Today,
President Obama meets with a group of Republican and Democratic senators to
discuss how to move forward with energy and climate change legislation. And as we noted last week, 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. The Obama
administration, as well as members of both parties in Congress, have recognized
the role of developing and deploying carbon capture and storage technologies in
achieving that balance and allowing American coal to play an important role in
achieving a clean energy future without jeopardizing jobs and our economy. As the
President’s Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, recently said:
Advancing our carbon capture and storage
technology will create new jobs in America and reduce our carbon pollution
output … It’s another example of our country’s innovation at work.
In
this edition of The Coal Wire, we highlight carbon capture and storage
technology’s role in building America’s balanced clean energy portfolio, as
well as what other nations near and far are doing with CCS to help the rest of
the world move toward a future with significantly reduced carbon emissions.
Jefferson
[IN] Evening News and Tribune – Fired Up: Indiana Energy Adviser Argues The
Merits Of Coal In An Anti-Carbon Climate (6/24): “At a time when the
burning of fossil fuels is under attack as a major cause of global warming,
Irwin argues the unpopular position that burning more coal may be good for the
economy and the environment … As the director of the state’s Center for Clean
Coal Technology Research, located at Purdue University, its Irwin’s job to
advise state officials on how to allocate funds for coal research projects in
Indiana. Among them are efforts to develop a commercially viable way to
capture carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and sequester them
underground. Another is the development of a pipeline to carry carbon
emissions to Texas, where it would be injected in liquid form into oil fields.”
USA
Today – Obama Funds Research Into Algae-Based Biofuels (6/29): “In its push for
clean energy sources, President Obama’s administration is exploring all options
– including algae-based biofuels … To help develop non-polluting energy sources,
DOE has awarded billions of dollars — much of it from the three-year Recovery
Act — for nuclear power plants, solar energy systems, wind turbines, energy
efficiency and carbon capture technology.”
University
of Texas At Austin – University Receives $19 Million To Monitor Carbon
Storage Project (6/28): “The University of Texas at Austin will receive up to $19
million from the U.S. Department of Energy and NRG Energy to design and oversee
a monitoring plan for a carbon capture and storage demonstration project in
southeast Texas. The project will demonstrate advanced technology to reduce
emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from a coal-fired power
plant. This project will be among the first in the state of Texas, and one of
only a handful in the world, to use anthropogenic CO2 as opposed to naturally
occurring CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). EOR is a technique that involves
injecting CO2 into declining oil fields to increase oil yield. The objective of
this project will be to ensure the long-term geologic storage of the injected
CO2.”
Edmonton
Journal – Enbridge To Expand Pipeline, Join Carbon-Capture Project (6/29): “Enbridge Inc. said
Monday it plans a $400-million expansion of its Waupisoo oilsands pipeline
system and is joining a carbon-capture project near Edmonton backed by power
producers TransAlta Inc and Capital Power Corp … Enbridge also said Monday it
will join TransAlta and Edmonton-based Capital Power in Project Pioneer, a
$1.4-billion scheme to trap carbon dioxide emissions from the Keephills 3
coal-fired generation plant west of Edmonton. The project has $779 million in
backing from the Alberta and Canadian governments. It aims to cut emissions
of greenhouse gases by one million tonnes a year.”
The
Atlantic – Is China Winning The Energy Race? (6/17): “I spoke with Julian
Wong, an expert in Chinese energy policy at the Center for American Progress.
An edited version of our conversation follows: … ‘The number one concern is
energy security. China is already a net importer of coal, despite conventional
wisdom that they have abundant coal resources. That’s because a lot of the
supply is in remote areas while the demand is more on the coast, and there’s
inadequate logistics capacity to move the coal around. They’re also exporting
technology to Brazil and Turkey. They’re producing clean coal technology
like supercritical and ultra-supercritical power plants, which are essentially
ultra efficient coal power plants. They’re making inroads in high voltage
transmission wires which send energy across remote areas and large distances
while mitigating energy loss. They’ve always used hyrdo-power as a way to
engage other countries by using their expertise and technologies.’”
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) is committed to the idea that America can have the affordable, reliable electricity we need, with the clean environment we want. ACCCE’s Behind the Plug blog is the place for up-to-date news and analysis on clean coal technology developments and energy policy progress.