As we enter election season, CEA’s Marc Brown looks at how misinformed energy policies can have a detrimental impact on the families and communities they are designed to help.
“Unfortunately, this is just another example of candidates for office putting forth energy policies without any plans to support them or understanding of the impacts on families,” said Marc Brown with Consumer Energy Alliance.
Read more – NH Journal
CEA’s Matt Gonzales discusses the true costs for residents and taxpayers when cities look at taking over utility services.
The City of San Diego is debating whether it should take over the assets and operations of the city’s electric grid – in other words, socializing a privately owned company and putting it under government control. The people of San Diego should reject what amounts to a $9+ billion buyout with highly speculative benefits, very expensive upfront costs, and potential mismanagement that would cost ratepayers and taxpayers dearly for years to come.
Read more – Real Clear Energy
TOPEKA – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, issued the following statement after Governor Kelly signed House Bill 2783, which preserves Kansans’ right to buy the vehicle of their choosing.
“We applaud Governor Kelly for protecting consumer choice in the automotive marketplace by signing House Bill 2783 into law, ensuring Kansans can buy the vehicle that best meets their mobility needs,” CEA Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura said.
“The bipartisan support this bill received demonstrates how state leaders understand the needs of their communities better than the U.S. EPA which is focused on technologically unfeasible and economically impractical vehicle mandates.”
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
CEA’s Chris Ventura looks at the true cost of Minnesota’s proposed Clean Transportation Standard and how families can expect to see their gas bills increase by $425, or more, per year if this plan is enacted.
Evan Ramstad’s recent column “Ethanol movement on shakier ground” provided an excellent overview of the Clean Transportation Standard being debated in St. Paul, even broaching the topic of what this would cost Minnesotans — something that supporters of this policy have failed to do.
As Ramstad noted, “Missing from the working group’s discussion was the potential price at the pump of a special Minnesota gasoline.”
Read more – Star Tribune
CEA Midwest’s Chris Ventura looks at the consumer impact Minnesota’s proposed Clean Transportation Standard will have on families and small businesses across the state.
Modeled after California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, the Clean Transportation Standard Act (SF 2584) introduced in the Minnesota Legislature — as currently drafted — could increase fuel prices significantly. Last year, the California Air Resources Board (an official agency of the State of California) analyzed the California policy this bill is modeled on. CARB determined California policies could “potentially increase the price of gasoline by $1.15 per gallon, potentially increase the price of diesel by $1.50 per gallon and fossil jet fuel by $1.21 per gallon.”
Louisiana’s industrial sector is part of the backbone of the American economy. Everything from steel, glass, chemical, fertilizer, power, cement, and iron producers to the transportation sector with aircraft, maritime shipping, and truck freight. Louisiana helps power homes and businesses and provides needed feedstocks and components for thousands of everyday products. We also produce and transport the food and goods we use every day. The infrastructure and the industry have been long established and are something our locals take pride in. However, these industrial processes require very high heat and specific fuel to operate and meet safety requirements, which means they need traditional fuels.
As of 2019, Louisiana has the seventh highest CO2 emissions in the nation, with roughly 60 percent of emissions coming from the industrial sector and 14 percent from power generation, according to the Regional Carbon Capture Deployment Initiative. Whether it’s Brookings or the U.S. Department of Energy—under both Democratic and Republican Administrations – cutting emissions from these sectors will require carbon capture and storage (CCS) and possibly even some utilization—the U in CCUS—if we’re going to make progress on our state’s emissions goals and help maintain the industries and jobs Louisianans rely on.
How Does Capturing Carbon Help Louisiana Increase Jobs, Investments, and Other Economic Benefits?
Economic studies have shown that developing a carbon capture and storage industry in Louisiana could add 2,700-4,000 permanent jobs annually over the next 15 years, with some paying between $80,000 -$90,000 per year. There could also be an additional 1,700 to 2,500 jobs a year to retrofit and operate existing CCS infrastructure. A good example is a project in Calcasieu Parish that could create 970 jobs alone.
These industrial jobs also provide an influx of property tax revenue to local governments and enable new community partnerships—whether it be support for early childhood centers, workforce development for high school students, or funding for county roads and bridges.
CCUS has also garnered support from large and small independent manufacturers and energy producers because it represents a real opportunity for new high-paying jobs in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Reducing the carbon footprint of these facilities is vital to ensuring they can operate and keep providing jobs for many more years—no matter who is in charge at the White House.
Capturing Emissions at the Source
In the United States, 60% of the electricity generated in 2023 came from traditional fuels like coal, natural gas, petroleum, and others. In Louisiana, that number increases to 76% as natural gas is the state’s leading fuel source for electric generation. The Energy Information Administration also notes that natural gas fuels 6 of Louisiana’s 10 largest power plants. The state also has the nation’s highest residential sector per capita electricity consumption, with roughly 7 in 10 state households relying on electricity for home heating, and almost all households have air conditioning. These figures alone highlight how Louisiana could lead a new carbon economy.
Based on where you live in Louisiana, you might be closer to areas that have large, stationary industrial facilities. Currently, roughly 61 facilities have been identified as candidates for carbon capture retrofit, according to the Regional Carbon Capture Deployment Initiative. These facilities are likely some of the hard-to-decarbonize industrial processes listed above. They also likely employ people in your Parish, if not your community, who generate income that leads to a healthy economy and provides social well-being and a sense of community. While some national activists team up with community members to express their desire to shut a facility down, they often forget that closing down a plant or facility is hard. This is because moving or closing an existing industrial facility can be challenging and expensive, and often, there isn’t a big enough business to replace it—leading to hardships for the people and community it is in. It’s also inadvertently costly to consumers, the local economy, and the larger supply chain.
Adding CCS or CCUS technology to these facilities helps maintain high-paying industrial and manufacturing sector jobs, the needed products they produce—not to mention the affordability of those products—and revenue the facilities generate for the community and the state, all while making the air around these facilities cleaner to breathe. This is a win-win for the community and the people.
How Does CO2 Get Captured and Where Does it Go?
Outside of nature, like forests, coastal wetlands, and restorative agricultural processes, CO2 gets captured in many different ways, including pre-, post-, or oxy-fuel combustion, absorption, or direct air capture (DAC). While DAC is still in its early stages, the most common type of capture is through chemical combustion, converting or separating molecules. Once converted or separated, these molecules are captured as a gas and pressurized into a liquid, where a pipeline transports it to a suitable geological storage site chosen for its specific geological properties. These sites are either depleted oil and gas fields, deep geologic formations, or utilized in the EOR process.
Once a site is selected, the CO2 is injected deep into the Earth’s surface, far below fresh water sources, into a specified rock formation. How much CO2 can be deposited depends on how much “pore space” there is to trap it. Pore space is the empty spaces between sand and rock, similar to the spaces in a sponge when it collects water. Unlike water, CO2 is buoyant; however, there is a layer of earth called caprock above these porous areas, and they are watertight, trapping the CO2 and preventing it from rising. From there, companies install monitoring equipment to keep track of the safety of the well.
How Deep are these Storage Sites?
The depth of these geologic storage sites varies depending on the local geology. At a minimum, the site has to be over half a mile below the surface, with some sites almost 2 miles deep. Geologists look closely at the formations to determine where the water table is to determine how far down a well will need to be drilled.
Once trapped, over hundreds or thousands of years, the CO2 undergoes a chemical reaction with the rock its been injected into – changing from a gas to rock. Though it is a long process, there are rock-solid results!
What are the Best Areas for Carbon Storage?
This can be answered in two ways. First, as we discussed before, the best places for carbon storage are either depleted oil and gas fields, deep geologic formations utilized in the EOR process, or in coal seams—though that is rare.
Second, if you’re thinking about where those places are regionally, the U.S. Geological Service addresses storage potential or technically accessible storage based on the amount of CO2 a region can store underground. That said, they identify the Coastal Plains from Texas to Georgia as capable of holding 65% of our country’s “storage potential.” This is why there has been so much conversation about CCS in Louisiana and why the state has worked hard to secure its own primacy. At some point, Louisiana could be the epicenter and leading expert in carbon storage.
Due to the ability of a wind farm to generate enough energy to replace other sources of power, wind energy has gained traction as one of the world’s most desired renewable energy sources. In 2020, wind accounted for 17GW of new renewable energy generation in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and the largest increase globally in 2021 at 17%.
In order to continue to build out this renewable resource for decades to come, it will be important for people and our policymakers to understand the foundation of wind development to ensure we don’t bottleneck the development because of the lack of understanding of what actually comprises the full supply chain. In recent months, lawmakers, at the request of their voters have shut down vital mines, pipelines, and oil and gas development necessary for the build-out of wind energy.
So, what does building a wind farm entail?
Iron Ore
Among the many different minerals used to create a wind turbine, iron is incorporated throughout the entire turbine. From the rotor to its nuts and bolts, iron and steel make up iron and steel make up an average of 80% of all wind turbines. How much iron and steel depends on the turbine tower since they come in varying heights and types. However, the most utilized style is a tubular steel tower that incorporates a substantial amount of iron and steel compared to the others. Towers also vary in size. Onshore windmills are on average 295 feet – about as tall as The Statue of Liberty. While offshore wind towers are between 328 to 495 feet – almost as tall as the Washington Monument. The number of windmills in each farm varies by size, but to replace existing energy produced by other sources, windmills have gotten larger and so have the number of turbines on each farm. That means more iron will be need to be mined to support wind development in the United States since 60-75% of the materials for wind towers are domestically sourced.
Concrete
Newer technology for wind energy is emerging each year, and one of the materials necessary to accommodate these advances is concrete. In order to build taller wind turbines with longer blades, a heavy-duty concrete foundation is needed to stabilize and ensure the structures can withstand time and wind pressure. Often that means these foundations are 10-20 feet thick and 60 feet in diameter – or 2,827 square feet – larger than the average single-family home. Making concrete is a very heavy carbon-intensive process and its removal is not currently part of the recycling and remediation process after a wind farm’s retirement. While concrete allows the construction process to be efficient in both cost and time it is a major factor in the development of windmills, which means the use of small and large rocks. Concrete starts to break down in as little as 50 years, but according to Science.org, concrete from the Roman Empire is still standing so recycling will be the next big undertaking for the industry.
Plastic
Although it may seem counterintuitive, plastic is necessary to create this renewable resource. Lightweight plastic composites are used to design durable and aerodynamic blades that continue to evolve into lighter, long-lasting designs. In 2020, the U.S Department of Energy noted that 91% of newly installed turbines were 410 feet – or longer than a football field. Recent trends in wind farm construction are incorporating taller towers and longer blades to capture more wind. The taller the tower, the longer the blades the more composite will be needed, and more than 50 tons of plastic are contained in the blades of a 5 MW wind turbine. What binds the fiberglass into a composite is epoxy resin, a chemical substance whose base is reliant on benzene and propylene – aggregates of natural gas liquids developed through the refining of oil and natural gas.
These composites are also used in the nacelles of the wind turbine, which houses the engine.
In order to meet the mandates set by lawmakers across the country, all of these materials (not including copper or aluminum) are needed to sustain each individual piece of the wind tower. As we progress in creating a diverse energy mix by incorporating and increasing the number of renewable energy sources, it is important to know and understand each of the pieces and parts so we don’t intentionally make it harder to develop these resources, which were down 25% in 2021 due to bottlenecks, opposition and permitting issues.
As the United States and the world look for ways to decarbonize, there is one thing for sure: there is no silver bullet. There are many ways for people, businesses, and governments to look at ways to decarbonize. For people, it could be through their buying power and dictating to the market what is essential to them by, say, not buying a product that is heavily carbon-intensive to produce. For businesses, maybe it is through new technology, and for government, it might be through new regulations.
Regardless, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach. One thing is for sure. No matter what people, businesses, or governments do, there are still energy-intensive, hard-to-decarbonize sectors that everyone relies on to maintain our cities and their infrastructure and transport people and products worldwide. These sectors are the backbone of the American economy: steel, glass, chemical, fertilizer, power, cement, and iron producers, along with transportation like aircraft, maritime shipping, and truck freight. They help us build and power our homes and cities, produce and transport the food and products we use every day, and employ and transport millions of people across the U.S. Yet, these processes require very high heat and specific fuel to operate and meet product safety requirements, which means they need traditional fuels.
They also represent 20% of the CO2 emissions in the U.S. and almost 40% worldwide as the need for industrial products grows with the increasing population and socioeconomic changes. Whether it’s Brookings, the U.S. Department of Energy, or the Environmental Defense Fund, each agrees that cutting emissions from these sectors will require carbon capture and storage (CCS) and possibly even some utilization—the U in CCUS—if we’re going to make progress on our emissions goals. Not because it is THE solution, but because it is A solution. And we’ll need many.
What’s the difference between CCS and CCUS?
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), or carbon sequestration, involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial processes and transporting it through a pipeline to an appropriate geological formation for safe, permanent storage underground. Think of it as a waste management business.
Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is a process and technology that helps reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the atmosphere while continuing to meet present and future energy demands. It involves the following steps:
However, CCS and CCUS aren’t new; in fact, the first large-scale CO2 injection project, which took place in the Sharon Ridge oilfield in Texas in 1972, ran both CCS and CCUS operations.
Capturing Emissions at the Source
Based on where you live in the country, you might be closer to areas that have large, stationary industrial facilities. These facilities are likely some of the hard-to-decarbonize industrial processes listed above. They also likely employ people in your state, if not your community, generate income that leads to a healthy economy, and provide social well-being and a sense of community. Despite these positive attributes, CO2 emissions can lead to detrimental health effects. While some national activists team up with community members to express their desire to shut a facility down, they often forget that closing down a plant or facility is hard. This is because moving or closing an existing industrial facility can be challenging and expensive, and often, there isn’t a big enough business to replace it—leading to hardships for the people and community it is in. It’s also inadvertently costly to consumers, the local economy, and the larger supply chain.
However, adding CCS or CCUS technology to these facilities helps maintain those jobs, the needed products they produce, and revenue while reducing harmful emissions. This is a win-win for the community and the people.
How Does CO2 Get Captured and Where Does it Go?
Outside of nature, like forests, coastal wetlands, and restorative agricultural processes, CO2 gets captured in many different ways, including pre-, post-, or oxy-fuel combustion, absorption, or direct air capture (DAC). While DAC is still in its early stages, the most common type of capture is through chemical combustion, converting or separating molecules. Once converted or separated, these molecules are captured as a gas and pressurized into a liquid, where a pipeline transports it to a suitable geological storage site chosen for its specific geological properties. These sites are either depleted oil and gas fields, deep saline geologic formations (or salt domes), utilized in the EOR process, or in coal seams—though that is rare.
Once a site is selected, the CO2 is injected deep into the Earth’s surface, well below fresh water sources into the rock formation. How much CO2 can be deposited depends on how much “pore space” there is to trap it. Pore space is the empty spaces between sand and rock, similar to the spaces in a sponge when it collects water. Unlike water, CO2 is buoyant. However, there is a layer of earth called caprock that lies above these porous areas, and they are water-tight, trapping the CO2 and preventing it from rising. From there, companies install monitoring equipment to keep track of the safety of the well.
How Deep are these Storage Sites?
The depth of these geologic storage sites varies depending on the local geology. At a minimum, the site has to be over half a mile below the surface, with some sites almost 2 miles deep. Geologists look closely at the formations to determine where the water table is to determine how far down a well will need to be drilled.
Once trapped, over hundreds or thousands of years, the CO2 undergoes a chemical reaction—or mineralization—with the rock in that formation and forms a carbonate. Carbonates can form from minerals like calcium or magnesium to become calcite (an element of limestone), magnesite (made through the alteration of limestone or marble), or dolomite (used instead of limestone). All to say, though it is a long process, there are rock-solid results!
What are the Best Areas for Carbon Storage?
This can be answered in two ways. First, as we discussed before, the best places for carbon storage are either depleted oil and gas fields, deep saline geologic formations (or salt domes), utilized in the EOR process, or in coal seams—though that is rare.
Second, if you’re thinking of regionally where those places are, the U.S. Geological Service says “the best” area for carbon storage is really subjective. However, they do address storage potential or technically accessible storage based on the amount of CO2 a region can store underground. That said, they identify the Coastal Plains from Texas to Georgia as capable of holding 65% of our country’s “storage potential.”
Geologists prefer this area as much of the storage can occur in the salt domes, which are far below the surface. The pressure in these formations helps keep the CO2 in place at a solid state, where it has less of a chance to leak.
Alaska and the Rocky Mountains/Northern Great Plains have the next most significant storage potential. These regions tend to be where some of the most productive oil and gas fields are located.
With the EPA’s unveiling of new tail pipe rules which mandate what vehicles are available to for the trucking and logistics industry for deliveries, CEA’s Kaitlin Hammons examines how the ultimate cost will be passed on to families and small businesses in everything they purchase.
“This rule is the latest Biden Administration attempt to impose unworkable climate promises that will deliver next to no environmental improvement while imposing permanent price inflation on Americans,” said Kaitlin Hammons, vice president of the CEA. “The EPA continues to drive regulations that are unaffordable for small businesses, unattainable with current technology, and unachievable without a wholesale transformation of our electric distribution system.”
WASHINGTON – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency released its final rule for emissions from heavy duty vehicles including trucks and buses.
“This rule is the latest Biden Administration attempt to impose unworkable climate promises that will deliver next to no environmental improvement while imposing permanent price inflation on Americans,” said Consumer Energy Alliance Vice President Kaitlin Hammons. “The EPA continues to drive regulations that are unaffordable for small businesses, unattainable with current technology, and unachievable without a wholesale transformation of our electric distribution system.”
“Comparable electric trucks cost two-three times more than the current fleet that carries 73% of the nation’s freight. That means the cost of almost three-quarters of the goods Americans buy will go up – for good. That is before the additional nearly $1 trillion in required infrastructure investment.”
“Forcing adoption of more expensive vehicles that are not yet demanded by the market nor ready for prime time should be a lesson already learned, given the widespread failure of electric bus fleets and abrupt slowdown in passenger EV sales, despite billions of taxpayer dollars being spent,” Hammons said. “Americans should demand a return on their investment – not accept yet another costly policy that reduces the balance of our economic and social freedoms.”
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
