its CO2 capture solvent and the main equipment for the facility while two of its subsidiaries will be in charge of production and supply. “Through this demonstration project with SaskPower, Hitachi will focus on achieving commercial operations, reducing costs, realizing innovative technologies and will contribute to the realization of a low-carbon society,” Hitachi said.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

Carbon credits used in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme fell 9.4 percent in November, according to a report from Reuters, apparently due to an “influx of government permits” that depressed the market. The news outlet reported that although lawmakers have plans to cut supply, they were unable to do so quickly enough and the December 2013 EU Allowance ended Nov. 29 at 4.36 euros on ICE, down 51 cents “month-on-month.” “Analysts forecast carbon prices will eventually reach double figures due to backloading, but don’t expect the start of any withdrawal of permits from auction schedules until the middle of next year,” Reuters reported.

The Energy Institute published a report analyzing the hazards of offshore carbon capture platforms and offshore pipelines and potential solutions and mitigation techniques last week. “The model looked at different rupture scenarios, using a process hazard analysis software tool which provided initial indications as to where the zones of lethality might exist in a given event,” said EI’s Carbon Capture and Storage Committee Chairman Andy Brown. “The good news is that known and tested mitigation techniques can be applied offshore.” The report both covers existing knowledge on pipeline and offshore facility design and operations and also identifies areas of uncertainty.

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, announced this week that she plans to resign, effective in February. Sutley has held her post as environmental council chair since 2009, and helped to craft President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. “Under her leadership, federal agencies are meeting the goals I set for them at the beginning of the administration by using less energy, reducing pollution and saving taxpayer dollars,” Obama said in a statement. “Her efforts have made it clear that a healthy environment and a strong economy aren’t mutually exclusive—they can go hand in hand. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.” Sutley’s resignation follows the departure of Obama’s top climate policy adviser, Heather Zichal, who left her post as climate and energy aide last month.

IN DOE

The National Coal Council will be renewed for an additional two years, according to a notice published in the Federal Register last week. The NCC is a federal advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy that provides advice and guidance on policies that affect coal-related issues, and its renewal was determined to be “essential to conduct business of the Department of Energy,” the notice said.

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March 17, 2014

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By ExchangeMonitor

IN CONGRESS

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources did not consider Chris Smith’s nomination as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy as originally planned this week. The committee said it rather intends to delay the meeting until Dec. 17, when it is then expected to consider Smith’s nomination.

IN THE EPA

Close to 100 organizations concerned about the environment urged the Environmental Protection Agency to “produce regulations to directly reduce methane pollution from new and existing equipment” from the oil and gas industry in a letter sent to the agency Dec. 5. Although the EPA updated its volatile organic compound performance standards for the industry in 2012, the letter argues that emission sources such as a network of equipment installed before the rules went into effect have not been adequately addressed. The letter notes that the oil and gas industry “leaked or released approximately 8.4 million metric tons of methane in 2011, comparable to the CO2 emissions of at least 60 coal-fired power plants.”

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

Legislators in the UK rejected a measure that would have limited carbon emissions from old coal-fired power plants in the country by applying the Emissions Performance Standards to the old plants unless they were retrofitted with carbon capture and storage technology, according to a report from the BBC. The amendment was voted down by MPs in the House of Commons 318-236, but will go back to the House of Lords where it will possibly be reworked. Energy Minister Michael Fallon had argued that the measure would have accelerated coal power plant closures and would not speed up plant openings, according to the BBC.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies held a presentation on Climatescope 2013, a report and interactive online tool that profiles the clean energy market and investment conditions in Latin America and the Caribbean, at an event last week. Climatescope 2013, which was released in October and is sponsored by the Multilateral Investment Fund and Bloomberg New Energy Finance, found that region is “accounting for a rising share of global clean energy investment as governments in the region strengthen policy support and local supply chains expand,” capturing “6 percent of the total $268.7 billion bn invested worldwide in clean energy in 2012, up from 5.7 percent in 2011” even as investment in the region declined 3.8 percent in 2012 from the year before, the IDB said when the report was released. “I think this is really an important step forward to try to identify where the opportunities are, where constraints are, so that the business community can move forward in finding opportunities as they go along.” David Pumphrey, Co-Director and Senior Fellow of the Energy and National Security Program at CSIS.

The largest coal-fired power station in Britain is now “set to become one of Europe’s biggest renewable electricity generators today,” according to the UK, while new funding has also been awarded to the White Rose carbon capture and storage project, located at the same site. This week Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey “opened” the Drax coal-to-biomass conversion plant, a £700 million project that will burn wood pellets rather than coal with an estimated 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions. He also announced that the White Rose CCS project—a 426 MW coal new-build that would include an oxy-fuel combustion system and biomass co-firing capability—will receive a multi-million pound contract “for detailed design and planning” in the form of a FEED study. Davey said the project “will help ensure that the carbon emitted from the next generation of coal power stations is safely captured and stored away so we can have secure energy at an affordable price that’s clean and doesn’t damage our climate.”

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March 17, 2014

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By ExchangeMonitor

IN THE ADMINISTRATION

The Export-Import Bank of the United States announced last week that it will no longer provide financing for coal-fired power plants unless they use carbon capture and storage technology. The new policy aligns the bank with the carbon reduction goals in President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and follows a similar shift from the U.S. Treasury Department to end public financing for coal power plants without CCS. The new Ex-IM policy would end financing for coal plants in “most” countries, but would allow flexibility for the poorest countries. “Without guidelines or limits, ever-increasing numbers of new coal plants worldwide will just continue to emit more carbon pollution into the air we breathe,” said Fred Hochberg, Ex-Im Chairman and President. “But America cannot do this alone. I strongly support the Administration’s efforts to build an international consensus such that other nations follow our lead in restricting financing for new coal-fired power plants.”

IN THE STATES

A number of California businesses, government officials, and health and environment groups have asked Gov. Jerry Brown to repay a loan of the state cap and trade program’s auction proceeds and use the funds to invest in projects that reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The coalition, which consisted of 93 business and organizations, called on the $500 million loan to be paid into the general fund for the 2014-2015 budget. “California has an historic opportunity to make the investments that will build up communities and cement California’s position as a global leader in the clean economy,” said Susan Frank, Director of the California Business Alliance for a Green Economy. “This is not only the right thing to do; it is the only option under the law and the expressed will of the voters.”

Washington University in St. Louis announced last week it has joined the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center-Advanced Coal Technology Consortium, a group of researchers from the two countries who are working to advance carbon capture utilization and storage technology. The consortium consists of universities, research organizations and industrial groups, and research areas include coal conversion technologies, pre- and post-combustion capture, CO2 utilization and sequestration, simulation and assessment, and communication and integration. Washington University’s Richard Axelbaum will be evaluating “staged oxy-fuel combustion for carbon dioxide capture from coal-fired power plants” as a new member of the consortium.

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

The Council of the European Union adopted legislation this week that would allow the freezing of the auctions of some CO2 permits “so as to ensure the orderly functioning of the market,” the provision said. The price of carbon permits have reached near record lows and some hope that freezing auctions of a portion of an oversupply could help bolster their price. The sale of up to 900 million carbon permits may be postponed under the law and member states are expected to hash out the details of the backloading in January. “I am pleased that we managed to convince our colleagues that backloading is absolutely necessary for our emissions trading scheme to meet its objectives,” said MEP Matthias Groote from Germany when the European Parliament approved the measure last week, paving the way for the European Council of Ministers to take up the legislation this week.

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March 17, 2014

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By ExchangeMonitor

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
06/22/12

IN CONGRESS

The House Energy and Commerce Committee reported legislation this week that would shield utilities from Environmental Protection Agency penalties for breaking environmental regulations while operating under federal emergency orders.Under the Federal Power Act, the Department of Energy has the authority to demand that utilities keep units online to avoid rolling blackouts or other reliability-related emergencies on the power grid. However, those orders sometimes contradict EPA environmental regulations that bar units from operating beyond a certain number of hours. Introduced by a group of Republicans and centrist Democrats on the committee, the “Grid Reliability Conflicts Act” aims to amend the Federal Power Act so that EPA cannot punish unities for operating in noncompliance if DOE orders the units to run. The measure, which was cleared by voice vote, passed with an amendment that allows the exemption to expire after 90 days unless renewed.

The House cleared a package of seven energy bills this week that would require an interagency committee to analyze the cumulative economic impacts of three new EPA regulations and incentivize more domestic energy production. The “Domestic Energy and Jobs Act,” a collection of measures that individually passed the House Energy and Commerce and Natural Resources committees earlier this Congress, cleared the lower chamber 248-163 with the help of 19 Democrats. The White House threatened to veto the legislation earlier this week. In a statement of administration policy, the White House said the measure would “undermine the nation’s energy security, roll back policies that support the continued growth of safe and responsible energy production in the United States, discourage environmental analysis and civic engagement in federal decision-making and impede progress on important Clean Air Act rules to protect the health of American families.” The measure is not expected to be considered in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

AT DOE

A post-combustion capture technology developed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory was named one of R&D Magazine’s 100 most technologically significant products that debuted commercially this year, the Department of Energy announced this week.DOE said the capture technology, known as the Basic Immobilized Amine Sorbent (BIAS) process, reduces cost and energy use compared to more conventional scrubbing process. “The process encompasses a portfolio of techniques for the production of regenerable immobilized amine-based sorbents and provides a methodology for the capture of CO2 from flue gas streams,” a DOE release states. The department said that BIAS can be used on new-build or retrofitted pulverized coal plants, as well as on oil- or natural gas-fired units. In addition to being used for post-combustion CO2 capture, the sorbent is being considered for other applications such as natural gas cleanup, life support systems and air capture systems, DOE said.

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