Modeling the CO2 Footprint of the U.S. Coal Mining Industry and the Potential Economic Costs of CO2 Legislation
Open Access
Author:
Aziz, AbdulMajeed
Graduate Program:
Petroleum and Mineral Engineering
Degree:
Master of Science
Document Type:
Master Thesis
Date of Defense:
December 23, 2009
Committee Members:
Dr Vladislav Kecojevic, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor Dr Vladislav Kecojevic, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Keywords:
cost legislation coal mining CO2 footprint
Abstract:
The U.S. government is expected to develop a federal mandate which will aim to
curb CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. This legislation will most likely be structured
through a cap-and-trade system, such as that proposed by the Lieberman-Warner Climate
Security Act of 2008 (LW110). Company shareholders no longer consider CO2 impact a
novelty, and are charting a strategic course towards better understanding this driver’s
impact on their bottom line. In an effort to address the potential impact of CO2 legislation
on the U.S. coal mining industry, this study will model the carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions or footprint of the coal industry, and determine its economic costs due to CO2
legislation using LW110 as a proxy. The CO2 footprint is calculated by using a limited
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, and the cost implications to the coal mining
industry are evaluated using a well-known CO2 legislation framework as the basis to the
modeling: U.S. Energy Information Agency’s (EIA) National Energy Modeling
System (NEMS).