The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
The Petra Nova facility, a coal-fired power plant located near Houston, Texas, is one of only two operating power plants with carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the world, and it is the only such facility in the United States. The 110 megawatt (MW) Boundary Dam plant in Saskatchewan, Canada, near the border with North Dakota, is the other electric utility facility using a CCS system. … [Read more...]
The electric power sector accounts for 29 percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and electricity demand is expected to increase between now and 2050, making GHG emissions reductions from our electricity system one of the most promising ways to address climate change. … [Read more...]
Human activity has created a carbon dioxide problem. Dr. Frank Shu and his team have a partial solution called “supertorrefaction” that is worth sharing. Problem Solving Versus Panicking When faced with problems, rather than panic or fret, people with an engineering mindset prefer finding solutions using the best available tools. The more creative members of that admirable tribe create new tools by combining existing materials and techniques in … [Read more...]
Christine Daniloff/MITStudy finds a natural impediment to the long-term sequestration of carbon dioxide.Jennifer Chu | MIT News OfficeCarbon sequestration promises to address greenhouse-gas emissions by capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and injecting it deep below the Earth’s surface, where it would permanently solidify into rock. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that current carbon-sequestration technologies may … [Read more...]
Summary: CO2 emissions standards for power plants in the United States, United Kingdom and elsewhere may not spur the use of carbon capture technology; tighter or looser standards would work better to drive technology adoption.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing rules that would limit the rate of CO2 emissions from power plants to 1,100 lbs per MWh (~454 g/KWh). That rule mirrors similar emissions standards in place in … [Read more...]
NEORI, the National Enhanced Oil Recovery Initiative is organized and staffed by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and the Great Plains Institute. NEORI has authored a series of innovative policy proposals to promote the use of carbon capture and sequestration, CCS, to provide much needed CO2 for use in enhanced oil recovery, EOR. NEORI participants include a coalition of executives from the electric power, coal, ethanol, … [Read more...]
At an event in Brussels earlier this week the EU Commission shared some initial thinking with business and NGOs on the consultation they have launched with regards the EU international position on climate change as we head towards COP 21 in France in 2015 where a deal is targeted for agreement. Although the EU remains very open to input on the shape of their position, it was clear to me reading the consultation document and listening to the … [Read more...]
Mushrooms are one of the most powerful items in the Super Mario video game franchise, providing extra lives and making characters stronger. So wouldn’t it be great if real-life mushrooms could help the fight against climate change by boosting carbon sequestration?Super Mario mushroom image via AckslawsinFortunately, there’s no need to press the reset button. A new study suggests mushrooms might be a key to natural carbon sequestration … [Read more...]
With COP 17 being held in Durban this year, there will be quite some attention paid to how South Africa responds to its own 2020 national pledge. This was articulated in a letter to the UNFCCC from the Department of Environmental Affairs on 29th January 2010 as follows; South Africa will take nationally appropriate mitigation action to enable a 34% deviation below “Business As Usual” emissions growth trajectory by 2020 and a 42% deviation … [Read more...]
This is a repost of a Center for American Progress report by John Podesta, Andrew Light, and Julian L. Wong. Report: A Roadmap for U.S.-China Collaboration on Carbon Capture and Sequestration (pdf) (Chinese version) Fact sheet: Roadmap summary The United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen is less than 35 days away. Nations will negotiate a framework for a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, … [Read more...]
NIMBY, meet NUMBY: Not under my backyard. The Guardian reports today: It was meant to be the world’s first demonstration of a technology that could help save the planet from global warming – a project intended to capture emissions from a coal-fired power station and bury them safely underground. But the German carbon capture plan has ended with CO2 being pumped directly into the atmosphere, following local opposition at it being stored … [Read more...]
This week we have seen the announcement by the Australian Government that the emissions trading scheme (CPRS) will be delayed by 12 months, along with some other changes in the policy framework. This comes as the government finds itself with the challenge of building the necessary political support in the Australian Parliament, particularly the Senate, where it does not have a majority. Many others will write about the politics, so I will stay … [Read more...]
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