Displaying items by tag: natural gas power plant
TVA’s Bull Run coal plant goes dark in Oak Ridge. More fossils to follow?
TVA retires coal-fired plant; just four more to go
OAK RIDGE — The Tennessee Valley Authority took another step toward its goal to phase out all its coal plants by 2035.
TVA officially announced Bull Run Fossil Plant, at 1265 Edgemoor Road in Anderson County’s Claxton community, closed on Friday, Dec. 1. The TVA board decided to close the plant four years earlier on Feb. 14, 2019. Now the utility says it plans to retire all of its coal plants by 2035. The utility has cited the environment and efficiency as reasons for closing the plants. TVA plans to create solar and natural gas plants to replace the power formerly generated by coal. TVA has not made final plans for the Bull Run site.
“It’s not an easy decision to retire a plant, but it’s one we must make to secure a reliable and cleaner energy future as our generation portfolio and load shapes change,” Jacinda Woodward, senior vice president of power operations, said in a press release.
To critics’ dismay, TVA plans to replace coal with natural gas. The utility also plans to double its solar supply.
Citizens call on TVA to stop passing gas
KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority in coming years plans to add both natural gas and solar plants to its portfolio to meet what it says are rising energy demands.
TVA’s Board of Directors laid out the federal utility’s plan in a meeting at Norris Middle School in May. Environmentalists at a previous hearing criticized the utility’s focus on natural gas rather than renewables or other measures. Other people, largely tied to local power providers, argued that a switch to renewable energy would be unreliable.
TVA showed a map in a press release following the meeting, showing four proposed natural gas plants and two proposed solar plants. Two of those natural gas plants would be in Tennessee while the other two are planned for Alabama and Kentucky. It stated these new plants will total 3,800 megawatts. It also spoke of its System Operations Center, set to open in fall 2024 in Georgetown to manage the utility’s grid. TVA also stated a desire to research nuclear technologies.
“Our region is experiencing growth at six times the national average, which means we must invest in our current power system and build new generation so we can continue meeting our region’s demand,” said TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash.
Several citizens criticized TVA’s focus on natural gas plants and new pipelines at the listening session May 9. Among them was Clinton resident and activist John Todd Waterman.
- tva board
- tva board meeting
- tva climate change
- tva fossil plant
- climate action
- climate change appalachia
- jeff lyash
- system operations center
- natural gas
- natural gas power plant
- natural gas environment
- natural gas bad?
- tva kingston
- tva bull run
- john todd waterman
- tva systems operation center
- dana moran
- sierra club natural gas plant
- mark kimbell
- gallatin department of electricity
- coal plant replacement
- natural gas vs coal
- investment in new fossil fuel infrastructure
- fossil fuel
- fossil fuel industry
- fossil gas power plant
- tennessee valley authority
- climate change
- tva solar energy
- solar energy
- solar energy in tennessee
Enviros cheer new Biden plan to limit fossil pollution
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 11 proposed new carbon pollution standards for coal and gas-fired power plants to protect public health and reduce harmful pollutants.
EPA’s proposed standards are expected to deliver up to $85 billion in climate and public health benefits over the next two decades and avoid up to 617 million metric tons of total carbon dioxide (CO2) through 2042.
EPA estimates that in 2030 alone, the proposed standards will prevent more than 300,000 asthma attacks; 38,000 school absence days; 1,300 premature deaths; 38,000 school absence days; and 66,000 lost work days.
Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy: “Individuals and communities across the country are doing whatever they can to protect against the immense dangers of climate pollution and are depending on the federal government to do the same. Federal limits on climate pollution from power plants are a critically needed and long overdue protection for public health and the environment.
“We will be reviewing the proposal and hope that the proposal hits the mark in giving our communities the safeguards they need from deadly fossil pollution.”
EPA will be taking comments on these proposals for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
— SACE
- sace
- fossil fuel
- biden administration
- biden climate change
- epa climate change
- stephen smith
- carbon dioxide emission
- methane
- natural gas power plant
- carbon pollution
- carbon dioxide
- southern alliance for clean energy
- biden environment
- natural gas environment
- environmental protection agency
- how to fight climate change
Austria to sue the European Union if it labels nuclear and gas power plants as “green infrastructure”
VIENNA — Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s energy and climate minister announced that she would take the case to the European Court of Justice if the union’s executive proceeds with plans to include nuclear and natural gas in the EU taxonomy of sustainable finance.
About gas, Gewessler said that it releases unconscionable amounts of greenhouse gases. “Just because something is less bad than coal doesn’t make it good or sustainable.”
Regarding nuclear energy she said it has unpredictably high risks, referring to Chernobyl and Fukushima. She also mentioned as great concerns, the safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel and lack of a global solution for its final storage.