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Data for manuscript "Incorporating upstream emissions into electric sector nitrogen oxide reduction targets"

Published by U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | Metadata Last Checked: August 02, 2025 | Last Modified: 2019-11-10
This dataset provides the values used to develop the figures within the manuscript "Incorporating upstream emissions into electric sector nitrogen oxide reduction targets". Here is the abstract from that manuscript: Electricity production is a major source of air pollutants in the U.S. Policies to reduce these emissions can result in the power industry choosing to apply controls or switch to fuels with lower combustion emissions. However, the life cycle emissions associated with various fuels can differ considerably, potentially impacting the effectiveness of fuel switching. Life cycle emissions, which include emissions from extracting, processing, transporting, and distributing fuels, as well as manufacturing and constructing new generating capacity, have received less consideration in policy-making. Life cycle analysis allows quantification of these emissions such that they can be considered in decision-making. We examine a hypothetical electric sector emission reduction target for nitrogen oxides using the Global Change Assessment Model with U.S. state-level resolution. When only power plant emissions are considered in setting an emission reduction target, fuel switching leads to an increase in upstream emissions that offsets a portion of the targeted reductions. When fuel extraction, processing, and transport emissions are included under the reduction target, the resulting control strategy meets the required reductions and does so at lower cost. However, manufacturing and construction emissions increase, indicating that it may be beneficial to consider these sources as well. In the real world, life cycle-based approaches could be implemented by allowing industry to earn reduction credits by reducing upstream emissions. We discuss some of the limitations of such an approach, including the difficulty in identifying the location of upstream emissions, which may occur across regulatory authorities or even outside of the U.S. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Babaee, S., D. Loughlin, and O. Kaplan. Incorporating upstream emissions into electric sector nitrogen oxide reduction targets. Cleaner Engineering and Technology. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, 1: 100017, (2020).

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