TechPulse 360

Carbon capture and storage (or reuse) is likely to be major component of the world’s  response to climate change.

Coal and natural gas will fuel power plants well into the future. So filtering the carbon from natural gas deposits and coal plant emissions is a necessity.

A year ago, leaders for the G8 economies set out a target: 20 large-scale demonstration projects by 2010 with broad deployment beginning in 2020.

A coal gasification plant in North Dakota is one of four sites where large scale carbon capture is being demonstrated. It is the only in the U.S.

The technology is difficult, expensive and still unproven for the scale that will be necessary. So there is lots of work ahead. Unfortunately, it is another area where inaction has put expected United States leadership in jeopardy.

Four projects are presently underway: two in Europe, one in the United States and one in Algeria, where BP is working with the state oil and gas company. Many more are on the drawing board, with most major countries showing initiative.

In Australia, the country has set aside $1.8 billion for large-scale demonstrations, and Canada has earmarked $3.2 billion. Brazil is investing in as many as four projects.

Italy meanwhile is developing a pilot project and France is spending $1.5 billion going for R&D. The United Arab Emirates is even in the game with three projects in its sights.

The U.S., of course, is participating, announcing in May $3.4 billion in funding for carbon capture projects. But instead of the obvious leader in the world, it is one of many forging ahead.  Inaction during the Bush Administration, which ignored the science behind global warming, has taken away any national head start.

Among the projects already underway, three are designed to bury the carbon found in natural gas deposits. In a North Dakota pilot project, carbon is being diverted from a coal gasification plant to a depleting oil field in Canada.

The information being gathered will be valuable for future demonstrations. It is too bad the U.S. doesn’t have five to 10 years head start.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 3:43 pm and is filed under news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.