COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS FOR MANAGEMENT OF GLOBAL CARBON EMISSIONS

Abstract

On April 13, 2012 and January 8, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) proposed new regulations that amounted to a prohibition on the Best Technologies Currently Available for constructing new coal fired power plants. USEPA first proposed in 2012, that new coal power plants must not produce more carbon dioxide (CO2) than a natural gas power plant. Then in 2014, it revised the standard to require that unless a coal fired power plant met the same CO2 emission levels as achievable with power plants utilizing Integrated Gas Combined Cycle (IGCC) combustion technology and in addition provide permanent sequestion of at least 25% of the CO produced, it could not be built. This effectively changes the proposed standard from 454 to 499 grams/kilowatt-hour of CO2 emissions in order to construct a new coal fired power plant. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), however has calculated the construction cost for such technology at $6,599/kW which is signifcantly more costly that the construction of a nuclear power plant at $5,530/kW and not remotely affordable compared to a natural gas power plant at $971/kW. This prohibition, like the historic prohibition of alcohol, is more likely to have negative rather than positive consequences. This paper focuses on facts concerning fossil fuel utilization and its impacts upon global climate, the global economy, and the world population. It contrasts the impacts of current popular notions in the media and the regulations that govern our nation, that fossil fuels are an evil that must be stopped, versus the utilization of common sense to assess how to best use and advance currently available science and technology. It highlights best available control technology (BACT) that could reduce the man made contribution of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in a way that does not bankrupt the global economy and jeopardize the global population. It will assess the growth of renewable energy and project the number of generations that would be required to have them replace fossil fuel as an energy source. 2015 World of Coal Ash (WOCA) Conference in Nasvhille, TN May 5-7, 2015 http://www.flyash.info/