Why Delivering Low-Cost Electricity With Coal Is “A No-Brainer”

By Bianca Prade

 

There is no doubt that we’re living in a period of economic uncertainty. As a mother of two kids, I know that many families like mine across America are doing what they can to save money in order to make it through these tough times.

 

I was recently watching a few videos from our Real People, Real Stories series. In this one, Shane Evans, a mine dispatcher for Arch Coal’s Thunder Basin Coal Company in Wyoming, explains how using coal to lower electricity costs for families and businesses can bring more certainty to these uncertain times:

 

 

To learn more about Shane, go to: http://www.americaspower.org/shane.

The Coal Wire: Domestic and International Deployment Of Carbon Capture and Conversion Technology Posted by ACCCE at 07/27/2010 03:29:09 PM

By Steve Gates

 

In last week’s Coal Wire we highlighted the Clean Energy Ministerial held in Washington, DC, and the international partnerships that are spurring clean coal technology development. This week the U.S. is again showing that it can lead on reducing emissions, with the Department of Energy committing over $100 million to making CO2 into useful products, and states announcing new CCT projects.

 

Those stories and more in this edition of The Coal Wire, where U.S. developments in CCT continue apace:

 

USA Today – U.S. Funds Efforts To Turn CO2 Emissions Into Products (7/22): “Can industrial CO2 emissions come in handy? The Department of Energy is betting these carbon dioxide emissions, a culprit of climate change, can be turned into useful products such as fuel, plastics, cement and fertilizers. DOE announced Thursday $106 million in Recovery Act funding for six corporate projects that will research the potential to use CO2 as an inexpensive raw material.”

 

The Associated Press – Hawaii Getting Carbon Dioxide Conversion Project (7/26): “The department said in a Washington news release that a $24 million grant has gone to Phycal LLC of Ohio. It will design, build and operate a CO2-to-algae-to-biofuels facility in Central Oahu. Officials say Hawaiian Electric Co. will qualify the biocrude for boiler use, and Tesoro will supply CO2 and evaluate fuel products.”

 

The Abilene Reporter-News – Tenaska To Use New Technology For Carbon Capture, Officials Say (7/26): “New technology to capture carbon dioxide byproducts has been selected for use at the Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Center, the proposed coal-fired power plant near Sweetwater … The technology is designed to capture 85 to 90 percent of the CO2 byproduct and send it via pipeline to the Permian Basin, where it will be used in enhanced oil recovery.”

 

U.S. Department of Energy – Successful Clean Coal Technology Licensed For Commercial Application (7/26): “The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has received the first installment from a repayment agreement for the Liquid Phase Methanol (LPMEOH™) Process. A royalty license issued for the advanced methanol production system underscores the clean coal technology’s presence in the commercial market.”

 

And carbon capture successes are seen overseas:

 

Concrete Products – Canadians Test CO2 Capture Via Concrete Block Curing (7/26):  “Researchers at Montreal’s McGill University are gauging the feasibility of curing concrete masonry units with carbon dioxide, which can react with cement to form a hybrid microstructure of calcium carbonate and calcium silicate hydrate, the main binding product of hydrated powder … The alternative curing represents a prospective means of carbon sequestration on a commercial scale. In economies subject to caps on CO2 emissions, where regulators link the greenhouse gas to perceived climate change, carbon capture technologies become trading credits.”

 

Australia’s Farm Weekly – Carbon Capture Revives Pilbara Plains (7/27): “In 1978, things were pretty crook on the west Pilbara plain that Cheela Plain Station takes its name from … That had turned around when the Carbon Capture Project reassessed Cheela Plain Station’s health in 2008. The project rated nearly half the station as now being in good condition and only 11 per cent as being in poor condition. There was no sign of erosion.”

 

Power-Gen Worldwide – Algae Carbon Capture Pilot Launched By Vattenfall in Germany (7/23): “Swedish utility Vattenfall has launched a pilot project using algae to absorb greenhouse gas emissions from a coal fired power plant in eastern Germany … ‘The microalgae use climate-killing CO2 to create valuable biomass,’ the chairman of Vattenfall Europe Mining and Generation, Hartmuth Zeiss, said in a statement. ‘Moreover the new technology will bring useful know-how to the Lausitz [region] and increase its importance as a region for energy production.’”

 

Field Museum’s Climate Change Exhibit Posted by ACCCE at 07/26/2010 12:31:20 PM

By Steve Gates

 

I was in Chicago earlier this week and made some time to stop by the Field Museum to have a look at their exhibit on climate change.  If you live in the Chicago-area, or find yourself there in the next few months, I highly encourage you to stop by the exhibit and let me know your thoughts on how the information was presented.

 

I walked away from the exhibit with several lasting impressions, most notably these thoughts:

 

·         Coal has played a major role in helping to build this country into the global leader we are today.  I was impressed that the exhibit went out of its way to make that one of the first facts you learn upon entering the room.

·         According to the exhibit – and this is something we say at ACCCE as well – we’re going to need many strategies to reduce CO2 emissions.  In essence, there is not a “magic bullet” approach to successfully manage carbon dioxide while still providing the electricity we need to power our daily lives.

·         Ultimately, CCS and other clean coal technologies must play a major role in producing electricity in the future as we continue to widely develop other forms of renewable electricity production.

 

A final thought on my trip to the Field Museum, in the last part of the climate change exhibition there is a wall that allows visitors to write on a piece of paper what they would do to combat climate change.  There were many suggestions tacked to the wall, but the one that stood out to me the most read simply “stop being lazy.” 

 

Of all the knocks the critics of coal-based electricity have against this industry, the one thing that can’t be questioned is the money and effort that already has gone into developing and deploying clean coal technologies.  And the more technology we develop will mean faster wide-spread deployment both here and around the globe.  Speaking of not being “lazy”, take a look at the clean coal technology that is here today.  As the climate change exhibit points out, this technology must be part of our energy future.

How America and China Can Work Together To Reduce Emissions Posted by ACCCE at 07/22/2010 12:22:25 PM

By Bianca Prade

In the news and discussion online, there has been a lot of interest lately in how America can work with the rest of the world to reduce CO2 emissions and move toward a clean energy future. Specifically, we’ve seen people asking what measures China is taking to ensure CO2 emissions are improved. People are asking, what role does China play in the clean energy debate? And how can America work with other countries to help achieve lower emissions globally?

China has a huge role to play in the clean energy debate. The fact is that huge segments of the population in the developing world live without the benefits of electricity now. In the effort to improve quality of life for its citizens, China will be using its huge indigenous reserves of coal. They’ve already begun increasing its investment in CCS technologies, and in yesterday’s Coal Wire, we showed you how other countries like the UK, Canada and South Korea are doing the same.

In order to speed development and adoption of CCS technologies in the US and globally, the US is pushing for joint investment between America on China on these technologies.  US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu knows this will be vital to our economic and energy security:

"Our prosperity in the United States is at stake here. If we do not get moving the way Europe and China and other parts of the world are moving [on CCS], we will be importing these technologies 10 and 20 years from today."

Unless the United States works with China and other countries to develop clean coal technologies, and makes it possible for other developing countries to use them, other efforts here in the U.S. to reduce emissions will continue to be dwarfed on the international level. The necessity to reduce CO2 emissions is global, and purposeful investment toward that goal that can enrich the U.S. if we are focused on leading.

The Coal Wire: Clean Energy Ministerial Touts Global CCS Collaboration Posted by ACCCE at 07/21/2010 04:16:10 PM

By Lisa Camooso Miller

 

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu hosted a Clean Energy Ministerial earlier this week, bringing together government officials and energy experts from more than 20 different nations to discuss how to move the world towards developing and deploying clean energy technologies for this and future generations. Clean coal technology was a large part of the discussions, with the U.S. and twelve other countries pledging to establish a Carbon Capture Use and Storage Action Group (.pdf)

 

The action group, along with a coalition of business and institutional partners, understands that “Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) will need to play a substantial role in mitigating global emissions alongside other measures including renewables and energy efficiency.”

 

In this week’s Coal Wire, Secretary Chu stresses the urgency of increasing domestic investment in carbon capture & storage; joint international CCT efforts continue; and breakthroughs in emissions-reduction technology are announced at home and abroad:

 

ClimateWire – Beijing Intensifies Carbon Capture And Sequestration Work With U.S. (7/21, subscription required):

DOE Secretary Steven Chu: "Our prosperity in the United States is at stake here. If we do not get moving the way Europe and China and other parts of the world are moving [on CCS], we will be importing these technologies 10 and 20 years from today." This is a position that China also wants to avoid.

 

Herald Scotland – Carbon Capture Campaign For U.S. (7/20):

“Nick Horler, the chief executive of ScottishPower, has joined [the U.K.’s] Secretary for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne in a move to promote Scottish carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at a meeting of the world’s leading industrial nations in Washington, The Herald has learned … The company’s plan is to develop a demonstration ‘retrofit’ project based at its existing plant at Longannet in Fife by 2014 Horler said: ‘The U.K. remains at the forefront of encouraging CCS developments.’”

 

GreenWise – Government Must Keep Investing In Green Technologies, Watchdog Says (7/19):

“The Government adviser on climate change has said the U.K. should ring-fence funding for green technologies in order to meet long-term climate change targets and low carbon economic growth. In a report published today, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said Government support must be protected for "at least" six low carbon technologies, including carbon capture and storage, marine and offshore wind. It also recommends funding for nuclear.”

 

Dow Jones – US, Canada Pledge Added C$5.2 Million For Carbon Capture Project (7/21):

The U.S. and Canadian governments jointly pledged on Tuesday an additional C$5.2 million in new funding for the world's largest and oldest geological carbon capture and storage project, located in Saskatchewan and North Dakota.

 

CBC News – Carbon capture project funding boosted (7/21):

The $80-million project, launched in 2000, has so far stored 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the government reports.

 

In the U.S., states continue to back clean coal technology:

 

Business First of Columbus – OSU Awarded Clean-Coal Research Funding (7/20):

In Ohio, “$2.03 million in funding comes through the state’s Coal Development Office and is aimed at projects that study carbon capture and storage and efforts to separate oxygen from air and convert coal to other fuels. Along with Ohio State, awards also benefit research at the University of Akron, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Cincinnati.”

 

And all the investment pays off! CCT continues to improve

 

Reuters – Scientists Create Improved CO2-Absorbing Crystals (7/15): “Chemists in South Korea and the United States have improved the design of a type of artificial crystal, doubling the amount of carbon-dioxide they can absorb and store. Called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), the metallic crystals are porous, stable structures that can absorb and compress gases into very small spaces. Scientists are hoping such materials can lead to cleaner energy and help capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions before they reach the atmosphere and contribute to global warming, rising sea levels and ocean acidity.”

 

Science Daily – Carbon Sequestration: Steam Process Could Remove Carbon Dioxide To Regenerate Amine Capture Materials (7/15): “Researchers have demonstrated a relatively simple regeneration technique that could utilize waste steam generated by many facilities that burn fossil fuels. This steam-stripping technique could produce concentrated carbon dioxide ready for sequestration in the ocean or deep-earth locations -- while readying the amine materials for further use.”

Clean Coal Technologies Can Power The Next Generation Of Cars Posted by ACCCE at 07/16/2010 11:25:03 AM

By Lisa Camooso Miller

 

President Obama visited Holland, Michigan yesterday, touring an electric car battery manufacturing plant that will power the next generation of vehicles that Americans will drive. At the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, we share President Obama’s commitment to creating a clean energy future and the ability to balance our nation’s energy, environmental and economic interests. And the development of next-generation batteries for use in automobiles is a broad step toward reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. 

 

We have long supported this technology as a means to reduce emissions. And, if the electricity used to power America’s next generation of cars and batteries came from power plants utilizing clean coal technology, America could greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions for cars on the road without increasing emissions in the utility sector.

 

That’s why we’re glad that Republicans and Democrats are working together to develop and deploy carbon capture and storage technologies to not only power the next generation of vehicles, but to power the next generation of American households and businesses as well, all while reducing CO2 emissions and reducing CO2 emissions. Senators John Rockefeller (D-WV) and George Voinovich (D-OH) came together to write legislation that could accelerate the deployment of CCS technologies, help create jobs for our economy and keep electricity prices affordable for our nation. We hope that, even in this election year, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle will continue to band together to achieve a clean energy future for America that also balances our economy and energy security interests.

ACCCE Praises Introduction of Bipartisan Carbon Capture and Storage Deployment Act Posted by ACCCE at 07/14/2010 05:39:34 PM

In response to today’s introduction of bipartisan legislation accelerating the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage technology by Senators John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) President and CEO Steve Miller released the following statement:

 

“This bipartisan legislation could provide an important path forward in accelerating the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, helping to create new jobs for our economy and to keep electricity prices affordable for American families and businesses.  We appreciate the work of Senators Rockefeller and Voinovich on this legislation, and their continued leadership in ensuring that the United States can continue to cleanly utilize coal, our nation’s most abundant domestically-produced energy resource.

 

“Coal reliably and affordably generates nearly half of our nation’s electricity, and this bill could help the private sector partner with the federal government to bring new, cost-effective clean coal technologies more quickly to the marketplace.”

The Coal Wire: Investment Follows New Successes In Clean Coal Tech Posted by ACCCE at 07/13/2010 04:13:38 PM

By Steve Gates

 

Both clean coal technology and carbon capture projects have been in the news a lot lately with more plants announcing integration of the technology every day, and more governments and groups advocating increased investment in CCT development.

 

In this edition of the Coal Wire, there’s news on new successes in emission-reducing technology, and who’s taking notice.

 

West Virginia’s Williamson Daily News – AEP a Frontrunner in Carbon Capture (7/9): “In 2009, the first fully integrated carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) technology validation project began operation at AEP’s Mountaineer Plant in West Virginia. The latest project AEP and its partners are pursuing is a new that will demonstrate those technologies at commercial scale.”

 

Oil & Gas Journal -  DOE backed test shows 'huff-and-puff' EOR method can work for CCS (7/9): “A North Dakota field test by one of the US Department of Energy’s regional carbon capture and storage partnerships demonstrated that an enhanced oil recovery method known as “huff and puff” can simultaneously assess geological formations’ carbon sequestration potential, DOE’s Fossil Fuels Office announced.”

 

International organizations see the results, and are urging countries to invest more in the clean coal technology:

 

Bellona – Timely Implementation of CCS Necessary to Avert Climate Change, Says Report (7/12): A recent Clean Air Task Force report “stresses that the fate of global climate may depend on finding ways to burn coal without emitting CO2.  Consequently, realising the potential of CCS is a task of high national and global importance. Determined federal policy is needed to lay the groundwork for a coherent and long-term effort to deploy CCS at a sufficient scale.”

 

The Hindu – Energy Revolution, Key To Cutting CO2 Emissions (7/12): “More needs to be done to achieve the necessary long-term carbon-dioxide (CO2) cuts, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said while releasing the study report on Energy Technology Perspectives (ETP) 2010 here on July 1. ‘Increasing energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage (CCS) would be two key options available to stakeholders including governments,’ Mr Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of IEA, told media persons.”

 

The U.S has already got a head start investing in these emissions-reducing technologies,

 

Discover 80 Beats Blog – Clean Coal Gets a Boost: DOE Dishes out $67M for Carbon Capture Research (7/8): “Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said that the research is in line with the Obama administration’s goal to have 5 to 10 commercial demonstration carbon capture projects online by 2016. ‘Charting a path toward clean coal is essential to achieving our goals of providing clean energy, creating American jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It will also help position the United States as a leader in the global clean energy race,’ Chu said.”

 

Delaware’s Newark Post – Glasgow Research Facility Gets Clean Coal Grant (7/11): “The Glasgow company, American Air Liquide, Inc. was selected for a two-year project will develop a cost-effective system for CO2 capture based on the performance achieved by the operation of the Air Liquide hollow fiber membrane. Funding from the Energy Department was listed at $1.26 million. The membrane will be coupled with cryogenic processing technology in a closed-loop test system that will verify the effect of possible contaminants on membrane performance at levels relevant to coal-fired power plants.”

 

Kentucky’s Lexington Herald-Leader – Lexington Company Receives Funding For Coal Project (7/8): A Lexington company will receive $2.74 million in funding from the federal Department of Energy to further research related to reducing emissions from coal. … The funding is part of a goal by the Obama administration to develop cost-effective versions of the technology within 10 years and have five to 10 commercial demonstration projects available by 2016.”

 

But other countries aren’t far behind:

 

Reuters – S. Korea to Invest $2 Bln in Carbon Capture to 2019 (7/12): “The South Korean government said in a statement on Monday that the country's total public and private investment in carbon capture and sequestration would reach an estimated 2.3 trillion won ($1.92 billion) to 2019.”

 

TCE Today – Imperial College Gets CCS Plant (7/12): Andrew Livingston, head of the chemical engineering department at London’s Imperial College, said, “Carbon capture and storage technology could play a vital role in the future in helping the UK to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. The construction of an amazing new carbon capture pilot plant at Imperial signifies the college’s ongoing commitment to training the next generation of engineers and researchers, who will play a pivotal part in making our country environmentally sustainable.”

What Your Member Of Congress Needs To Know About “Fuel Switching” Posted by ACCCE at 07/08/2010 12:09:05 PM

By Bianca Prade

 

Even with Congress in recess this week, the national discussion over what path America should take to achieve a clean energy future is still hot. Some of the energy discussion I’ve been seeing in the digital world has centered on the idea of “fuel switching.”

 

Legislation to force fuel switching is a tactic being used by some policymakers that would have many of America’s power plants replace their use of coal with natural gas to generate electricity. If you’re asking why we would even consider switching from coal to natural gas instead of diversifying our energy portfolio by using both energy sources, you’re asking the right question.

 

During this Congressional recess, if you plan on visiting with your Congressman or Senator at his or her office or at a town hall meeting, tell them these three things about “fuel switching”:

 

·     “Fuel switching” from coal to gas could cost the U.S. almost 200,000 jobs. Jobs involving mining and transporting coal, as well as operating coal-fueled power plants, manufacturing equipment, and providing supplies could disappear. 

 

·     The Congressional Research Service (CRS) raised serious questions about the feasibility of fuel switching from coal to natural gas.  In a recent report, CRS pointed to uncertainty over future gas prices, the location and availability of electric transmission capacity, and the possibility of overstressing natural gas pipeline and storage capacity.

 

·         Industry and government—here and abroad—are developing carbon capture and storage technologies to achieve up to a 90 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fueled power plants.  According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it is more expensive (on a dollars per ton basis) to reduce carbon dioxide from natural gas-fueled power plants than from coal-fueled plants. 

 

Ask your member of Congress: if you were given a pot of money to invest, would you risk all of your money into one company or would you want to diversify your portfolio and invest in several companies? The answer should clearly be the latter. And that’s how we should approach clean energy policy, by diversifying our energy portfolio instead of picking winners and losers.

 

Click here to see if your member of Congress is on Twitter, and find out if he or she is holding a town hall meeting. Tell them, online or offline, why diversifying our energy portfolio is important to achieving a clean energy future for America.

The Coal Wire: Public and Private Sectors Developing CCS Together Posted by ACCCE at 07/07/2010 04:12:07 PM

By Steve Gates

 
Large challenges require large solutions. Reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere while protecting our economy and promoting energy security is one of those challenges. Neither government nor industry can meet the challenge alone.

 

U.S. Department of Energy – Research Projects to Convert Captured CO2 Emissions To Useful Products (7/6): “Research to help find ways of converting into useful products CO2 captured from emissions of power plants and industrial facilities will be conducted by six projects announced today by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The projects are located in North Carolina, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Georgia, and Quebec, Canada (through collaboration with a company based in Lexington, Ky.) and have a total value of approximately $5.9 million over two-to-three years, with $4.4 million of DOE funding and $1.5 million of non-Federal cost sharing. The work will be managed by the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.”

 

Gasworld – CCS Projects In The Air Products Pipeline (7/5): “Air Products launches several CCS projects across the globe. The list includes the world's first complete carbon capture and sequestration demonstration in Germany, in addition to projects in the United States and the United Kingdom … [I]n Connecticut, Air Products is partnering the United States Department of Energy to design and construct a CO₂ purification system. The new scheme shall support an oxyfuel technology development project at a boiler simulation facility in Windsor.”

 

Discovery News – Rocket Nozzles Could Pull Carbon From Air (7/6): “An aerospace firm is working to turn rocket nozzle technology into a novel method for cleaning up the carbon-laced air emitted by coal-burning power plants. "It is radically different," said Arun Majumdar, director of the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as ARPA-E, which is funding the research. The idea is to use aerodynamic force, rather than chemicals, to separate out carbon dioxide from a power plant's air before it is released into the atmosphere, a technique that should be considerably cheaper than currently available systems.”

 

Australia’s Adelaide Advertiser – CSIRO and China United Team Up For Joint Underground Carbon Storage Program (7/7): “About 2000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be stored underground in China's Shanxi province under a joint research program between the CSIRO and China United Coalbed Methane Corporation. The $10 million project aims to inject CO2 into coal seams in order to both store the gas, and to enhance methane recovery … The project has received funding from the Chinese and Australian governments as part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and is also supported by the Japan Coal Energy Centre.”