Environmental Issues

1. Environmental Issues Sandi Tabor V.P. Government Affairs Lignite Energy Council

2. Environmental Issues • Water quality • Waste management • Air quality • Global Climate Change

3. Water Water is essential for use in the process of generating electricity • Processes include • Cooling water • Steam turbines • Drinking / sanitary uses • Fire protection • Environmental impacts • Intake structure designs • Heat

4. Waste Management Coal Combustion Products (CCPs) • The solid residue left when combustible material is thoroughly burned includes: • Fly ash • Bottom ash • Boiler slag • Material generated through flue gascleaning • Flue gas desulfurization material - gypsum

5. Beneficial Uses of Coal Combustion Products

6. Air Quality Federal Clean Air Act regulates criteria pollutants - • National Ambient Air Quality Standards; • Carbon monoxide • Lead • Nitrogen dioxide • Particulate matter • Ozone • Sulfur dioxide

7. Air Quality • Clean Air Act: • Designed to protect citizens including the most sensitive (children, people with asthma & older adults) individuals from air pollution Google Earth Emission file: http://www.epa.gov/air/emissions/where.htm

8. Sources of Emissions Carbon Monoxide Emissions by Source Sector in North Dakota in 2005 Total Emissions 155,921 79,515 14,583 6,630 5,155 2,282 1,319 375 41 Tons Source: EPA

9. Sources of Emissions Lead Emissions by Source Sector in North Dakota in 2005 Total Emissions 6 2 1 0 0 0 Tons Source: EPA

10. Sources of Emissions Volatile Organic Compounds by Source Sector in North Dakota in 2005 Total Emissions 14,193 12,687 4,790 3,516 3,180 1,351 887 763 382 303 Tons Source: EPA

11. Sources of Emissions PM2.5 Emissions by Source Sector in North Dakota in 2005 Total Emissions 36,533 8,436 6,397 5,745 4,590 1,998 785 764 386 110 Source: EPA Tons

12. Particulate Matter

13. Sources of Emissions Sulfur Dioxide Emissions by Source Sector in North Dakota in 2005 Total Emissions 137,372 12,013 5,996 3,123 443 50 27 21 Source: EPA Tons

14. Sources of Emissions Nitrogen Oxides Emissions by Source Sector in North Dakota in 2005 Total Emissions 76,384 59,714 19,780 10,923 188 179 176 17 1 Source: EPA Tons

15. Air is Getting Cleaner • Industry has met greater electric demand with increasingly cleaner technologies Aggregate Emissions Decreased 54% Since 1980 U.S. Energy Consumption 29% Vehicle Miles Traveled 91% U.S. GDP Increased 126% Source: EPA data 2008

16. 200 Tons Per Year 185K 150 138K 100 Utility Total 50 51K 0 1998 2007 2013* SO2 Emissions Trend in ND Source: ND Department of Health * Reductions estimated based on new scrubbers

17. Air Quality - TR National Park

18. ND Lignite Industry: Exceeding Environmental Expectations North Dakota is one of only 12 states to meet all the federal ambient air quality standards Source: EPA, May 1, 2010

19. Air Monitoring Activity • Build your own “air monitors” • Materials: • Container (milk carton or coffee can) • String (for hanging) or pole • Black permanent marker • Vaseline • Hole punch • Magnifying lens

20. Mercury EPA’s concern about mercury • Bioaccumulates in food chain • Human exposure through fish consumption • Mercury is a neurotoxin • Selenium protects against mercury toxicity – ND soils are high in selenium

21. Selenium in Soils

22. Mercury is a Global Issue Background: Mercury is a global issue • Estimated 4400-7500 tons emitted worldwide from all sources – natural & man-made • Estimated 1/3 from natural sources; 2/3 from human activities • U.S. contribution is about 3% • Nationwide coal-fired utilities account for about 48 tons - about 1% of worldwide total mercury release • North Dakota utilities account for 1 ton, about 0.02% of worldwide total mercury release

23. Mercury is a Global Issue

24. Mercury Deposition % contribution by non-U.S. sources, 2004

25. Regional Haze • Goal - return all national parks and wilderness areas (Class 1) to natural conditions by the year 2064 • States - establish goals and emission reduction using best available retrofit technology (BART)

26. Regional Haze Regional Haze Sources • Fossil fuels combustion • Open burning • Agriculture • Unpaved roads • Oil and gas extraction • Motor vehicles

27. Regional Haze 30 dV visibility vs 10 dV Courtesy of ENSR

28. Regional Haze 1.4 dVChange

29. Regional Haze Challenge for ND • Already clean air upon which to improve • Significant distances to Class I areas • Small industry base • Crop burning • Prairie fires • Unpaved roads

30. Global Climate Change

31. Controversy Abounds

32. Web Sites of Interest • Environmental Protection Agency:http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:http://www.ipcc.ch/ • Junk Science: All the Junk that’s Fit to Debunk http://junkscience.com/Features.html • Space and Science Research Center:http://www.spaceandscience.net/id16.html • The Skeptical Environmentalist – Bjorn Lomborg http://www.lomborg.com

33. Issue in Perspective Man-made 2.9% • Man-made carbon dioxide emissions are less than 3% of total annual CO2 emissions Natural 97.1% • United States makes up 23% of the 2.9 percent

34. Sources of U.S. Man-made CO2 Commercial – 3% Residential – 6% Electricity – 40% Industrial – 17% Transportation – 34% Source: EIA 2007

35. Sources of ND Man-made CO2 Residential – 2% Commercial – 2% Industrial – 24% Electricity – 59% Transportation – 13% Source: EIA 2007

36. Sources of MN Man-made CO2 Commercial – 6% Residential – 9% Electricity – 34% Industrial – 15% Transportation – 36% Source: EIA 2007

37. CO2 Emissions: US vs. China & India – (1990-2025) 2009 Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA), International Energy Annual 2002 & International Energy Outlook 2005

38. Projected Global Energy Demand Projected 10-Year Growth in Per Capita Energy Use 33% 12% 4% 7% 5% 88% 13% 17% 36% 37% 20% 27% EIA: 3.5 Billion People to Increase Energy Use by 60% in 10 Years

39. What is the Problem? • No commercially available technology to capture CO2 from pulverized coal power plants • Risks associated with sequestering the CO2 in geologic formations • Global issue requires global solution • Current solutions being considered by Congress not addressing economic impact

40. CO2 Storage Activity • Goal: Students learn about geologic sequestration as a technique used to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere • Objectives: Students will … • Understand geologic sequestration as an idea being considered to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere • Use chemistry to simulate enhanced oil recovery

41. Solutions - Actions • What can industry do? • What can government do? • What can consumers do?

42. What can industry do? • Develop cost-effective technology to capture CO2 • Diversify energy resource mix • Work with Congress to ensure the passage of legislation that protects the environment and the economy • Encourage the transfer of technologies to third-world countries

43. CO2 Emission Reductions • Electric companies are world leaders in taking voluntary actions to address GHG emissions • Electric industry leads all other U.S. industrial sectors in reducing CO2

44. What can government do? • Develop regulations that are synchronized with technology development • Partner with industry to develop • CO2 capture technology for existing plants • Clean coal technology for new plants

45. What can consumers do? • Change our energy appetites: • Energy efficiency (doing things smarter) • Energy conservation (doing with less)

46. Summary A. North Dakota lignite industry exceeds environmental expectations B. Important to maintain affordable and reliable electricity • The timing of federal legislation to solve global warming must be in sync with the development of technology to capture CO2