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Title: Conflicting goals plague EPA attempts to set air standard for new power plants

Journal Article · · Energy Res. Rep.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6631113

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to set New Source Performance Standards are frustrated by the Administration's goal of encouraging the use of coal, none of which can meet the proposed standards without using costly scrubbers and additional fuel consumption. The proposed standards require that at least 85 percent of the sulfur in stack gases must be removed and that no more than 0.2 pounds of sulfur per million Btu of heat input may be concentrated in gaseous emissions. Officials of DOE and the Council of Economic Advisors favor a partial scrubbing option in order to accelerate the switch from oil-fired to low-sulfur coal-fired plants without requiring scrubbers and increasing inflation. There is legislative support for the DOE position. EPA's dilemma in meeting economic and energy as well as environmental goals may be resolved by publishing more than one set of standards in order to generate public discussion of the conflicting goals.

OSTI ID:
6631113
Journal Information:
Energy Res. Rep.; (United States), Vol. 4:16
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English