Coal gasification and other “clean coal” technologies offer the most feasible ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the absence of a carbon cap-and-trade system in the United States, industry experts said yesterday.
Addressing the Sustainable Energy Institute roundtable, John Novak of the Electric Power Research Institute discussed a new partnership formed by utilities last fall to spur innovations in coal technology. The “Coal Fleet for Tomorrow” aims to encourage development of integrated gasification combined cycle coal plants, or IGCC — the Holy Grail of clean coal development, he said.
IGCC plants belch far less pollution than others and are considered stepping stones toward carbon sequestration — the process of capturing a facility’s carbon dioxide emissions and storing them underground. Carbon dioxide is a so-called greenhouse gas whose emissions are blamed for an accelerated warming of the earth’s atmosphere.
The Bush administration has advocated carbon sequestration as a means of reducing greenhouse gases from industrial plants without having to wean them from coal, the nation’s cheapest and most abundant fossil fuel.
Four IGCC plants have been proposed, Novak said, including facilities from Cinergy Corp., American Electric Power, a Minnesota plant from Excelsior and a joint project by Southern Co. and Seminole Electric Cooperative in Florida. There are two existing IGCC plants, one in Florida and another in Indiana.
The Electric Power Research Institute, or EPRI, is planning to release a report next month about IGCC technology, Novak added. The report will include guidelines for how companies can develop the cutting-edge plants, as well as ways to address problems with reliability, costs and permitting.
Drew Kodjak, program director at the National Commission on Energy Policy, pointed to IGCC as a key component of the panel’s recent recommendations on how to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Along with a mandatory cap-and-trade program among economic sectors to limit emissions, the commission proposed spending $7 billion on clean coal technology during the next decade, including $4 billion for IGCC and an additional $3 billion for carbon capture and storage. IGCC has been garnering a lot of attention from policymakers recently.
Incentives for construction of more IGCC power plants was one of several items added to the Bush administration’s “Clear Skies” legislation by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) in an effort to gain more supporters for the bill.
“Coal gasification, when combined with carbon sequestration, has the potential to revolutionize energy production,” former U.S. EPA Administrator William Reilly said earlier this month (Greenwire, Feb. 16).
Other panelists at the SEI events had recommendations that went beyond clean coal development. George Sterzinger, director of the Renewable Energy Policy Project, lamented Congress’ decision to extend subsidies for wind power by one year, calling it a “tragedy.” And Eric Loewen, a legislative fellow in Sen. Chuck Hagel’s (R-Neb.) office, said three new climate-change bills from Hagel would extend renewable energy incentives for five years. One would provide the State Department “new authority” to assist developing countries in reducing their greenhouse gas “intensity,” which is the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output.
A second bill, the Climate Change Technology Deployment Act, would provide loans, investment protection and power production incentives for U.S. businesses investing in advanced climate technology. And a third measure from Hagel would permanently extend research and development tax incentives, which are set to expire at the end of this year (Greenwire, Feb. 9).
Loewen said Hagel has lined up three cosponsors for his bills — Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.). Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) will cosponsor the international bill and possibly the tax measure, Loewen said.
John Carberry, director of environmental technology at DuPont Co., said companies need to be assured they will receive credit for the actions they are taking today to reduce carbon emissions.
DuPont has made major strides, slashing greenhouse emissions 70 percent below 1990 levels by 2003, changes that have saved the company upwards of $2 billion. But company officials fear DuPont might not get credit for its work if the government mandates emission reductions.
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