Industry Observers Say Taxes on Greenhouse Gases Could Force Technology Shift

[philb]

Industry Observers Say Taxes on Greenhouse Gases Could Force Technology Shift

Nov 14 - Times Union

Calling regulations to limit carbon emissions "inevitable," energy industry researchers and executives discussed how these limits might change the economics of power production during an energy summit Monday at the GE Global Research Center.

"There is no silver bullet with respect to either technology or fuel," said panelist James E. Rogers, president and chief executive of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy. Instead, his company is working on a range of options, from a new clean-coal plant in Indiana to a nuclear power plant now in the planning stage that would be operational in another decade.

Nuclear power plants produce electricity without emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. But dealing with the waste is still a hurdle, said panelist

Ernie Moniz, co-chairman of the department of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Wind and solar energy, as well as the use of biomass -- wood chips, corn, even grass clippings -- all have a role to play, several panelists said. But each option has its drawbacks.

While the costs per kilowatt-hour of wind energy have tumbled to 5 or 6 cents from 40 cents in 1980, similar gains haven't been realized with solar energy.

A kilowatt-hour produced with a photovoltaic cell costs about 30 cents, according to GE researchers.

At GE, researchers are using techniques learned from aircraft engine design to build ever-larger wind turbine blades that will capture more wind, and generators that are lighter so more energy can be produced with a turbine.

But even wind energy has its challenges. On Monday, a GE scientist illustrating power output at a Texas wind farm was confronted with turbines that weren't turning; there was no wind.

So conventional power plants had to kick in to supply the power. Scientists also are studying ways to store power that is generated when the wind is blowing that can be drawn upon when it's not. But many methods -- such as pumping water into a reservoir and then running it back down through a hydropower plant -- are only about 50 percent efficient. That is, half the energy is wasted.

Taxing carbon would boost the cost of electricity generated with oil, coal or natural gas. Vehicles wouldn't be immune. GE is designing a city bus that would run on a hydrogen-powered fuel cell and batteries. Right now, a fuel-cell bus costs at least $800,000 while a diesel-powered bus costs just $250,000, said Tim Richter, a GE systems engineer.

But "as soon as there's a price put on carbon, it changes everything," he added.

Whether the limits on greenhouse gases will lead to a resurgence in nuclear power, however, isn't clear.

While GE Monday morning announced a new global nuclear energy alliance with Hitachi Ltd., building new plants in this country is still a challenge.

States that will be most receptive, said Duke Energy's Rogers, will be those that already have had good experiences with nuclear power and have regulated energy markets that will allow them to recoup the project costs.

"There is some interest on Wall Street," said Dan Reicher, president of New Energy Capital, a private equity fund in Hanover, N.H., that invests in renewable energy projects. "But I wouldn't say it's deep or broad. The jury is still out on this."

One energy source that Rogers called "the fifth fuel" is energy efficiency, and he and MIT'S Moniz said more could also be done to make buildings more energy-efficient.

"There are some real sleeping giants on the technical side," Reicher said. "Energy efficiency is one of those."

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[NNadir]

1. This is about as realistic as one can get.