Confronting Climate Change Strategies for Energy Research and Development (1990) / Chapter Skim
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1 Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Key Findings and Recommendations
1 Strategies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Key Findings and Recommendations
Pages 3-14
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From page 3... ...
The transition from coal to these low- or non-CO2-em~tting technologies will involve major changes in the selection and deployment of generating facilities in energy markets served by the electric utilities and in the economy as a whole. Integral to the transition are efficiency improvements in generation; installation of cogenerating units; shifts or retrofits of generation capacity to lower carbon fuels, such as natural gas; and improvements in transmission, distribution, and storage systems to reduce energy losses and maximize use of the most efficient generating facilities.
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Finally, technological opportunities exist for greater use of cogeneration systems, natural gas, CO2 neutral fuels derived from biomass, and non-G~G energy resources (such as solar) to reduce GHG emissions.
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For example, federal funding for DOE's civilian energy R&D in the solar and renewables program declined by 89 percent on a constant dollar basis, from FY 1979 to FY 1989; conservation program funding declined by 61 percent, electric energy program funding declined by 76 percent, and funding for the nuclear fission program declined by 78 percent. Private sector funding by individual companies also declined during the 1980s for conservation and renewable energy technologies.
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In both strategies federal funding is needed because of the inability of private firms to capture the benefits of basic research and because the price of fossil fuels is less than the full social cost associated with their use. The federal R&D program under the Insurance Strategy will be considerably more costly to the government (involving multibillion dollar increments over the Focused R&D Strategy)
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. Fossil Energy Increase the efficiency of electricity generation using currently available h~gh-efficiency options such as the gas turbine/steam turbine combined cycle Develop substantial improvements in the combined cycle and other advanced gas-turbine-based technologies for firing with natural gas or a gaseous fuel derived from biomass Achieve economic recovery of gas from known domestic reserves 7
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g., alcohols) to engines and vehicles Reduce emissions from efficient power plants such as the diesel Evaluate vehicle systems to assure the safety of smaller cars built with lightweight structural materials Investigate innovative electric transportation systems 8
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, including impacts on biodiversity and the availability of water resources The R&D activities outlined above would have to be supplemented by government actions to stimulate the adoption of technologies and processes for reducing GHG emissions. In the near term such actions would include the following: 9
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S nuclear power plant availabilities to levels conforming to the best internal' onal practice Facil itate greater environmental dispatch of generation facilities Transportation Inform consumers and develop and implement policies to stimulate the market for cars and light trucks that are significantly more energy efficient than current models Develop and implement policies to achieve higher productivity of transportation energy use · Buildings Enact substantial changes in the regulatory environment to allow electric and gas utilities to earn from investments in energy productivity as well as energy supply and to decouple utilities' net revenues from their sales volumes Stimulate, through competitive bidding, nonutility investments in energy supply and conservation that reduce GHG emissions .
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From page 11... ...
for removing and sequestering CO2 Nuclear Energy On the strength of the public acceptability and global reactor studies performed under the Focused R&D Strategy, fund an industry-led or -managed program to develop and demonstrate an advanced reactor · Conservation and Renewable Energy Stimulate production (at the rate of about 10 megawatts per year each) of the three to five most promising photovoltaic technologies; the same should be done in the areas of solar thermal and wind energy conversion Demonstrate "new" projected storage systems such as compressed gas, battery arrays, and superconducting magnets Develop approaches for federal cost-sharing and utility procurements of renewable energy technologies or electricity generated by them.
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From page 12... ...
Particularly important is research in areas such as materials (high-temperature, lightweight, structural) ; plant physic ogy, biochemistry, and genetics; energy conversion devices and systems; and social, behavioral, and environmental sciences.
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Federal Outlays for Alternative Energy R&D The high priority R&D initiatives and technology-adoptzon actions described under the Focused R&D Strategy are estimated to require an incremental annual and sustained funding level equal to about 20 percent of the 1990 civilian energy R&D budget, or approximately $300 million (in 1990 dollars) per year.
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From page 14... ...
International cooperation in energy RD&D can be encouraged through governmental arrangements and by ad hoc agreements with energy producers. Without international cooperation to stabilize GHG emissions, the efforts by any single nation will fall far short of global needs.
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