CATCH THE RISING SOOT (AND PUT IT IN AN OIL WELL?)

The promises of "clean coal" never specify what per cent of the emissions the technology can capture. The natural assumption would be that it captures ALL the emissions, right? But some technologies proposed for testing capture as little as 30% of the emissions. A little detail they never mention. The more they research this technology, the more appealing wind energy and solar energy get.

FirstEnergy’s R.E. Burger plant to test carbon dioxide removal system
John Funk, August 15, 2007 (Cleveland Plain Dealer)
and
BP and Powerspan to test and commercialize carbon capture technology
Clare Watson, 9 August 2007 (Energy Business Review)

WHO
FirstEnergy Corp., Powerspan Corp., BP Alternative Energy

There are a variety of emissions-capture technologies. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
The first implementation of the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Project (MRCSP), funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered by Columbus-based Battelle, will test a new technology (ECO) to remove CO2 from power plant emissions.

WHEN
The pilot project will begin in early 2008. The 2nd stage will begin in 2011. The goal is to have a commercial-sized installation or retrofit ready for the US’ 600 coal-fired power plants by 2012.

WHERE
- The pilot project will be developed in the R.E. Burger plant in Shadyside, Ohio, on the Ohio River.
- Powerspan is based in New Hampshire.

The FirstEnergy R.E. Burger plant on the Ohio River where the pilot project will be.

WHY
- The plan is to capture CO2 (as well as conventional smokestack pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides and mercury) and inject it into an 8,000-foot-deep onsite well for permanent sequestration. Ammonia/water will absorb the CO2 gases, piggybacking on aqueous ammonia-based electrostatic scrubbers already in use.
The pilot project will run 2 years. It will capture 20 tons of CO2/day from about 1 megawatt of the Burger plant’s 2 156-megawatt coal-fired generators. The next stage of development will capture 1/3 of the plant’s emissions.
- The MRCSP plans 3 power plant pilot projects.
- BP Alternative Energy is providing technical and financial support.

QUOTES
Jonathan Forsyth, CO2 capture team leader, BP Alternative Energy: "This is an opportunity for BP to broaden the scope of our low carbon power offering by including a CO2 capture technology that is compatible with new and existing coal fired power stations. The priority in our collaboration with Powerspan is to successfully demonstrate the technology and advance it to full-scale commercial deployment as rapidly as possible."