Acid Rain Control Research Articles

Simplified Models of U.S. Acid Rain Control Costs

Simplified algorithms are presented for estimating the cost of controlling sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from existing coal-fired power plants on a state-by-state basis. Results are obtained using the detailed Utility Control Strategy Model (UCSM) to calculate the Impacts of emission reductions ranging from approximately 30 percent to 90 percent of projected 1995 emissions for 18 different scenarios and 36 states. Scenarios include the use of two dry SO2 removal technologies (lime spray dryers and LIMB) as potential options for power plant retrofit, in addition to currently available emission control options including coal switching, coal cleaning and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD). Technical assumptions relating to FGD system performance and the upgrading of existing cold-side electrostatic precipitators (ESP) for reduced sulfur levels are also analyzed, along with the effects of interest rates, coal prices, coal choice restrictions, plant lifetime, and plant operating levels. Results are summarized...

Acid rain and emissions trading: implementing a market approach to pollution control

A key policy proposal in the current debate over the control of acid rain and other pollutants is permitting companies to buy, sell, or lease emissions rights or ''credits.'' This book is a study of the theoretical and practical difficulties involved in the creation of a national emissions trading program, a survey of the positions of the utilities and public regulatory commissions toward such a program, and estimates of the potential environmental and economic impact of emissions trading. The authors demonstrate the advantages of controlling acid rain through a market approach rather than through a regulatory approach.

Study Traces Most SO Emissions To Burning of Moderate-Sulfur Coal

Electric utilities burning moderatesulfur coal—not those that use highsulfur coal—are the major source of sulfur dioxide emissions implicated in acid rain, a study by the Department of Energy's Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC) concludes. These emissions could be cut in half without having to change coal sources or boilers if promising coal-cleaning technologies are successfully developed, the study finds. The results of the acid rain control initiative study were presented by PETC chemist Dennis H. Finseth at a symposium on controlling emissions from coal combustion. The session was part of a three-day symposium on acid rain that included presentations on atmospheric sulfur species and the effects of acid deposition on soil, water, and materials, as well as strategies for controlling emissions of acid precursors. We need to know where sulfur dioxide is coming from—both the geographical origin and what combustion technology produces it, Finseth says. Without that information it is hard to cons...

Ohio, New York agree on acid rain proposal

In a maneuver to break the Congressional deadlock over legislation to control acid rain, the governors of Ohio and New York have agreed on a formula to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from the combustion of coal, and nitrogen oxides from coal and other sources. Their proposal would come in the form of amendments to the Clean Air Act and could possibly speed acid rain legislation this year. The agreement was about a year in the making and was signed by governors Mario M. Cuomo of New York and Richard F. Celeste of Ohio, both Democrats. For states like Ohio that mine and burn coal, it is seen as an attempt to prevent passage of pending acid rain bills that they feel are too expensive and restrictive. For northeastern states worried about acid rain damage to their lakes and forests, it is regarded as a way to break an impasse that was stymieing any action toward ...

Multiobjective mathematical programming models for acid rain control

Although acid rain control is inherently multiobjective, previous optimization approaches have generally been single-objective, often acting to minimize aggregate abatement cost or emission reductions. Using an updated, least-cost deposition-constrained deterministic model as a basic framework, three multiobjective models are developed that consist of formulations which permit deviations about target deposition levels, the addition of constraints to effect measures of equity and models to enforce restrictions on aggregate emission reduction tonnage. The deposition deviation model shows that large abatement cost savings can be realized if the hard upper bound on maximum allowable deposition limit is preferentially relaxed. The socalled equity model develops strategies that attempt to balance within each state and province, the disparity between fractional emission and fractional deposition reductions. The aggregate emission reduction model shows some of the effects associated with the imposition of a common type of acid rain proposal. Our intent is to demonstrate that the incorporation of multiobjectivity into mathematical programming models for optimizing acid rain control constitutes an important step toward the identification of more representative, more useful and hopefully, scientifically and politically acceptable abatement strategies.

New acid rain study stirs interest, concern

Among the slew of studies on acid rain, a recent one highlighting a not-so-new but often overlooked aspect of the problem - the nutrient effect of nitrate deposition on marine life - has been stirring vast interest, if not concern, in some quarters. Members of Congress have cited it in their calls for acid rain control programs. A powerful member of the House of Representatives has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to review it. And some observers have even suggested that it has the potential for dislodging the logjams holding up action on acid rain control bills in both houses of Congress. EPA will complete its review by the end of the month. It is likely to come down hard on the EDF study. Outside experts reviewing the study for EPA have mentioned several flaws in EDF's reasoning. One of the major ones, according to a knowledgeable source, is that EDF assumes that all of the nitrogen falling in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which is largely terrestrial, enters the bay's waters. Nitrogen input to the watershed from acid rain is significant, but according to the reviewers, only a small fraction of this nitrogen actually reaches the bay.

Law: The Polities of Acid Rain Control in Europe

Law: The Polities of Acid Rain Control in Europe

The policy-cost index approach to modeling change in input-output coefficients: An application to acid rain policy

This paper presents a new approach to modeling technological change induced by government regulation. The methodology capitalizes on readily available data on equipment design specifications and prices to estimate trend functions that can be applied to the technical coefficients of an I–O model. The methodology is illustrated by an evaluation of the cost increases and price impacts of recently proposed acid rain control legislation.

House panel to vote on clean air bill this week

Fur expected to fly when the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health & the Environment begins marking up a clean air bill this week. markup bill combines Rep. Henry A. Waxman's (D.-Calif.) ozone and carbon monoxide bill (H.R. 3054), and Rep. Gerry Sikorski's (D./Farmer/Labor-Minn.) acid rain control bill (H.R. 2666). Waxman chairman and Sikorski a member of the subcommittee. A subcommittee staffer says it difficult to predict the outcome. We have nine solid votes, but we need two more to report it to full committee, he says. It even more difficult to predict what will happen in full committee. The problem, he explains, is that we are working in a committee heavily dominated by auto and oil industry interests, and ozone an auto- and oil-related problem. Full committee chairman Rep. John D. Dingell (D.-Mich.) has successfully blocked Waxman's past efforts to rewrite the act. Dingell especially does ...

Economic Impacts of Ozone and Acid Rain: Discussion

In many cases, as in this session, it is convenient to lump acid rain and ozone together when discussing the effects of air pollution on agricultural, forest, and aquatic resources. As noted by Forster and Phillips, both are secondary pollutants with effects that extend beyond the immediate emission source area. However, there are also some important differences between the two that make it difficult to synthesize research on their economic effects. Some of these differences are apparent in the papers presented here, while others have not been explicitly recognized. Before discussing the specific content of either paper, I would like to highlight some of these differences. First, although acid rain can result in production losses such as decreased forestry growth and losses to commercial fisheries, many of its effects relate to nonmarket goods. These include reductions in the recreational value of aquatic resources and in genetic diversity among fish populations. Forster and Phillips discuss a number of studies of nonmarket valuation that have addressed acid rain control. The research on ozone, on the other hand, has

Consensus developing on acid rain control

Consensus developing on acid rain control

Acid rain options modeled

Results from new computer models that could allow policymakers to compare different strategies for controlling acid rain will be presented at the AGU Spring Meeting in Baltimore, Md., May 18–21, 1987. The optimization models, developed by scientists from the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.), are set up so that competing goals—for instance, reducing the deposition of sulfur without wiping out the high‐sulfur coal industry— can be taken into account.

A Review of: “Acid Rain Control, The Costs of Compliance”, edited by D. S. Gilleland and J. H. Swisher. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 111., 1985. 177 pp. $25.00.

A Review of: “<i>Acid Rain Control, The Costs of Compliance</i>”, edited by D. S. Gilleland and J. H. Swisher. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 111., 1985. 177 pp. $25.00.

Opportunities for improving the cost‐effectiveness of acid rain control strategies

AbstractNone of the congressional bills proposed to control acid deposition since 1981 can be considered a cost‐effective approach. Ways to improve spatial, temporal, and regulatory efficiency in choosing which emission sources to control are examined.

Nuclear and coal electric power generation strategies for control of acid rain at Ontario Hydro

Ontario Hydro is committed to achieving major reductions in atmospheric emissions of SO 2 and NO x in accordance with regulations established by the Ontario Government. Information is provided on electricity demand in Ontario, on Ontario Hydro's generation capacity mix and on the forecast use of generation to meet demand. Emphasis is placed on the comparative economics and emissions of Ontario Hydro's nuclear and coal-fired generation and on the integration of each into a cost-effective emission control program. Emissions of SO 2 and NO x will be reduced by about 25% by 1986 and by about 50% by 1990, primarily by using nuclear generation to replace coal, by purchasing hydroelectric generation from neighbouring utilities, by controlling coal sulphur levels and by selective application of emission control technology on coal-fired plants.

A Linear Programming Model for Acid Rain Policy Analysis

This paper describes a new analytical model designed to explore the consequences of acid rain control strategies for coal-fired power plants in the 31 eastern United States. It employs a linear programming technique using newly developed models of coal transportation costs, minemouth coal prices, and power plant FGD costs to determine an optimum (least cost) strategy to achieve specified reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions, as proposed in several recent Congressional bills. Emissions trading among specified groups of states also can be treated in the model’s optimization framework. Results are presented for scenarios in which 1995 SO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants in the 31-state region are constrained to levels that are 8, 10 and 12 million tons per year (MMtpy) below 1980 emissions. An extensive set of sensitivity analyses (95 cases) is used to explore the effects on FGD retrofit capacity, regional coal demand, and overall abatement cost of alternative assumptions regarding the future costs of coal, transportation, pollution control equipment and regulatory requirements. Cases involving a 10 MMtpy reduction were found to exhibit the greatest sensitivity to tradeoffs between coal switching and the retrofitting of FGD equipment.

Court order to control acid rain appealed

Court order to control acid rain appealed

New maps chart areas vulnerable to acid rain

In their continued thrust for acid rain control legislation, environmental groups have released maps developed by the Environmental Protection Agency that depict broad reaches of midwestern and northeastern lake areas susceptible the scourge of acid rain. Even as the National Clean Air Fund, education and research wing of the National Clean Air Coalition, was making the maps EPA was distributing the same maps scientists for comment. The environmentalists, however, felt that the Fourth of July holiday week, when many Americans were swimming and fishing their nation's lakes and streams, was an excellent time to make this alarming new information about the scope and magnitude of the problem available the public, says Deborah A. Sheiman, a resource specialist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a member of the clean air fund coalition. The Reagan Administration has been notably reluctant legislate controls on industries that generate acid rain precursors—mainly sulfur and nitroge...

An Airing of the Clean Air Act

In recent years criticism of excessive and inefficient regulation has frequently been voiced. Environmental regulations in particular have been a target. Some critics charge that environmental benefits have been pursued too aggressively without sufficient regard to the cost of controls. Others, without attacking the desirability of the benefits, argue that pollution reduction has been unnecessarily costly. Yet there are also those who claim that antipollution legislation has not been implemented sufficiently and effectively and that progress toward air and water quality goals has been disappointingly slow. Causes of these problems, depending on the source of the criticism, include failure to incorporate economic rationality and economic incentives into regulations, overzealous regulators, weak enforcement efforts, and insufficient funding to support timely and effective implementation of complex statutes. These conflicting viewpoints are part of the debate currently surrounding the Clean Air Act whose reauthorization by Congress is considerably behind schedule. Reauthorization of the act has been held up by conflict over proposals to add acid rain control measures and proposals to change existing provisions. Each of the books under review offers a timely opportunity for an increased understanding of the crucial issues in the debate over the Clean Air Act. Each provides insight on important components of the act and its implementation. Among the subjects addressed by the authors are the administrative burden created by the numerous and complex requirements of the Clean Air Act, the impact of judicial review and public input on administrative decision making and air quality policy, and the application of principles of economic efficiency to air quality policy. The conclusions reached by the authors are sobering, provocative, and instructive.

Multimedia Approach To Pollution Control Urged

Cross-media or multimedia pollution has been attracting greater interest recently because of efforts to control acid rain and contamination of groundwater. Both these problems result from a pollutant's being generated in one medium and then contaminating another. Sulfur dioxide in the air, for example, becomes sulfuric acid in rain, or industrial solvents buried in landfills leach through the soil and become toxic chemicals in groundwater. Unfortunately, current environmental regulations don't deal effectively with such problems, but before any new regulations can be drafted, more must be learned about how pollutants interact. How to go about learning that and then regulating cross-media pollution were aims of the first national conference on cross-media pollution sponsored earlier this month by the Conservation Foundation. The conference attempted to probe the complex passage of pollutants from land to air to water. Deputy administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency Alvin Aim pointed out to the...