LOGAN – Local environmental advocates may disagree, but Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) appears to support the position of city officials in recent debates over Logan future energy needs.
“I think it’s a false narrative to believe that we have to give up energy affordability and reliability in favor of sustainability,” Curtis observed in a recent interview with Cache Valley Daily.
“The demand for energy is growing so rapidly that the reality is that we are going to need every source of energy producing at full capacity,” he emphasized, including fossil fuels and clean, renewable energy like solar, wind, hydro-electric and geothermal sources. “The real winners in the energy market of the future are going to those sources that are affordable, reliable and clean.”
Logan Light & Power now provides energy to city residents and businesses through a combination of both local generation and open market purchases. Fossil fuels account for about 64 percent of that capacity, while renewable sources add 22 percent and market purchases cover 14 percent of city needs.
Facing the loss of two coal-fired power plants that deliver 18 mega-watts of base load power over the next seven years, Logan officials have responded with an “all-of-the-above” approach to future power needs.
Recent additions to that approach include a 25-year, $206 million contract with a power plant in Millard County that would satisfy the city’s projected peak power requirements; the purchase of 15 mega-watts of base load power from the Power County Power Project in Idaho; and, a pending feasibility study of creating a 15 mega-watt solar array within city limits.
Since January, local environmentalists have been vocal in their opposition to those plans, equating additional city investments in fossil fuels to climate change denial.
But Curtis disputes that simplistic view.
“My research has pointed out that we don’t have to demonize the fossil fuel industry,” he said, “given what we’re seeing in terms of carbon sequestration and carbon capture.”
Carbon sequestration is the process of removing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. That’s achieved by capturing CO2 from industrial sources, power plants or directly from the atmosphere and then storing it in safe and permanent locations.
Carbon capture is a process that collects and prevents the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from sources like power plants and industrial facilities. This captured CO2 can then be used for various purposes or stored underground to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.
“I believe that by 2050,” the senator argues, “we’ll be burning fossil fuels with zero emissions, because of those innovations.”
Even without advances in those aforementioned technologies, the city’s transition from relying on coal-fired power plants to natural gas plants will provide environmental benefits, according to Logan council member and mayoral candidate Mark Anderson.
Natural gas emits significantly less CO2 when burned compared to coal, Anderson explains.
Natural gas combustion also produces fewer pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter than coal, improving air quality and potentially reducing health impacts related to these pollutants.
Finally, natural gas plants are efficient and flexible. Power from those sources can be dispatched quickly to complement intermittent renewable energy sources like solar and wind, ensuring grid reliability.
Curtis also touts other recent advances in fossil fuel production.
“To give you a quick example of that,” he adds, “the oil that is now being produced here in Utah is 40 percent cleaner than the oil produced in Russia.
“As a result, we’ve reduced emissions here in the United States in the last decade by more than the next ten greenhouse gas-producing countries combined.”