Government▼Watch
Eight countries are participating in a new, voluntary initiative to capture methane (CH4) emissions from landfills, coal mines, and oil and natural gas systems for use as an energy source. In July, the Bush Administration pledged up to $53 million over the next five years to spur private-sector involvement in CH4 projects in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. The U.S. Congress has not yet considered the $53 million pledge. The Methane to Markets Partnership, led by the United States, is a promising step in the right direction, analysts say. But many more countries will have to sign on for the program to have much of an impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, of which CH4 is second only in importance to CO2. So far, participating countries are Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Most available abatement technologies involve collecting CH4 and using it as a fuel for electricity generation, on-
U.S. EPA
Targeting methane emissions
This advanced sampler, developed by the Gas Technology Institute, gauges actual CH4 emission rates during gas production.
site uses, or off-site gas sales. “So there isn’t a pure cost involved; there’s some valuable product that’s being gotten from it,” says John Reilly, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Consequently, unlike with controls on CO2 emissions, “there’s more of a chance, particularly for developing countries, to be interested in this sort of thing because they don’t see it as a threat to their economic growth.” Moreover, lower CH4 levels would have a rapid and major effect on at-
mospheric warming potential, U.S. EPA officials say. That’s because the gas has a shorter atmospheric lifetime and higher global warming potential than CO2—on a kilogram-per-kilogram basis, CH4 is 23 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere during a 100-year time frame. EPA figures show that globally, 60% of CH4 emissions come from anthropogenic sources, mostly the ones targeted by this initiative, as well as agriculture. Most of the remainder comes from wetlands, gas hydrates, permafrost, and termites. EPA officials predict that annual CH4 emissions from the 8 participating countries could be reduced by up to 50 million metric tons of carbon equivalent by 2015, an amount akin to eliminating emissions from 50 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants. By Reilly’s calculations, that amounts to 25–30% of participating countries’ CH4 emissions, but only about 5% of global CH4 emissions. The first meeting of the partnership will take place this November in Washington, D.C. For more information, go to www.epa.gov/methane. —KRIS CHRISTEN
Cooling-water rules challenged in court Thirty-two years after passage of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. EPA has released regulations for cooling-water intake structures at large electric power plants. The regulations went into effect early this September and call for an 85–95% reduction in the number of fish pinned against intake screens and a 60–90% reduction in the number of small aquatic animals sucked into the structures. The EPA says the rule would prevent more than 200 million pounds of aquatic organisms from being killed or injured by the cooling-water structures every year. As the new rule was released in July, it was challenged in court by six states, a host of environmental groups, and a coalition of electric power companies. Officials from the states and environmental groups argue that EPA disregarded the Clean Water Act, which calls for power companies to use the best technology available (BTA) to protect fish, shellfish, and other forms of aquatic life. The BTA at this time is closed-cycle cooling—an expensive choice, but one that environmentalists say can reduce fish kills by 95%.
© 2004 American Chemical Society
Instead of requiring only BTA, the rule also allows companies to choose from a variety of remedies. Power plant owners can use screens with fish return systems or can mitigate the plant’s impact on the environment by restoring wetlands or watersheds. These alternatives are allowed under the law, EPA and utility officials say, and would go a long way toward improving the ecosystems affected by the cooling water structures. An industry source representing utilities in their lawsuit says that they only dispute minor sections of the rule. “We have a couple of problems, but we think the over-arching framework is quite reasonable,” says the representative. Tricia Jedele, special assistant attorney general for the state of Rhode Island, says the rule won’t really protect fish. She says that rule essentially tells companies: “Kill as many fish as you want, but improve the watershed or create wetlands and we’ll call it even.” All legal challenges have been bundled together, and a final court decision should be out late next year. —PAUL D. THACKER
OCTOBER 15, 2004 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ■ 391A
