Exelon Carbon Sequestration and Offsets

TreeVitalize

PECO and Exelon have committed $150,000 to TreeVitalize, an aggressive four-year, $8 million partnership to plant more than 20,000 shade trees and restore 1,000 acres of forested riparian buffers in southeastern Pennsylvania. Tree cover (percent of land covered by trees and shrubs) has been decreasing in the five-county Greater Philadelphia region due mainly to the combined impacts of suburban sprawl and urban decay. In response to a 2004 study highlighting the loss of tree cover, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources launched TreeVitalize.

Planting alone is not sufficient to address the loss of tree cover. Both existing and new trees need better care. TreeVitalize will work with municipalities to identify tools to promote improved tree care. TreeVitalize will also collaborate with community groups to nurture volunteers by providing training for 2,000 citizens in proper tree care techniques.

These trees will sequester carbon from the atmosphere while increasing soil stabilization and restoring wildlife habitats.

For more info, visit the TreeVitalize website at http://www.treevitalize.net/ [1].

Working in partnership to restore prairie grass

Exelon has restored more than 120 acres of natural prairie habitat on buffer lands and rights of way in Illinois since the initiative’s beginning in 1994.  This effort helps to sequester CO2, prevent runoff and improve water quality, while restoring wildlife habitat.  During this time, Exelon has partnered with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County to manage transmission rights of way in conjunction with a larger restoration project. An ecosystem lease was signed for the county to manage the company's property in 2004, which was a first for Exelon.

Capturing CO2 emissions through tree plantings

Throughout 2005, Exelon maintained its participation in PowerTree Carbon Company, LLC, an initiative formed in 2003 by 25 U.S. power generators as part of a voluntary industry response to climate change. Member companies committed more than $3 million for reforestation in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, which once contained nearly 22 million acres of bottomland hardwoods. Decades of flood control measures and conversion of forestlands to marginal farmland have reduced that acreage to approximately 4 million.

As of December 31, 2005, PowerTree Carbon Company [2] had planted in excess of 3,800 acres of seedlings, using native tree species. The projects will remove from the atmosphere and store more than 2 million tons of CO2 over their projected 100-year lifetimes. Exelon will be entitled to claim approximately 3 percent of the sequestered CO2.  Benefits from PowerTree Carbon Company, LLC projects beyond carbon sequestration include restoration of habitat for birds and other wildlife, reduction of fertilizer inputs to water bodies and increased soil stabilization. This initiative will also help to advance the science behind carbon sequestration as a GHG mitigation option.

For more info, visit the PowerTree website at http://www.powertreecarboncompany.com/ [3].

Managing trees along rights of way

Exelon maintains almost 56,000 miles of overhead electric lines in its distribution system and more than 6,000 miles of transmission rights of way. The company's vegetation management program uses safe, reliable and cost-effective methods, including tree trimming, removal and herbicide application. These methods follow the standards set by the American National Standards Institute, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the International Society of Arboriculture.

PECO maintains its 12,150 miles of distribution lines on a five-year cycle, ComEd its 43,700 miles on a four-year cycle. Exelon's transmission rights of way on state, local and federal lands – through prairies, wetlands, woods, agricultural land, suburban and urban areas and along highways and railroad corridors – are maintained on a five-year cycle, with annual comprehensive surveys of conditions.

Through the Municipal Tree Restoration Program, PECO encourages customers to plant the right tree in the right place to help minimize contact with wires. Both PECO and ComEd support municipalities by funding the removal and replacement of diseased, weakened or tall-growing trees under our overhead conductors. ComEd and PECO support National Arbor Day by working with school groups, municipalities and civic organizations to supply trees and planting training. ComEd is a seven-time recipient of the National Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Line USA Award. In 2005, PECO received its first Tree Line USA award.

For more info on tree plantings near power lines visit PECO's Compatible Trees for Planting Under or Near Power Lines [4].

Carbon Sequestration Technology Development

Further reductions in GHG emissions intensity in the medium- to long-term will depend upon the development and availability of cost-effective technologies that allow for a stable, reliable, and affordable supply of electricity. Working with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Exelon is one of the funders of a CO2 Capture and Storage pilot.  An integrated test center that captures actual power plant flue gas CO2 and stores it safely deep underground is a crucial step to commercializing technologies that curb CO2 emissions.  This project focuses on the first step leading to a test center.  Initially, EPRI proposes to build and operate a CO2 capture pilot plant, treating approximately a 5-megawatt (MW) equivalent of flue gas and focusing on a variation of solvent scrubbing using chilled ammonia.  This process appears to show great promise for significantly lower energy penalties, and therefore costs, than solvent processes being investigated by others.  The pilot will be a co-funded effort with ALSTOM, an international manufacturer of rail transport and power generation equipment, which will fund approximately half of the costs. 

To view carbon sequestration and offsets programs of all BELC members, visit What's Being Done in the Business Community [5] section of this site.