Twitter headlinesCarbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
ARPA-E Awards $151M to 37 Projects for Transformative Energy Research
October 26, 2009
The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 37 energy research projects for $151 million in funding through the recently formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). This is the first round of projects funded under ARPA-E, which is receiving total of $400 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Among the projects selected are an effort to develop new metal-air batteries using advanced ionic liquids with 6-20 times the energy density of Li-ion batteries at < 1/3 the cost; a project to produce a flow of gasoline directly from sunlight and CO2 using a symbiotic system of two organisms; and a new type of engine for use as a genset in a plug-in hybrid vehicle that is five times more efficient than traditional auto engines in electricity production, 20% lighter, and 30% cheaper to manufacture.
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MIT/RAND Study Concludes Three Types of Alternative Jet Fuel May Be Available in Commercial Quantities Over the Next Decade
October 25, 2009
| Normalized well-to-wake GHG emissions for low-, baseline- and high-emission cases for jet fuel pathways under different land use change scenarios. From Hileman et al. Click to enlarge. |
A joint MIT/RAND study of the near-term commercial feasibility of alternative jet fuels has concluded that three types of alternative jet fuels may be available in commercial quantities over the next decade: Jet A derived from Canadian oil sands and Venezuelan Very Heavy Oils (VHO); Fischer-Tropsch (FT) jet fuel produced from coal, a combination of coal and biomass, or natural gas; and hydrotreated renewable jet fuel (HRJ) produced by hydroprocessing renewable oils.
The study compared five different groups of potential alternative jet fuels on the basis of seven criteria: compatibility with existing aircraft and infrastructure; maturity of the fuel-production technology; near-term production potential; near-term production costs; life-cycle GHG emissions (“well-to-wake”); emissions affecting air quality; and the relative merit of using the fuel in aviation versus ground transportation. The focus of the work was on alternative jet fuels that could be available commercially in the next decade using primarily North American resources.
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UTEP Awarded Nearly $1.3M for 4 DOE Projects On Engine and Turbine Efficiency and CO2 Capture
October 22, 2009
The Department of Energy (DOE) recently awarded The University of Texas at El Paso grants totaling nearly $1.3 million for research to improve the efficiency of engines and creating technologies for detecting, capturing and storing carbon emissions.
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Chintalapalle V. Ramana, Ph.D., and Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Ahsan Choudhuri, Ph.D., will investigate improved materials for thermal barrier coatings, which help protect engine components and improve the efficiency of engines by allowing them to operate at higher temperatures. Ramana will develop nanostructured coatings for hydrogen turbines that have improved resistance to heat and heat-related corrosion.
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Chilled Ammonia Pilot Project Captures 90% of CO2
October 10, 2009
| Illustration of the carbon capture plant. Click to enlarge. |
A pilot project by We Energies, Alstom and The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) testing an Alstom advanced chilled ammonia process (earlier post) has demonstrated more than 90% capture of carbon dioxide from the flue stream of a coal-fueled power plant in Wisconsin (the Pleasant Prairie Carbon Capture Pilot Plant). Testing at the pilot facility, using a 1.7-megawatt (electric) slipstream from the plant, captures approximately 40 tons of carbon dioxide each day. The project began in early 2008 and will conclude later this year.
The project confirmed the predicted performance of the chilled ammonia carbon capture system at an operating power plant. It achieved key research metrics around hours of operation, ammonia release, CO2 removal levels, and CO2 purity. In doing so, the partners said, the project demonstrated the fundamental viability of the carbon capture technology in real-world conditions such as changes in temperature and humidity, the inevitable starts and stops of a large power plant, and the environmental hurdles that go along with using any chemical process.
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Canada and Alberta to Invest C$865M in Athabasca Oil Sands Carbon Capture and Storage Project
October 08, 2009
| Overview of the Quest CCS project. Click to enlarge. |
The provincial government of Alberta and the federal government of Canada will invest C$865 million (US$822 million) in a large-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in the Athabasca oil sands. The province signed a Letter of Intent with Shell Canada Energy, on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project—a joint venture among Shell Canada (60%), Chevron Canada Limited (20%) and Marathon Oil Sands L.P. (20%)—to provide C$745 million in funding from its $2 billion CCS fund for the Quest CCS project over the next 15 years.
The Government of Canada is also contributing C$120 million toward this project through the Clean Energy Fund to help demonstrate CCS technology and advance Canada’s leadership on clean energy technologies while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy production.
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Study Questions Lifecycle Emissions Benefits of Using CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery as a Method for Carbon Sequestration
October 04, 2009
| Net life cycle GHG emissions of five CO2-EOR projects used as case studies. Credit: ACS, Jaramillo et al. Click to enlarge. |
Using CO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)—an established commercial practice that currently annually consumes some 50 million metric tons of CO2 (the majority from natural accumulations)—has also been identified as a method of sequestering CO2 captured from industrial sources, such as power plants. Of the $21.6 million the US Department of Energy recently awarded to carbon capture and storage research projects, $5.9 million was for EOR projects. (Earlier post.)
However, a new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University assessing the overall life cycle emissions associated with CO2-EOR sequestration under a number of different scenarios has concluded that “without displacement of a carbon intensive energy source, CO2-EOR systems will result in net carbon emissions.” Their paper was published online 30 September in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
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DOE Makes First Awards from $1.4B for Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage Projects
October 03, 2009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 12 projects for the first round of funding from $1.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the capture carbon dioxide from industrial sources for storage or beneficial use. The first phase of these projects will include $21.6 million in Recovery Act funding and $22.5 million in private funding for a total initial investment of $44.1 million. The remaining Recovery Act funding will be awarded to the most promising projects during a competitive phase two selection process.
Projects selected include large-scale industrial carbon capture and storage projects that capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources—such as cement plants, chemical plants, refineries, paper mills, and manufacturing facilities—and store the carbon dioxide in deep saline formations and other geologic systems.
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DOE Selects 19 Projects to Monitor and Evaluate Geologic CO2 Storage
August 25, 2009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 19 projects to enhance the capability to simulate, track, and evaluate the potential risks of carbon dioxide storage in geologic formations. The projects’ total value is approximately $35.8 million over four years, with $27.6 million of DOE funding and $8.2 million of non-Federal cost sharing. The work will be managed by the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.
Coal supplies nearly 50% of domestic electricity. In order for low-cost electricity from coal-fired power plants to remain available, the DOE said, economical methods for capturing and storing the greenhouse gas emissions from these plants must be developed. CO2 storage in deep geologic formations will likely be one of the most economical ways to achieve this goal, according to the DOE.
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New Molecule Could Lead to New CO2 Capture Methods
July 15, 2009
| An unusual bowl-shaped molecule that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air may provide new possibilities for dealing with global warming. The CO3-2 group is shown in the center. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. |
The accidental discovery of a bowl-shaped molecule that pulls carbon dioxide out of the air suggests new possibilities for dealing with global warming, including genetically engineering microbes to manufacture those CO2 “catchers,” according to a report scheduled for the 3 August issue of the ACS journal Inorganic Chemistry.
J. A. Tossell of the University of Maryland notes in the new study that other researchers (Brooks 2006) discovered the molecule—a macrocyclic amidourea—while doing work unrelated to global climate change.
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COFs Among the Best Adsorbents for Storage of Hydrogen, Natural Gas and CO2
June 07, 2009
| High-pressure CH4 isotherms for COFs measured at 298 K. Credit: ACS. Click to enlarge. |
COFs (covalent organic frameworks)—thermally stable and highly functional crystalline organic networks—are among the most porous and the best adsorbents for hydrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide, according to a new study by Professor Omar Yaghi and postdoc Hiroyasu Furukawa at the Center for Reticular Chemistry at UCLA. A paper on their findings was published online 4 June in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Yaghi and his colleagues have been at the forefront of inventing new classes of crystalline porous materials: metal organic frameworks (MOFs), and then COFs, reported in the journal Science in 2007. (Earlier post.)
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DOE to Award $2.4B in Funding for Carbon Capture, Storage and Reuse Projects
May 16, 2009
The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $2.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand and accelerate the commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and reuse technology. The Department is posting Notices of Intent to issue this funding, supporting the following initiatives:
Clean Coal Power Initiative. $800 million will be used to expand DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative, which provides government co-financing for new coal technologies that can help utilities cut sulfur, nitrogen and mercury pollutants from power plants. The new funding will allow researchers broader CCS commercial-scale experience by expanding the range of technologies, applications, fuels, and geologic formations that are tested.
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ZEP Unveils Proposal for EU Demonstration Program to Accelerate Deployment and Availability of CCS
November 13, 2008
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| The demonstration phase will require funding to close the gap between the cost of CCS and the price of carbon. Click to enlarge. |
The European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP) unveiled a report outlining the rapid deployment of an EU-wide CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) Demonstration Program—integrating all aspects of CO2 capture, transport and storage—which would speed up the deployment of CCS in the EU by 10 years and contribute to the commercial availability of CCS by 2020.
An wide range of experts and stakeholders participated in the creation of the report, which outlines every aspect of CCS demonstration to establish the optimal portfolio of projects across Europe necessary to cover a full range of CCS technologies and fuel sources, geographies and geologies.
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In-Situ Carbonation of Peridotite Offers Large Scale Capacity for Permanent Storage of CO2
November 07, 2008
Researchers at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have concluded that the in situ carbonation of peridotite, a type of rock found at or near the surface in Oman and other areas around the world, could consume more than 1 billion tons of CO2 per year in Oman alone, affording a low-cost, safe, and permanent method to capture and store atmospheric CO2.
Their studies show that the rock reacts naturally at surprisingly high rates with CO2 to form solid minerals, and that the process could be speeded by multiple orders of magnitude with simple drilling and injection methods. The study appears in this week’s early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
