China Pushes Forward on Cleaner Coal Technologies
NYT has an interesting analysis of the development of cleaner coal technologies in China. Although China burns more coal than the US, Europe and Japan combined, and sits on the world’s third largest coal reserve (after the US and Russia), that country is becoming a leading developer of new cleaner coal technology. By using extremely hot steam in the generation process, their modern plants are able to dramatically increase efficiency and lower emissions (by potentially more than one-third).
However, despite these advancements, more than half of China’s coal plants are still antiquated and don’t even have emissions controls to remove sulfur compounds that cause acid rain. Additionally, of China’s new plants, only 60% are being built with the new and efficient, yet more expensive, technology.
But as the Times notes, “China’s improvements are starting to have an effect on climate models. In its latest annual report last November, the [International Energy Agency] cut its forecast of the annual increase in Chinese emissions of global warming gases, to 3 percent from 3.2 percent.”
While these incremental steps are not going to halt climate change alone, it is a sign that China is getting serious about developing clean technologies. Whether it is in order to save the environment, or to master this new and lucrative market, it should be a wake-up call to the US. If we don’t get our act together and begin leading the world in clean technologies, the world will quickly be leading us.
Democrats to Propose Greenhouse Gas Emissions Bill
House Democrats will propose a new bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Tuesday. The legislation, co-sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the panel’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee, aims to cut emissions by 20% from 2005 levels by 2020 and to increase energy efficiency in order to reduce electricity demand by 15% by 2020. The bill targets an overall 80% reduction in emissions by 2050.
Although Democrats have a majority, any emissions bill is expected to face a tough road given the current economic situation and political opposition. Even Sen. McCain, who was an early supporter of cap-and-trade recently described current proposals derisively as “cap-and-tax“. Additionally, Congresspeople from large coal producing states will likely oppose any emissions legislation across party-lines. Whether the U.S. can put together a meaningful greenhouse gas bill this year will be key to the success or failure of the international climate change conference to be held in Copenhagen in December of this year.
Study Finds Sharp Decline in Ocean Organism Resulting from Climate Change
According to a study published in Nature Geoscience, ocean acidification driven by climate change is sharply affecting the health of microscopic sea organisms called foraminifera. These amoeba-like organisms live on the surface water of oceans and traditionally absorb huge amounts of carbon pollution from the atmosphere.
The foraminifera have been a buffer against climate change, as they absorb CO2 from the air and transform it into their calcium-based shells. When they die, their shells sink to the ocean floor, thereby storing the carbon indefinitely. However, due to increased ocean acidification resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, modern shells now weigh 30-35% less than those found in sediments ranging from before the Industrial Revolution. This decline in shell size is both a cause and effect of climate change. It is caused by increased ocean acidification, but it will also magnify the effect of greenhouse gas emissions, since less carbon will now be removed from the atmosphere.
Additionally, the study found a historic link between higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and low shell weights in a 50,000-year-long record obtained from a Southern Ocean marine sediment core.
EPA Rejects Bush Administration Position on Coal Emissions
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said on Tuesday that the agency would reconsider regulating CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants, in opposition to the previous administration’s position laid out by former Administrator Stephen Johnson in December.
Jackson noted that the Bush Administration’s position is not “the final word on the appropriate interpretation of the Clean Air Act,” but she stopped short of issuing a stay of former Administrator Johnson’s memorandum. Jackson’s position brings the Obama Administration’s position closer to that expressed by the EPA Appeals Board in November, which held that the permitting process for new coal plants must consider the use of “best available controls” by that plant to limit CO2 emissions.
Environmental groups are optimistic that this is the first step towards implementing an emissions regime for coal-fired plants. Already, many coal energy projects have been put on hold over fears that impending regulations could make these projects unfeasible since carbon sequestration techniques are extremely expensive and unproven.
Places to Visit Before Climate Change Ruins Them
CNN has a list from author Bob Henson of the Five places to go before global warming messes them up:
(1) Great Barrier Reef, Australia
“Many of the world’s reefs already are experiencing “bleaching” in which algae living in the coral die and leave behind whitened skeletons.
“The Great Barrier Reef — which is composed of about 2,900 individual reefs and is off the northeast coast of Australia — is seeing limited bleaching now, and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority expects the problem to grow in coming decades.”
“But for cities near the coast such as New Orleans, which already sits below sea level, rising waters could spell trouble for tourists and residents alike, even in the relative near term.
“Henson doesn’t expect New Orleans to be underwater anytime soon. But travel to the Louisiana city may become more difficult in the future, he said. Scientists expect floods to become more frequent.” READ MORE
UK Looks to Weatherize Every Home by 2030
British Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband proposed a comprehensive scheme to dramatically increase the energy efficiency of all UK homes by 2030. If implemented, the plan could help cut carbon emissions from households by a third by 2020. Heating and powering of households currently accounts for 27% of the UK’s overall carbon emissions. Under a very progressive plan, the UK aims to reduce overall emissions by 80% by 2050.
The weatherization and other efficiency measures proposed on Thursday would retrofit 7 million homes by 2020 and every home by 2030. All households would be eligible to apply for a loan from energy companies, in order to pay for insulation or renewable sources of heating. The loan would be repaid from the resulting energy savings and from cash payments households would receive in return for cutting carbon emissions.
Miliband could just as easily have been describing America’s problem when he stated, “We need to move from incremental steps forward on household energy efficiency to a comprehensive national plan.”
Although the U.S. is increasing its attention on weatherization efforts under Obama, and the stimulus bill does include $5 billion to weatherize modest-income homes, there is no comprehensive plan on the table equivalent to that proposed by the UK.
Chu: Climate Change Could Wipe Out California Agriculture (and Maybe Cities)
Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned this week that climate change could wipe out all agriculture in California by the end of the century and also put that state’s cities in peril. The changing climate is increasing California’s temperatures, prolonging droughts, and melting the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Chu noted that 90% of that essential snowpack could disappear by century’s end.
Chu warned that this changing climate and loss of water resources could end California’s entire agricultural industry and make the viability of life in the already arid region tenuous.
“I don’t think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen,” Chu told the LA Times. “We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California,” adding, “I don’t actually see how they can keep their cities going” either. READ MORE
A Bad Public Relations Week for Coal
Green Inc. notes that it has been a bad week for coal in the national media, listing a series of unrelated stories that cast a negative light on this dirty energy source:
THE GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE
A Bad Week for Coal Plants in North-Central Montana
Last Thursday, the Air Force announced that it had rejected proposals to build a large coal-to-liquid-fuels plant at or near Malmstrom Air Force Base. Tuesday, Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission announced it is giving up on a proposed coal-fired power plant northeast of the city, at least for now.
List of Top Wind Power States
According to the American Wind Energy Association, as of today, the top five states for wind energy generation are:
1. Texas, 7,116 MW
2. Iowa, 2,790 MW
3. California, 2,517 MW
4. Minnesota, 1,752 MW
5. Washington, 1,375 MW
Report: 2008 Was a Big Year for Wind Energy Growth
The American Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group, released a report this week indicating a record growth in wind energy in 2008, with more than 8,000 MW of new generating capacity having been installed. This increase grew the nation’s total wind power capacity by 50% and actually accounted for about 42% of all new power capacity added to the national grid last year. However, despite this good news, the report also warned that 2009 is set to see a halt in that growth due to the poor economy and credit crisis.
Gore Testifies on Climate Change Before Senate Committee
Al Gore testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday about climate change. (Link to full video list.) Gore noted that we are in a dire situation and fundamental change needs to occur as soon as possible. Gore repeated his warning that “clean” coal may not be a feasible solution in the near-term, noting “We must avoid becoming vulnerable to the illusion that this is near at hand. It is not.”
Gore said that the most promising sources of clean energy are wind and solar, and that while he is not against nuclear power, the costs are just too unpredictably high.
“Our home – Earth – is in grave danger,” Gore noted. “What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, of course, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings.” READ MORE
Study: Emperor Penguins Could Face Extinction
Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts have released a study warning that climate change could cause a major emperor penguin colony to approach extinction by the end of this century. The study applied mathematical models to climate data from the IPCC to predict how much climate change and melting sea ice would affect a specific colony of emperor penguins in Terre Adelie, Antarctica.
The models predict, on average, that this colony’s current size of 3,000 breeding pairs would most likely shrink by 87% to 400 pairs by the end of the century. However, the data indicated that there is a very real probability of a “drastic” population decline (of 95% or more) that would put the population at risk of extinction.
Emperor penguins, which were featured in the Oscar winning documentary, March of the Penguins, are the largest of all penguin species and breed and feed from the Antarctic sea ice. In December, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a preliminary ruling declining to list the emperor penguin as an endangered species, however this ruling is still being evaluated and researcher Hal Caswell said the research presented in this study should be considered.
Obama: Will Grant California a Waiver to Increase Emissions Regulations
President Obama will announced on Monday that he will be directing the EPA to grant California its long sought after waiver to more strictly regulate vehicle emissions than current federal standards.
Former President Bush had previously sided with automakers and refused to grant this waiver, leading to a conflict between the state and federal government. Once the EPA grants California this waiver under the Clean Air Act, the state will implement a more stringent emissions regime. Thirteen other states have also adopted the California rules, and will similarly be permitted to follow suit under the waiver.
It was also reported that Obama will announce that he is directing federal agencies to substantially increase the energy efficiency of their buildings. These measures are aimed at saving as much as $2 billion a year in energy costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Finally, Obama will also direct the Department of Transportation to begin drafting increased fuel efficiency regulations in order to comply with a law passed in December 2007. Bush had delayed implementing these regulations until the expiration of his term.
Study: Antarctica is Warming Along With Rest of the Planet
Scientists announced today that despite some past evidence to the contrary, the continent of Antarctica is warming, along with the rest of the planet. The new study took into account satellite measurements and found that between 1957 and 2006, temperatures in Antarctica rose an average of 0.18 degrees Fahrenheit.
These findings deal a blow to climate change skeptics who have used past indications of Antarctic cooling as evidence that anthropogenic climate change is not occurring.
Unfortunately, the consequences of a melting Antarctic could be great since its ice sheets hold enough water to raise sea levels by 187 feet if they were to melt.
Massive Coal Plant in Eastern Nevada Facing Opposition
Environmental groups are urging the Department of the Interior’s Board of Land Appeals to reject a massive coal fired power plant in eastern Nevada, near the city of Ely. Opponents argue that the White Pine plant, owned by LS Power Group, would be one of the largest and heavily polluting coal plants in the western United States.
The plant would release an estimated 12.88 million tons of CO2 each year, as well as other harmful pollutants, including mercury, sulfur dioxide, and fine soot. Local air quality and visibility in nearby Great Basin National Park would likely be degraded. READ MORE
