Clean coal

Technology enabling carbon capture may release unrealised potential in coal.

September saw the launch of the world's first complete demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at a coal-fired power station in Germany.
This as yet unproven technology on a commercial scale is important, as it holds out the prospect of enabling coal - a reliable fossil fuel with significant global reserves - to continue to be used, yet at the same time offers the prospect of removing its ‘dirty' image.

Clean coal technology would represent a major step forward in helping reduce global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, as coal remains a dominant source of electricity generation in many parts of the world, and particularly in developing economies like China and India.

The new demonstration project is being run by Swedish utility Vattenfall alongside the 1600 megawatt (MW) Schwarze Pumpe power plant in north Germany.

The experiment will capture up to 100 000 tonnes (t) of CO₂ per year, compress it and then bury it 3000 metres (m) below the surface of the depleted Altmark gas field, some 200km from the site. The €70 million project has an output of around 12MW and 30MW of thermal power, enough to power around 1000 homes.

CCS is seen as a potential solution to the projected increased use of coal in power stations and could, scientists estimate, capture as much as 90% of a plant's carbon emissions.

Although each element of the capture, transportation and storage process has been proven and is in use, a full system has not yet been demonstrated, hence the importance of the Vattenfall project and others now being planned.

The technology remains expensive but its advocates argue that as more projects are demonstrated then experience will remove some of the costs relating to uncertainty about how the full cycle will work.

Others note that even though expensive, any costs are far outweighed by the potential benefits to the environment as coal still accounts for 40-50% of worldwide power generation.

Twenty percent

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report in June 2008 that CCS could account for 20% of the achievable global greenhouse gas emissions reductions by 2050.

Calling for a "global energy technology revolution", the IEA said a virtual decarbonisation of the power sector was needed, meaning on average each year between 2010 and 2050 35 coal- and 20 gas-fired power plants would have to be fitted with CCS technology at a cost of US $1.5 billion each.

Achieving CCS' full potential would, the agency said, require the resolution of the questions on the availability of sufficient geological formations for captured CO₂.

Costs and technology issues have meant many generators have been reluctant to invest funds to launch demonstration projects, meaning government intervention will be required to get many off the ground.

In the case of Vattenfall some funding was sourced from the German government and other countries have also adopted this policy.

The EU, which wants up to 12 CCS demonstration projects up and running by 2015, launched in September a call for tender for an external service provider to assist in establishing and running a CCS network.

The contractor will help the European Commission ensure the network allows early-movers to exchange information and experience from large-scale industrial demonstration of the use of CCS technologies and optimise costs.

Vatenfall is also planning a post-combustion pilot plant in Janshwalde in Germany. This 120 MW burning demonstration is expected to become operational around 2013. In France, Alstom is to commission another project of a similar size to Schwarze Pumpe later this year at a power station in Lacq in southern France, in collaboration with Total.

The UK is also planning a government-funded CCS demonstration plant announced in 2006. This will focus on post-combustion technology with a capacity of 400 MW expected to be commissioned in 2014. A decision is due in 2009 following the conclusion of a current government consultation.

The government has already named the four pre-qualified bidders - BP Alternative Energy International, E.ON UK, Peel Power and Scottish Power - and published a consultation on the legal framework of CO₂ storage and what should be meant by carbon capture readiness.

Although there has been some criticism for delays to the UK project and also questions about the government's decision to opt for post-combustion technology, the country is well placed as a potential site for CCS as it would be able to store significant amounts of liquefied CO₂ in rocks beneath the North Sea.

Scottish Power, which has reportedly identified a potential site, has claimed this could store all of Europe's CO₂ emissions for the next 600 years.

Coal generation is currently contentious in the UK with a decision expected imminently by the government on whether to permit E.ON UK to build a new coal-fired plant at its existing Kingsnorth site. This was expected to be sanctioned only if the plant was made CCS-ready.

Environmental groups have been protesting because of speculation the CCS element of the approval will be removed from the planning sanction. Demonstrating generation companies' nervousness about the technology is the UK Association of Electricity Producers, which has warned that making CCS mandatory before it has been demonstrated successfully was "the wrong approach".

The UK Institute of Public Policy Research called this summer for a moratorium on new coal power investment for at least two year saying the EU's goal to cut emissions from the power sector and heavy industry by 21% by 2020 via the EU Emissions Trading Scheme was endangered by proposals for seven new coal plants in the UK, such as that at Kingsnorth and by up to 75 across Europe.

The IPPR said even if only a proportion of these were built, the EU emissions reduction target would only be achievable through widespread deployment of CCS.

No Comments

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.