Dirtiest Power Plants

America’s Dirtiest Power Plants Polluters on a Global Scale America’s Dirtiest Power Plants Polluters on a Global Scale Written by: Jordan Schneider, Frontier Group Julian Boggs, Environment America Research & Policy Center September 2014 Acknowledgments The authors thank Jeff Deyette, Senior Energy Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists; Daniel Lashof, Chief Operating Officer, NextGen Climate America, Inc.; Greg Dotson, Vice President for Energy Policy, Center for American Progress; and Starla Yeh, Policy Analyst, Climate and Clean Air Program, Natural Resources Defense Council, for providing useful feedback and insightful suggestions on drafts of this report. We also thank Tony Dutzik, Elizabeth Ridlington, and Tom Van Heeke at Frontier Group, as well as Danielle Elefritz, for providing editorial support. The authors bear responsibility for any factual errors. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders or those who provided review. © 2014 Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center The Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are dedicated to protecting New Jersey’s air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and decision-makers, and help New Jerseyans make their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality of our environment and our lives. For more information about Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center or for additional copies of this report, please visit www.environmentnewjerseycenter.org. Frontier Group provides information and ideas to help citizens build a cleaner, healthier, fairer and more democratic America. We address issues that will define our nation’s course in the 21st century – from fracking to solar energy, global warming to transportation, clean water to clean elections. Our experts and writers deliver timely research and analysis that is accessible to the public, applying insights gleaned from a variety of disciplines to arrive at new ideas for solving pressing problems. For more information about Frontier Group, please visit www.frontiergroup.org. Cover: Top-left: General James M. Gavin Plant, Chesire, OH – John Ziernan/flickr; right: Navajo Plant, Page, AZ – James Marvin Phelps/flickr; bottom-left: Plant Scherer, Juliette, GA – Christopher Ness/flickr Layout: To the Point Publications, [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary . 4 Introduction ...................................................6 U.S. Power Plants Are a Major Source of Global Warming Pollution...10 Cutting U.S. Power Plant Pollution Is Essential to Prevent the Worst Impacts of Global Warming . 16 The Clean Power Plan Will Cut Carbon Pollution on a Global Scale . 19 Policy Recommendations........................................20 Methodology ..................................................22 Appendices....................................................24 Notes .........................................................37 Executive Summary merica’s power plants are among the lead- To address this threat, in June 2014 the U.S. Environ- ing global sources of the dangerous carbon mental Protection Agency took a bold step to reduce pollution that is fueling global warming. carbon pollution from power plants by proposing the ADevastating droughts such as the one in California, Clean Power Plan, which would cut pollution from massive wildfires, increased threats to coastal areas power plants by 30 percent below 2005 levels by due to sea level rise, and an increase in extreme rain- 2030. fall are among the impacts that science tells us will Cleaning up power plants is one of the most impor- become more frequent and severe unless the United tant steps the U.S. can take to reduce the threat of States and the world take action now to reduce car- global warming. In 2012, U.S. power plants pro- bon pollution. duced more carbon pollution than the entire Table ES-1. The Dirtiest U.S. Power Plants Produce Globally Significant Amounts of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Pollution Total 2012 Percent of Emissions Percent of Global CO2 Emissions Equivalent by (Million Metric Total U.S. CO2 Emissions from Country and Global Ranking for Tons of CO2) Emissions Energy Use Energy-related CO2 Pollution Top Polluting Plant (Scherer Power 20 0.4% 0.1% Sri Lanka (86th) Plant, GA) Top 10 Polluting 176 3.3% 0.5% Vietnam (32nd) Power Plants Top 50 Polluting 637 12% 1.8% South Korea (7th) Power Plants Top 100 Polluting 1,023 19% 3.0% Germany (6th) Power Plants Top 500 Polluting 1,918 36% 5.6% Russia (4th) Power Plants All Power Plants 2,154 40% 6.3% India (3rd) 4 America’s Dirtiest Power Plants: Polluters on a Global Scale economies of Russia, India, Japan or any other Figure ES-1. In 2012, U.S. Power Plants Produced nation besides China. In fact, the 50 dirtiest U.S. Nearly as Much CO2 Pollution as Canada, Mexico power plants alone – representing less than 1 percent and All Countries in South America Combined of U.S. power plants – produced as much pollution in 2012 as the nation of South Korea (the world’s seventh leading emitter of greenhouse gases). To reduce the threat of global warming, the United States must strengthen and implement the Clean Power Plan, while encouraging other nations to agree to take similar bold action at the international climate conference in Paris in 2015. U.S. power plants are among the most significant sources of global warming pollution in the world. • In 2012, U.S. power plants produced more than 6 percent of global warming emissions worldwide – more than any other industrialized nation except China. The 50 dirtiest power plants produced nearly 2 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. (See Table ES-1.) • U.S. power plants produced nearly as much carbon dioxide pollution in 2012 as was produced cumulatively that year in all of South America, Canada and Mexico. (See Figure ES-1.) A small handful of the dirtiest coal plants produce • The dirtiest power plants tend to be older a massive and disproportionate share of the na- plants fueled by coal. Coal-fired power plants tion’s global warming pollution. produced about 74 percent of all power plant • In 2012, power plants produced about 40 percent pollution in 2012, despite producing only 37 of all U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the leading percent of the nation’s electricity. (See Figure pollutant driving global warming. (See Table ES-1.) ES-2.) • The 50 dirtiest U.S. power plants produced 30 percent of all power-sector carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 while producing only 15 percent of the nation’s electricity. Executive Summary 5 Figure ES-2. Share of Total U.S. CO2 Emissions Produced by Power Plants and U.S Power-Sector Emissions by Fuel Type, 2012 Industrial Coal 74% Electric Power Transportation Natural Gas and Other Gases Petroleum Products 24% 1% Other Energy Sources 1% Residential Commercial New pollution standards for U.S. power plants an- However, the United States must do more to nounced by the Environmental Protection Agency prevent the worst impacts of global warming. in June 2014 will result in important reductions in The United States should cut overall emissions of carbon emissions on the global scale. global warming pollution by at least 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. This will require ac- • By 2030, the U.S. EPA’s proposed Clean Power tion at all levels of government. Plan will cut 550 million metric tons of carbon pollution from power plants each year –roughly • The U.S. EPA should strengthen, finalize and equivalent to the amount emitted in 2012 by the implement the Clean Power Plan. The EPA entire nation of Canada, the world’s eighth-largest should strengthen the Clean Power Plan by emitter of carbon dioxide. tapping the potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency to cut carbon pollution deeper • When finalized, the Clean Power Plan would be and faster – achieving a 35 to 40 percent cut in the largest step the United States has ever taken power-sector emissions below 2005 levels by 2020 to cut global warming pollution. and fully meeting President Obama’s climate commitment to the international community. The EPA should finalize the plan by June 2015 and begin enforcing it by July 2016. 6 America’s Dirtiest Power Plants: Polluters on a Global Scale º Congress should also take action to drive down Figure ES-3. Dirty Power Plants Make an Outsized emissions and promote renewable energy, Contribution to U.S. Carbon Dioxide Pollution including by adopting a comprehensive nation- (Million Metric Tons - MMT, 2012) al climate policy and passing a national renewable electricity standard. º President Obama should propose a strong international target for reducing carbon emissions at the Paris climate conference in Global Energy-Related 2015. Emissions (34,453) • States should implement the Clean Power Plan in ways that maximize the potential for clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency, rather than increasing reliance on natural gas or nuclear power. States should: U.S. Energy-Related º Begin working now on a compliance plan Emissions (5,383) that will meet the EPA’s currently proposed U.S. Power standards. After the standards are finalized in Plants 2015, states should plan to submit final compli- (2,154) ance plans to the EPA on time in 2016 or by 2018 for states creating regional programs. Figure is drawn to scale. º Consider adopting or strengthening renewable electricity standards (RESs) by moving compliance years forward or by increasing the share of electricity utilities must obtain from renewable sources. º Consider incorporating specific targets for solar º Explore joining or creating regional emissions or wind energy capacity into RESs. Include trading programs such as the Northeast’s carve-outs for distributed generation to Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Regional maximize potential economic benefits. programs can help maximize the potential for cost-effective emissions reductions, since º Adopt or strengthen state energy efficiency electricity systems often span several states.

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