President Obama’s Climate Action Plan of 2013 has set a goal to reduce carbon pollution by at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030. This is to be done through efficiency standards. The EPA has been tasked with establishing carbon pollution standards for power plants – new and existing. (White House, 2013) Tougher policies requiring emission reductions (for example RPS standards) will force the power industry to take mitigation measures. Cutting emissions of fossil fuel power plants and investing in renewable energy power/infrastructure are two important aspects of the plan. In order to cut emissions of producing power in America, advances in abatement technologies will be needed. A few possible abatement actions include: expansion of nuclear energy, retro-fitting existing fossil fuel plants (increasing efficiencies), and developing reliable carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. Utilizing future climate change impact information for design and construction of nuclear plants and implementing safe operating protocols (perhaps modeled by the U.S. Navy Nuclear Program), can aid in convincing society that nuclear energy is a prudent choice for producing cleaner energy. Converting coal plants to natural gas will also make the power industry more efficient. However, coming up with a proven system for CCS has the potential for revolutionizing the power industry.

There is a great need for a company to produce a reliable means of post-combustion capture of carbon dioxide from power plants. This form of CCS can be easily retro-fitted onto existing power plants, making it possible for operational coal-fired plants to continue producing power without the incredibly costly alternative of altering fuel supply, or worse – deactivating the plant. Great investments in R&D are necessary to improve post-combustion CCS which can lead to perfecting the scrubbing process enough for commercial use. Once the capturing process is upgraded, implementing a suitable sequestration process for the plant(s) can then be designed to fully execute the project.

Reference:

Congressional Research Service. The President’s Climate Action Plan. Jane A. Leggett. R43120. Washington D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office, 2014.