WASHINGTON--The Environmental Protection Agency said today it will delay for three years requiring biomass-fired boilers to have permits for emitting carbon dioxide emissions.
"We are working to find a way forward that is scientifically sound and manageable for both producers and consumers of biomass energy. In the coming years, we will develop a common sense approach that protects our environment and encourages the use of clean energy," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
WASHINGTON--U.S. environmental regulators released a plan on Thursday for the nation's power plants and refineries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, pressing ahead with the Obama administration's strategy of tackling the pollution in the absence of federal climate legislation.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would propose so-called performance standards on greenhouse gas emissions on both new and existing plants beginning in July for power plants and for oil refineries by December. The fossil fuel plants emit about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases.
The plan resulted from an agreement with states, including California and New York, … Read more
analysis Republicans in the new Congress will pose a greater threat to the Obama administration's strategy to regulate greenhouse gas polluters than a plethora of industry lawsuits.
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is marching ahead with rules requiring big polluters like coal-fired power plants, oil refiners, and cement manufacturers to get permits starting January 2 to emit gases blamed for warming the planet.
President Barack Obama has always said the EPA would regulate carbon emitters if lawmakers failed to pass a climate bill.
Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives in January after winning some 60 seats … Read more
WASHINGTON--U.S. environmental regulators said on Wednesday they will not force coal plants and manufacturers to adopt specific technologies to cut greenhouse gas output, but will push them to become more energy efficient to comply with looming climate rules.
The move by the Environmental Protection Agency helped relieve some fears in the industries that the agency would require emitters to quickly invest in expensive, unproven technologies to cut output of gases blamed for global warming. But industry groups did complain they would not have enough time to comply with the rules.
Beginning January 2, the EPA plans to start requiring big emitters such as power plants, refineries, and cement manufacturers to obtain permits for polluting greenhouse gases.
"We believe this approach will in most cases lead to improvements in energy efficiency," Gina McCarthy, an EPA assistant administrator on air and radiation, told reporters in a teleconference.
The agency released on Wednesday guidance on the best available control technologies, or BACT, that companies should use to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases. The companies will have to adhere to the guidelines when expanding or building new plants or factories, and work with state and local air authorities to decide which technology works best for them. … Read more
MELBOURNE, Australia--Asia-Pacific firms are worried that tougher laws on greenhouse gas emissions will hit financial performance and uncertainties on the issue are already limiting their ability to raise capital, a just-published survey showed.
The survey, by Standard & Poor's and carbon analytics firm RepuTex, also found only a minority of firms demonstrated a high understanding of risks associated with tighter carbon laws.
"Respondents from all sectors across the entire Asia-Pacific region clearly stated that they anticipate climate change to progressively affect their financial statements," it said.
The study found 41 percent of the respondents reported that to … Read more
Automakers would be required to nearly double fleet efficiency to 62 miles per gallon by 2025 under the most ambitious scenario of a U.S. government outlook on fuel economy and emissions released yesterday.
Gasoline and electric hybrid vehicles and electric cars would play a crucial role in meeting the top range targets, according to the preliminary assessment presented to the industry as a starting point for developing fuel standards for 2017 cars and light trucks, including SUVs, pickups, and vans.
"We must, and we will, keep the momentum going to make sure that all motor vehicles sold in … Read more
A Chinese government fund has told a U.N. panel it supports project developers that earn carbon offsets under a lucrative Kyoto Protocol program, and rejects the idea that they are overcompensated.
Chinese project developers rejected key grounds for a review of Kyoto's clean development mechanism (CDM), and the China CDM Fund supported them, confidential papers showed a week before a U.N. panel decides whether to launch a formal review of the program.
The projects are the most lucrative under the CDM, which allows rich countries to buy offsets from carbon-cutting projects in the developing world as a … Read more
A molecular-imaging technique using positron emission tomography (PET) sheds enough light on the biological processes of tumors that researchers hope to one day treat cancers with very targeted, high doses of radiation therapy customized for each individual tumor, according to research presented last week.
What's a natural resource that is free, produces zero carbon emissions and has been used to power ships since time immemorial? The answer is of course the wind. The graceful sailing ships that sent the likes of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama to the Americas and India are long gone, though, replaced by vast iron vessels loaded with crude oil, minerals and neat stacks of shipping containers to feed the voracious global economy. These massive vessels, which can reach as long as three soccer fields put together, consume fuel oil that pumps out tonnes of planet-warming gases such … Read more
Virgin chief Richard Branson has seen the enemy and it is carbon.
Branson is touting the Carbon War Room, a group of entrepreneurs, public sector officials, and industry leaders as a way to "remove gigatons of carbon out of industry." Branson, speaking at the SAP Sapphire conference, a coordinated Orlando-Frankfurt powwow with customers, Branson said:
Basically the enemy is carbon. There was no war room to coordinate to fight carbon.
When asked where information technology fits into this war on carbon, Branson noted that the industry plays a big role. Information technology companies and industry leaders need to … Read more
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