Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to worry about controlling emissions from airplanes
which account for a few percent of global emissions as
the EU is doing now, while leaving the
% from agri-
cultural and land use unregulated.
Ef
ciency: Ef
ciency in electricity generation was dis-
cussed in
Chapter
red generating
plants worldwide are typically a long way from that of
the leaders in ef
. Coal- and gas-
ciency. If all US plants were at the
ef
ciency level of the leaders, total US emissions would
be reduced by about
%. If all US electricity generation
were emission-free, emissions would go down by
%
(EPA numbers for
). If an old
-gigawatt coal-
red
power plant were replaced by a modern gas-
red power
plant,
million tonnes of emissions would be avoided.
This is happening now in the United States because of the
low price of natural gas resulting from the big increase in
supply from shale gas. It is dif
cult to understand those in
the environmental movement who wish to ban fracking
instead of regulating it.
There are further economic incentives that could be
put into effect to hasten the move away from fossil fuel,
such as Cap-and-Trade programs or emission fees. These
will be discussed in the next sections on policy.
End-use ef
where
both transportation and buildings were analyzed. In the
light-vehicle sector (cars, SUVs, minivans, and pickup
trucks), the new US CAFE standard of
ciency was the subject of
Chapter
mpg by
is a winner. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
(PHEVs) can do even better, but care has to be taken to
include emissions in generating the electricity used in
determining comparative emissions. Population in the
United States is growing by about
.
% per year, so
