While carbon capture and sequestration technology remains controversial, studies to delve deeper into it are ongoing in hopes of presenting one way to alleviate emission levels. A team from MIT has been studying a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technique called pressurized oxy-fuel combustion. This process converts the carbon dioxide emissions of a power plant into a pressurized liquid stream meant to be pumped underground. Team leader Ahmed Ghoniem of MIT claims that his team is the only one conducting an academic study of “pressurized combustion system for carbon dioxide capture.”
Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest electricity provider, has secured $70.5 million in stimulus funds to expand an innovative project that turns carbon dioxide emissions from a coal power plant into biofuel using algae. While part of the funds will be used to scale up the algae processing portion, some of the funds will also be used to investigate the potential benefits of turning the coal into a gas prior to burning it for power.
The concept of creating two products — electricity and fuel — from the same process is known as cogeneration. In this case, the cogeneration also helps to reduce environmental pollution. It’s an idea that has been gathering support as a way to make coal less polluting while finding an additional revenue source to pay for the pollution control itself. In fact, a while back I reported on a similar pilot project in Oregon.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has the potential to cut global Co2 emissions dramatically. We’re talking huge cuts. It has been estimated that a plant implementing CCS can cut emissions by 80-90 percent compared with a plant that doesn’t use CCS. Sounds great, right? Well, there are some some problems.
Cost is the number one challenge that CCS faces. “Applying it would significantly increase the cost of electricity beyond what society is likely willing to pay,” said Sarah Forbes, a World Resources Institute Senior Associate. Another challenge is that no fully integrated demonstrations have taken place. The pieces have been tested individually, but the entire puzzle is yet to be seen.
Forbes describes CCS and its current challenges in more detail:
With mounting pressure from US and promise of assistance by EU, China has indicated that it is ready to cooperate on an international deal to reduce carbon emissions.
At a power plant at Lacq, energy company Total has upgraded an existing gas-fired boiler with CCS technology – a crucial step towards reducing carbon emissions from fossil-fuel power plants worldwide.
With renewable energy sources a long way from covering the world’s increasing demand for energy, many experts believe that developing reliable technology to allow countries to burn fossil fuels without releasing dangerous amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere is essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
On Friday, Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice jumped the gun when he said the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide is already proven and being applied on a commercial basis.
Have you been looking for a quick cheat sheet to understand the mechanics behind carbon capture and storage (CCS), which is one of the technologies envisioned by President Obama to allow the United States to use coal as a clean energy source? Well, global consulting company McKinsey recently published a guide to the technologies behind CCS in this nifty interactive graphic display (note that you need to sign up for a free account with the McKinsey Quarterly to view it).
Clean coal doesn’t exist. We know it, but for many Americans the jury is still out. Environmentalists and the coal industry are battling for public opinion.
Many scientists cite 350 parts per million of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as the magic number where we escape the effects of global warming. We’re currently at over 380 parts per million and that number is going up all the time. So how can we get back below the tipping point? One Columbia University scientist thinks he has a solution: gigantic fake trees that absorb CO2 right out of the air!
Klaus Lackner, Director of the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, got his idea for the design from his daughter’s eighth grade science project. Six years later, he’s working on a full-sized model that has the potential to remove tons of CO2 from the air. So how does this work?
Pretty soon, Liverpool John Lennon Airport will have more than just a cool namesake— it will also have experimental carbon capture technology. The airport has teamed with UK-based start-up Origo Industries to launch a program that will capture CO2 emissions from the terminal building.
