26-03-08

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from US power plants climbed 2.9 % in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998, according to new analysis by the non-profit and non-partisan Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) of data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Now the single largest factor in US climate change pollution, the electric power industry’s carbon dioxide emissions have risen 5.9 % since 2002 and 11.7 % since 1997.

According to the EIP analysis, Texas, Georgia and Arizona had the biggest CO2 pollution increases on a one-, five- and ten-year basis. Data from 2006 show that the 10 states that emitted the most CO2 per MWh of electricity produced (meaning the least efficient power production relative to resulting climate-related pollution) are: North Dakota, Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, West Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and Iowa.
The EIP report provides context for the ongoing battles over proposed new coal plants.

The report notes: “The data make clear why national environmental groups have expended so much effort trying to stop the construction of a new batch of conventional coal-fired power plants, which would make a bad situation worse. For example, the eight planned coal-fired plants that TXU withdrew in the face of determined opposition in Texas would have added an estimated 64 mm tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, increasing emissions from power plants in that state by 24 %."
“But some of the rise in CO2 emissions comes from existing coal fired power plants, either because these plants are operating at increasingly higher capacities, or because these aging plants require more heat to generate electricity… [M]any coal-fired power plants are churning out more CO2 than they did in years past.”

Commenting on the report, EIP director Eric Schaeffer said: “The current debate over global warming policy tends to focus on long-term goals, like how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 % over the next fifty years. But while we debate, CO2 emissions from power plants keep rising, making an already dire situation worse. Because CO2 has an atmospheric lifetime of between 50 and 200 years, today’s emissions could cause global warming for up to two centuries to come.”
According to the EIP report, the consumption of electricity accounted for more than 2.3 bn tons of CO2 in 2006, or more than 39.5 % of total emissions from manmade sources, according to the US Department of Energy. Coal-fired power plants alone released more than 1.9 bn tons, or nearly one third of the US total.

The Department of Energy projects that carbon dioxide emissions from power generation will increase 19 % between 2007 and 2030, due to new or expanded coal plants. An additional 4,115 MW of new coal-fired generating capacity was added between 2000 and 2007, with another up to 15,000 MW expected to come online between 2008 and 2012.
The report came out in favour of carbon capture and storage technology, but said energy efficiency and renewable sources of electricity are likely to provide the greatest benefit over the next five years.

Source: www.futurefuelsme.com