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CCTP Home -> Strategic Plan -> Review Draft, September 2005 -> Comments -> Comments 151-200 Search
U.S. Climate Change Technology Program Logo and link to Home
Updated 21 December 2005

Strategic Plan of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program.  Review Draft, 2005.  Click for larger image.

U.S. Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan
Comments on September 2005 Draft

Comments 151-200

See also:

 

Comments
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151

3

3-20

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It is better to divide out carbon capture/storage and sequestration and two separate numbered items. Carbon capture and storage is essentially an energy-industry activity suitable for point sources whereas sequestration approaches capture CO2 from the air and are generally dispersed and involve no changes to energy production and consumption. Lumping these two very different things together is not helpful.

152

3

3-21

3-21

 

 

Fig 3-13

Fig 3-13, what is final energy? Is it energy used for end use purposes?

153

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3-21

3-21

4

7

 

IPCC (2000), Table SPM-2b, gives the same values for energy intensity in units of million joules/$, not billion joules/$.

154

3

3-21

3-22

14

3

 

Pg. 3-21, line 14 – Pg. 3-22, line 3. The text lacks discussion of the substantial challenges involved in achieving even a 0.25%/year improvement over the “middle of the road” scenario.

155

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3-21

3-22

14

3

 

While the calculation implied in this text is no doubt correct, it provides no indication of the difficulty involved in achieving even a 0.25%/year improvement over the "middle of the road" scenario. While that scenario is not identified, the median of the SRES illustrative scenarios (IPCC (2000), Table SPM-2b) have a final energy intensity in 2100 about 3 - 3.3 x 106 J/US$, a decline of 1.5-1.6%/year in global final energy intensity over the period 1990-2100, significantly greater than the historical decline in energy, which Chapter 4, Pg 4-1, lines 11-16, indicates was about 0.9%/year over the period 1971-2002.

156

3

3-22

3-22

3

17

 

The text lacks discussion of the substantial challenges involved in achieving even a 0.25%/year improvement over the "middle of the road" scenario.

157

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3-23

 

 

 

 

Ref. 45: We suggest adding language such as "This model does not fully characterize renewables and so underestimates their potential contribution. A more detailed renewable module is under development." [This could be modified depending on what parts of the

> > model are actually used in the update. We know that wind may be included, but solar would not have been added yet.]

158

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Replace line 20-21 with:

There are a variety of physical, chemical, geochemical, and biological ways to remove CO2 from the atmosphere or from point sources, and to store or use the resulting CO2 or chemical derivatives thereof (e.g., Halman, 1993; Kojima, 1997; Inui et al., 1998; Lackner, 2002). Currently, the CCTP technology area related to capturing and sequestering CO2 has only two main thrusts: (1) engineered capture and storage of molecular CO2 from power plants and other industrial sources of CO2…

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29

 

Replace Lines 24-29 with:

Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) here refers to the capture, purification, and concentration of molecular carbon dioxide emitted from combustion or other industrial waste gas streams, and subsequent transport to and storage of CO2 in suitable geologic or ocean reservoirs. The benefits of technologies like CCS stem from their ability to lower the carbon emissions intensity of the conventional, fossil fuel energy base. CCS could also be applied to bio-based electricity-generation systems, or to other non-fossil-fuel waste streams such as in cement production.

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3-25

3-29

 

 

references

Citations to add in References:

Halmann, H.M. 1993. Chemical fixation of carbon dioxide. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Inui, T., Anpo, M., Izui, K., Yanagida, S., and Yamaguchi, S. 1998. Advances in chemical conversions for mitigating carbon dioxide. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

Kojima, T. 1997. The carbon dioxide problem: Integrated energy and environmental policies for the 21rst century. Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam.

Lackner, K.S. 2002. Carbonate chemistry for sequestering fossil carbon. Annual Review of Energy and Environment 27: 193-232.

161

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3-27

3-27

9

9

 

Replace Line 9 with:

"In general, scenario analyses typically indicate that no single technology option as presently envisioned is able to provide"

162

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3-27

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15

15

Figure 3-15

"Sequestration" is now generally used for capture from atmosphere and storage in forests etc, and "carbon capture and storage" is used for capture from large industrial point sources and storage in geologic formations etc. Better to break these out as two separate items and show bars accordingly.

163

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3-28

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Replace Line 7 with:

greenhouse gases - on a 100-year scale and across a range of uncertainties. Thus, given the magnitude of the CO2 problem and the uncertainties in cost, efficacy, impacts, and ultimate design of the mitigation technologies considered above, it is important that new advances and alternative approaches be actively solicited and supported. CO2 mitigation R&D is in its infancy, and future successful technologies and strategies within or outside the four cores categories consider here may bare little resemblance to those currently being investigated. At this stage it is therefore important that R&D programs keep an open mind as to what the best approaches might ultimately be. 3

164

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Append "in addition to the substantial efficiency improvements and carbon-emission-free energy sources already assumed in the reference scenarios.

165

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Replace line 25 with:

emission reductions. This suggests the importance of a diversified approach to technology R&D, requiring that potential advances in these existing R&D areas as well as consideration of alternative approaches be actively encouraged and supported.


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166

4

General

 

 

 

 

This chapter does not include the results from industry that meet or exceed many of the goals outlined. For instance, an aluminum producer using technology supplied by Jupiter Oxygen Corporation has reduced its fuel consumption by 70%. Furthermore, goals outlined for industrial boilers have been met. Jupiter Oxygen operated an Industrial boiler in 2002 where the efficiency of the boiler was increased by 12%, resulting in an a 16% fuel reduction, which was accomplished by employing the technology currently being marketed by Jupiter Oxygen. For clarification towards the goals of the strategic plan, the work mentioned above is useful in several areas.

1) The reduction in fuel usage resultant of the increased efficiency is clearly in line the global issues facing climate change.

2) The reduction in fuel is directly related to a reduction carbon dioxide.

3) The use of oxy-fuel combustion, as patented by Jupiter Oxygen, greatly reduces NOX emission rates to near zero with natural gas and .08 lbs/MMBtu with pulverized coal (Illinois No. 6) [which is expected to fall to .05 lbs/MMBtu with modifications].

4) The work outlined is available commercially, so that every effort should be made to promote such technologies in the Industrial Sector.

This work must be included in Strategic Plan due to inaccuracies in the current text and the need to promote sustainable energy technologies which are commercially available, and our corrections are provided.

Under specific comments we have included several corrections that all into two areas.

1) Application - This oxy-fuel combustion has been in every day use for nearly a decade. The corrections will aid in the potential readers understanding as to how oxy-fuel combustion is actually used

2) Update - To inform actual results in recent progress.

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General

 

 

 

 

We support and are encouraged by the introduction of specific goals in this chapter, but are concerned that they are not tied to an overall objective on greenhouse gas emission reduction.

We perceive a true strategy plan to include one overreaching goal, with sub-goals that in the aggregate will help achieve the overall goal. In turn each sub-goal must identify what actions and activities will be undertaken, by whom and when and how much funding is necessary to meet the sub-goal. This structure is especially important when dealing with climate change research that encompasses a vast, almost unmanageable amount of areas and perspectives. Without connecting each research area to the overall goal there is no assurance that that particular research area is of any value or significance to the overall goal of reducing emissions.

168

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Another substantial void, evidenced in this chapter, is the lack of actors that will conduct the research and achieve even the particular goals set out in this chapter. Overall this plan lacks the identification of what entities will be responsible for conducting the research and how they would interact. Just as an evaluation must be made on the contributory value of each research goal, an examination must be made of what entities would be best used to reach the overall goal. We see no discussion in this chapter or any other on that sort of examination or on what entities would be responsible for particular research projects.

169

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General

 

 

 

Section 4.1

Reducing emissions from energy end-use and infrastructure.

Transportation section 4.1

Section 4.1.3 includes in the Current Portfolio under item (c) "material and manufacturing technologies for high volume production vehicles, which enable/support the simultaneous attainment of 50 percent reduction in the weight of vehicle structure and subsystems, affordability, and increased used of recyclable/renewable materials." This is a critical area where aluminum can yield large gains in energy efficiency. Each pound of aluminum in auto/light trucks saves 20 lbs of CO2 emissions over the life of the vehicle, in current assessments. Advanced use of lightweight materials and improved recycling efficiencies could increase this ratio.

Similarly, large energy savings are possible with light weighting of heavy vehicles including truck trailers and train cars.

170

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General

 

 

 

Section 4.1

Industry section 4.3.4 future research

This section notes the importance of research on industrial alternatives to natural gas usage. We believe that the Strategic Plan should include in this section R&D to develop electric plasma arc 'burners' to replace natural gas fired furnaces and improve energy efficiency with reduced emissions.

171

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Section 4.1

Buildings section 4.2

While the section on buildings has a deserved emphasis on the energy use during the life of a building, the end-of-life aspect of recycling should not be ignored when deciding upon the materials of construction for both the building envelope and the building equipment. The use of aluminum and other highly recyclable materials should be emphasized.

172

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General

 

 

 

 

Research is investment intensive and as such there should be some distinct discussion of how much each project would cost and where that funding should come from, but we see none. There should be some analysis made in which a cost- research benefit analysis is made. There should be some indication of the differential between the cost and potential yield of different research project. In addition, this analysis should be part in the overall selection of research programs to support.

173

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4-2

4-2

1

1

table 4-2

The agricultural and forestry sector is conspicuous by its absence from this table. Land-use can be either a source or a sink for CO2, depending on the technology used. To provide a complete summary of U.S. CO2 emissions, this table should include information on U.S. emissions of CO2 from agriculture and forestry.

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Reducing Emissions from Energy End Use and Infrastructure - Transportation

Omission: (This chapter fails to even mention alternative transportation choices such as bicycling and walking, which consume zero energy and offer practical alternatives to solo auto use in many of America's urban areas. Further, the chapter fails to make important connections between land use patterns and transportation choices and ultimately transportation consumption - namely that sprawling land uses are associated with greater quantities of transportation consumed and are less adept at offering people choices in their mode of transport. One obvious strategy to reduce emissions related to transportation would be to encourage smart growth and denser urban environments that encourage the use of public transit or non-polluting modes such as bicycling and walking. It is a shame the federal government is still so far behind in thinking progressively about transportation and its relationship to the natural environment. Their is also no mention of pricing the externalities associated with single occupancy automobile use. America continues to provide vast subsidies for the use and storage - ie parking - of automobiles, with grave consequences for our environment).

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Chapter 4: Reducing Emissions from Energy End Use and Infrastructure - 4.1 Transportation

Page 3, Line 7 - Page 4, Line 21 - Page 5, Line 1 to 19

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176

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4-14

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Sentence beginning Several Specific Goals

after (1) Rewrite to read ..(1) by 2006 commercially demonstrate the high temperature oxy-fuel technology which resulted in a 12% efficiency gain in industrial boiler trials conducted previously; and by 2007 these package boilers should be made available for wide scale application.

Reason re-write The goal for an industrial boiler of the higher efficiency has been met. The technology needs to be used. The text should acknowledge that.

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Comment 1 to an attachment offered on page 14 line 27

1.4 INDUSTRY

1.4.1 ENERGY CONVERSION AND UTILIZATION

Page 2 of the attached .pdf referenced as August 2005 1.4-2

Section Recent Progress

Last Bullet point should be re-written as follows

A high efficiency, high temperature oxy-fuel combustion system producing near zero NOX levels has been in every day use since 1997. This system uses technology available from Jupiter Oxygen and has resulted in significant efficiency increases in aluminum melting resulting in a 70% reduction in fuel usage. The technology has also been recently transferred to the industrial boiler market.

Reason re-write these are actual verifiable results that need to be communicated to decision makers, industrial users an researchers.

178

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4-14

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32

 

Discusses R&D on the production of iron without the use of metallurgical coke, while Pg. 4-16, lines 7-15, discusses R&D to reduce non-combustion emissions from cement manufacture. To indicate the comprehensive nature of this plan, control these non-energy related emissions should be part of the strategic goals.

179

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As a regulator of utilities, we are specifically concerned by this section and wish that the plan be more specific in expressing the entities responsible for the research proposed and where funding for that reach would come from.

180

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Since expansion of the grid to serve remote renewable generation sources (such as wind) will be costly, DOE should substitute "transmission infrastructure (the ‘grid’)" for "distribution infrastructure (the ‘grid’)" at line 29 and insert "The cost of expanding the grid to provide transmission from remote areas to load centers is potentially very expensive, and proper allocation of the investment costs would need to be considered, as well as the overall cost-effectiveness of such projects." at the end of line 31.

181

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Transmission and distribution (T&D) losses are cited as 5.5 percent. The remainder of the section discusses high-technology R&D that could reduce losses, but there are no numerical estimates of such savings. There also is no recognition that long-distance transmission has higher losses than shorter-distance transmission, and that losses would increase as reliance on remote generation (such as wind) increases. Therefore, insert "Notwithstanding these improvements, the extent to which transmission and distribution losses could be reduced is uncertain, and energy losses on the transmission system could even increase as more long-distance transmission lines are brought into service to transmit power from remote generation sources." as a new paragraph after page 4-17, line 29.

182

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Under the section on Electric Grid and Infrastructure there is no mention of wireless power transmission. Also, the possibilities for global power transmission are not mentioned.

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Figure 4-4

Reducing Emissions from Energy End Use and Infrastructure - 4.4 Electric Grid and Infrastructure

Page 19, Figure 4-4: A Distributed Energy Future

Stephen Gehl (EPRI), in the 2004 presentation "Generation Technology Choices: Near and Long Term" , shows a more comprehensive figure that include also the Vehicle-to-grid power (V2G) that uses electric-drive vehicles (battery, fuel cell, or hybrid) to provide power for specific electric markets.

I suggest to include the V2G option in the figure 4-4: A Distributed Energy Future.

See: ”Generation Technology Choices: Near and Long Term” - U.S. DoE EIA Annual Energy Outlook Conference Washington DC, 2004 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/archive/aeo04/conf/pdf/gehl.pdf , Page 15.

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Insert "Nevertheless, deployment of these technologies will ultimately depend on the extent that they can compete effectively on economic and market terms with other technologies. As many of the technologies addressed in the preceding section are still in the research and development stage, or in early deployment, their ability to survive in the marketplace is unknown."


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185

5

 

 

 

 

Section 5.3

Regarding to Chapter 5.3 on renewable energy and fuels, the discussion is generally very good, and we are supportive of RDD&D. The draft Plan (p. 5-13) indicates that while renewables "contributed" in 2003 "8 percent of [energy] supply, or 6 percent of the total [energy consumption]," much of that was from hydropower and burning biomass. It notes that the transition from "today’s" reliance on fossil fuels to "to a global energy portfolio that includes significant renewable resources" (p. 5-18) "will require continued improvements in cost and performance of renewable technologies" (emphasis added). While we agree, there should be some effort to define the word "significant" and to provide a time frame for such a transition, noting that for the power sector fossil fuels constitute 71 percent of our energy sources and are likely to continue to do so for some time. In addition, while there is mention that this transition "would also require shifts in energy infrastructure" (p. 5-18), there is no real discussion of this infrastructure shift, the retrofits that would be necessary for renewables to be utilized in existing facilities, the technologies needed for such shifts and retrofits, the time to develop and make operative such infrastructure, or the associated costs. There should be, as energy infrastructure is extremely important.

186

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General

 

 

 

 

Critical Research Need for Implementing Nuclear Option

Chapter 5 includes a good review of current and forthcoming technology options for nuclear energy. It recognizes a key obstacle to implementation of added capacity - an obstacle that can last to the indefinite future, namely Regulatory Delay.

Regulatory delay is founded on the public fears of all things nuclear, and the continued poor progress on waste disposal.

Both the waste disposal problem, and the public fears of nuclear energy rest on a basic unverified assumption of Linear - no threshold response to low level radiation. This rests on the snowball assumption. "If a big snowball can kill someone, the same snowball as a million snowflakes falling on a million people will kill someone." While this seems absurd, it is deeply ingrained in regulation - and in public belief.

The available research tools could be used to show that the hazard from low levels of radiation - up to several times normal background radiation - are harmless. There is even extensive literature showing beneficial effects from radiation levels a few times higher than natural background radiation.

A major effort in laying this unscientific myth would be a major contribution to deploying more of the energy choice that is already preventing the emission of 600,000,000 (six hundred million) tons of CO2 emissions each year.

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The Draft Plan’s Technology Strategy for Renewable Energy Should Include Promotion of Waste-To-Energy as a Near-Term Technology Option

We were pleased to see a discussion of the near and long-term opportunities to promote renewable sources of energy to augment or replace the use of fossil fuels and to reduce greenhouse gases. However, we were disappointed and perplexed by the absence of discussion of municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities as a proven, successful technology option. Waste-to-energy facilities do not appear to be included in the draft plan’s list of renewable energy technology options highlighted in Box 5-1. While thermo chemical and biochemical conversion of biomass were included in the list of renewable technology options, the definition of "biomass," on page 5-17 at line 15, did not clearly incorporate the organic or biomass portion of municipal solid waste. This apparent exclusion of waste-to-energy facilities from the draft plan’s technology strategy will significantly impair the program’s near-term GHG reduction efforts.

Waste-to-energy facilities produce clean, renewable energy through the combustion of municipal solid waste in specially designed power plants equipped with the most modern pollution control equipment to clean emissions. Our company operates seventeen waste-to-energy plants - part of a nationwide fleet of 89 facilities, operating in 27 states, managing about 13 percent of America's trash, or about 95,000 tons each day. Waste-to-energy facilities generate about 2,500 megawatts of electricity to meet the power needs of nearly 2.3 million homes.

The use of waste-to-energy technology prevents the release of forty million metric tons of greenhouse gases in the form of carbon dioxide equivalents that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere on an annual basis, according to an analysis developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Integrated Waste Services Association (IWSA) using EPA's Decision Support Tool. A recent life-cycle analysis of nine waste management options, using the EPA Decision Support Tool, compared net GHG emissions of each option. The analysis showed that a 30% recycling rate, coupled with use of waste-to-energy for the remaining municipal solid waste was the most attractive option, as GHG emissions were negative, due to energy offsets. The next most attractive option for managing wastes while minimizing GHG emissions was a 30% recycling rate coupled with landfilling waste in a landfill that employs landfill gas-to-energy.

The clean energy produced from waste-to-energy plants replaces electricity generated from fossil fuels. Additionally, combustion diverts municipal solid waste from landfills where it would otherwise produce methane as it decomposes. Our activities to control and beneficially use methane production at our landfills are discussed in our comments on Chapter 7. Annual reporting by IWSA to the U.S. Department of Energy's Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Program confirms that waste-to-energy also prevents the release each year of nearly 24,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and 2.6 million tons of volatile organic compounds from entering the atmosphere. Given this impressive track record, we recommend that DOE include waste-to-energy in its portfolio of near-term technology options for reducing emissions from energy supply, and work with its partner agencies to promote its expanded use.

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Reducing Emissions from Energy Supply

First Overview Comment: This CCTP R & D Plan would be strengthened and would be a far more effective policy tool if the problem were defined by the quantity and timing of CO2 emission-free-power and/or efficiency improvements needed to stabilize climate at various levels of atmospheric CO2, or global warming, as the global economy grows at projected rates of 2-3%/yr.

The future path is unknowable but emission-free primary power levels needed to attain the WRE stabilization scenarios levels for economic growth and fossil energy assumptions of the IPCC IS92a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. Primary and emission-free power growth in the previous century is also shown. [Note the emission-free-power growth rate discontinuity in the vicinity of "now," and the subsequently large growth in emission-free energy supply just needed for BAU -- with progressively larger ramp-ups for various stabilization levels.] This is the real problem. The Manhattan Project didn't aim to explore nuclear weapons in general; it's goal was building a Bomb before the end of WW II. The Apollo Program didn't aim at exploring manned spaceflight in general; it's goal was putting a ( US) man on the Moon by the end the 60s. So too does the CCTP program need a more concrete goal; specifically, I'm arguing, some combination of terawatts from supply and "negaterawatts" from demand sufficient to stabilize global warming at tolerable levels. One doesn't have to advocate what level. That should be publicly debated, perhaps in Congress. In any case this administration has clearly stated its opposition to specific targets. Avoiding "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system," the stated UN FCCC goal, was undefined in that document -- though melting Arctic sea ice and tundra and increasing hurricane intensity make it more timely than ever to do so. Tony Blair at the recent Exeter conference in the UK set an upper limit of 2 degrees Celsius global warming. This might be cited as an example of thinking by a close US ally.

Such a goal implies terawatts of emission-free power in the coming decades (and/or negaterwatts from efficiency improvements) -- as is well documented in peer-reviewed literature. Not to be overly alarmist, but if current GDP growth rates continues, the latter half of the 21st century is a climatic disaster waiting to happen. To address this realistically, a conceptual framework similar to that described above needs to be up front of this Strategic R & D Plan; however challenging the goal may be & however much it requires international cooperation. Otherwise we have is a shopping list, well-motivated & interesting perhaps, but uncoupled from the actual problem.

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We believe that the best approach to developing a practical fusion energy source is one that deals simultaneously with the scientific, technical, environmental and economic issues in an integrated effort. While the CTTP strategic plan includes many of the elements needed, e.g. development of fusion materials along with the fusion power sources, the current effort in the United States could be more integrated and focused on the final product of practical fusion energy. For example, the plans should not be too focused on a particular component of the challenge. The two inertial fusion energy programs funded through NNSA, one based on lasers and direct drive targets and the other on Z-pinches, are, in fact, following an integrated path in which the needed science and technologies are developed simultaneously and in concert.

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5-1

 

6

7

 

2800 EJ in 2100 seems beyond the range of scenarios 1,2, and 3 and at the extreme end of the SRES scenarios.

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p 5-6 Under hydrogen admit the possibility that biomass fuels could avoid or significantly reduce the need for hydrogen for transportation and the large infrastructure changes to accommodate hydrogen use.

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Section 5.2

Section 5.2: Hydrogen

In technologies to move forward the concept of hydrogen as a future sustainable fuel, the current and/or future technology portfolios should include carbon capture from conventional SMRs as CO2-free hydrogen production today as a bridging gap until new and innovative production methods are developed and demonstrated.

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Inconsistencies.

Cost and durability are the major barriers to Fuel Cell commercialization. The vehicle technologies research programs have a number of specific goals (see: Chapter 4: Reducing Emissions from Energy End Use and Infrastructure - Page 5, Line 5 to 16). For transportation applications, which have the most stringent cost and durability requirements, fuel cell costs need to be decreased by a factor of 5,1 and durability needs to be increased by a factor of 3 to be competitive with current vehicle technologies (see: Technology Options for the Near and Long Term Report: Section 2.2.5 Page 14).

Actually the vehicle technologies research programs fixed these goals for the year 2015 (see: Chapter 5: Reducing Emissions from Energy Supply, Page 9, Line 10 to 14) and also the 2005 U.S. Energy Bill decrees that: “the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing ...(4) progress, including progress in infrastructure, made toward achieving the goal of producing and deploying not less than — (A) 100,000 hydrogen-fueled vehicles in the United States by 2010; and (B) 2,500,000 hydrogen-fueled vehicles in the United States by 2020”.

From my point of view if all actual RD&D, technical and cost barriers are overcame by 2015 and the U.S. Energy Bill goals are achieve by 2020, the H2 Fuel Cell Vehicles will be a “Near Term ” technology and not a “Mid or Long Term ” technology (as indicated in Chapter 10: Conclusions and Next Steps in Figure 10-1: Roadmap for Climate Change Technology Development and Deployment for the 21st Century, Page 3; and Chapter 4: Reducing Emissions from Energy End Use and Infrastructure Page 3, Line 7 and Page 4, Line 21).

U.S. Energy Bill, 2005, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h6enr.txt.pdf Sec. 811, Page 259.

Near Term: “near-term” envisions significant technology adoption by 10 to 20 years from present, “midterm” in a following period of 20-40 years, and “long-term” in a following period of 40-60 years. See: Chapter 10: Conclusions and Next Steps - 10.1 Portfolio Priorities and Current Emphasis Figure 10-1: Roadmap for Climate Change Technology Development and Deployment for the 21st Century, Page 3.

Idem

Idem

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Hydrogen safety goals are not explicit.

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The Section on Renewable Energy and Fuels does not mention way out technologies like solar satellites or high altitude tethered wind turbine kites. These should be carefully evaluated. In fact, the solar satellite idea has been investigated by NASA, and its viability requires significant breakthroughs. See the NRC report "Laying the Foundations for Space Solar Power."

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Section 5.2

Considering the strategic relevance of this Plan, especially in the medium and long term, I underline the importance that great attention is paid to the analysis of innovative solutions regarding the possible use of new products.

In particular, I think to the possible use of Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV) as a new power-generation source, supplying electricity to homes and to the grid like a new different type of Distributed Generation , especially at peak times (Vehicle-to-Grid - V2G). This innovative use of FCV could be able to reduce the costs related to the introduction of the new products , and will represent a huge amount of new installed peak power generation capacity . As above mentioned, based on U.S. Energy Bill data, on 2,5 million FCV (little more than 1% of the U.S. vehicle stock), in 2020, will be installed (based on 80 Kw stack) 200 GW of V2G power generation capacity (i.e. 21% of the U.S. total power generation installed capacity in 2003 ).

Based on these considerations, and assuming the CCTP Portfolio Planning and Investment Criteria (as indicated in Chapter 2, Page 12, Line 30 - the CCTP focuses on technologies with potential for large-scale application- and in Chapter 2, Page 13, Box 2-1: CCTP Portfolio Planning and Investment Criteria, -Criterion #3- Focusing on Technology with Large Scale Potential), I suggest to add a new paragraph (on Page 13, Line 18): "Develop Fundamental Understanding of the Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) impact on global energy sector and climate change".

I think it’s time to take into consideration the new scenarios regarding the future FCVs’ total installed peak power generation capacity and include them in the analysis of the global energy sector and of the climate change for two reasons. First, because the hydrogen carrier has the potential to play a major role in the United States’ future energy system. Second, for the huge dimension of the FCV total future installed peak power generation capacity.

Also, as Ms Loyola de Palacio at the IPHE Ministerial meeting (2003) note that: "The introduction of hydrogen in the energy market cuts across many policy areas. Energy, industrial, environmental, research, transport, and even taxation or education policies are in the hydrogen loop. The need to align all these policies to enhance each other is a must. The leaders (CCCSTI) should bear this in mind and favour holistic approaches that will take into account all the dimension of developing an hydrogen economy. "

Finally, I think that a lot of work regarding V2G, including research and analysis, must be concerned, coordinated and finally completed under the auspices of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program.

See: “Vehicle-to-Grid Power: Battery, Hybrid, and Fuel Cell Vehicles as Resources for Distributed Electric Power in California” 2001. California Air Resources Board, California Environmental Protection Agency http://www.udel.edu/V2G/V2G-Cal-2001.pdf .

See: “Vehicle-to-grid power fundamentals: Calculating capacity and net revenue” http://www.udel.edu/V2G/KempTom-V2G-Fundamentals05.PDF .

See: “Hydrogen: a new possible bridge between mobility and distributed generation (CHP)” 19th World Energy Congress, Sydney, 2004 http://www.worldenergy.org/wec-geis/congress/papers/romeriv0904.pdf ; for U.S. Data only, see also: “Vehicles as a New Power-Generation Source. Hydrogen a Possible Bridge Between Mobility & Distributed Generation (CHP)”, World Renewable Energy Congress VIII (WREC 2004), Denver CO.

EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2005.

See: “Hydrogen, a universal energy carrier – a crossroad for global Energy policies” - IPHE Ministerial Meeting, Washington DC, 2003 .

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Figure 5-11

Fig. 5-11 shows biomass as feedstock potential as ~30 EJ from the U.S. It would be helpful to have the same estimates for the world. Are they available?

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Develop methods to use biomass residues efficiently in the rural developing world.

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Chapter 5, pg 5-19 outlines a very optimistic growth strategy for a variety of renewable energy technologies. The section discusses only what positive elements would be derived from expanded use of these technologies and that expansion is driven solely by "reduced costs."

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What is the impact of wind turbines on avian populations? How bad are the noise and aesthetics impacts? These should be at least mentioned as R&D needs.

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