scholarly journals Effects of Direct Air Capture Technology Availability on Stranded Assets and Committed Emissions in the Power Sector

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shreekar Pradhan ◽  
William M. Shobe ◽  
Jay Fuhrman ◽  
Haewon McJeon ◽  
Matthew Binsted ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Direct Air Capture ◽  
Air Capture ◽  
Storage Technologies

We examine the effects of negative emission technologies availability on fossil fuel-based electricity generating assets under deep decarbonization trajectories. Our study focuses on potential premature retirements (stranding) and committed emissions of existing power plants globally and the effects of deploying direct air carbon capture and biomass-based carbon capture and sequestration technologies. We use the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM), an integrated assessment model, to simulate the global supply of electricity under a climate mitigation scenario that limits global warming to 1.5–2°C temperature increase over the century. Our results show that the availability of direct air capture (DAC) technologies reduces the stranding of existing coal and gas based conventional power plants and delays any stranding further into the future. DAC deployment under the climate mitigation goal of limiting the end-of-century warming to 1.5–2°C would reduce the stranding of power generation from 250 to 350 GW peaking during 2035-2040 to 130-150 GW in years 2050-2060. With the availability of direct air capture and carbon storage technologies, the carbon budget to meet the climate goal of limiting end-of-century warming to 1.5–2°C would require abating 28–33% of 564 Gt CO2 -the total committed CO2 emissions from the existing power plants vs. a 46–57% reduction in the scenario without direct air capture and carbon storage technologies.

scholarly journals The role of negative emissions in meeting China’s 2060 carbon neutrality goal

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Fuhrman ◽  
Andres F Clarens ◽  
Haewon McJeon ◽  
Pralit Patel ◽  
Yang Ou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Carbon Neutrality ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Negative Emissions ◽  
Air Capture

Abstract China’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality before 2060 is an ambitious goal and could provide the world with much-needed leadership on how to limit warming to +1.5°C warming above preindustrial levels by the end of the century. But the pathways that would achieve net zero by 2060 are still unclear, including the role of negative emissions technologies. We use the Global Change Analysis Model to simulate how negative emissions technologies, in general, and direct air capture (DAC) in particular, could contribute to China’s meeting this target. Our results show that negative emissions could play a large role, offsetting on the order of 3 GtCO2 per year from difficult-to-mitigate sectors, such as freight transportation and heavy industry. This includes up to a 1.6 GtCO2 per year contribution from DAC, constituting up to 60% of total projected negative emissions in China. But DAC, like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and afforestation, has not yet been demonstrated anywhere approaching the scales required to meaningfully contribute to climate mitigation. Deploying NETs at these scales will have widespread impacts on financial systems and natural resources, such as water, land and energy in China.

scholarly journals Future Prospects of Direct Air Capture Technologies: Insights From an Expert Elicitation Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soheil Shayegh ◽  
Valentina Bosetti ◽  
Massimo Tavoni
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Expert Elicitation ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Direct Air Capture ◽  
Air Capture ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Future Growth

Direct air capture (DAC) technologies are promising but speculative. Their prospect as an affordable negative emissions option that can be deployed in large scale is particularly uncertain. Here, we report the results of an expert elicitation about the evolution of techno-economic factors characterizing DAC over time and across climate scenarios. This is the first study reporting technical experts' judgments on future costs under different scenarios, for two time periods, for two policy options, and for two different DAC technologies. Experts project CO2 removal costs to decline significantly over time but to remain expensive (median by mid-century: around 200 USD/tCO2). Nonetheless, the role of direct air capture in a 2°C policy scenario is expected to be significant (by 2050: 1.7 [0.2, 5.9] GtCO2)1. Projections align with scenarios from integrated assessment model (IAM) studies. Agreement across experts regarding which type of DAC technology might prevail is low. Energy usage and policy support are considered the most critical factors driving these technologies' future growth.

scholarly journals Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy

2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (5) ◽  
pp. 1649-1675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Z Muller ◽  
Robert Mendelsohn ◽  
William Nordhaus
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Value Added ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
National Accounts

This study presents a framework to include environmental externalities into a system of national accounts. The paper estimates the air pollution damages for each industry in the United States. An integrated-assessment model quantifies the marginal damages of air pollution emissions for the US which are multiplied times the quantity of emissions by industry to compute gross damages. Solid waste combustion, sewage treatment, stone quarrying, marinas, and oil and coal-fired power plants have air pollution damages larger than their value added. The largest industrial contributor to external costs is coal-fired electric generation, whose damages range from 0.8 to 5.6 times value added. (JEL E01, L94, Q53, Q56)

The health and climate impacts of carbon capture and direct air capture

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3567-3574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Z. Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Direct Air Capture ◽  
Air Capture

Data from a coal with carbon capture and use (CCU) plant and a synthetic direct air carbon capture and use (SDACCU) plant are analyzed for the equipment's ability, alone, to reduce CO2.

scholarly journals Flue-gas and direct-air capture of CO 2 by porous metal–organic materials

2017 ◽  
Vol 375 (2084) ◽  
pp. 20160025 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Madden ◽  
Hayley S. Scott ◽  
Amrit Kumar ◽  
Kai-Jie Chen ◽  
Rana Sanii ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flue Gas ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Organic Materials ◽  
Porous Metal ◽  
Gas Mixtures ◽  
Strong Interactions ◽  
Direct Air Capture ◽  
Air Capture ◽  
Metal Organic

Sequestration of CO 2 , either from gas mixtures or directly from air (direct air capture), is a technological goal important to large-scale industrial processes such as gas purification and the mitigation of carbon emissions. Previously, we investigated five porous materials, three porous metal–organic materials (MOMs), a benchmark inorganic material, Zeolite 13X and a chemisorbent, TEPA-SBA-15 , for their ability to adsorb CO 2 directly from air and from simulated flue-gas. In this contribution, a further 10 physisorbent materials that exhibit strong interactions with CO 2 have been evaluated by temperature-programmed desorption for their potential utility in carbon capture applications: four hybrid ultramicroporous materials, SIFSIX-3-Cu , DICRO-3-Ni-i , SIFSIX-2-Cu-i and MOOFOUR-1-Ni ; five microporous MOMs, DMOF-1 , ZIF-8 , MIL-101 , UiO-66 and UiO-66-NH 2 ; an ultramicroporous MOM, Ni-4-PyC . The performance of these MOMs was found to be negatively impacted by moisture. Overall, we demonstrate that the incorporation of strong electrostatics from inorganic moieties combined with ultramicropores offers improved CO 2 capture performance from even moist gas mixtures but not enough to compete with chemisorbents. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Coordination polymers and metal–organic frameworks: materials by design’.

scholarly journals The Value of BECCS in IAMs: a Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre C. Köberle
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Carbon Capture And Storage ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Model Structure ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Discount Rates ◽  
Value Drivers ◽  
End Use

Abstract Purpose of Review Integrated assessment model (IAM) scenarios consistent with Paris Agreement targets involve large negative emission technologies (NETs), mostly bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Such reliance on BECCS implies IAMs assign it a high value. Past analyses on the value of BECCS in IAMs have not explicitly addressed the role of model structure and assumptions as value drivers. This paper examines the extent to which the value of BECCS in IAMs is enhanced by model structure constraints and assumptions. Recent Findings Predominant use of high discount rates (3.5–5%) means models opt for delayed-action strategies for emissions mitigation that lead to high levels of cumulative net-negative emissions, while lower discount rates lead to reduce reliance on NETs. Until recently in the literature, most models limited NET options to only BECCS and afforestation, but introduction of other CDR options can reduce BECCS deployment. Constraints on grid penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) is a determining factor on the level of BECCS deployment across models, and more constrained grid penetration of VREs leads to more BECCS in electricity generation. Summary This paper concludes BECCS derives significant value not only from the existing structure of IAMs but also from what is not represented in models and by predominant use of high discount rates. Omissions include NETs other than BECCS and deforestation, low-carbon innovation in end-use technologies, grid resilience to intermittent sources, and energy use in agriculture production. As IAMs increasingly endogenize such constraints, the value of BECCS in resulting scenarios is likely to be dampened.

Opportunities for Joint Water–Energy Management: Sensitivity of the 2010 Western U.S. Electricity Grid Operations to Climate Oscillations

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Voisin ◽  
M. Kintner-Meyer ◽  
D. Wu ◽  
R. Skaggs ◽  
T. Fu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Production Cost ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Integrated Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Climate Oscillations ◽  
Historical Climate ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The increasing interconnectedness of energy and water systems makes it important to understand how interannual variations in water availability—and climate oscillations—could potentially impact the electric grid operations. The authors assess the vulnerability of the current western U.S. grid to historical climate variability using multiple energy and water system models. A 55-yr-long natural water availability benchmark is combined with the 2010 level of water demand from an integrated assessment model to drive a large-scale water management model over the western United States. The regulated flow at hydropower and thermoelectric power plants is then translated into boundary conditions for electricity generation in a production cost model. This analysis focuses on assessing regional interdependencies and the impact of interannual changes in water availability on power system operations, including reliability, cost, and carbon emissions. Results for August grid operations—when stress on the grid is often highest—show a range of sensitivity in production cost (–8% to +11%) and carbon emissions (–7% to +11%), as well as a 1-in-10 chance that electricity demand will exceed estimated supply. The authors also show that operating costs are lower under neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions than under other ENSO phases; carbon emissions are highest under La Niña conditions, especially in California; and the risk of brownouts may be higher under neutral and negative ENSO conditions. These results help characterize the grid’s performance under historical climate variations, are useful for seasonal and multiyear planning of joint water–electricity management, and can be used to support impact, adaptation, and vulnerability analyses.

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