Modeling the effects of changes in New Source Review on national SO{sub 2} and NOx emissions from electricity-generating units

Miscellaneous · Thu Mar 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:20905810

Evans, David A; Hobbs, Benjamin F; Oren, Craig; Palmer, Karen L

The Clean Air Act establishes New Source Review (NSR) programs that apply to the construction or modification of major stationary emissions sources. In 2002 and 2003, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revised its rules to narrow the applicability of NSR to facility renovations. Congress then mandated a National Research Council study of the effects of the rules. An electricity-sector model - the Integrated Planning Model (IPM) - was used to explore the possible effects of the equipment replacement provision (ERP), the principal NSR change that was to affect the power-generation industry. The studies focused in particular on coal-fired electricity generating units, EGUs, for two reasons. First, coal-fired EGUs are important contributors of these pollutants, accounting for approximately 70 and 20% of nations SO{sub 2} and NOx emissions in 2004, respectively. Second, the shares of total capacity of large coal-fired EGUs that lack flue-gas desulfurization to control SO{sub 2} and selective catalytic reduction to reduce NOx emissions are 62 and 63% respectively. Although the analysis cannot predict effects on local emissions, assuming that the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) is implemented, we find that stringent enforcement of the previous NSR rules would likely lead to no or limited decreases in national emissions compared to policies such as ERP. Our results indicate that tighter emissions caps could achieve further decreases in national emissions more cost-effectively than NSR programs. 15 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 20905810
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CLEAN AIR ACTS
COAL
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COST
EFFICIENCY
EMISSION
EMISSIONS TRADING
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
I CODES
IMPLEMENTATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NITROGEN OXIDES
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
POWER GENERATION
RETROFITTING
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
SULFUR DIOXIDE
USA