CO2 emissions from U.S. power plants rose 2.9% in '07

A poor progress report on efforts to rein in greenhouse gases: Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from U.S. power plants climbed 2.9 percent in 2007, the biggest single-year increase since 1998, according to new analysis by the non-profit and non-partisan Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) of data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Now the single largest factor in U.S. climate change pollution, the electric power industry's carbon dioxide emissions have risen 5.9 percent since 2002 and 11.7 percent since 1997.

The new EIP report shows that the 10 states with the biggest one-year increases in CO2 pollution are: Texas, Georgia, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina. According to the EIP analysis, Texas, Georgia and Arizona had the biggest CO2 pollution increases on a one-, five- and 10-year basis. Data from 2006 show that the 10 states that emitted the most CO2 per megawatt-hour of electricity produced (meaning the least efficient power production relative to resulting climate-related pollution) are: North Dakota, Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, West Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri and Iowa.

The EIP report provides context for the ongoing battles over proposed new coal plants. The report notes: "The data make clear why national environmental groups have expended so much effort trying to stop the construction of a new batch of conventional coal-fired power plants, which would make a bad situation worse. For example, the eight planned coal-fired plants that TXU withdrew in the face of determined opposition in Texas would have added an estimated 64 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, increasing emissions from power plants in that state by 24 percent. But some of the rise in CO2 emissions comes from existing coal fired power plants, either because these plants are operating at increasingly higher capacities, or because these aging plants require more heat to generate electricity ... [M]any coal-fired power plants are churning out more CO2 than they did in years past. For example, all of the top 10 highest emitting plants in the nation, either held steady or increased CO2 output from 2006 to 2007. Georgia Power's Scherer plant -- the highest emitting plant in the nation, emitted 27.2 million tons of CO2 in 2007, up roughly 2 million tons since 2006. Some coal-fired plants date back fifty years or more, and carbon reduction strategies will need to include ways to permanently retire these plants."

Commenting on the report, Eric Schaeffer, director, Environmental Integrity Project, Washington, D.C. said: "The current debate over global warming policy tends to focus on long-term goals, like how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent over the next fifty years. But while we debate, CO2 emissions from power plants keep rising, making an already dire situation worse. Because CO2 has an atmospheric lifetime of between 50 and 200 years, today's emissions could cause global warming for up to two centuries to come."

Ken Kramer, director, Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club, Austin, Texas, said: "The bad news is that Texas is No. 1 in carbon emissions among the 50 states, and our emissions have grown in recent years. The good news is that Texas has the potential to play a major role in addressing global warming if we embrace smart energy solutions such as energy efficiency and renewable energy, solutions which pose tremendous economic as well as environmental benefits. The dramatic expansion of the wind power industry in Texas is a case in point. To become a true leader in clean energy, however, Texas needs to reject the new proposed coal plants that would spew even greater carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and the state must take steps to reduce emissions from existing coal plants."

Mark Kresowik, Iowa organizer, Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign, Des Moines, Iowa, said: "It is time for our states to reject coal plants proposed by companies like Dynegy, which plans to add pollution to four of the states on this list and become the worst new global warming polluter in the country. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are powering a renaissance in rural Iowa and creating thousands of new manufacturing jobs for our state. By rejecting coal plants and reducing pollution through energy efficiency and renewable energy our states will prosper and attract new businesses and young workers for the future."

According to the EIP report, the consumption of electricity accounted for more than 2.3 billion tons of CO2 in 2006, or more than 39.5 percent of total emissions from manmade sources, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Coal-fired power plants alone released more than 1.9 billion tons, or nearly one third of the U.S. total.

The Department of Energy projects that carbon dioxide emissions from power generation will increase 19 percent between 2007 and 2030, due to new or expanded coal plants. An additional 4,115 megawatts of new coal-fired generating capacity was added between 2000 and 2007, with another up to 15,000 megawatts expected to come online in the 2008 through 2012 timeframe.

Other Key Findings

– The top 10 states that emitted the most CO2 in 2007 (measured in total tons) are: Texas, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and West Virginia.

– The top 10 states with the largest increases in CO2 emissions over the last five years (between 2002 and 2007) are: Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

– The top 10 states with the largest increases over the past ten years (between 1997 and 2007) are Texas, Arizona, Georgia, California, Illinois, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

For the full text of the EIP report, go to www.environmentalintegrity.org on the Web.

Recommendations

EIP is calling for the following steps:

– The nation's oldest and dirtiest power plants need to be retired, and replaced with cleaner sources of energy. That will require accelerating the development of wind power and other renewable sources of energy.

– Cutting greenhouse gases quickly by reducing the demand for electricity. Smarter building codes, and funding low-cost conservation efforts -- such as weatherization of low-income homes, purchase and installation of more efficient home and business appliances -- will reduce demand and yield greenhouse gas benefits.

The report warns of the danger of a new wave of conventional coal-fired power plants that would add millions of tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Carbon capture and sequestration (removing and storing the carbon either before or after the fuel is burned) and storing the carbon underground may have long-term potential, but energy efficiency and renewable sources of electricity are likely to provide the greatest benefit over the next five years.

Data Sources

The data for the EIP-produced rankings were obtained from recently released U.S. Environmental Protection agency "Clean Air Markets" data. The database is a publicly accessible repository for emissions and other operational data self-reported by the utility industry, and includes more than 1,000 power plants regulated under the federal Acid Rain Program. Additional information on these programs and the database can be found on EPA's Clean Air Markets web page at http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/. Net generation data for 2006 is from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and is available at: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/st_profiles/e_profiles_sum.html.

About the groups:

The Environmental Integrity Project (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/) is a non-partisan and non-profit organization established in March 2002 to advocate for more effective enforcement of environmental laws. EIP was founded by Eric Schaeffer, who was director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Regulatory Enforcement. He resigned in 2002 after publicly expressing his frustration with efforts of the Bush Administration to weaken enforcement of the Clean Air Act and other laws.

The Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign is working to ensure coal is mined responsibly and burned cleanly. Across the country the Campaign is fighting to stop the construction of dirty new coal plants and direct the proposed investments into energy efficiency, renewable resources and other clean alternatives. For more information about the threat posed to our health and our environment visit www.sierraclub.org/coal.