Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) will not be a focus of improvements discussed in this report, as there are no CCS technologies considered as commercially available for full-scale application to the broad majority of existing coal-fired power plants,5 and EPA has stated that it does not expect to require CCS at existing plants.
This report focuses on efficiency improvements to power plants, and discusses retrofits, technologies, and other modifications to facility operations which offer the potential to improve power plant efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. Some in Congress have expressed concerns about the potential impacts on electricity reliability and fuel diversity from retirements of coal plants due to pending and new environmental regulations. Increasing efficiency of coal plants may help to address these concerns by reducing emissions without reducing output. Additionally, Congress may want to consider whether such efficiency improvements could be accelerated if
these were implemented in a program focused on increasing the efficiency of the coal-fired power plant sector.