MIT Report: How Existing Coal Plants Can Best Cut Carbon Emissions

By Tracey de Morsella on July 21, 2009 Comments Off on MIT Report: How Existing Coal Plants Can Best Cut Carbon Emissions Bilateral, cap-and-trade, carbon emissions, China, China test, co-firing with biomass, CO2 capture, CO2 off-take options, coal fired power plants, coal plant, cutting carbon emissions, desulfurization, disruptive impacts of climate change, efficiency upgrades, greenhouse gas emissions, Joint R&D programs, MIT Energy Initiative, natural gas power, nitrogen oxide emissions, poly-generation, post-combustion capture, post-combustion capture retrofit, rebuilds, repowering, retrofit technology

A new MIT Energy Initiative report outlines clear steps the nation must take to develop cost-effective options for cutting carbon emissions at existing coal-fired power plants. According to the report, there is “no credible pathway” toward stringent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide without addressing coal-fired plants, according to the report released Friday at a press conference here. The recommend that any proposal must pass the “China test,” meaning its cost must be low enough “that China and other emerging economies can afford to implement it. The report reinforces the need to quickly start a cap-and-trade program; concludes retrofit technology is feasible but not enough is being done to implement it on a large scale; and provides action steps for policy makers.