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Aker Reorganizes CO2 Capture Business; Building Capture Unit at Kårstø with Biomass-Fueling Under Development
24 January 2008
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| Just Catch is a post-combustion amine scrubbing technology. Click to enlarge. |
Aker Kvaerner is transferring its Just Catch amine absorption technology for post-combustion CO2 capture to the company Aker Clean Carbon, which will focus on developing CO2 capture projects. Aqueous amine solutions function as an absorbent that binds CO2 for removal from exhaust gasses.
Aker Kvaerner will own 30% of the shares in Aker Clean Carbon, while Aker ASA will own 70%. Aker Kvaerner will also be responsible for supplying engineering and construction for future CO2 capture facilities.
Aker Clean Carbon, in an agreement with the Norwegian government, will complete its first plant at the 420 MW gas power plant at Kårstø on the West Coast of Norway.
The new NOK 725 million (US$133 million) CO2 capture unit at Kårstø will be completed in 2009. The plant will have a capacity to remove 100,000 metric tons of CO2 annually from exhaust gasses. Operating costs are estimated at NOK 150 million (US$27.5 million) over a three-year period.
In its first years in operation, until a public system for transportation and storage of CO2 is in place, Aker Clean Carbon will release the captured CO2to the atmosphere.
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| Just Catch Bio uses biomass to provide the energy needed for capture. Click to enlarge. |
Aker Kvaerner has also been developing a special version of the Just Catch technology that uses biomass to produce the energy needed for CO2 capture. The scrubbing plant would normally use energy from the power station. By scrubbing both the power station’s flue gases and those from the bio-energy plant, the scrubber will also remove “natural” CO2—CO2 that the timber in the fuel would otherwise have released in the course of its natural breakdown.
This solution, known as Just Catch Bio, is thus potentially capable of removing 116% of the CO2 emissions from a gas-fired power station.
Parallel to the construction of the first carbon capture plant, Aker Clean Carbon will work closely with the SINTEF research center and the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim concerning their efforts to develop new and improved aqueous amine solutions. Aker Clean Carbon is participating actively in the development work, and will also contribute funding to this development project, which has a total budget framework of about NOK 250 million (US$46 million) over an eight-year period.
More effective amine scrubbing solutions can be a factor that helps cut investment and operating costs for CO2 capture facilities installed at industrial sites and electric power generation plants even further.
In recent years, Aker Kvaerner and Aker have worked intensively on developing new CO2 capture technology. The main purpose of the new Kårstø plant is the development of construction methods and effective execution models that make carbon sequestration so inexpensive that it becomes cheaper to clean emissions than to pollute.
We have come a long way. To advance further, we must prove that we are able to package technology in commercially attractive solutions. Through our company Aker Clean Carbon, we are helping to move carbon capture from a research and development phase into commercialization and sales.
—Leif-Arne Langøy, Aker ASA Chairman and CEO
On a global basis, the 4,000 largest plants (power generation and industrial) in operation today are estimated to generate some 40% of CO2 releases to the atmosphere, according to the UN IPCC, and there are more than 2,000 power plants with emissions of +1 Mt CO2 per year. In addition and on average, a new coal-fired power plant is completed each week in China.
These plants worldwide constitute our future market. In just a few decades, building carbon capture facilities can become an industry similar to the building of oil platforms today. Our goal is to put Aker Clean Carbon at the forefront as this environmental industry matures.
—Leif-Arne Langøy
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January 24, 2008 in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Power Generation | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
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"This solution, known as Just Catch Bio, is thus potentially capable of removing 116% of the CO2 emissions from a gas-fired power station."
Where does the +16% CO2 derive from?? Sounds like another process called "Just Quit Playing..."
Posted by: sulleny | Jan 24, 2008 12:45:17 PM
Sulleny, this is socalled 'carbon-negative' bioenergy.
It's not difficult to understand. Suppose you were to fire biomass in the power plant, and then capture and store the biogenic CO2, then you would be generating negative missions.
In fact, you can generate *minus* 1000 grams of CO2 per kWH of electricity if you use biomass+CCS.
Only biofuels can generate carbon-negative energy. All other renewables are carbon neutral at best (in reality they're all carbon positive - solar yields around +100gCO2eq/kWh, - wind around 30gCO2eq/kWh).
You will see much more carbon negative bioenergy power plants coming online in the future. This is just a first step towards this aim.
Find out more about it here:
Commission supports carbon capture & storage - negative emissions from bioenergy on the horizon.
Posted by: Jonas | Jan 24, 2008 2:02:51 PM
By the way, the very strange effect of carbon-negative bioenergy is that the more you drive your car on it, the more CO2 you remove from the atmosphere.
An electric car powered by wind or solar will generate around 30 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
An electric car powered by biomass+CCS or by biohydrogen+CCS will generate anywhere up to -10 to -1O0 grams of CO2 per kilometer.
You would be cleaning up the atmosphere the more you drive it! Bizar, isn't it?
Posted by: Jonas | Jan 24, 2008 2:05:37 PM
'Potential and 'in a few decades are the downside balancing the equasion - simple. One just needs to factor in real world conditions!
No reason to get exited here.
Posted by: arnold | Jan 24, 2008 9:56:54 PM
Well, 2009 is not that far away, is it? 2009 is next year. I'm very excited.
Posted by: Jonas | Jan 25, 2008 4:50:10 AM
"Nuclear comes close to being genuinely 'carbon neutral'." (from the above link)
Curious as to why the water vapor emissions from nuclear evaporation towers representing some 70% of green house gas - is not seen as problematic. Nuclear appears carbon neutral yet uses vast amounts of water contributing to GHGs and generates enormous waste heat. Waste heat + water vapor would seem to render CO2 neutrality a moot point.
Posted by: gr | Jan 25, 2008 12:54:58 PM
Curious as to why the water vapor emissions from nuclear evaporation towers representing some 70% of green house gas - is not seen as problematic.
Because it does not accumulate in the atmosphere, and is also inconsequential compared to the evaporation from the ocean (gigawatts vs. tens of thousands of terawatts of solar driven evaporation).
Posted by: Paul F. Dietz | Jan 25, 2008 8:26:08 PM
The first plant my well be completed 2009,"with emisssions to the atmosphere for the first few years. 'Construction could be big buisness in several decades.
That leaves a few large 'ifs' re trialing or introducing the 0 emission technology.No leaks?
The technology to harvest and transport forest product needs to be close to workable if that is to figure.
At some point in the future it is envisioned that the CO2 stream will be sequeseted to claim the 0 or better emmissions prize.
My point was there is a lot of untrialed technology, some unexplained harvesting transport etc.
In other words real world obstacles.
Ultimately it is an interesting concept and an innovative way to look at the subject.The more you drive the more C we reduce - 116% also means count all theoreticaly possible savings but - no losses!
I think it'll be a very long year.
Posted by: arnold | Jan 25, 2008 9:02:59 PM
