Mercury

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced sweeping changes to regulations on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollutants from coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, weakening rules established under the Biden administration that sought to combat climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted nearly 70 coal-fired U.S. power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene. It’s another move by the Trump administration to boost the U.S. coal industry, measures that include encouraging electric utilities to continue operating coal-fired power plants that might otherwise be closed.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that rules requiring power plants burning fossil fuels to reduce emissions of toxic substances can stand, dealing a blow to several Republican-led states and some power generators that had challenged the regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May of this year finalized rules on emissions of mercury, after […]

In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 25 simultaneously finalized four major environmental rules covering greenhouse gases (GHG), air toxics, wastewater discharges, and coal combustion residuals from fossil fuel-fired power plants. Among the rules is the EPA’s final Carbon Pollution Standards, which marks the agency’s third attempt to broadly curb […]

Third Plant Location with Major Utility Gained as a Supply Customer After Issuing License to Operate CORSICANA, TX, Feb. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (OTCQB: MEEC) (“ME2C Environmental” or the “Company”), a leading environmental technologies firm, today announced that the Company has received new supply business with a licensee of the […]

Customer Supply Contract Renewal Covers Two of the Utility’s Power Plants Located in the Southern Region CORSICANA, TX, Jan. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (OTCQB: MEEC) (“ME2C Environmental” or the “Company”), a leading environmental technologies firm, announced the signing of a two-year contract renewal with an estimated annual value in excess […]

ME2C to Receive Lump Sum Licensing Payment with Potential for Ongoing Product Supply CORSICANA, TX, Nov. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (OTCQB: MEEC) (“ME2C Environmental” or the “Company”), a leading environmental technologies firm, announced the signing of a five-year license agreement with a utility in the Midwest to provide a non-exclusive […]

Legal challenges to the Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule began in earnest April 17, as more than two dozen states and cities, along with several environmental activist groups, filed briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., seeking a rollback of power plant regulations that also have been decried by coal […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 16 withdrew the legal justification for an Obama-era rule that required coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions of mercury. The Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) remains in place, but Thursday’s action by the Trump administration could prevent similar regulations from being implemented in the future. EPA […]

A new system to remove dissolved (ionic) mercury, along with other contaminants, from power plant wastewater is being developed. It is free of the drawbacks of using a traditional stannous chloride reagent

Because compliance costs to coal- and oil-fired power plants for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) far exceed quantifiable benefits to regulating hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions, the Trump administration has proposed it is not “appropriate and necessary” to regulate HAP emissions from power plants under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), […]

Aqua Metrology Systems (AMS), has recently completed the successful demonstration of a proof of concept for the removal of dissolved mercury (Hg2+) in power plant wastewater. The SafeGuard™ H2O system developed by AMS offers a low-cost, reliable remediation system proven to address a range of trace metal contaminants, including ionic mercury. With more than 300 coal […]

Industry aggressively fought the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) when the Obama administration proposed it in 2011 and finalized it in February 2012, warning it would precipitate the closure of a swathe of coal capacity nationwide. Six years later, the rule appears to have had a sizable impact on the power sector, but not […]

In a bid to tamp down pollution, India’s government in December 2015 notified the country’s coal generators they would need to meet—for the first time—new emissions limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and mercury, as well as tightened limits for particulate matter (PM) and water consumption. The gazetted notification gave new plants until […]

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (OTCQB: MEEC) (ME2C), a leader in mercury emissions control in North America, has acquired all patent rights for its Sorbent Enhancement Additive (SEATM) mercury emissions control technology from the Energy & Environmental Research Center Foundation (EERCF), an organization that works to provide innovative solutions to the world’s energy and environmental challenges. […]

In two separate actions over the past 24 hours, the D.C. Circuit granted the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) request to suspend cases challenging the Clean Power Plan and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).   The orders are the latest in a series of similar actions over the past month by the D.C. Circuit that […]

Rallied by the Supreme Court’s unprecedented stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, a coalition of 20 states has asked the high court to stay another disputed agency rule: the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North […]

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) will remain in effect as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works on a final cost finding, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered on Dec. 15. The court noted in a two-page order that the EPA “has represented that it is on track to issue […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 20 issued a supplemental finding that consideration of costs does not affect its previous conclusion that regulation of coal- and oil-fired power plants is “appropriate and necessary” under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. The finding was in response to a June decision by the U.S. Supreme […]

India and 73 other countries submitted their carbon emission reduction targets for 2025 and 2030—or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)—ahead of the deadline last week, with just two months remaining until talks to confront climate change are due to begin in Paris.  The United Nations (UN) has so far received 120 separate pledges covering 147 […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and legally required cost-benefit analyses by April 15, 2016, court documents show. In an Aug. 10 motion filed with the D.C. Circuit for White Stallion Energy Center v. EPA (12-1100), the EPA said it intends to seek remand without vacatur (which […]

In a report released this week, M.J. Bradley & Associates found that in 2013 power plant SO2 emissions were 80% lower and NOx emissions were down 74% compared to releases in 1990—the year Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act. The report, Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in […]

In a 5–4 decision announced on June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) rules limiting mercury and other hazardous air pollutants released from power plants. In April 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), ruling in a 2–1 decision […]

The U.S. power sector has seen a number of developments on the regulatory front in recent months. Here’s where major federal rules stand today. (For a more dynamic and graphic version of this article, see http://powermag.com/long-form-stories/bw-power/ .) GHG Rules New Power Plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 2013 revised a 2012 proposal to […]

The upcoming implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) is putting pressure on coal-fired power plants to develop and implement compliance

Strategies for compliance with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards led the list of topics covered during the Power Plant Pollutant Control “MEGA” Symposium held Aug. 19–21, in Baltimore, Md., but carbon dioxide (CO2) control solutions and sessions dealing with water problems weren’t far behind. The conference—hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Electric […]

According to a report released on May 28, NOX and SO2 emissions in 2012 were 74% and 79% lower, respectively, than they were in 1990 when Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act. Although power plant CO2 emissions have actually increased 13% from 1990 levels, the trend has been down in recent years, […]

The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) have given coal-fired power plant owners a short time to bring their plants into compliance with rules that require significantly less mercury (Hg) in stack