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 Reducing GHG Intensity at Fossil-Fueled Plants

Fossil fuels have been a major contributor to the high standard of living enjoyed by the industrialized world.  In the U.S., use of fossil fuel is increasingly as a fuel for generating electricity. Indeed, the U.S. electricity system is a world-class asset, supplying relatively low-cost and reliable power for homes and businesses. The U.S. grid is powered mostly by low-cost and abundant fossil fuel resources, particularly coal. The fuel supply systems, generating assets, and transmission and distribution grids collectively represent a huge capital investment in infrastructure.

The availability of low-cost electricity has accelerated the electrification of our energy system, with an ever-growing share of our energy use comprised of electricity. In 1960, 18.1 percent of total energy consumption was in the form of energy input to electric utilities. By 2000, while total energy consumption more than doubled, electricity demand went up fivefold, now accounting for nearly 40 percent of total U.S. energy consumption.

For decades, coal has been the dominant source of electricity in the United States. As it is abundant, geographically widespread, and inexpensive to mine, coal has powered more than half of all electricity use since 1950.

Fossil energy is too large a part of the global economy and too inherently cost-effective to realistically be eliminated from the world’s energy mix. Our efforts to tackle CO2 emissions cannot be blind to this reality. The continued use of fossil fuels to generate affordable electricity is critically important to the United States and other world economies. The power generation industry needs to maintain a diversified fuel mix to ensure adequate energy supplies at a reasonable price.

To calculate a nation’s CO2 emissions, we can use the following simple formula: 

Using this formula, we can identify three primary means to reduce CO2 emissions without reducing economic output. One can (1) increase the efficiency of energy conversion and end-use processes, (2) shift to lower carbon fuels (including non-carbon sources such as renewable energy and nuclear power), and/or (3) sequester the carbon released in energy production.  While there are literally hundreds of activities that can be undertaken to reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, most activities fall into one of these categories. These are the three major pathways we can follow in controlling the emissions of CO2 associated with energy production. All of these options are discussed in this and other sections of the Power Partners℠ Resource Guide.

This section of the Power Partners℠ Resource Guide presents many options for GHG reductions at fossil-fired plants. Some of the topics relate to improving the efficiency (heat rate) at existing fossil-fired units. Other topics focus more on new or rebuilt generating capacity, reducing CO2 emissions either by improved generating efficiency and/or by increased use of lower-carbon fossil fuels.

Improvements in fossil-fired power generation technology, how power plants are operated and maintained, and where on the grid they are located, can measurably reduce both GHG emissions and operating costs.  Improvements in efficiency of new and existing generation plants can take many forms. Some are listed below; and the following pages discuss these and other related options in greater depth:

 

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CoalFleet for Tomorrow. CoalFleet for Tomorrow is an industry-led, broad-based collaborative formed to accelerate the commercial deployment of advanced coal power systems, including Ultra-Supercritical Pulverized Coal (USC PC) and Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC). For each technology, CoalFleet has assembled world-class expert working groups with an extensive amount of design experience. The expert groups supplement the expertise of Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) staff members with plant managers and retired engineers from supplier companies—in short, the best talent from the United States and Europe.
http://www.epriweb.com/public/000000000001014845.pdf

Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI). "Clean coal technology" describes a new generation of energy processes that sharply reduce air emissions and other pollutants from coal-burning power plants. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the U.S. Department of Energy conducted a joint program with industry and State agencies to demonstrate the best of these new technologies at scales large enough for companies to make commercial decisions. More than 20 of the technologies tested in the original program achieved commercial success. With coal likely to remain one of the nation's lowest-cost electric power sources for the foreseeable future, President Bush has pledged a new commitment to even more advanced clean coal technologies. The Clean Coal Power Initiative is providing government co-financing for new coal technologies that can help utilities meet the President's Clear Skies Initiative to cut sulfur, nitrogen and mercury pollutants from power plants by nearly 70 percent by the year 2018. Also, some of the early projects are showing ways to reduce greenhouse emissions by boosting the efficiency at which coal plants convert coal to electricity or other energy forms.
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/index.html

FutureGen Clean Coal Projects is an initiative to equip multiple new clean coal power plants with advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.  On February 27, 2003, the federal government announced FutureGen, a $1 billion initiative to create a coal-based power plant focused on demonstrating a revolutionary clean coal technology that would produce hydrogen and electricity and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. FutureGen's restructured approach proposes federal funding to demonstrate cutting-edge CCS technology at multiple commercial-scale integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) coal power plants. It includes engagement with the international community which will remain integral to advancing CCS technology on a global scale.
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/futuregen/index.html

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Below are some links and resources that pertain to fossil energy efficiency improvements and GHG reductions in general. Additional resources are provided for the specific topic areas indicated by the link bar on the left of this page.

Electric Power Research Institute, “CoalFleet for Tomorrow”
http://www.epriweb.com/public/000000000001014845.pdf

CoalFleet for Tomorrow ("CoalFleet") is an industry-led, broad-based collaborative research program founded with the goal of making a portfolio of advanced coal technologies more accessible and affordable for power producers and society. Managed by EPRI, CoalFleet brings together power generators from five continents, turbine and boiler suppliers, EPC (engineer-procure-construct) companies from around the world, research partners such as the U.S. Department of Energy, and others. Technologies covered by CoalFleet include integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), ultra-supercritical pulverized coal (USC PC), and supercritical circulating fluidized-bed combustion (SC CFBC). CoalFleet is especially focused on incorporating user requirements and lessons learned from existing IGCC and advanced PC and CFBC plants (as well as new developments) into new designs being developed for potential commercial orders, helping spur reductions in capital cost and risk for subsequent orders as well as improvements in plant availability and performance.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Industrial Technologies Program, “BestPractices”
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/

BestPractices, a program of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), works with industry to identify plant-wide opportunities for energy savings and process efficiency. Through the implementation of new technologies and systems improvements, companies across the United States are achieving immediate savings results.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Industrial Technologies Program, “Industrial Assessment Centers”
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/bestpractices/iacs.html

The Industrial Assessment Centers program enables eligible small and medium-sized manufacturers to have comprehensive industrial assessments performed at no cost to the manufacturer. This web site is intended to provide an overview of the sources of services, self-help tools and expertise currently available to manufacturers throughout the U.S.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Industrial Technologies Program, “OIT Times: States' Options for NICE3 Participation Broadened” (January 2, 2002 News Release)
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/industry/newsandevents/news_detail.html?news_id=7633

OIT’s National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and Economics (NICE3) program provides funding to state-industry partnerships for projects that demonstrate advances in energy efficiency and clean production. State-industry partnerships can get one-time Federal grants of up to $525,000 with the industrial partner receiving up to $500,000.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, “Clean Coal Technology & The President's Clean Coal Power Initiative”
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/index.html

The Clean Coal Power Initiative, is providing government co-financing for new coal technologies that can help utilities meet the President's Clear Skies Initiative to cut sulfur, nitrogen and mercury pollutants from power plants by nearly 70 percent by the year 2018. Also, some of the early projects are showing ways to reduce greenhouse emissions by boosting the efficiency at which coal plants convert coal to electricity or other energy forms.

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy, “FutureGen Clean Coal Projectst”
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/futuregen/index.html

FutureGen Clean Coal Projects is an initiative to equip multiple new clean coal power plants with advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.  On February 27, 2003, the federal government announced FutureGen, a $1 billion initiative to create a coal-based power plant focused on demonstrating a revolutionary clean coal technology that would produce hydrogen and electricity and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. FutureGen's restructured approach proposes federal funding to demonstrate cutting-edge CCS technology at multiple commercial-scale integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) coal power plants. It includes engagement with the international community which will remain integral to advancing CCS technology on a global scale.