By SIOBHAN HUGHES
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration on Thursday said it would issue standards to control greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries within two years, the latest move to proceed with a signature environmental policy in the face of inaction by Congress.
The Environmental Protection Agency said that the standards, which have yet to be specified, will be proposed next year and finalized by the end of 2012, which coincides with the end of President Barack Obama's first term. The timeframe—announced two days before the Christmas holiday—was negotiated with environmental groups and state attorneys general, which had sued the agency over its failure to issue standards.
Gina McCarthy, the EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, told reporters that the standards would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in a "cost-effective way," without setting a limit, or cap, on emissions. But businesses—backed by congressional Republicans who are planning to mount aggressive oversight of the EPA next year—complained that complying wouldn't be that easy, and said the timetable appeared aggressive.
"There is no off-the-shelf technology to address reductions in carbon," said Scott Segal, an attorney at Bracewell & Giuliani who represents utilities and refineries. "This is high-stakes poker that the agency is playing with a very inadequate database upon which to base their actions."
The EPA's action could force power plants to shift to natural gas, which produces less carbon dioxide than coal, and to operate more efficiently. It is thought to have a big effect on older power plants in areas such as Ohio, Kentucky, and parts of Pennsylvania.
Businesses say that will mean higher electricity costs, which in turn will mean higher costs for manufacturers who are already struggling to compete with overseas factories.
"What we're doing is attempting to combat CO2 emissions by driving up energy costs for everyone," said Charles Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. "It's crazy."
The EPA announcement also sets the stage for a battle between the EPA and Congress over the next two years, when Republicans have more seats in the Senate and take control of the House.
"The EPA has its foot firmly on the throat of our economic recovery," said Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.), who will oversee the EPA when he becomes chairman of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee next year. "We will not allow the administration to regulate what they have been unable to legislate—this Christmas surprise is nothing short of a backdoor attempt to implement their failed job-killing cap-and-trade scheme."
Congress failed to pass the cap-and-trade legislation this year after opposition from coal, oil, and manufacturing states. In the next leg of the effort to rein in greenhouse-gas emissions, the EPA will propose the power-plant standards by July 26, and finalize the rules by May 26, 2012. The agency will propose standards for refineries by Dec. 10, and finalize the standards by Nov. 10, 2012.
The EPA has already begun an effort to regulate emissions from facilities. Starting next year, emitters will file their first-ever reports on annual greenhouse-gas emissions. Facilities such as power plants and refineries will also have to obtain state-issued permits to emit greenhouse-gases at any new or upgraded facility. States will issue the permits after companies show they are using the best available technology to control the emissions that scientists link to rising sea levels, and more frequent weather events such as drought.
The planned EPA emission standards are a separate tool that could be more far-reaching than the permitting requirements. The EPA said that the greenhouse-gas standards will ultimately apply to existing facilities starting in about 2015 or 2016 and are intended to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The EPA will also be able to enforce the standards.
"This is the major rule through which EPA can start to ratchet down global warming pollution, especially from the large sources," said Nathan Willcox, who directs the federal global warming program for Environment America, an environmental group. "With the permitting process, that's largely up to the states and whether an individual state wants to use the permitting process to crack down. But if they don't, the performance standards are nationwide and they are federally enforceable."
Though the EPA said that it still had to work out the details, a likely scenario is that the standard will limit the amount of carbon dioxide that a power plant can emit for each megawatt hour of electricity produced.
"That is how you would probably frame these standards up—they would be set in terms of pounds of CO2 emissions per megawatt hour or kilowatt hour," said David Doniger, a policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council who signed on to the settlement with the EPA.
Write to Siobhan Hughes at siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com
Friday, 24 December 2010
China moves to defuse trade row with US over green technology
Beijing officials say they are willing to discuss wind power incentives that White House calls 'illegal subsidies'
Jonathan Watts in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 December 2010 19.13 GMT
China tried to defuse a trade row with the United States over wind technology today, as bilateral rivalries threatened to dash global hopes for green energy co-operation.
Officials in Beijing said they were willing to discuss incentives for turbine manufacturers, which the Obama administration described as "illegal subsidies" in a request for talks on the subject at the World Trade Organisation.
The US claims China has given an unfair advantage to domestic firms by channelling hundreds of millions of dollars to them through a special fund established in 2008.
The United Steelworkers union (USW) is frustrated that this weakens the competitiveness of US firms such as General Electric in a Chinese market that has doubled in size almost every year since 2005 and is now the biggest in the world in terms of generating capacity.
Barack Obama is also expected to raise the issue at a summit in Washington next month with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao.
Beijing insists its wind policies are good for the global environment and within global trade rules, but its initial response today was conciliatory. "China will conscientiously study the US request for consultations, and will deal with this in accordance with WTO dispute settlement rules, while retaining our corresponding rights," the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement on its website.
But government advisers were scathing. Professor Pan Jiahua, the executive director of the sustainable development research centre at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said the symbolic impact would be significant.
"At a global level, the US action is terrible. It's very silly," Pan said. "This gives a very bad signal for the world. It says renewable energy technologies should not be encouraged. This is a huge blow to the fast deployment of wind energy."
Beijing has pledged to boost wind power capacity from 20 gigawatts in 2009 to 90 gigawatts, and foreign firms – which currently provide less than one in four wind turbines in China – want a bigger share of the business.
With renewable energy set to become more important and lucrative, other rows are likely to break out. The USW has also urged Washington to oppose Chinese restrictions on antimony, tungsten and other rare earth minerals essential for solar cells, energy-efficient lighting and electric cars.
Others said the issue could probably be resolved. "China's subsidy is not for promoting trade but for fostering a newly rising industry. The US does this too," said Shi Pengfei, vice president of the Chinese Wind Energy Association. "In my opinion, there's no need for China to subsidise wind power anymore, because there is already over-production."
Jonathan Watts in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 December 2010 19.13 GMT
China tried to defuse a trade row with the United States over wind technology today, as bilateral rivalries threatened to dash global hopes for green energy co-operation.
Officials in Beijing said they were willing to discuss incentives for turbine manufacturers, which the Obama administration described as "illegal subsidies" in a request for talks on the subject at the World Trade Organisation.
The US claims China has given an unfair advantage to domestic firms by channelling hundreds of millions of dollars to them through a special fund established in 2008.
The United Steelworkers union (USW) is frustrated that this weakens the competitiveness of US firms such as General Electric in a Chinese market that has doubled in size almost every year since 2005 and is now the biggest in the world in terms of generating capacity.
Barack Obama is also expected to raise the issue at a summit in Washington next month with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao.
Beijing insists its wind policies are good for the global environment and within global trade rules, but its initial response today was conciliatory. "China will conscientiously study the US request for consultations, and will deal with this in accordance with WTO dispute settlement rules, while retaining our corresponding rights," the Chinese commerce ministry said in a statement on its website.
But government advisers were scathing. Professor Pan Jiahua, the executive director of the sustainable development research centre at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said the symbolic impact would be significant.
"At a global level, the US action is terrible. It's very silly," Pan said. "This gives a very bad signal for the world. It says renewable energy technologies should not be encouraged. This is a huge blow to the fast deployment of wind energy."
Beijing has pledged to boost wind power capacity from 20 gigawatts in 2009 to 90 gigawatts, and foreign firms – which currently provide less than one in four wind turbines in China – want a bigger share of the business.
With renewable energy set to become more important and lucrative, other rows are likely to break out. The USW has also urged Washington to oppose Chinese restrictions on antimony, tungsten and other rare earth minerals essential for solar cells, energy-efficient lighting and electric cars.
Others said the issue could probably be resolved. "China's subsidy is not for promoting trade but for fostering a newly rising industry. The US does this too," said Shi Pengfei, vice president of the Chinese Wind Energy Association. "In my opinion, there's no need for China to subsidise wind power anymore, because there is already over-production."
Beijing car restrictions backfire
Move to limit licences sparks frenzied car buying and resignation of vice-major
Jonathan Watts in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 December 2010 19.28 GMT
A new plan to restrict traffic on Beijing's notoriously jammed streets backfired today as a pre-emptive surge in car ownership forced the resignation of the vice-mayor. Huang Wei, who is responsible for traffic, stood down amid a frenzy of vehicle-buying that has led to queues forming before dawn outside showrooms.
More than 30,000 vehicles have been sold in the past week, more than twice as many as normal, as Beijingers rushed to beat the introduction of tight limits on ownership. Under a policy unveiled, the city will issue just 240,000 new licences next year, down from more than 700,000 this year, by lottery.Despite a furious burst of road construction, Beijing has been unable to ease the congestion caused by a near doubling of car ownership over the past five years to almost 4.8m vehicles today. A recent survey by IBM ranked Beijing alongside Mexico City as the most grid-locked capital in the world.
The package of measures announced today also included a risk in parking charges, limits on official cars and more roadbuilding. The city has already announced it will build 280,000 extra parking spaces and 348 miles of underground track.
But the jams show no signs of easing, particularly near the vehicle management stations that issue licence plates. According to the domestic media, a tailback of more than 1,000 new cars formed behind one inspection office in Beiyuan, northern Beijing.
At this rate, the number of cars in the city is expected to pass the 5m mark by February, while the average speed of the traffic slows ever closer to bicycle pace.
Jonathan Watts in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 December 2010 19.28 GMT
A new plan to restrict traffic on Beijing's notoriously jammed streets backfired today as a pre-emptive surge in car ownership forced the resignation of the vice-mayor. Huang Wei, who is responsible for traffic, stood down amid a frenzy of vehicle-buying that has led to queues forming before dawn outside showrooms.
More than 30,000 vehicles have been sold in the past week, more than twice as many as normal, as Beijingers rushed to beat the introduction of tight limits on ownership. Under a policy unveiled, the city will issue just 240,000 new licences next year, down from more than 700,000 this year, by lottery.Despite a furious burst of road construction, Beijing has been unable to ease the congestion caused by a near doubling of car ownership over the past five years to almost 4.8m vehicles today. A recent survey by IBM ranked Beijing alongside Mexico City as the most grid-locked capital in the world.
The package of measures announced today also included a risk in parking charges, limits on official cars and more roadbuilding. The city has already announced it will build 280,000 extra parking spaces and 348 miles of underground track.
But the jams show no signs of easing, particularly near the vehicle management stations that issue licence plates. According to the domestic media, a tailback of more than 1,000 new cars formed behind one inspection office in Beiyuan, northern Beijing.
At this rate, the number of cars in the city is expected to pass the 5m mark by February, while the average speed of the traffic slows ever closer to bicycle pace.
Researchers develop reactor to make fuel from sunlight
Scientists raise hopes for a large-scale renewable source of liquid fuel with a simple reactor that mimics plants
• Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes
Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 December 2010 19.00 GMT
A simple reactor that mimics plants by turning sunlight into fuel has been demonstrated in the laboratory, boosting hopes for a large-scale renewable source of liquid fuel.
"We have a big energy problem and we have to think big," said Prof Sossina Haile, at the California Institute of Technology, who led the research.
Haile estimates that a rooftop reactor could produce about three gallons of fuel a day. She thinks transport fuels would be the first application of the reactor, if it goes on to commercial use. But she said an equally important use for the renewable fuels would be to store solar energy so it is available at times of peak demand, and overnight. She says the first improvements that will be made to the existing reactor will be to improve the insulation to help stop heat loss, a simple move that she expects to treble the current efficiency.
The key component is made from the metal cerium, which is almost as abundant as copper, unlike other rare and expensive metals frequently used as catalysts, such as platinum. Therefore, said Haile, availability would not limit the use of the device. "There is nothing cost prohibitive in our set-up," she said. "And there is plenty of cerium for this technology to make a major contribution to global gasoline supplies."
The fossil fuels used by vehicles, ships and aeroplanes pose the biggest challenge in the search for low-carbon energy, as they are highly energy-dense and portable, unlike alternatives such as batteries or nuclear reactors. An efficient, large-scale way of converting solar energy into a renewable liquid fuel could play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change.
The device, reported in the journal Science, uses a standard parabolic mirror to focus the sun's rays into a reaction chamber where the cerium oxide catalyst breaks down water and carbon dioxide. It does this because heating cerium oxide drives oxygen atoms out of its crystal lattice. When cooled the lattice strips oxygen from surrounding chemicals, including water and CO2 in the reactor. That produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can be converted to a liquid fuel.
In the experiments the reactor cycled up to 1,600C then down to 800C over 500 times, without damaging the catalyst. "The trick here is the cerium oxide – it's very refractory, it's a rock," said Haile. "But it still has this incredible ability to release oxygen. It can lose one in eight of its oxygen molecules." Caltech has filed patents on this use of cerium oxide.
The use of sunlight to make fuel is being explored by groups around the world, such as that lead by Daniel Nocera at Massachussetts Institute of Technology. His group's technology works at room temperature but is more complex chemically. At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory last year researchers found cobalt oxide could help sunlight create fuels, but only as nano-sized crystals. Imperial College in London is also exploring different catalysts.
Other groups are exploring the use of CO2 from power station flues to create liquid fuels, while a related research effort is testing how algae grown in sunlight can be used to create fuels.
• Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes
Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk, Thursday 23 December 2010 19.00 GMT
A simple reactor that mimics plants by turning sunlight into fuel has been demonstrated in the laboratory, boosting hopes for a large-scale renewable source of liquid fuel.
"We have a big energy problem and we have to think big," said Prof Sossina Haile, at the California Institute of Technology, who led the research.
Haile estimates that a rooftop reactor could produce about three gallons of fuel a day. She thinks transport fuels would be the first application of the reactor, if it goes on to commercial use. But she said an equally important use for the renewable fuels would be to store solar energy so it is available at times of peak demand, and overnight. She says the first improvements that will be made to the existing reactor will be to improve the insulation to help stop heat loss, a simple move that she expects to treble the current efficiency.
The key component is made from the metal cerium, which is almost as abundant as copper, unlike other rare and expensive metals frequently used as catalysts, such as platinum. Therefore, said Haile, availability would not limit the use of the device. "There is nothing cost prohibitive in our set-up," she said. "And there is plenty of cerium for this technology to make a major contribution to global gasoline supplies."
The fossil fuels used by vehicles, ships and aeroplanes pose the biggest challenge in the search for low-carbon energy, as they are highly energy-dense and portable, unlike alternatives such as batteries or nuclear reactors. An efficient, large-scale way of converting solar energy into a renewable liquid fuel could play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change.
The device, reported in the journal Science, uses a standard parabolic mirror to focus the sun's rays into a reaction chamber where the cerium oxide catalyst breaks down water and carbon dioxide. It does this because heating cerium oxide drives oxygen atoms out of its crystal lattice. When cooled the lattice strips oxygen from surrounding chemicals, including water and CO2 in the reactor. That produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can be converted to a liquid fuel.
In the experiments the reactor cycled up to 1,600C then down to 800C over 500 times, without damaging the catalyst. "The trick here is the cerium oxide – it's very refractory, it's a rock," said Haile. "But it still has this incredible ability to release oxygen. It can lose one in eight of its oxygen molecules." Caltech has filed patents on this use of cerium oxide.
The use of sunlight to make fuel is being explored by groups around the world, such as that lead by Daniel Nocera at Massachussetts Institute of Technology. His group's technology works at room temperature but is more complex chemically. At the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory last year researchers found cobalt oxide could help sunlight create fuels, but only as nano-sized crystals. Imperial College in London is also exploring different catalysts.
Other groups are exploring the use of CO2 from power station flues to create liquid fuels, while a related research effort is testing how algae grown in sunlight can be used to create fuels.