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The rules include a proposal to implement hydrogen co-firing and carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS) technologies in power plants.
President Joe Biden’s administration has finalized an array of new regulations on fossil-fuel-fired power plants, including a rule requiring many power plants to prevent the release of 90 percent of their carbon emissions.
The new carbon emissions rule proposes implementing hydrogen co-firing and carbon capture and sequestration/storage (CCS) technologies in power plants.
Co-firing, or burning hydrogen fuel alongside another fuel source, is seen as a means of reducing the overall amount of carbon emissions from a fossil-fuel-fired plant. CCS technologies separate carbon dioxide from factory emissions and divert them down into underground geological formations to prevent their release into the atmosphere.
The EPA said its proposal for implementing these carbon-reducing technologies “will significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants and from new natural gas turbines, ensuring that all long-term coal-fired plants and base load new gas-fired plants control 90% of their carbon pollution.”
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The EPA projected these new controls on power plant carbon emissions will provide for a reduction of 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047, an amount equivalent to preventing the annual emissions of 328 million gasoline cars, or nearly an entire year of emissions from the entire U.S. electric power sector. The EPA projected these controls will also save up to $370 billion in climate and public health net benefits over the next two decades.
Along with reducing carbon emissions, new EPA rules call for a reduction of the existing mercury emissions limit by 70 percent for lignite-fired plants and the emissions limit that controls for toxic metals by 67 percent for all coal plants, and implementation systems for real-time emissions monitoring.
Another EPA rule announced Thursday calls for strengthened wastewater discharge standards. The agency projected these revised standards would provide for the reduction of 660 million pounds of pollutants flowing from coal plants into the nation’s waterways each year.
“Today, EPA is proud to make good on the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision to tackle climate change and to protect all communities from pollution in our air, water, and in our neighborhoods,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said Thursday.
Biden Admin Continues Environmental Campaign
The finalization of these new EPA rules on fossil-fuel-fired power plants comes on the heels of other new rulemaking announcements focused on reducing fossil fuel extraction and limiting its use.
Those earlier rounds of regulations earned plaudits from environmental advocacy groups. Those environmental groups continued their praise after the finalization of the new power plant regulations.
But while environmental groups praised the new regulations, the move sparked disapproval among fossil fuel industry allies.
Coal mining accounts for a major source of West Virginia’s economy and employment.
Announcing the now-finalized rules last year, Mr. Regan denied that the new regulations were aimed at shutting down the coal sector, but he acknowledged in proposing the power plant rule last year that “we will see some coal retirements.”
Mr. Nolan vowed his industry association would challenge the new regulations, including up to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
