Construction has begun on the first U.S. commercial-scale post-combustion CCS project aimed to annually capture 1.4 million metric tons of CO2. On July 15, 2014, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that construction has begun on the Petra Nova Project, the first U.S. commercial-scale post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) retrofit and the largest in…
A federal appeals court has ruled that the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers acted within their statutory authority in adopting coal mining permitting policies to address water contamination. On July 11, 2014, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) policies aimed to address water contamination…
The “Stop the EPA Act” calls for a retroactive review of all EPA regulations and Congressional approval for major EPA actions. On July 9, 2014, Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) introduced the Stop the EPA Act of 2014 (H.R. 5034) that would stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed regulations until EPA completes a review of…
DOE has announced a major milestone for its carbon capture and sequestration efforts, capturing more than one million metric tons of CO2. On June 26, 2014, the Department of Energy announced that its carbon capture and storage (CCS) project – operated in partnership with Air products and Chemicals Inc. – has captured more than one million metric tons of…
The Supreme Court has ruled that EPA exceeded its statutory authority in interpreting Clean Air Act requirements by requiring permits based solely on GHG emissions. On June 23, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations for new motor vehicles did not automatically trigger permitting requirements…
Under a cooperative agreement with DOE, Southern Company will evaluate carbon capture technologies and advanced fossil-fuel conversion systems. On June 12, 2014, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it has signed a five-year, $187M cooperative agreement with Southern Company to test advanced carbon-capture and gasification technologies at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) in…
The EPA stressed State flexibility in its Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions 30 percent by 2030. Overview On June 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its Clean Power Plan to set carbon pollution guidelines for existing power plants and emission standards for modified and reconstructed power plants. The proposal is key…
Domestic energy production supplied 84 percent of U.S. demand in 2013, with natural gas representing the largest domestically produced resource for the third consecutive year. On June 2, 2014, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report showing that 2013 U.S. energy production reached 81.7 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) and met 84 percent of…
EPA has released its Clean Power Plan proposal, outlining the first emission guidelines for existing fossil fuel-fired power plants, with a goal to reduce power sector emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. On June 2, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Clean Power Plan proposal to address greenhouse gas emissions…
The New York State Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative aims to answer the question of how to proceed with New York’s energy future in the face of aging electric generating plants and the need for a more resilient energy infrastructure. Overview The initiative – announced by Governor Cuomo in April 2014 – tasks the…
Since the turn of the century, increased scrutiny has been placed on the U.S. electric grid. The threat of weather disruption, physical and cyber-attacks, and decreased regional power generation capacity due to emissions regulations are key factors framing the debate over how to achieve power security and supply. Overview In 2012, Hurricane Sandy exposed electric…
The Supreme Court upheld EPA’s air pollution rule that regulates cross-border emissions of 28 upwind states to address downwind states’ compliance with air quality standards. On April 29, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), reversing an August 2012 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals…
