Holistic Program for Solution to Coal-fired Power Plant Environmental Problems
The battle over energy and the environment is mostly caused by confusion over
values. A common metric to rate all harm will lead to agreement on a program
which will:
·
Reduce greenhouse gases and pollutants by more than the present strategy
·
Create a big stimulus program with many new jobs
·
Reduce the deficit
·
Make the U.S. more competitive
Europe is moving away from gas and back to coal through reliance on
ultrasupercritical coal-fired power plants and renewables. In the U.S. we enjoy
lower gas prices, but the reality is that gas prices locally will eventually
reach world levels. EIA anticipates this increase and is forecasting that
U.S. consumption of coal in 2035 will be higher than consumption in 2012 and
near the levels of 2008.
Over the next twenty-five years, the U.S. will operate the oldest coal fleet in
the world. Even with compliance to all standards, these power plants will
emit three times the pollutants emitted by new power plants. They will burn 30
percent more coal and the cost to operate them will be more than the depreciated
cost of new power plants.
A common metric to measure all harm means that a numerical comparison can be
made between alternative strategies and the path with the biggest harm reduction
at the least cost can be chosen. All pollutants can be rated based on equivalent
tons of CO2 as per the following example:
Harm in Tons of Equivalent CO2
|
|
Pollutant |
Tons of CO2
Equivalent
Per Ton Emitted |
CO2 (air) |
1 |
SO2 ( air) |
100 |
Mercury (air) |
10.000,000 |
Water usage in drought area |
0.1 |
Landfill Depletion |
0.001 |
TSS (water) |
100 |
This ratio is already established by EPA in its cost/benefit analyses for
various rules. The relative values can be debated and a new consensus
established. A tool called Quality Enhanced Life Days (QELD) can be used to help
set this consensus.
Power plant operators are most concerned by what they call the Franken MACT.
The threat of sequential regulation of each harm individually causes confusion
and potentially exorbitant costs. So consensus on a program for total harm
reduction will result in clarity and cost reduction.
The most overlooked economic statistic is that a new supercritical coal-fired
power plant will be the low cost option even if it is operated for only
twenty-five years. This means that the staunchest anti coal
environmentalists will not be deterred from their 2050 goals.
Here is the total harm comparison between the present coal-fired fleet with all
the proposed new controls and new supercritical coal-fired power plants:
Harm in Tons of Equivalent CO2
for the U.S Coal Fleet
Billions of Tons Per Year |
||
Pollutant |
Existing Coal Plants Upgraded to
Meet New Standards |
New Super-Critical Coal-fired
Power Plants |
Air Toxics |
1 |
0.1 |
PM2.5 |
0.5 |
0.05 |
SO2 |
0.9 |
0.09 |
NOx |
0.4 |
0.1 |
CO2 |
1.7 |
1.2 |
Water |
0.5 |
0.2 |
Soil |
0.5 |
0.2 |
Total |
5.5 |
2.2 |
Replacement of the old power plants with new ones would reduce harm by the
equivalent of 3.3 billion tons of CO2 per year.
China has built more supercritical power plants in the last five years
than would be needed to replace the entire U.S. fleet. These plants have the
latest NOx and SO2 removal equipment, so it is not just
Europe who is showing why the program is possible.
The following steps are needed for success:
·
Agreement on a common metric
·
A national plan which takes into account local concerns, but is not hostage to
them
·
A method for encouraging investment in the new power plants
Dialog between all the different parties can be meaningful when addressing
specifics such as the comparison of harm for specific pollutants. So it is
possible to achieve some consensus regarding harm values.
A national plan has to balance protection of individuals locally affected with
the common interest. But guidelines will have to be set as to what constitutes a
legitimate concern. These guidelines will need to be universally applied rather
than on a case by case basis. (The common metric for harm can be applied here as
well.)
If a plan is implemented which assures investors that the regulations for
the next twenty-five years will not be drastically changed without compensation,
then the funds for a massive replacement of U.S. coal-fired power plants will be
readily available. The result will be a reduction in the deficit and a more
competitive position in the world market.
For more information on this subject contact: Bob McIlvaine, 847-784-0012 ext
112,
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com.
Related information is also shown at
Sustainability Universal Rating System.
Top Ten Air and Water Monitoring Companies Have 21 Percent of the Total Market
The top ten companies in the air and water monitoring market had 2012 revenues
of $4.4 billion representing 21 percent of the $21 billion market. This ranking
analysis has just been posted to the McIlvaine report, Air & Water Pollution
Monitoring World Markets. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)
Top Ten Air and Water Monitoring
Companies |
|
Company |
Ranking |
Emerson
|
1 |
Endress + Hauser |
2 |
Thermo Fisher |
3 |
Horiba |
4 |
Yokogawa
|
5 |
Xylem
|
6 |
Siemens |
7 |
Mettler Toledo |
8 |
Invensys |
9 |
ABB |
10 |
The market share for the top five companies is 17 percent and only 4 percent for
the next five companies. There are many thousands of companies
participating in this market with sales of less than $100 million. The
total market includes those companies providing periodic sampling. They
often consist of a handful of people with a modest investment in portable test
equipment.
At the other end of the spectrum is Emerson which has complete automation
systems for air and water monitoring and control. It is also a major
supplier of combustion analyzers including oxygen and carbon monoxide. The
forecasts include distributed control systems and PLCs used in the monitoring
process. For this reason the top ten list includes not only Emerson but
Yokogawa, Siemens, Invensys and ABB.
Endress + Hauser and Thermo Fisher have the widest assortment of instruments,
but they are not at the top of the rankings because they do not supply extensive
software.
The automotive test system portion for Horiba is included because it is centered
on measuring the impurities in the gas discharged from engines. This is a
substantial portion of Horiba sales and, thus, elevates the company to the top
ten rankings.
Yokogawa is a $4 billion company. It is a world leader in the sales of DCS
systems. It supplies both air and water instrumentation. Its software revenues
were just increased by the acquisition of Soteica. The acquired company
provides optimization systems for controlling greenhouse gases, NOx
and other pollutants.
For more information on Air & Water Pollution Monitoring World Markets,
click on:
http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106extsup1.asp
Many projects in the oil and gas industry are listed in our new service:
Here are titles of projects added to our new sales leads database in NO49
Oil, Gas, Shale and Refining Markets and Projects.
(Listed by most current date)
·
Sinopec Guangdong Oil Terminal EPC Project Won by CCCC
Water Transportation Consultants (Project Dated:
3/18/2013)
·
Enbridge Provides Details on Southern Access Extension
(Project Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
Singapore’s First Floating Oil Storage Terminal Taking
Shape (Project Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
ConocoPhillips Plans to Invest more in Shale Plays and
Reduce APLNG, Oil Sands Stakes (Analysis Dated:
3/18/2013)
·
Namibia, Angola May Build Oil Terminal along Border
(Article Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
Pembina Pipeline to Proceed with $1Bln Expansion of
NGL Infrastructure (Project Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
Researchers Discover Solar Sponge Material to Help
with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (Article Dated:
3/18/2013)
·
Alberta Still Supporting Carbon Capture Projects
(Project Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
Subsea 7 Awarded $380 Mln Statoil Contract Offshore
Norway (Contract Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
Iraq Begins Design of $18 Bln Oil Pipeline to Jordan
(Article Dated: 3/18/2013)
·
Otto Energy Named Preferred Bidder for Area 7 by
Philippine Energy (Project Dated: 3/15/2013)
·
ExxonMobil & Petrom Sign Agreement for Romgaz to
Participate in Black Sea Midia Block (Contract Dated:
3/15/2013)
·
Seadrill Orders Two Jack-Ups from China’s Dalian for
Delivery in 2015 (Order Dated: 3/15/2013)
·
Maersk Oil with Gulf Drilling International Signs
Drilling Contract in Qatar (Contract Dated:
3/15/2013)
·
Emerson Wins $33 Mln Contract to Upgrade Automation on
North Sea Statoil Platform (Contract Dated:
3/15/2013)
·
Aquatech Awarded Permit to Operate PA Central Water
Treatment Facility (Permit Dated: 3/15/2013)
·
Brazil Approves more Oil Exploration Blocks for May
Auction (Article Dated: 3/15/2013)
·
2H Offshore Awarded Steel Riser Contract by Llog
Exploration (Contract Dated: 3/15/2013)
·
Statoil Awards Various Contracts for the Polarled
Pipeline (Contract Dated: 3/14/2013)
·
Planned Pipeline Construction Completed in 2013 Climbs
73% from 2012 (Overview Dated: 3/14/2013)
·
Loyz Energy Awarded Petroleum Service Contract in
Philippines (Contract Dated: 3/14/2013)
·
Gazprom Neft Signs Kurdistan Halabja Oil Project Deal
(Project Dated: 3/14/2013)
·
Illinois Fracking Bill Leads Way with
Environmentalists, Industry Cooperation (Article Dated:
3/14/2013)
·
CB&I Announces $180 Mln Offshore Award for Project in
Norwegian Sea (Project Dated: 3/13/2013)
·
Summit Power (Texas Clean Energy Will Use Scrubber and
Wastewater Treatment ) (Project Dated: 3/12/2013)
·
Summit Power IGCC Moving Forward
(Project Dated: 3/12/2013)
·
BP Angola Awards Technip with Five-Year Contract for
Engineering and Modification Services (Contract Dated:
3/12/2013)
·
DSME Awarded Contract for Dagny Topsides
(Contract Dated: 3/12/2013)
·
Technip Awarded $40 Mln PEMEX Contract for Refinery
Revamp in Mexico (Project Dated: 3/7/2013)
For more information on: Oil, Gas, Shale and Refining Markets and Projects.
click on:
http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/component/content/article?id=72#n049
Here are the Headlines for the March 15, 2013 – Utility E-Alert
UTILITY E-ALERT
#1116 – March 15, 2013
Table of Contents
COAL – US
COAL – WORLD
GAS/OIL – US
GAS/OIL – WORLD
CO2
BIOMASS
NUCLEAR
BUSINESS
§
Hundreds of Active Projects in $19 Billion Canadian Oil Sands Market
§
Wood Group consolidates Gas Turbine Repair Centers
HOT TOPIC HOUR
For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System,
click on:
http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72
McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration
On Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine
hosts a 90 minute web meeting on important energy and pollution control
subjects. Power webinars are free for subscribers to either
Power Plant Air Quality Decisions or Utility Environmental Upgrade
Tracking System. The cost is $125.00
for non-subscribers.
Market Intelligence
webinars are free to McIlvaine market report subscribers and are $400.00
for non-subscribers.
|
2013 |
|
DATE |
SUBJECT |
|
March 21 |
Industrial Boiler MACT Impact
and Control Options – Part 1 |
Power |
March 28 |
Mercury Measurement and Control
– Part 1 |
Power |
April 4 |
Industrial Boiler MACT Impact
and Control Options – Part 2 |
Power |
April 11 |
Mercury Measurement and Control
– Part 2 |
Power |
April 18 |
Mercury Measurement and Control
– Part 3 |
Power |
April 25 |
Control Technologies for Fine
Particulate Matter |
Power |
May 2 |
Flyash Pond and Wastewater
Treatment Issues |
Power |
May 9 |
Clean Coal Technologies
|
Power |
May 16 |
Power Plant Automation and
Control
|
Power |
May 23 |
Cooling Towers |
Power |
May 30 |
Air Pollution Control Markets
(geographic trends, regulatory
developments, competition,
technology developments)
|
Market Intelligence |
June 6 |
Report from Power-Gen Europe
(update on regulations, speaker
and exhibitor highlights) |
Power |
June 13 |
Monitoring and Optimizing Fuel
Feed, Metering and Combustion in
Boilers |
Power |
June 20 |
Dry Sorbent Injection and
Material Handling for APC |
Power |
June 27 |
Power Generation Forecast for
Nuclear, Fossil and Renewables |
Market Intelligence |
July 11 |
New Developments in Power Plant
Air Pollution Control |
Power |
July 18 |
Measurement and Control of HCl |
Power |
July 25 |
GHG Compliance Strategies,
Reduction Technologies and
Measurement |
Power |
August 1 |
Update on Coal Ash and CCP
Issues and Standards |
Power |
August 8 |
Improving Power Plant Efficiency
and Power Generation |
Power |
August 15 |
Control and Treatment Technology
for FGD Wastewater |
Power |
August 22 |
Status of Carbon Capture and
Storage Programs and Technology |
Power |
August 29 |
Pumps for Power Plant Cooling
Water and Water Treatment
Applications |
Power |
Sept. 5
|
Fabric Selection for Particulate
Control
|
Power |
Sept. 19 |
Air Pollution Control for Gas
Turbines |
Power |
Sept. 26 |
Multi-Pollutant Control
Technology
|
Powe |
To register for the Hot Topic Hour, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
----------
You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Free_Newsletter_Registration_Form.htm.
Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvainecompany.com
191 Waukegan Road Suite 208 | Northfield | IL 60093
Ph: 847-784-0012 | Fax: 847-784-0061
Click
here to un-subscribe from this mailing list