US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised two rules to tackle emission in the power sector, with the first one mandating all coal-fired plants that operate beyond 2039 to capture 90 percent of CO2 emissions. New combined-cycle gas power units will have to adhere to the same limit, as the EPA is effectively mandating the installation of carbon capture technology – while plans to mandate new gas power units to co-fire hydrogen will be scrapped.
Contemplations about a change of plans with regards to clean-burning fuels come as a conservative Supreme Court majority is eager to reign in the EPA’s authorities and questions whether utilities can adopt some of the proposed clean energy solutions as quickly as requested.
For now, it is clear that coal power units that run beyond 2039 will have to capture 90 percent of their emissions, or shut down, while those scheduled to retire by 2039 have to capture substantially less emission, while coal plants that are set to be phased out by 2032 are unaffected. The second rule tightens the EPA’s mercury and air toxics standards, pushing up the standards for toxic metals by 67 percent and lowering the limit for mercury for existing lignite-fired power units by 70 percent.
The EPA had announced to also limit the emissions from existing gas-fired power station. But after stark warning from the industry and grid operators that this regulation could incur power shortages, the EPC conceded to tackle the issue in a separate rulemaking at a later date. "Finalizing these rules today is a huge step forward in our whole agency's approach to safeguard and public health by mitigating the harmful effects of power plant and industrial air pollution,” EPA administrator Michael Regan commented.
Fierce criticism was voice from utilities and the energy-intensive industry. Rich Nolan, CEO of the National Mining Association, claimed that through the latest rules, “the EPA is systematically dismantling the reliability of the US electric grid.'' He accused the Biden administration of “ignoring our energy reality and forcing the closure of well-operating coal plants that repeatedly come to the rescue during times of peak demand.”
