Session 9 - Fossil Fuels II

• Mitigating Environmental Impacts

• Economic Solutions to Emissions

• Costs of Fossil Fuel Electrical Generation

• Emerging Technologies

• Importance of Fossil Fuels to Achieving Sustainability

Mitigating Environmental Impactsof Fossil Fuel Combustion

• Before, during, after combustion

• During combustion, optimally manage:– Fuel and Oxidant Properties– Stoichiometry (proper reactant ratios)– The Three T’s

Each has engineering and economic limits

MITIGATE REDUCE REMOVE

Geo- engineering

FuelSwitching

Improvedefficiency

OceanFertilization

BiologicalSeques- tration

Capture

•Supply side•Demand side

•Higher H/C•Nuclear•Renewables

•Seques- tration•Capture and/or use

For CO2:

Mitigating Environmental Impactsof Fossil Fuel Combustion

• Geoengineering is quite interesting:– Can we controllably alter the reflectivity of the

earth to compensate for CO2-based emissivity changes?

– A less-than-1% change in either reflectivity or emissivity of Earth produces a 1 deg K change in average surface temperature (in equilibrium state) – very sensitive!

Economic Solutionsto Carbon Dioxide Emissions

• Carbon Tax

• Cap and Trade

• Chicago Climate Exchange– Marketplace for trading on 6 GHGs– Members: 15% of stationary GHG sources; 20% of

power sector– Activity: 22.9 million MT in 2007 vs. 1 billion MT for

European Climate Exchange

Source: Chicago Climate Exchange, December 2007 News

Economic Solutionsto Carbon Dioxide EmissionsComparison of Alternatives

Carbon Tax• Favored by economists• Taxed at wholesale level• Gives price certainty• Predictable gov’t income

Cap and Trade• Favored by Congress (profits

through manipulation)• Favored by IPPs, Utilities• Favored by Environmentalists

(provides firm emission limits)• Has a working precedent (i.e.,

SO2 cap/trade for electrics)

• Multi-sector

Economic Solutionsto Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Track Record of SO2 Cap/Trade Initiative

• When enacted in 1990:– Goal: By 2010, reduce to 8.98 million tons

From 1980’s level of 17.5 million tons

• Today (2007):– Emissions at 10.5 million tons– On track for 2010 goal

• By 2010:– Will cost industry and customers $3 billion– Estimated societal benefits of $100 billion

(primarily health related)