The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
Resource Library
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Government policies to improve energy efficiency and reduce air pollution from motor vehicles have reaped outstanding benefits:
They have decreased oil consumption, lowered greenhouse gas emis- sions, and increased investment in innovative technologies—all at a net savings to society.
Road transportation contributes a sixth of the world’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. As car ownership in China, India, and develop- ing countries continues to explode, vehicle emissions and oil consumption will skyrocket unless nations adopt effective policies to rein them in.…
View Full ResourceThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviewed the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for volatile organic compound and sulfur dioxide emissions from Natural Gas Processing Plants. As a result of these NSPS, this rule amends the Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production source category currently listed under section 111 of the Clean Air Act to include Natural Gas Transmission and Distribution, amends the existing NSPS for volatile organic compounds (VOC) from Natural Gas Processing Plants, and finalizes the NSPS for stationary sources in the source categories that are not covered by the existing NSPS. In addition, this rule addresses the …
View Full ResourceOn May 3, 2011, under authority of Clean Air Act (CAA) sections 111 and 112, the EPA proposed both national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) from coal- and oil-fired electric utility steam generating units (EGUs) and standards of performance for fossil-fuel- fired electric utility, industrial- commercial-institutional, and small industrial-commercial-institutional steam generating units (76 FR 24976). After consideration of public comments, the EPA is finalizing these rules in this action.
Pursuant to CAA section 111, the EPA is revising standards of performance in response to a voluntary remand of a final rule. Specifically, we are amending new source performance …
View Full ResourceA significant amount of water is produced daily as a byproduct from drilling of oil and gas. A 2009 Argonne National Laboratory study estimated that 56 million barrels of water are produced onshore every day, but this study may underestimate the current total volume because it is based on limited, and in some cases, incomplete data generated by the states. In general, the volume of produced water generated by a given well varies widely according to three key factors: the hydrocarbon being produced, the geographic location of the well, and the method of production used. For example, some gas wells …
View Full ResourceThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must soon update national health standards for fine particulate matter air pol- lution (PM2.5), commonly referred to as soot—a ma- jor cause of premature death and a widespread threat to those who suffer from lung and heart disease. The national health standards are critical tools that drive the cleanup of soot pollution across the country.…
View Full ResourceThis paper describes an illustrative framework for a federal clean energy standard (CES) for the electricity sector. A CES is a type of electricity portfolio standard. Electricity portfolio standards are flexible, market-based policies that typically set requirements for the percentage of electricity that must be supplied from qualified energy resources—requiring, for example, that by 2025, 25 percent of electricity sales must be met with electricity generated from renewable sources (e.g., wind, solar, geothermal). Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have already enacted some type of electricity portfolio standard, and members of Congress have several times proposed federal electricity portfolio …
View Full ResourceSeveral market-based trading programs currently operate in New York State (NYS) to address various environmental problems. Because these programs rely on market mechanisms to achieve efficient and economical emissions reductions, they are often referred to as market-based programs. With each of these programs operating in overlapping jurisdictions and with different certification protocols and definitions of the commodity/attribute being traded, however, markets can become balkanized and fail to function properly. Lack of precision and homogeneity in the underlying commodity leads to less efficient markets and works to society’s disadvantage by diminishing our ability to attain environmental and energy goals. To address …
View Full ResourceFrom the manufacturing centers and corn and soybean fields to the major finance hubs and leading research universities, Midwest states have long served as an economic engine for the United States.
Yet the region is still struggling to fully recover from a recession that has made it difficult for families to pay bills and for businesses to prosper and sustain job growth.
The region’s unsustainable energy system exacerbates these economic pressures.
View Full ResourceThe EPA will issue rules regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing steam boilers and refineries in 2012. A crucial issue affecting the scope and cost of emissions reductions will be the potential introduction of flexibility in compliance, including averaging across groups of facilities. This research investigates the role of compliance flexibility for the most important of these source categories— existing coal-fired power plants—that currently account for one-third of national emissions of carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas. We find a flexible standard, calibrated to achieve the same emissions reductions as an inflexible approach, reduces the increase in electricity …
View Full ResourceOn December 23, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entered into two settlement agreements requiring the Agency to incorporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the new source performance standards (NSPS) for natural gas, oil, and coal-fired electricity-generating units and petroleum refineries. The settlement agreements also require the EPA to provide the states with guidelines to develop emissions standards for existing sources within their borders. The EPA has considerable discretion in establishing the standards and guidelines, and it is not yet clear what these regulations will require.…
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