Environmental regulations other

In the United States and increasingly in other parts of the world, environmental regulations prohibit the combustion of all but very low sulfur-content coals without sulfur oxide emission controls. The cost of installing sulfur oxide control equipment together with concern about equipment rehabihty have led to the shipment of the lower rank low sulfur coals from up to 1600 km away from the mining site. 

There is also, however, an increasing resistance by local communities to siting new plants in many of these European areas. Moreover, the environmental regulations have become increasingly stringent in Germany, the Netherlands, and Erance. It is estimated that the environment and other safety-related costs in Germany have risen to the point where 30% of the total capital investment needed is for environmental and safety measures. 

Nuclear Reactors. Nuclear power faciUties account for about 20% of the power generated in the United States. Although no new plants are plaimed in the United States, many other countries, particularly those that would otherwise rely heavily on imported fuel, continue to increase their nuclear plant generation capacity. Many industry observers predict that nuclear power may become more attractive in future years as the price of fossil fuels continues to rise and environmental regulations become more stringent. In addition, advanced passive-safety reactor designs may help allay concerns over potential safety issues. 

Other factors which have a significant influence on process selection iaclude absolute quantity of sulfur present, concentration of various sulfur species, the quantity and concentration of other components ia the stream to be treated, quantity and conditions (temperature and pressure) of the stream to be treated, and, the location-specific environmental regulations governing overall sulfur recovery and allowable sulfur dioxide emissions (3). 

Furthermore, although the U.S. EPA argues that the cost of compliance for all environmental regulations is small in comparison to overall industry expenditures, there are many hidden costs that oftentimes are not considered, and go beyond the capital investment for a piece of equipment. These so-called other costs are not necessarily incremental, depending upon the size of a company and the magnitude of its environmental management issues. They include, but are not limited to ... 

What does it cost your enterprise to comply with air pollution control regulations What other environmental regulations is your company subject to ... 

Typically, waste streams are either disposed of or forwarded to process sinks (equipment) for lecycle/reuse. In case of hnal discharge, the taiget composition of the undesirable species in each waste stream corresponds to the environmental regulations. On the other hand, if the intercepted waste stream is to be recycled to a process sink, its target composition should satisfy the constraints imposed by the process sink. 

As can be seen from the plots, the minimum TAC is about 55,OOQ/yr. The opdmal permeate composition is about 0.0005 kmol/m which conesponds to a feed pressure of 48 atm. It is interesting to note that the optimum value of Cp is significantly less than the required target composition (0.0012 kmol/m ). In other words, more separation can be obtained for less cost It is also worth mentioning that in some cases, environmental regulations tnay allow the bypass of a fraction of the feed and later mix it with the over-separated permeate to attain the requited target composition. In such cases, lower costs than the ones shown in Figs. 11.5 and 11.6 can be accomplished. 

With strong incentives for businesses and other special interest groups, and weak incentives for individual voters, it is not surprising that many environmental regulations have often been less successful at preventing harm than the more traditional property rights-based approaches. Thus, while privately owned lands and resources are generally healthy and well preserved, many resources that are not owned, such as air or many waterways, are polluted. 

Agency (EPA), which was established in 1970, the same year the first Clean Air Act was passed into law. In 1972 the Clean Water Act became law, and in 1973 the Endangered Species Act became law. Other important federal environmental legislation includes the Resource Consei vation and Recoveiy Act, passed in 1976 the Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 the Nuclear Waste Policy Acts of 1982 and 1987 and the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Acts of 1980 and 1985. From 1980 to 2000 these environmental regulations, and the enforcement efforts of the EPA, have had a much greater impact on decisions made in the energy industiy than all the policy initiatives implemented by the DOE. 

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