Under the proposed rule, the EPA estimates that about 3,000 GHG emitters will be newly subject to Clean Air Act permit requirements, and most of those will be municipal landfills. Landfills account for about 23% of human-caused methane emissions in the US; the new regulations will likely encourage the capture of landfill methane emissions and their use as a renewable energy source.
The proposed rule, announced by the EPA on September 30, will be open for public comment for 60 days once it has been published in the Federal Register. As of October 6, it had not yet been published. See the EPA press release, a fact sheet on the proposed rule, and the full proposal (PDF 533 KB).
EIA Forecasts Lower Heating Bills this Winter
The average U.S. household will spend $960 for space heating during this winter's heating season, marking an 8% decrease from last year, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA's "Short-Term Energy Outlook," released on October 6, attributes most of the savings to lower fuel prices, particularly for natural gas, which is experiencing a price slump due to a growing supply that currently exceeds demand.
The EIA expects natural gas inventories to reach a record high of 3.8 trillion cubic feet by the end of October. Propane is produced during natural gas processing, so propane inventories are also higher than normal. As a result, households heated with these fuels will achieve the greatest savings this winter, with natural gas users seeing a 12% decline in winter heating bills and propane users seeing a 14% decline. Those using heating oil or electricity are projected to experience more modest declines of about 2% from last year. The EIA defines the winter heating season as running from October 1 to March 31 of the following year. See the EIA press release and the "Short-Term Energy Outlook."
The EIA also increased its projected drop in energy-related CO2 emissions for 2009. Back in August, when the EIA started projecting annual energy-related CO2 emissions, it forecast a 5% drop in 2009, while the current "Short-Term Energy Outlook" forecasts a 5.9% drop for the year. A number of factors contributed to the projected decline, including increased use of renewable energy, substitution of natural gas for coal in electric plants, a decrease in industrial demand for coal, less natural gas use in industry and buildings, and a drop in demand for jet fuel, diesel fuel, and heating oil.
Coal experienced the biggest drop in demand, at 10.1%, accounting for 63% of the drop in energy-related CO2 emissions. U.S. GHG emissions are dominated by energy-related emissions, so the decline in the latter would generally suggest an overall lowering of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. See the EIA press release and the EIA supplemental report, "Understanding the Decline in CO2 Emissions in 2009."
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EREE Network News is a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
