A report entitled, "Deploying Near-Zero Technologies for Coal: A Path Forward," was recently distributed at the annual meeting for the Western Governors' Association. The report is a summary of a workshop that was held in October, 2007, by the Western Governors' Association, and is part of an ongoing effort to implement the recommendations of the Clean and Diversified Energy Advisory Committee to increase new clean energy generation in the West by 30,000 megawatts by 2015. Read More
|
In a highly controversial move, a Georgia state court has revoked the air permit previously issued by the state for a new coal-fired plant in the state, the first in 20 years. The legal issue turned on whether CO2 is “subject to regulation” under the Clean Air Act.
Read More
|
In an order dated June 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected claims from 17 states and a number of environmental groups that EPA should be required to issue an endangerment determination for CO2 within 60 days.
Read More
|
Senators Hatch (R-UT) and Dorgan (D-ND) have introduced the Carbon Reduction Technology Bridge Act of 2008, which would provide tax incentives for clean coal technology, including CCS. In particular, Section V of the bill would provide a tax credit for installing CCS equipment equivalent to 30 percent of the qualified investment (a defined term) for a taxable year. The bill would also provide tax credits of $30 per metric ton of CO2 injected and stored by the taxpayer; $20 per metric ton of CO2 compressed and transferred elsewhere for storage; and $15 per metric ton of CO2 injected for EOR by the taxpayer.
|
California Air Resources Board announced the nation’s first comprehensive plan to cut global warming emissions as part of its ongoing process required by California law AB32.
Read More
|
According to Carbon Control News, the Environmental Protection Agency, in setting up its draft rules for an economy wide registry of greenhouse-gas emissions, plans to let companies “self-certify” their emissions. Assuming that this report is correct, the EPA has made a marked departure from the third party verification systems that have become the norm amongst greenhouse gas tracking organizations like the Chicago Climate Exchange and the California Climate Action Registry. In fact, all five of the greenhouse gas tracking organizations mentioned in Lieberman-Warner as being adequately reliable (the Climate Registry, the California Action Registry, the GHG Registry, the GHG Clean Projects Registry and the Chicago Climate Exchange) verify emissions using independent third-parties. Such a decision by EPA will be controversial and may be challenged as being out of compliance with the legislation directing EPA to create the registry.
|
On Monday, June 23, a federal district judge in California ruled that automobile manufacturers should not be allowed extra time to comply with a California law regulating greenhouse gas emissions, if and when EPA grants the state a waiver to implement the rules.
Read More
|
The Department of Energy has released the final requirements for the restructured FutureGen project. Applications to receive funding as part of the restructured project are due by October 8, 2008, with the winning projects to be announced in December. The DOE has initial authorization to fund $290 million in demonstration projects, with the funding increasing to $1 billion in the following years if approved by Congress. Read More
|
Geir Vollsaeter, Special Policy Advisor, recently concluded his participation in the Technology and Finance in Climate Cooperation (CC8) meeting, in preparation for the next global summit on Climate Change. This exclusive meeting started on June 5, and concluded on June 6, in Oslo, Norway.
Read More
|
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires local and state agencies in California to review the environmental impacts of projects that involve land-use decisions. CEQA closely resembles its federal counterpart, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). On June 19 th CEQA may have grown some more teeth when the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released its technical guidance on how to treat greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (the Guidelines). Read More
|
|