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POLLUTION CONTROL FOR UTILITY POWER GENERATION, 1990-2020
Citation:
Princiotta, F. POLLUTION CONTROL FOR UTILITY POWER GENERATION, 1990-2020. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/D-90/025 (NTIS PB90220815).
Description:
The paper discusses pollution control for utility power generation between the years 1990 and 2020, when the major anticipated environmental challenges facing the utility industry will be acid deposition control in the near term and global warming mitigation in the longer term. The President has proposed an ambitious acid rain control program requiring reduction of 10 million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) by the year 2000. Options available to the utility industry include coal switching, flue gas desulfurization, and such emerging lower cost technologies as Limestone Injection Multistage Burners (LIMB) and Advanced Silicate (ADVACATE), both developed by EPA. Since utility boilers, especially coal boilers, are major emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2), they are candidates for mitigation to prevent unacceptable global warming. Utility options to deal with this problem include user conservation, increased use of nuclear power, renewable generators (biomass and solar), clean coal technologies, and increased use of natural gas. Model analysis suggests that in the 1990-2020 time frame conservation is critical. Non-fossil fuel technologies can also make significant contributions to reducing CO2 emissions, but their role is limited by likely penetration in this time frame. Clean coal technologies (e. g., integrated coal gasification combined cycle) seem to provide only marginal CO2 reduction benefits.