Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) jointly shared the 2018 Carnegie Mellon Power Sector Carbon Index during CMU Energy Week at the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation in Pittsburgh.
“The power industry has made significant progress in reducing emissions for over a decade, as new technology, state and federal policies, and market forces have increased power generation from natural gas and renewables, and decreased power generation from coal,” Paul Browning, who serves as MHPS Americas president and CEO, said during the announcement.
The Carbon Index documents “the environmental performance of U.S. power producers” in order to provide perspective on previous emissions trends, contrasting current numbers with more than 20 years of information gathered across the U.S.
The Carnegie Mellon Power Sector Carbon Index was created to function as a new metric to keep tabs on carbon emissions performance trends in the power sector. Its 2018 edition signifies the first anniversary of this assessment tool.
“As this Change in Power continues, the Carnegie Mellon Power Sector Carbon Index will not only report the results but also provide analysis of the underlying reasons for the changes we’re seeing,” Browning said. “Our team at MHPS is proud to support this important work by Carnegie Mellon researchers.”
The 2018 Power Sector Carbon Index also includes enhancements over the previous version including new regional information from within the U.S. that will be reported, allowing for greater insight into the impact of regional trends on fuel types, usage and emissions. In addition, the index will begin to incorporate emissions data from other countries across North and South America.
"The Carnegie Mellon Power Sector Carbon Index provides a snapshot of critical data regarding energy production and environmental performance,” said Costa Samaras, assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “We’ve found this index to provide significant insight into trends in power generation and emissions. In particular, the data have shown that emissions intensity has fallen to the lowest level on record, as a combination of natural gas and renewable power have displaced more carbon-intensive coal-fired power generation.”
Recently, Carlos Koeneke, vice president of Project Engineering for Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas Inc. provided insights into how private equity firms and independent power producers are playing a bigger role in the utility industry.
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