Cap-and-Trade Legislation and the Industry Standard

(Image source: Stand Up For America)

The idea behind cap and trade policies is pretty simple: In order to lower our national fuel emissions, the government puts a "cap" on the amount of carbon emissions the nation can release and then companies "trade" for vouchers which allow them to output carbon from their factories. If they don't have enough vouchers, they can't allow processes to take place which emit further carbon. To those of us in Industrial Power Generation, this is a lot more desirable than having the EPA regulate carbon emissions, a situation which would have dire consequences for those companies that generate power with carbon byproducts. Power Magazine has an article relating to the Electric Power 2010 convention, at which many leaders in the power generation industry gathered to discuss changing trends as they relate to the field of power generation. Of the convention, the magazine had this to say:

"Rarely does unanimity strike a power industry panel, but the APA and its "conservative" cap and trade provisions, according to Connaughton, [Executive VP of corporate affairs at Constellation Energy] recieved a resounding vote of approval from the panel. Connaughton called it a major step forward and said that it "adds creative thinking from the power sector." Murphy [Regional VP of NRG Energy] said his firm was pushing for cap and trade and that it has to happen sooner than later. Trent [Duke Energy Group executive and president of Commercial Businesses] supported the legislation and noted that the EPA will regulate carbon without it. Adams [Senior VP of operations, Calpine Corp.] was favorable toward the bill because it nicely positions efficient gas-fired capacity. The slightest waver came from Kormos, [Senior VP of Services, PJM] who said he was supportive of any legislation at this point just for the certainty of it.

In the industry of power generation, we face several restrictions regarding our carbon emissions. That isn't to say that we're not trying to save the environment ourselves; renewable energy is the fastest growing aspect of our business, and in a time when everyone else is going green, we refuse to be left behind. With that said, carbon offsets being purchased by environmental groups, the actions of the EPA and several other factors may seem like a hindrance to us at times. The 2010 Power Industry Executive Roundtable reminds us that cap and trade is a good idea, because the alternative could be devastating.

To read the full article from Power Magazine, click here:

http://www.powermag.com/issues/features/Industry-Pivots-on-Natural-Gas-Hails-Cap-and-Trade_2810.html

To learn more about the latest developments in industrial power generation, check out Power and Composite Technologies:

http://www.pactinc.com/

Biofuels Processing On the Move

(Image courtesy of BBC news at bbc.co.uk)

The idea of an army of un-manned, robotic harvesters traversing the midwest over and over again to mine for resources from waste-materials in the topsoil might seem like something out of science fiction. However, scientists at Purdue University have discovered a process by which they might be able to process organic waste and other biomass (ranging from wood chips to rice husks) into biofuel using mobile conversion plants. Essentially, the robots would follow a pre-determined route (much like a Roomba) and retrace this path at logical intervals to collect waste material, which they would then convert to fuel via a new process deemed "fast-hydropyrolysis-hydrodeoxygenation". Poweronline.com gave this explanation of the process:

"The new method, called fast-hydropyrolysis-hydrodeoxygenation, works by adding hydrogen into the biomass-processing reactor. The hydrogen for the mobile plants would be derived from natural gas or the biomass itself. However, Agrawal (a distinguished professor of chemical engineering at Purdue) envisions the future use of solar power to produce the hydrogen by splitting water, making the new technology entirely renewable."

For decades, man has tried to figure out ways to create self-sustaining technologies, and processes by which we can reduce or entirely eliminate our waste byproducts through recycling and other means. In agriculture, crop-rotation, mulching and controlled burns have been in use for centuries to allow resources that would otherwise go to waste work for the farmer. In the modern era, it seems like we will be able to let new, more-advanced technologies take care of that for us - and they're even automated! I'm sure if we went back ten years and told someone that there would someday soon be an affordable robot that would vacuum your house for you, they might have thought you were crazy. Today we have the Roomba, and tomorrow we'll have a robot for collecting what would otherwise be wasted from our agricultural endeavors.

For more information on this new process, follow the link:

http://www.poweronline.com/article.mvc/New-Biofuels-Processing-Method-For-Mobile-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

New Emissions Standards for Mercury Removal

(Mercury cycle inside of a coal plant, image courtesy of Southern Company)

According to a recent article from Power magazine, the EPA is likely going to release a new emissions standard for dealing with the mercury in power plants. This new proposal could come as early as March of next year, which means that many power generation plants will need to make drastic revisions to their machinery which works directly with mercury. Some companies, like Southern Company (The ones responsible for this week's graphic) have already started to develop innovative new technologies to help them lower the amount of mercury released from their plants.

The article from Power magazine has this to say regarding their new technologies:

"Mercury emissions from Southern Company's bituminous coal units have been reduced substantially as a result of co-benefit control. Currently, these AQCSs are designed and operated for removal of nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2). The result is highly variable mercury emissions from a system not engineered for mercury control. This variability must be accounted for in evaluating co-benefit systems and their potential to comply with limits on mercury and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that are expected to be part of the electric generating units' Haps maximum achievable control technology rules."

Pre-eminently developing similar technologies or replicating Southern Company's process might be the best bet for other industrial plants to save themselves money and the headaches that can sometimes can be associated with new emissions regulations. At the Power Generation Blog, we recommend that if your power plant uses coal and vaporizes mercury that you start to look into these new processes now and not wait for next March when the rules will most likely change.

Sizzling Summer Scorches Power Production

(Image courtesy of the World Meteorological Organization)

The United States isn't the only country suffering from the effects of a blistering Summer. It was recently reported that because of a heat wave, China's twenty-four hour electricity consumption rate reached its highest level in all of history, when it hit nearly 13 billion killowatt-hours on Monday, July fifth. The previous world record, from last July, was exceeded by over five percent. The article, from English.news.cn, stated the following information regarding the stress on China's power generation infrastructure:

"The heat wave is affecting at least 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC), which issued an orange-level heat alert on Tuesday, the second highest level. With temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius, the electricity load in Beijing, Tianjin, Fujian and north China hit record high on Monday."

In order to avoid power shortages throughout the rest of the Summer, Chinese power officials are working diligently to predict electricity-demand patterns from the sixteen effected areas. Whether or not global warming is real or just a theory is a whole different topic, but those in the industry of power generation would do well to take a cue from the problems China is experiencing. Until new technologies are developed and as long as global temperatures continue to rise, power costs and the demands on the resources of every nation will continue to increase.

For more information on the Chinese heat-wave, in English, click the link:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-07/06/c_13386638.htm

To learn more about the demands of power generation in the United States and Germany, visit the PACT website:

http://www.pactinc.com/