Weekend reads - Smart Energy Decisions

GHG Emissions, Regulation, Utilities, Regulation, Solar  -  January 14, 2017

Weekend reads: 'Clean coal' plant revs up; NY's nuke shutdown; Fiat faces emissions accusations & more

Every Saturday, we'll bring you five most interesting — or quirky; it is the weekend after all — energy stories from the prior week that you may have missed from around the web. This weekend's reads:

America's first 'clean coal' plant is now operational — and another is on the way (The Washington Post): The first large scale U.S. "clean coal" facility was declared operational Tuesday — by the large energy firm NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp. The companies say that the plant can capture over 90 percent of the carbon dioxide released from the equivalent of a 240 megawatt, or million watt, coal unit, which translates into 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide per day or over 1 million tons per year. They’re calling it "the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture system."

New York’s Plan to Bridge From Nuclear Power to Offshore Wind (Greentech Media): Quickly moving from one energy source to another takes a lot of planning in advance. Just ask the state of New York. On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an agreement to shut down the 2-gigawatt Indian Point nuclear power plant by 2021, several years ahead of schedule. Then, on Tuesday, he announced a grand plan to build 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, starting with a 90-megawatt project off the coast of Long Island.

Proposed CA bill would require solar panels on 15% of new buildings (Utility Dive):  California Senator Scott Wiener has introduced legislation that would require 15% of certain new buildings constructed in the state to be equipped with solar power equipment. The law would apply to all residential and commercial buildings, but not to buildings over 10 stories tall.

E.P.A. Accuses Fiat Chrysler of Secretly Violating Emissions Standards (The New York Times): The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday accused Fiat Chrysler of installing secret software that allowed more than 100,000 of its diesel vehicles to emit pollutants above legal levels. The case has echoes of one against Volkswagen, which on Wednesday pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy as part of a widespread emissions-cheating scheme. In both cases, the government focused on software in vehicles that can adjust emissions levels.

Prediction of Climate Change Impacts Not as "Limited" as Tillerson Suggests (Scientific American): During his confirmation hearing for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson said "our ability to predict" the effect of increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere "is very limited." That’s not entirely accurate. While "very limited" is subjective, scientists have differing degrees of confidence when attributing different phenomena to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

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