The Net Impact of Wind Energy Generation on Emissions of Carbon Dioxide in Texas

This analysis will examine the relationship between increased levels of wind energy generation and emissions per unit of electricity produced using historical data for electricity output and CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) are generally seen in part as a policy tool for reducing overall system CO2 emissions, although renewable energy goals do not directly regulate such emissions. Limiting this analysis to ERCOT provides two important advantages: transmission of wind energy output is constrained by the physical boundaries of the ERCOT grid, simplifying the analysis and avoiding associated ‘leakage issues’; and ERCOT has the highest level of wind generation as a percentage of total system demand of any grid in the continental U.S. The intermittent nature of wind generation has resulted in the need to ramp conventional thermal generation up and down to compensate for variability in wind output. Such ramping leads to inefficiencies in many fossil-fueled power plants that increase emissions of CO2, SO2, and NOx relative to a respective unit’s peak efficiency emissions rate. Using EPA’s Clean Air Markets hourly emissions data, we calculate the total combustion emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx per MWh of electricity output for the ERCOT system from 2003–2011. The EPA database includes CO2, SO2 and NOx emissions reported by facility owner and operators on an hourly basis in a manner that incorporates facility inefficiencies during ramping periods, allowing us to fully evaluate the CO2 emissions reductions achieved in ERCOT as a result of increased wind generation. The study is ongoing as we wait for emissions statistics from the final quarter of 2011 to be released by the EPA in early 2012.