Each week, I review the papers, studies, reports, and briefings posted over at the RFF Library Blog.
Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the Unites States 2015
Key findings of the report include:
- Air pollution emissions from power plants are highly concentrated among a small number of producers. Among the 100 largest generators:
- Five (Duke, AEP, Southern, NRG, and MidAmerican) generate 25 percent of CO2 emissions, though Southern has seen a significant decline in emissions (27 percent) since 2000, and Duke has seen a 10 percent decline in its emissions rate even after its recent merger with Progress Energy.
- Three (AEP, Southern, and NRG) generate nearly 25 percent of SO2 emissions.
- SO2 and NOX emissions in 2013 were 80 percent and 74 percent lower, respectively, than they were in 1990, when major amendments to the Clean Air Act were passed.
- Mercury emissions have decreased 50 percent since 2000, when the industry was first required to report their mercury emissions to EPA. – via Ceres | MJ Bradley & Associates for Bank of America, Calpine Corp, Entergy Corp., Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (free download with registration)
Designing Climate Treaties: Technological Innovation and Duration of Commitment
Recent research in economics shows how not to design climate treaties—and suggests how to get it right.
The UN approach to climate negotiations is to focus on emission reduction. It is well recognized that research and development (R&D) and new green technology will be essential, but the investment choices are and will be left to sovereign countries. – via Belfer Center, Kennedy School, Harvard Univ. / by Bard Harstad
Nationally Self-Interested Climate Change Mitigation: A Unified Conceptual Framework
Key findings
- The national benefits outweigh the national costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions for most of the needed actions. Decarbonising the economy is likely to be nationally net-beneficial, even leaving aside the benefits of reducing climate change itself.
- The assumption that countries have no incentive to reduce emissions and that they can ‘free-ride’ on the actions of other countries is mistaken. For the most part, climate change is not a global “prisoner’s dilemma”. – via London School of Economics | Grantham Research Institute / by Fergus Green
An Assessment of U.S. Natural Gas Exports
Increased natural gas production in the United States has fueled a lively debate on the future of natural gas exports. So far, this debate has focused predominantly on exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). It is surrounded by many confusing statements about the regulatory regime in the United States related to natural gas exports. Although U.S. natural gas export regulation may be cumbersome and the trajectory expensive, to date not a single project has been rejected. – via Brookings Institution / by Tim Boersma, et al.
Economic Impacts of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative on Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States
[Forbes] …a new study from Boston consultancy Analysis Group shows that controlling and lowering CO2 emissions translates into a major economic development and jobs program with continued system reliability. The report represents another blow to the fear-mongering platform whose adherents insist that the EPA’s Clean Power Plan for reducing carbon emissions will bring job losses, economic ruin, and unreliability to the American power grid… – via Review of the Use of RGGI Auction Proceeds from the First Three-Year Compliance Period Analysis Group / by Paul J. Hibbard , et al.
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