Shuttering fossil fuel power plants may cost less than expected

Shuttering fossil fuel power plants may cost less than expected

4 years ago
Anonymous $y15ULlV7sG

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201203144224.htm

Meeting a 2035 deadline for decarbonizing U.S. electricity production, as proposed by the incoming U.S. presidential administration, would eliminate just 15% of the capacity-years left in plants powered by fossil fuels, says the article by Emily Grubert, a Georgia Institute of Technology researcher. Plant retirements are already underway, with 126 gigawatts of fossil generator capacity taken out of production between 2009 and 2018, including 33 gigawatts in 2017 and 2018 alone.

"Creating an electricity system that does not contribute to climate change is actually two processes -- building carbon-free infrastructure like solar plants, and closing carbon-based infrastructure like coal plants," said Grubert, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "My work shows that because a lot of U.S. fossil fuel plants are already pretty old, the target of decarbonization by 2035 would not require us to shut most of these plants down earlier than their typical lifespans."