Answer: As you know, the goal of Clean Cities is to help reduce U.S. reliance on petroleum in transportation. As the mission of Clean Cities is to reduce petroleum consumption in on-road vehicles, natural gas power plants are outside of our scope of work. That said, we have provided some information and resources below that might be helpful for you.
As you are likely aware, while natural gas emits fewer carbon emissions than gasoline or coal, it does still emit carbon dioxide (CO2), which in turn contributes to climate change. For information on the breakdown of natural gas CO2 emissions compared to coal, diesel, gasoline, and propane, see the U.S Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Frequently Asked Questions page. As you can see, natural gas emits 117 pounds of CO2 per million British thermal units (BTUs) of energy. Natural gas is primarily methane (CH4), which has a higher energy content relative to other fuels. Therefore, it has a relatively lower CO2 to energy content.
In addition, you may be interested in several reports and articles which discuss emissions of natural gas power plants. Please see below for more information:
- Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) report "Leveraging Natural Gas to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions": According to the Executive Summary, this report examines the implications of expanded natural gas use in key sectors of the economy, and recommends policies and actions needed to maximize climate benefits of natural gas in power generation, buildings, manufacturing, and transportation. In particular, you may be interested in the Power Sector section, which states that "for each unit of energy produced, a megawatt-hour (MWh) of natural gas-fired generation contributes around half the amount of CO2 emissions as coal-fired generation and about 68 percent of the amount of CO2 emissions from oil-fired generation".
- C2ES page "Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New Power Plants": This page discusses EPA's new standard for new coal and natural gas fired power plants, which was issued on August 3, 2015. The new rule for natural gas power plants states that "new natural gas power plants can emit no more than 1,000 pounds (lbs) of carbon dioxide per MWh of electricity produced." Natural gas power plants can reach the standard by implementing efficient generation technology, which is discussed in more detail on that page. The page also discusses the future of natural gas power generation and CO2 emissions.
- Scientific American article "A Natural Gas Power Plant with Carbon Constraints – and an Expiration Date": This article discusses the process to approval for a natural gas power plant in Massachusetts. As is stated in the article, "although its carbon footprint at the smokestack may be only 50 to 60 percent that of coal, a gas-fired power plant still puts hundreds of pounds of carbon dioxide into the air every hour".
- National Geographic article "Switch to Natural Gas Won't Reduce Carbon Emissions Much, Study Finds": As the article discusses, a study from 2014 in the journal Environmental Research Letters finds that "between 2013 and 2055 the use of natural gas could reduce cumulative emissions from the electricity sector by no more than 9 percent, a reduction the authors say will have an insignificant impact on climate." The article also discusses how switching to natural gas may discourage the use of carbon-free renewable energy.
We hope this information is helpful! Please let us know if we can provide any additional information.
Sincerely,
Abby Brown, ICF International
Supporting the U.S. Department of Energy
and National Renewable Energy Laboratory -
Clean Cities Technical Response Service
technicalresponse@icfi.com
800-254-6735
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