MIT: Simply dispatching natural gas plants before coal would cut U.S. power-sector CO2 emissions 10% - Gas can be a bridge to low-carbon future if we put a price on CO2

The overbuilding of natural gas combined cycle plants starting in the mid-1990s presents a significant opportunity for near term reductions in CO2 emissions from the power sector. The current fleet of natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) units has an average capacity factor of 41 percent, relative to a design capacity factor of up to 85 percent. However, with no carbon constraints, coal generation is generally dispatched to meet demand before NGCC generation because of its lower fuel...