scholarly journals Supreme Court Hears Case About Regulating Power Plants

Eos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy Showstack
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Plant Emissions

In a case about power plant emissions, arguments focused on whether the Environmental Protection Agency properly interpreted a regulation and on dramatically different cost-benefit analyses.

scholarly journals Towards space based verification of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from strong localized sources: fossil fuel power plant emissions as seen by a CarbonSat constellation

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 5147-5182
Author(s):  
V. A. Velazco ◽  
M. Buchwitz ◽  
H. Bovensmann ◽  
M. Reuter ◽  
O. Schneising ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Systematic Error ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Global Coverage ◽  
Plant Emissions

Abstract. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) that cause global warming. With electricity generation through fossil-fuel power plants now as the economic sector with the largest source of CO2, power plant emissions monitoring has become more important than ever in the fight against global warming. In a previous study done by Bovensmann et al. (2010), random and systematic errors of power plant CO2 emissions have been quantified using a single overpass from a proposed CarbonSat instrument. In this study, we quantify errors of power plant annual emission estimates from a hypothetical CarbonSat and constellations of several CarbonSats while taking into account that power plant CO2 emissions are time-dependent. Our focus is on estimating systematic errors arising from the sparse temporal sampling as well as random errors that are primarily dependent on wind speeds. We used hourly emissions data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) combined with assimilated and re-analyzed meteorological fields from the National Centers of Environmental Prediction (NCEP). CarbonSat orbits were simulated as a sun-synchronous low-earth orbiting satellite (LEO) with an 828-km orbit height, local time ascending node (LTAN) of 13:30 (01:30 p.m.) and achieves global coverage after 5 days. We show, that despite the variability of the power plant emissions and the limited satellite overpasses, one CarbonSat can verify reported US annual CO2 emissions from large power plants (≥5 Mt CO2 yr−1) with a systematic error of less than ~4.9 % for 50 % of all the power plants. For 90 % of all the power plants, the systematic error was less than ~12.4 %. We additionally investigated two different satellite configurations using a combination of 5 CarbonSats. One achieves global coverage everyday but only samples the targets at fixed local times. The other configuration samples the targets five times at two-hour intervals approximately every 6th day but only achieves global coverage after 5 days. From the statistical analyses, we found, as expected, that the random errors improve by approximately a factor of two if 5 satellites are used. On the other hand, more satellites do not result in a large reduction of the systematic error. The systematic error is somewhat smaller for the CarbonSat constellation configuration achieving global coverage everyday. Finally, we recommend the CarbonSat constellation configuration that achieves daily global coverage.

scholarly journals Growth in NOx emissions from power plants in China: bottom-up estimates and satellite observations

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4429-4447 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. W. Wang ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
D. G. Streets ◽  
K. B. He ◽  
R. V. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Emission Inventory ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Nox Emission ◽  
Nox Emissions ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Tropospheric No2 ◽  
Plant Emissions

Abstract. Using OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) tropospheric NO2 columns and a nested-grid 3-D global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), we investigated the growth in NOx emissions from coal-fired power plants and their contributions to the growth in NO2 columns in 2005–2007 in China. We first developed a unit-based power plant NOx emission inventory for 2005–2007 to support this investigation. The total capacities of coal-fired power generation have increased by 48.8% in 2005–2007, with 92.2% of the total capacity additions coming from generator units with size ≥300 MW. The annual NOx emissions from coal-fired power plants were estimated to be 8.11 Tg NO2 for 2005 and 9.58 Tg NO2 for 2007, respectively. The modeled summer average tropospheric NO2 columns were highly correlated (R2 = 0.79–0.82) with OMI measurements over grids dominated by power plant emissions, with only 7–14% low bias, lending support to the high accuracy of the unit-based power plant NOx emission inventory. The ratios of OMI-derived annual and summer average tropospheric NO2 columns between 2007 and 2005 indicated that most of the grids with significant NO2 increases were related to power plant construction activities. OMI had the capability to trace the changes of NOx emissions from individual large power plants in cases where there is less interference from other NOx sources. Scenario runs from GEOS-Chem model suggested that the new power plants contributed 18.5% and 10% to the annual average NO2 columns in 2007 in Inner Mongolia and North China, respectively. The massive new power plant NOx emissions significantly changed the local NO2 profiles, especially in less polluted areas. A sensitivity study found that changes of NO2 shape factors due to including new power plant emissions increased the summer average OMI tropospheric NO2 columns by 3.8–17.2% for six selected locations, indicating that the updated emission information could help to improve the satellite retrievals.

Green stance could be Pyrrhic for US President Trump

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Regulation ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Supreme Court

Significance The move is the latest in a series of environmental regulation rollbacks by Trump’s administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under its head, Andrew Wheeler. Impacts The Supreme Court could decide to weaken the Chevron doctrine that sees courts defer to agencies over legal ambiguities. The Republicans will try to undermine the Democrats’ Green New Deal proposals as expensive and unworkable. Republicans will likely go into the 2020 elections proposing more modest environmental ideas.

scholarly journals Updated emission inventories of power plants in simulating air quality during haze periods over East China

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 2065-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Tianliang Zhao ◽  
Sunling Gong ◽  
Shaofei Kong ◽  
Lili Tang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Emission Inventory ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
East China ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Plant Emissions

Abstract. Air pollutant emissions play a determinant role in deteriorating air quality. However, an uncertainty in emission inventories is still the key problem for modeling air pollution. In this study, an updated emission inventory of coal-fired power plants (UEIPP) based on online monitoring data in Jiangsu Province of East China for the year of 2012 was implemented in the widely used Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (MEIC). By employing the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), two simulation experiments were executed to assess the atmospheric environment change by using the original MEIC emission inventory and the MEIC inventory with the UEIPP. A synthetic analysis shows that power plant emissions of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NOx were lower, and CO, black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and NMVOCs (non-methane volatile organic compounds) were higher in UEIPP relative to those in MEIC, reflecting a large discrepancy in the power plant emissions over East China. In accordance with the changes in UEIPP, the modeled concentrations were reduced for SO2 and NO2, and increased for most areas of primary OC, BC, and CO. Interestingly, when the UEIPP was used, the atmospheric oxidizing capacity significantly reinforced. This was reflected by increased oxidizing agents, e.g., O3 and OH, thus directly strengthening the chemical production from SO2 and NOx to sulfate and nitrate, respectively, which offset the reduction of primary PM2.5 emissions especially on haze days. This study indicates the importance of updating air pollutant emission inventories in simulating the complex atmospheric environment changes with implications on air quality and environmental changes.

scholarly journals Global and regional drivers of power plant CO2 emissions over the last three decades

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinying Qin ◽  
Dan Tong ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
Ruili Wu ◽  
Bo Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Past ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Plant Emissions

The past three decades have witnessed the dramatic expansion of global biomass- and fossil fuel-fired power plants, but the tremendously diverse power infrastructure shapes different spatial and temporal CO2 emission characteristics. Here, by combining Global Power plant Emissions Database (GPED v1.1) constructed in this study and the previously developed China coal-fired power Plant Emissions Database (CPED), we analyzed global and regional changes in generating capacities, age structure, and CO2 emissions by fuel type and unit size, and further identified the major driving forces of these global and regional structure and emission trends over the past 30 years. Accompanying the growth of fossil fuel- and biomass-burning installed capacity from 1,774 GW in 1990 to 4,139 GW in 2019 (a 133.3% increase), global CO2 emissions from the power sector relatively increased from 7.5 Gt to 13.9 Gt (an 85.3% increase) during the same period. However, diverse developments and transformations of regional power units in fuel types and structure characterized various regional trends of CO2 emissions. For example, in the United States and Europe, CO2 emissions from power plants peaked before 2005, driven by the utilization of advanced electricity technologies and the switches from coal to gas fuel at the early stage. It is estimated the share of identified low-efficiency coal power capacity decreased to 4.3% in the United States and 0.6% in Europe with respectively 2.1% and 13.2% thermal efficiency improvements from 1990-2019. In contrast, CO2 emissions in China, India, and the rest of world are still steadily increasing because the growing demand for electricity is mainly met by developing carbon-intensive but less effective coal power capacity. The index decomposition analysis (IDA) to identify the multi-stage driving forces on the trends of CO2 emissions further suggests different global and regional characteristics. Globally, the growth of demand mainly drives the increase of CO2 emissions for all stages (i.e. 1990-2000, 2000-2010 and 2010-2019). Regional results support the critical roles of thermal efficiency improvement (accounting for 20% of the decrease in CO2 emissions) and fossil fuel mix (61%) in preventing CO2 emission increases in the developed regions (e.g., the United States and Europe). The decrease of fossil fuel share gradually demonstrates its importance in carrying the positive effects on curbing emissions in the most of regions, including the developing economics (i.e. China and India) after 2010 (accounting for 46% of the decrease in CO2 emissions). Our results highlight the contributions of different driving forces to emissions have significantly changed over the past 30 years, and this comprehensive analysis indicates that the structure optimization and transformations of power plants is paramount importance to curb or further reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector in the future.

scholarly journals High-resolution inventory of technologies, activities, and emissions of coal-fired power plants in China from 1990 to 2010

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (23) ◽  
pp. 13299-13317 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Liu ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
D. Tong ◽  
B. Zheng ◽  
M. Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Emission Inventory ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Unit Level ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Plant Emissions

Abstract. This paper, which focuses on emissions from China's coal-fired power plants during 1990–2010, is the second in a series of papers that aims to develop a high-resolution emission inventory for China. This is the first time that emissions from China's coal-fired power plants were estimated at unit level for a 20-year period. This inventory is constructed from a unit-based database compiled in this study, named the China coal-fired Power plant Emissions Database (CPED), which includes detailed information on the technologies, activity data, operation situation, emission factors, and locations of individual units and supplements with aggregated data where unit-based information is not available. Between 1990 and 2010, compared to a 479 % growth in coal consumption, emissions from China's coal-fired power plants increased by 56, 335, and 442 % for SO2, NOx, and CO2, respectively, and decreased by 23 and 27 % for PM2.5 and PM10 respectively. Driven by the accelerated economic growth, large power plants were constructed throughout the country after 2000, resulting in a dramatic growth in emissions. The growth trend of emissions has been effectively curbed since 2005 due to strengthened emission control measures including the installation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems and the optimization of the generation fleet mix by promoting large units and decommissioning small ones. Compared to previous emission inventories, CPED significantly improved the spatial resolution and temporal profile of the power plant emission inventory in China by extensive use of underlying data at unit level. The new inventory developed in this study will enable a close examination of temporal and spatial variations of power plant emissions in China and will help to improve the performances of chemical transport models by providing more accurate emission data.

scholarly journals High-resolution inventory of technologies, activities, and emissions of coal-fired power plants in China from 1990 to 2010

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 18787-18837 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Liu ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
D. Tong ◽  
B. Zheng ◽  
M. Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Emission Inventory ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Unit Level ◽  
Power Plant Emissions ◽  
Plant Emissions

Abstract. This paper, which focuses on emissions from China's coal-fired power plants during 1990–2010, is the second in a series of papers that aims to develop high-resolution emission inventory for China. This is the first time that emissions from China's coal-fired power plants were estimated at unit level for a 20 year period. This inventory is constructed from a unit-based database compiled in this study, named the China coal-fired Power plant Emissions Database (CPED), which includes detailed information on the technologies, activity data, operation situation, emission factors, and locations of individual units and supplements with aggregated data where unit-based information is not available. Between 1990 and 2010, compared to a 479 % growth in coal consumption, emissions from China's coal-fired power plants increased by 56, 335 and 442 % for SO2, NOx and CO2, respectively, and decreased by 23 % for PM2.5. Driven by the accelerated economy growth, large power plants were constructed throughout the country after 2000, resulting in dramatic growth in emissions. Growth trend of emissions has been effective curbed since 2005 due to strengthened emission control measures including the installation of flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) systems and the optimization of the generation fleet mix by promoting large units and decommissioning small ones. Compared to previous emission inventories, CPED significantly improved the spatial resolution and temporal profile of power plant emission inventory in China by extensive use of underlying data at unit level. The new inventory developed in this study will enable a close examination for temporal and spatial variations of power plant emissions in China and will help to improve the performances of chemical transport models by providing more accurate emission data.

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