By KRISTYN ECOCHARD A carbon-capture agreement between Alstom and American Electric Power, signed Thursday, is a step in the right direction, according to a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Results of research done by an interdisciplinary panel at MIT say carbon capture and sequestration will be critical in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and allowing coal to meet the world's growing energy needs.
The research was done assuming climate change is a real problem and emissions will be limited by government in some way, and that despite restrictions, coal will continue to be a large source of energy.
As the world's leading energy user and greenhouse gas emitter, the U.S. must take the lead in showing the world CCS can work. Demonstration of technical, economic and institutional features of CCS at commercial scale coal combustion and conversion plants will give policymakers and the public confidence that a practical carbon mitigation control option exists, said John Deutch, an MIT chemistry professor. It will reduce cost of CCS should carbon emission controls be adopted, and will maintain the low-cost coal option in an environmentally acceptable manner.The deal between Alstom and AEP is a memorandum of understanding that aims to commercialize carbon capture and storage for a 200 megawatt plant by 2011 using a chilled ammonia process. During the two-phase plan, a prototype for a 30 megawatt plant will be tested at AEP's facility in New Haven, W.Va., and then the larger system will be tested at Alstom's plant in Oologah, Okla.
Our partnership with AEP will result in the world's first clean coal power plant and will be applicable not only for new plants but also for existing power plants, said Philippe Joubert, president of Alstom Power Systems. The 100,000 tons of annually captured carbon from the first phase will be stored in underground saline aquifers at the facility. However, there isn't extensive research on the still-developing technology of storing large quantities of carbon dioxide. The plant is expected to be online at the end of 2008 and operate for a year and a half. The carbon from phase two will be injected into the ground for enhanced oil recovery; it is expected to capture about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The key to demonstrating CCS technology is an efficient storage site that adheres to regulations limiting site selection, injection and surveillance. None of the carbon injection projects so far, in Norway, Canada, or Algeria, solve the technical modeling, monitoring and verification problems MIT said need to be addressed.
Coal meets 25 percent of the global energy demand and is burned to generate half of the electricity in the United States and coal use is expected to grow. It provides rapidly developing economies, like China and India, with cheaper electricity at $1 to $2 per million British thermal units as opposed to $6 to $12 per mBtus of natural gas or oil.
The MIT study predicted that to make carbon dioxide capture and storage cost competitive, a carbon tax of $30 per ton would have to be implemented. That price, however, does not take into account the possibility of a technological break through that would reduce the cost of CCS systems.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., called for a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing next week to review the study.
Its recommendations will carry a lot of weight here in Congress, as we deal with the important issues surrounding the future use of coal. As the report notes, a robust and comprehensive approach towards carbon sequestration is an essential part of future coal technology development and implementation, said Bingaman, head of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The MIT study recommendations to Congress as well as other leaders in government and industry include a charge on carbon emissions, project assistance to only coal projects involving CCS upon proposal, and a change to the U.S. Department of Energy Research, Design and Development program that focuses more on CCS for coal-fired plants.
An aggressive R&D effort in the near term will yield significant dividends down the road, and should be undertaken immediately to help meet this urgent scientific challenge, said Ernest Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems at MIT. Another conclusion drawn in the study is that China and India will be unlikely to mandate carbon dioxide emissions limits unless the United States does, and without all three countries on board, global carbon emissions cannot be controlled.
(Comments to energy@upi.com)
WASHINGTON, March 16
