Carbon sequestration holds out considerable hope in the battle against global warming. Gathering carbon before a power plant releases it into the atmosphere (or perhaps after!) and bury it underground where it will sit for decades or longer.
Governments across the globe have coughed up money for experimental projects and to training a new generation of sequestration engineers – including the U.S.
Costs need to decline at least 50 percent, says Sheel WindEnergy's Richard Williams
Industry is stepping up as well. Chevron, BP, Shall, ConocoPhillips, Encana and Statoil all have invested in projects. Chevron is working in Australia. Encana is already taking carbon and injecting it in depleting oil fields to enhance oil recovery.
Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil are planning an effort in the Netherlands.
Despite the activity, the cost of projects is still too high, says Richard Williams, president of Shell WindEnergy. To pipe, compress and inject the carbon underground costs $100 a ton, Williams said Thursday during an MIT Technology Review “Future of Energy” Webcast.
It needs to get to between $40 and $50 a ton. Until then it is not economically feasible.
Williams said government incentives are needed for firms to run test projects.
Its kind of nice to hear one of the big oil companies saying that it’s too expensive to do this. I’ve written up a list of the questions surrounding carbon sequestration and the coal industry’s involvement on my blog http://iaminformed.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/carbon-capture-the-questions-issues/