Publications in Climate & Energy
view all publications >
OptimaCCS Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Optimization: North Carolina Case Study
April 2012 - by Darmawan Prasodjo and Lincoln Pratson
The use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the United States will allow coal-fired power generation to remain a major component of the nation’s energy mix while also reducing its carbon emissions. The cost of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) will affect the deployment of CCS, as will the costs for CO2 pipeline transport and underground injection. Transportation and storage costs can be minimized, however, by optimizing the design of the transport system. This report examines how a software program created at Duke, OptimaCCS, maps out cost-efficient options for overall CCS network design, including pipeline routes, necessary pipe diameters and lengths, efficiencies from using shared pipelines, and the impact of sequestration costs.
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation with Agricultural Land Management Activities in the United States—A Side-by-Side Comparison of Biophysical Potential
March 2012
Responsible for 6% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) production, agricultural land use has significant potential to reduce these emissions and capture additional carbon in the soil. Many different activities have been proposed for such mitigation, but assessments of the biophysical potential have been limited and have not provided direct comparison among the many options. We present an in-depth review of the scientific literature, with a side-by-side comparison of net biophysical GHG mitigation potential for 42 different agricultural land management activities in the United States, many of which are likely applicable in other regions. Twenty of these activities are likely to be beneficial for GHG mitigation and have sufficient research to support this conclusion. Limited research leads to uncertainty for 15 other activities that may have positive mitigation potential, and the remaining activities have small or negative GHG mitigation potential or life-cycle GHG concerns. While we have sufficient information to move forward in implementing a number of activities, there are some high-priority research needs that will help clarify problematic uncertainties.
Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Existing Sources: Section 111(d) and State Equivalency
March 2012
On December 9, 2011, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions convened a broad range of stakeholders to explore the legal and policy issues presented by the regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under 111(d) (existing source performance standards) of the Clean Air Act. The workshop focused primarily on the options for states to demonstrate that existing GHG policies are equivalent to the 111(d) requirements. The Nicholas Institute distributed this document to workshop participants prior to the event to provide a framework for the issues that would be discussed. Nothing in this document should be interpreted as expressing the Institute’s opinion of the path the EPA should take on any given issue.
The Effect of Assessment Scale and Metric Selection on the Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Woody Biomass
February 2012 - by Christopher S. Galik and Robert C. Abt
Recent media attention has focused on the net greenhouse gas (GHG) implications of using woody biomass to produce energy. In particular, a great deal of controversy has erupted over the biomass accounting techniques used to evaluate these GHG effects. This paper informs the present debate over the GHG effects of woody biomass use by conducting a comparative analysis of these accounting techniques. It compares these techniques in a hypothetical scenario in which coal-fired power plants in Virginia add woody biomass to their fuel mix—a process known as “cofiring.” It finds that these techniques strongly influence the calculated GHG balance. The paper also assesses the relative effect of the accounting approach on differences in GHG balance, and concludes with implications for policy makers.
Determining the Least-Cost Investment for an Existing Coal Plant to Comply with EPA Regulations under Uncertainty
February 2012 - by David Hoppock, Dalia Patino Echeverri, and Etan Gumerman
Low natural gas prices and forthcoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for coal plant emissions, coal wastes, and thermal-generation cooling systems are forcing utilities and utility regulators to decide whether to retrofit or to retire and replace existing coal plants. To help utility commissions and other interested parties make informed investment decisions and quantify cost risk for ratepayers, researchers at Duke University will make the Risk Based Decision Model available to the public. The model can be employed to estimate the impact of abrupt changes, or “shocks,” and the cost of making “bad” investments that are later abandoned. To demonstrate the model, this paper models the least-cost investment decision for Louisville Gas and Electric’s Mill Creek coal-fired power plant to meet the forthcoming EPA regulations under uncertainty using publicly available data.
The Potential Role for Management of U.S. Public Lands in Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Climate Policy
January 2012
Management of forests, rangelands, and wetlands on public lands, including the restoration of degraded lands, has the potential to increase carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond what is occurring today. In this paper we discuss several policy options for increasing GHG mitigation on public lands. These range from an extension of current policy by generating supplemental mitigation on public lands in an effort to meet national emissions reduction goals, to full participation in an offsets market by allowing GHG mitigation on public lands to be sold as offsets either by the overseeing agency or by private contractors. To help place these policy options in context, we briefly review the literature on GHG mitigation and public lands to examine the potential for enhanced mitigation on federal and state public lands in the United States. This potential will be tempered by consideration of the tradeoffs with other uses of public lands, the needs for climate change adaptation, and the effects on other ecosystem services.
Reducing the Energy Penalty Costs of Postcombustion CCS Systems with Amine-Storage
January 2012
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can significantly reduce the amount of CO2 emitted from coal-fired power plants, but its high capital and operating costs are an important barrier. In this paper we analyze one alternative to reduce operating costs of amine-based CCS systems.
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential of Agricultural Land Management in the United States: A Synthesis of the Literature (Third Edition)
January 2012 - by Alison J. Eagle, Lydia P. Olander, Lucy R. Henry, Karen Haugen-Kozyra, Neville Millar, and G. Philip Robertson
The Net Global Effects of Alternative U.S. Biofuel Mandates: Fossil Fuel Displacement, Indirect Land Use Change, and the Role of Agricultural Productivity Growth
January 2012 - by Aline Mosnier, Petr Havlík, Hugo Valin, Justin S. Baker, Brian C. Murray, Siyi Feng, Michael Obersteiner, Bruce A. McCarl, Steven K. Rose, and Uwe A. Schneider
One of the declared objectives of U.S. biofuel policy is the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel combustion, but many studies have questioned whether such a reduction would actually occur and, if so, how large it would be. This report describes the global market, land use, GHG emissions, and nitrogen use impacts of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) and several alternative biofuel policy designs, which differ in terms of mandate magnitude and feedstock composition, over the 2010–2030 period.
Climate Change Mitigation and Agriculture
December 2011 - by Eva 'Lini' Wollenberg, Marja-Liisa Tapio-Bistrom, Maryanne Grieg-Gran, Alison Nihart
A new book features two chapters on reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions penned by researchers at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions—Brian Murray and Lydia Olander. The 456-page book reviews the state of agricultural climate mitigation globally and focuses on the design and implementation of activities to reduce emissions and increase carbon storage.
OptimaCCS Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Optimization: Texas Case Study
December 2011 - by Darmawan Prasodjo and Lincoln Pratson
The use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the United States will allow coal-fired power generation to remain a major component of the nation’s energy mix while also reducing its carbon emissions. The cost of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) will affect the deployment of CCS, as will the costs for CO2 pipeline transport and underground injection. Transportation and storage costs can be minimized, however, by optimizing the design of the transport system. This report examines how a software program created at Duke, OptimaCCS, maps out cost-efficient options for overall CCS network design, including pipeline routes, necessary pipe diameters and lengths, efficiencies from using shared pipelines, and the impact of sequestration costs.
Profiling Local Climate Change Governance in the Southeastern United States
December 2011 - by Amy Morsch
While other regions have taken a more proactive approach, state and federal government officials and privately owned utilities have largely dismissed the idea of climate and energy policies in the southeastern United States. In this environment, many cities have developed climate and sustainability programs independent of state action. In the summer of 2011, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions surveyed Southeastern cities with populations greater than 100,000 on their sustainability, climate, and energy policies and practices. This report presents the results of that survey, which reflect how local governments in the region are articulating goals, exercising influence and authority, and planning and implementing policy. The research revisits many of the topics analyzed in a similar 2010 Nicholas Institute report, and it provides a glimpse at the direction of local governments in the Southeast.
Distribution of Emissions Permits to the U.S. Pulp and Paper Sector under Alternative Output-Based Allocation Schemes
December 2011 - by Joshua Schneck and Gale Boyd
Under a cap-and-trade climate policy, emissions allowances—tradable rights to emit a fixed amount of greenhouse gases—become scarce and valuable resources that change the economic incentives to implement more energy-efficient processes and energy management practices, and to select fuels with lower carbon content. A key question accompanying the design of any such policy is how to allocate these allowances. This paper examines how key design elements and industry characteristics affect the distribution of allowances to U.S. pulp and paper firms under three variations of a proposed output-based allocation program—the American Power Act’s emissions allowance rebate program.
Myths and Facts About Electricity in the U.S. South
December 2011
This paper identifies six myths about clean electricity in the southern United States. These myths are either propagated by the public at-large, shared within the environmental advocacy culture, or spread imperceptibly between policy makers. Using a widely accepted energy-economic modeling tool, the paper exposes these myths as half-truths and the kind of conventional wisdom that constrains productive debate. In doing so, it identifies new starting points for energy policy development.
Considering Shale Gas Extraction in North Carolina: Lessons from Other States
November 2011 - by Sarah Plikunas, Brooks Rainey Pearson, Jonas Monast, Avner Vengosh and Rob Jackson
Because North Carolina has no active oil and gas production and no existing regulatory framework for this industry, it has a unique opportunity to build a program from the ground up. This paper looks at the environmental and health concerns surrounding hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas trapped below the ground, and shares regulatory approaches other states are taking to reduce these risks. Further, it focuses on several measures North Carolina lawmakers should understand when considering whether, and under what conditions, to allow shale gas extraction in the state.
State Strategies to Plan for and Adapt to Climate Change
October 2011 - by Amy Morsch and Ryan Bartlett
Climate change is expected to pose a number of risks to communities, such as sea-level rise and an increase in storm surges. States are beginning to develop adaptation plans to reduce climate risks and vulnerabilities within the larger context of economic growth. While the process and structure of the planning efforts vary, the resulting recommendations reveal similarities. The plans include a mix of broad strategies that address the state’s objectives and goals and identify supporting policies. To ensure complementary and coordinated responses to climate change, many strategies are cross-sectoral and entail integration and collaboration among multiple government agencies and economic sectors.
Myths and Facts About Electricity in the U.S. South
September 2011 - by Marilyn A. Brown, Etan Gumerman, Xiaojing Sun, Gyungwon Kim, Kenneth Sercy
This paper identifies six myths about clean electricity in the southern United States. These myths are either propagated by the public at-large, shared within the environmental advocacy culture, or spread imperceptibly between policy makers. Using a widely accepted energy-economic modeling tool, the paper exposes these myths as half-truths and the kind of conventional wisdom that constrains productive debate. In doing so, it identifies new starting points for energy policy development.
A Cooperative Federalism Framework for CCS Regulation
September 2011 - by Jonas J. Monast, Brooks Rainey Pearson, and Lincoln F. Pratson
Coal is the dominant energy resource used for power generation across the globe, and projections suggest this will remain the case for years to come. While coal is an abundant, low-cost domestic energy resource, it is also the most carbon-intensive of all of the fossil fuels. The amount of existing coal-fired infrastructure, the ongoing importance of coal to the nation’s economy, the political support for the coal industry in the U.S. Congress, and the nation’s need for stable, affordable base load power generation all suggest the ability to capture carbon emissions and store them in underground geologic formations—a process commonly referred to as carbon, capture, and storage, or CCS—will likely be an important option for mitigating climate change.
Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Transportation Reauthorization and Energy Policy
August 2011 - by Craig Raborn
The United States transportation sector not only accounts for a significant portion of domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but it is also the fastest-growing source of these emissions. In fact, emissions from surface transportation activity—travel on roads and by rail—account for about 80% of the country’s total transportation GHG emissions. This Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions paper summarizes the potential for GHG reductions from policies influencing the transportation sector. It also presents and discusses the expected costs for individual strategies and shows how combined policies might distribute emissions reductions and costs between individual policies.
Seeding the Market: Auctioned Put Options for Certified Emission Reductions
August 2011 - by William A. Pizer
There are a number of reasons for considering some kind of market-based, pay-for-performance mechanism to mitigate developing country greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This policy brief lays out arguments for the auctioned put option as a pay-for-performance mechanism that would allow governments or philanthropic organizations to support and catalyze markets for GHG reductions. The existing offset market, with its detailed methodologies for calculating emission reductions, offers tools that could be borrowed by such a mechanism. Auctioned put options could target a subset of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects—segregated by type of project or country of origin—or an entirely different set of activities, such as REDD+ (reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation plus conservation, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of carbon stocks). The key element is that there must be standardized rules (or the promise of rules) detailing how emission reductions get counted and certified.
Document Actions
