Pathways to the full portfolio

Discussions at EPRI's Summer Seminar made one point clear: if the US electricity sector is to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions substantially, then research, development, and demonstration of major technologies must start now. If the Full Portfolio of technology options becomes the industry's ultimate destination, then the question to be answered is, how does the industry arrive there? EPRI has identified four technology pathways to answer that question and serve as the framework for a robust RD & D agenda. The first two pathways constitute the creation of a smart grid that will enable contributions to CO{sub 2} reductions from renewables, energy efficiency, distributed energy resources, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The latter two pathways are designed to ensure the viability of coal and the accelerated expansion of nuclear power - the two workhorses of electricity supply which account for more than 70% of current US electricity generation. The meting concluded that, in coal, there is a need to pursue multiple demonstrations of key technologies - advanced PC and IGCC systems, pre-and post-combustion capture and CO{sub 2} storage - in parallel, but we are already late. The possibility of failure to adequately demonstrate CO{sub 2} capture and storage could provemore » to be a showstopper for coal. Each technology pathway involves an ambitious sequence of RD & D steps that achieve critical targets in the 2015-2030 period.« less