By Pam Kasey
The price of natural gas will have to be five times what it is today before another coal-fired power plant will be built in the U.S.
That's Howard Herzog's reaction to the power plant greenhouse gas emissions rule proposed March 27 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Herzog is senior research engineer at the MIT Energy Initiative and its Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies program.
Every coal-fired power plant proposed in the U.S. from now on will have to capture carbon dioxide, or CO2, and store it away if the cumbersomely named "Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units" rule is implemented.
"Based on the rule, I don't think anyone would consider building a new coal plant unless the price of gas gets above $10 per million British thermal units," Herzog said. "Today it's close to $2."
http://www.statejournal.com/story/17276589/proposed-emissions-rule-delays-carbon-capture-and-storage