Environmental Management

EPRI performed a review of air quality issues related to natural gas extraction and combustion in 2011–2012. This review focused on both traditional pollutants (such as particulate matter and volatile organic compounds) and emerging air pollutants (such as ultrafine particle number) that are being considered in air quality management processes. This article summarizes the major topics and conclusions from this review....

Soon to become the world’s largest electricity market, China is also looking to ease its reliance on coal by shifting toward renewables and natural gas. But an array of roadblocks stand in the way of gas becoming a major element of the mix. ...

Generators in New England were burned in the 2000s when a fleet of new gas turbine plants couldn’t compete because of high fuel prices. But what goes around comes around, and these same plants are now pushing out oil and coal thanks to cheap shale gas and favorable regulations. ...

Few industrial innovations are free of litigation, and fracking is no exception. In this update from last year’s review of litigation trends, favorable early results for explorers and developers suggest cautious optimism may be in order for the natural gas industry....

Power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the U.S. declined to their lowest level since 1990, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said last week....

President Obama this week nominated Gina McCarthy, the current assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation, to head the EPA. He also nominated Dr. Ernest Moniz, currently a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for secretary of energy. Both are expected to face a difficult confirmation process....

China will reduce the nation's carbon emissions and energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by at least 3.7% this year and perform trials for a carbon-trading program, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said in a report on Tuesday. The country would also make "greater efforts to conserve energy" and "reduce the discharge of major pollutants," it's top economic planner said....

Bill Gates didn’t mince words last night when sharing with the IHS CERAWeek crowd his thoughts about public support for basic scientific research in the United States....

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates final regulations curbing greenhouse gas (GHG), mercury, and air toxics emissions from new sources could appear in the Federal Register over the next six weeks. Also forthcoming are final cooling water intake rules and proposed effluent guidelines. The coal ash rule, which has no target date for a final rule, may not be issued this year, the agency said....

A new draft carbon-pricing bill that solicits feedback on how much industrial sources burning fossil fuels should pay per ton of carbon dioxide emitted was released by a bicameral group of Democrats on Tuesday. The bill diverges from a previously introduced measure to levy carbon taxes at the point of production or sale of a fossil fuel and applies instead at the “point of emissions”—which includes coal, oil, and natural gas generators....