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Coal Can Do That

U.S. Department of Energy: We Have Hundreds of Years of Carbon Storage Capacity

“We must make it our goal to advance carbon capture and storage technology to the point where widespread, affordable deployment can begin in 8 to 10 years… The U.S. could bring up to 10 commercial demonstration projects on line by 2016.” – Dr. Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy

America is blessed with enough carbon storage capacity to last at least 500 years, according to the  U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The conclusion comes amid broad scientific backing for using carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology as global energy leaders increasingly call for accelerating deployment of the technology.

Coal fuels about half of U.S. electricity and will continue to carry the load into the foreseeable future. Electricity demand will grow by more than 75 percent in the next 20 years, increasing to nearly five times the existing a capacity of the United States, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In conducting a survey of storage potential, geologists from the National Energy Technology Laboratory assumed that even in promising geological formations, only 1 to 4 percent of available capacity would actually be used for carbon capture and storage.  

Researchers did not consider aging oil fields, where carbon dioxide (CO₂) has been injected to recover stranded oil for generations.

 

 

The IEA 2010 latest progress report on CCS cites strong momentum and calls for continued cooperation to meet long-term goals. They estimate 80 large-scale industrial projects are in various states of development and more than $26 billion in government support.

“Significant progress has been made to address the high‐level recommendations on CCS made by the G8 Leaders,” the authors state. “CCS has advanced toward commercialisation, notably through the commissioning of CCS pilot plants, continued learning from plants already in operation and the development of legal and regulatory frameworks."

Among the examples is the Statoil Sleipner project in Norway, which has stored a million metric tons of CO₂ annually for more than a decade below the North Sea. Leading experts from the European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants (ZEP), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Edinburgh University/Imperial College have all recently concluded that carbon capture and storage capacity is plentiful and that the technology is proven.

Coal Can Do That

Energy in the 'Aughts' Dominated by Coal

“Coal’s share of global energy consumption rose last year to its highest level since 1970 as use of natural gas fell the most on record.” – 2010 BP Statistical Review of World Energy

Coal is the hands-down winner as the world's fastest growing fuel of the "Aughts," the 2010 BP Statistical Review of World Energy concludes. The industry’s comprehensive analysis of international energy trends reports a stunning fact: demand for a single mature commodity – coal – expanded by nearly 46 percent in the past decade, outpacing every alternative.

“Coal’s share of global energy consumption rose last year to its highest level since 1970 as use of natural gas fell the most on record,” the authors reported. 

Coal’s expansion is unparalleled and reflects a sustained global appetite for the reliable, low-cost and abundant fuel. In comparison, natural gas grew by 27 percent; hydroelectric power expanded by 25 percent; oil grew by 10 percent; and the world generated just 7 percent more nuclear power.

The review also noted that coal's ample and geographically diverse reserves could meet growing global energy demand for more than a century. Coal’s proven and probable reserves are nearly double those of natural gas, even factoring in shale discoveries.

Energy consumption in 2009 reflected a pattern of recession and recovery. The authors observed a close relationship between energy use and economic growth, with the flourishing economies of Asia driving demand. Industrialized nations consumed less energy last year than they did a decade ago, while energy use in fast-growth Asian economies outpaced GDP growth.  

Developing Asia is forecast to account for more than 90 percent of the increase in global coal demand in the next quarter century as more coal is used to empower people and economies.

 

 

Coal Can Do That

Want to Reindustrialize the United States? Broad Deployment of CCS Is the Ultimate Economic Stimulus

Broad deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies in the next 40 years will increase U.S. Gross Domestic Product by $2.7 trillion, create 28 million job-years over four decades from new construction, and support 800,000 permanent jobs related to operation and maintenance of these facilities, delivering the ultimate economic stimulus for a low-carbon economy.

So concludes the latest National Coal Council Study, “Low-Carbon Coal: Meeting U.S. Energy, Employment and Carbon Dioxide Emissions Goals with 21st Century Technologies.” The analysis also found that related enhanced oil recovery projects utilizing the captured carbon dioxide (C0₂) could help extract more than 2 million barrels per day of domestic oil.

The Council’s findings are consistent with the Obama Administration’s goal of achieving an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Study recommendations support the goal of bringing at least 10 large-scale CCS demonstration projects on line in the United States as quickly as 2016.

“The technologies to deploy coal-based power generation with carbon capture and storage are available now, subject to establishment of the proper financial, regulatory and liability framework,” said NCC Study Chair Fred Palmer, Senior Vice President at Peabody Energy.

 

 

“Broad deployment of CCS is the low-cost, low-carbon energy solution that is essential to reindustrializing the United States. Investing in the broad potential of low-carbon technologies will enable the United States to meet increasing electricity demand and strengthen national security by using captured CO₂ to recover more domestic oil.”

The study was conducted at the request of Secretary Chu and is the fifth major study presented by the Council in the past six years.

Coal fuels approximately half of U.S. electricity and has a recoverable reserve base of 265 billion tons in more than 30 states, enough to last more than two centuries.

Coal is also a low-cost energy option; the delivered cost of natural gas was more than four times that of coal throughout the past decade, and the cost of natural gas is forecast to be significantly higher than coal in coming decade.

According to key highlights from the report:

• Construction of about 360 gigawatts of coal-based generation with CCS at a $1.2 trillion investment cost will yield a $2.7 trillion GDP benefit.
• Deployment of coal-based generation with CCS over the next several decades can replace the existing coal fleet and provide up to 3,000 terawatt hours of electricity per year at affordable rates using 1.7 billion tons of coal, based on a recent assessment from the National Research Council.
• Next generation technologies for enhanced oil recovery would create demand for captured CO₂ that is equivalent to the emissions from about 70 gigawatts of coal-based power for more than 30 years, research at the National Energy Technology Laboratory indicates.
• Coal’s carbon content creates a competitive advantage for America. In addition to recovering more oil, CO₂ can be used for value added opportunities ranging from cement to iron oxide production.
• Near-term reductions in CO₂ emissions from the existing coal-based generating fleet could be achieved by using retrofit efficiency technologies, partial CO₂ capture technologies or a combination of those technologies.
• Widespread deployment of CCS is the key for achieving long-term reductions in CO₂ emissions. President Barack Obama and China President Hu Jintao jointly are calling for advancement of large-scale CCS projects using 21st century technologies to achieve near-zero emissions and CO₂ capture.

The study addresses efficiency improvements, CO₂ capture technologies; pipeline transportation of CO₂; use of CO₂ for producing more oil; injection of CO₂ in saline fields or other deep storage options; regulatory and legal issues; underground gasification and coal beneficiation.

The National Coal Council is a private, nonprofit advisory body chartered by the U.S. Secretary of Energy in 1984 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Members of the National Coal Council are appointed by the Secretary of Energy.

  

 

Coal Can Do That

‘Changing the Game’ by Recycling CO2

 An innovative solution to capture and store carbon dioxide that’s being advanced by a Silicon Valley start-up is based on what some might call a simple chemical reaction: Combine carbon dioxide (CO₂) with seawater to create calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). Then spray dry the CaCO₃ into green building materials, essentially recycling the CO₂ into beneficial products like cement.

That’s the equation behind Calera Corp.’s proprietary technology that can be used for removing carbon from the emissions stream at coal- or gas-fueled power plants using a vessel which is similar to a sulfur dioxide scrubber. Every ton of Calera building material is expected to store as much as a half ton of CO₂.

“If this works, coal-fired power would become more than 100 percent clean,” says venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems whose venture firm has invested seed money in Calera. “Not only would it not emit any carbon dioxide, but it would also be taking all of the carbon dioxide that goes into making those products out of the atmosphere.”

Calera recently completed a demonstration project near Moss Landing, Calif., which used the emissions stream from a natural gas-fueled power plant. The Calera technology mixes CO₂ with water from a variety of sources, causing the minerals to bond and release as synthetic limestone.

Calera Corp. founder and Stanford consulting professor Brent Constantz says it’s ‘the best carbon capture and storage technique there is.’ If the technology can be proven at scale, many believe it has the potential to become a game changer.

The path to clean energy solutions from coal is supported by the Obama Administration, which seeks to bring as many as 10 commercial demonstrations on line in as little as six years.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that there are more than 60 billion barrels of U.S. oil that could be recovered through CO₂ injection, and the International Energy Agency estimates there are more than 200 billion barrels worldwide.