EPA power plant rules rely on carbon capture, but agency’s modeling projects useless through 2055

While the EPA has insisted the technology is “well proven,” recent court filings show the agency’s own modeling doesn’t project any carbon capture deployment on new power plants.

Carbon capture and sequestration either captures the carbon dioxide emissions at the source, such as the smoke stack at a coal-fired power plant, or it sucks the carbon dioxide from the air, a process called direct air capture.

A central piece of the 1,020-page rule is fitting natural gas- and coal-fired power plants with carbon capture technology.

The EPA’s power plant rule that was finalized in April regulates carbon emissions in the U.S. electricity sector.

To reach net zero emissions by 2050, carbon capture has to capture over 1000 million tons of carbon dioxide every year to be on track to reach the 2050 goals.

The agency’s Integrated Planning Model projects no combined-cycle natural gas units will have carbon capture technologies added through 2055, which is the end of the project period.

Before the ruling, Andrew Wheeler, who headed the EPA under Trump, told Politico that the EPA rule would be “incredibly legally vulnerable,” if the high court overturned Chevron.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/epa-power-plant-rules-rely-carbon-capture-agencys-modeling-projects-no-use