Thursday, July 22, 2010
Producing large amounts of electricity and carbon dioxide don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand, not if a company has diversified its means of power generation to include alternative sources of energy.
Take for instance NextEra Energy, the nation’s fourth largest electric power company. Despite the volume of energy it puts out, it ranks 86th among the 100 top power companies for its CO2 emissions rate, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
On the other hand, Kentucky-based Big Rivers Electric, ranked 79th in terms of power production, has the worst CO2 emissions rate, says the NRDC. Right behind it is NiSource, the 54th largest power producer. Headquartered in Indiana, NiSource specializes in natural gas distribution, but is also involved in electric transmission.
The NRDC report notes that emissions of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen have decreased since 1990, “due in large part to programs implemented under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.” But emissions of CO2—which currently are not regulated by the federal government—have gone up 30% since 1990.
“Congress is currently considering legislation that would regulate CO2 emissions from power plants and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and in December 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed the greenhouse gas endangerment finding that prepares EPA to establish federal emissions standards for greenhouse gases under existing Clean Air Act authority,” reads the report.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Benchmarking Air Emissions(Natural Resources Defense Council) (pdf)
New Report Profiles the Emissions Performance of the Top 100 Power Companies in the U.S. (Natural Resources Defense Council)
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