Carbon Capture & Sequestration: In The News

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) said on Sunday it would spend 2.8 trillion won ($2.34 billion) on developing environment-friendly technology by 2020. KEPCO will allocate the green investment, starting from 2010, to eight sectors, including integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), carbon capture and storage, smart grid, infrastructure to power electric cars, nuclear power for exports, electric-energy housing, high-voltage direct current and superconductivity technology, the statement said.

The European Union's ambition to lead the fight against climate change faces a setback as its target of rolling out full-scale carbon capture and storage plants by 2015 is increasingly seen by experts as unrealistic. The EU may not have any low-carbon coal plants built by 2015, under a target to trial "up to 12" commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) plants by then, as governments turn off the finance taps in response to global recession.

University of Calgary scientist David Keith says governments need to earmark more research funding for technologies to capture carbon dioxide in surrounding air to save the planet. Keith has successfully tested an air capture technology last year. The market for carbon capture technologies is estimated to reach $1 billion a year within 20 years. In a paper published in Science journal Thursday, he says technology could efficiently reduce carbon dioxide emissions from sources such as airplanes and home furnaces.

NEW HAVEN, W.Va. — Poking out of the ground near the smokestacks of the Mountaineer power plant here are two wells that look much like those that draw natural gas to the surface. But these are about to do something new: inject a power plant’s carbon dioxide into the earth.

The world's largest carbon capture project launched by a coal-fired power plant broke ground in July in Shanghai. After completion, which is scheduled before the end of this year, the project will capture as many as 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. The carbon capture project has been identified as a significant element in China's effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Shanghai Shidongkou Second Power Plant, a subsidiary of Huaneng Power International Inc, is the second carbon capture program developed by its parent company. The first project is in Beijing. The second project, located on the outskirts of Shanghai, is expected to cost about 150 million yuan ($22 million).

Includes video that features interviews with local residents in Barendrecht.

Article describes some of the challenges and successes projects in Australia have faced--covering views of both skeptics and proponents of CCS.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Peter Garrett is to consider four more gas projects on Australia's environmentally sensitive north-west coast after approving the huge Gorgon plant on Barrow Island. In approving Gorgon yesterday Mr Garrett imposed an additional 28 environmental conditions to protect the island's rare and endangered animal life, which the plant's main proponent, Chevron, says it will accept. Chevron is waiting for the project's two other partners, ExxonMobil and Shell, to sign off on the plant before construction begins.

Today’s Notice supplements the proposed “Federal Requirements Under the Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Geologic Sequestration (GS) Wells” of July 25, 2008, presents new data and information, and requests public comment on related issues that have evolved in response to comments on the original proposal. This Notice contains preliminary field data from the Department of Energy-sponsored Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership projects, the results of GSrelated studies conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and additional GS-related research. Today’s Notice also discusses comments and presents an alternative the Agency is considering related to the proposed injection depth requirements for Class VI wells.

The European Commission wants to invest 180 million euros in Poland's first carbon capture and storage installation. It will avoid huge costs in permits and will catch up to one third of the carbon dioxide emitted. And once its coal reserves are depleted, in an estimated 25 years, Belchatow plans to go nuclear.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Aug 25 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking re-election in a federal vote on Sept. 27, and polls give her conservatives a lead over their coalition partners and traditional rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD). ...

GREENVILLE: A partner in a $92.8 million proposal to inject carbon dioxide underground in western Ohio says the project has been abandoned. Battelle Memorial Institute says the decision is based on business considerations. The project would have injected carbon dioxide from an ethanol plant near Greenville more than 3,000 feet underground. The project had drawn growing opposition from local officials and state representatives. Opponents say they feared an impact on property values and potential seismic activity. Most of the project's funding, $61 million, would have come from the federal government. The Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, managed by Battelle of Columbus, would have contributed $32 million, including $3 million in state funding

Carter cited too the proposed federal government regulations, specifically the cap and trade legislation that recently passed in the House, that could have tremendous cost implications for Santee Cooper customers. "The bill calls for carbon capture and sequestration technology to be placed on new plants by 2025, and there currently exists no technology to do that. The cost of the technology and the carbon tax are unknown and expected to be high, and this uncertainty causes great concern for Santee Cooper in considering future coal plants," he said.

"We are working with Costa Rica and Colombia on environment mitigation and education, and seeking a joint system for storing carbon," Elvira said in a press conference. Methane, produced by rotting organic waste, and carbon dioxide, mostly produced by engines and electricity turbines, are main greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Carbon capture and storage serve an effective way to check and reverse the climate change.

BARENDRECHT, Netherlands, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The Dutch town of Barendrecht will fight to prevent progress of a Royal Dutch Shell and Dutch government plan to store carbon dioxide in gas fields beneath the town, alderman Simon Zuurbier said on Monday.

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the selection of 19 projects to enhance the capability to simulate, track, and evaluate the potential risks of carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in geologic formations.

Tool includes an evaluation of opportunities for US-China collaboration on electric vehicles, CSP, and CCS.