Monday, August 10, 2009

Duke Energy, one of America’s largest electric utilities, will explore a variety of renewable and other clean-energy technologies with China Huaneng Group, China’s biggest electric utility, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed today in Beijing.

The MOU between Duke Energy and China Huaneng Group – which produces more than 10 percent of the electricity consumed in China – encompasses high-level discussions and information-sharing on a number of renewable and clean-energy fronts.

“We find ourselves at a pivotal point in world history,” said Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers. “To deal with global warming requires rapid action from all of us, and clearly China Huaneng Group and Duke Energy are playing a leadership role on this issue.

“China has committed to rapidly developing clean-energy technologies, as has the U.S.,” Rogers added. “Working together, the U.S. and China can commercialize and drive down the cost of these technologies for the benefit of the entire world.”

“China Huaneng Group has been attaching great importance to emission reduction and clean energy development, and has made great achievements on that,” said China Huaneng Group Vice President Huang Yongda, “Duke Energy is clearly at the forefront of renewable and clean-energy development in the U.S.

“We look forward to a mutual sharing of information and technology between the two companies and to jointly promote the development of clean energy technology,” Huang Yongda added.

Under the MOU, top executives from both Duke Energy and China Huaneng Group will launch a series of meetings to exchange information and explore potential long-term cooperative initiatives to reduce coal plant emissions and develop other renewable sources of electricity generation.

One key focal point will be emerging cleaner-coal technologies including carbon capture and sequestration and coal gasification.

Duke Energy is building one of the cleanest, largest and most advanced coal gasification power plants in the world – a 630-megawatt facility in Edwardsport, Ind., which is scheduled to go online in 2012. In addition, Duke Energy is spending $17 million to study carbon capture at the site and proposing to spend $121 million to study the potential capture and permanent underground storage of up to 60 percent of the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The company is also building an advanced 825-megawatt pulverized coal plant in Cliffside, N.C., and retiring 1,000 megawatts of older, less efficient coal plants. The Cliffside and Edwardsport projects received more than $250 million in U.S. Department of Energy clean coal tax incentives.

China Huaneng Group has successfully built China’s first CO2 capturing demonstration facility in Huaneng Beijing Cogeneration Power Plant. Also, a larger scale CO2 capturing facility in one of Huaneng’s coal-fired power plants in Shanghai is under construction, and is scheduled to be put into operation by the end of 2009.

Huaneng is also building its GreenGen project – a 250-megawatt IGCC demonstration power plant in Tianjin. It will be China’s cleanest and most environmentally friendly coal-fired power plant when it is put into operation in 2011.

DOE has created a network of seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs) to help develop the technology, infrastructure, and regulations to implement large-scale CO2 sequestration in different regions and geologic formations within the Nation. Underlying this Regional Partnership approach is the belief that local organizations and citizens will contribute expertise, experience, and perspectives that more accurately represent the concerns and desires of a given region, thereby resulting in the development and application of technologies better suited to that region. Collectively, the seven RCSPs represent regions encompassing 97 percent of coal-fired CO2 emissions, 97 percent of industrial CO2 emissions, 96 percent of the total land mass, and essentially all the geologic sequestration sites in the U.S. potentially available for carbon storage. The seven partnerships include:

• Big Sky Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (Big Sky)
• Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership (PCOR)
• Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC)
• Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP)
• Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB)
• Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP)
• West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (WESTCARB)

This initiative, launched by DOE in 2003, forms the centerpiece of national efforts to develop the infrastructure and knowledge base needed to place carbon sequestration technologies on the path to commercialization. During the first phase of the program, the Partnerships characterized the potential for CO2 storage in deep oil-, gas-, coal-, and saline-bearing formations. In the program’s second phase, the Partnerships implemented a portfolio of small-scale geologic sequestration projects. The purpose of these tests was to validate that different geologic formations have the injectivity, containment, and storage effectiveness needed for long-term sequestration.

In Phase III, the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships are working to implement seven large-scale sequestration projects that will demonstrate the long-term, effective, and safe storage of CO2 in the major geologic formations throughout the United States and portions of Canada. This is a continuation of the 25 small-scale geologic storage tests that the Partnerships are implementing today. The locations of the large scale projects represent the major geologic basins throughout the United States and Canada. The tests will:

• Provide scientific data to validate the capacity estimates to within +30% for deep saline formations, where little data currently exists.
• Assess the effects of reservoir heterogeneity on the performance of the storage operations to contact the pore space and maintain injectivity.
• Validate the reservoir models against field data; implement mitigation strategies to reduce potential hazards; and verify the fate of the injected CO2 using the most advanced monitoring networks applied to date.
• Finally, these projects will demonstrate that the projects are representative of the regional geology to store the next 100 years of CO2 emissions generated from major point sources.

Large-scale field tests that have already been awarded are described in detail below [click on each link for more details about the Partnership]:

• Southwest Regional Partnership for Carbon Sequestration. The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology is working to demonstrate the storage of CO2 into the Jurassic Age sandstone formations which are present throughout the region from Wyoming to Northern New Mexico. These formations have relatively high porosity and permeability and exhibit thicknesses near 200 feet. The project will be injecting over two million tons over four years (up to one million tons per year) from a natural CO2 deposit and monitoring the CO2. The sandstones are overlain by several large deposits of shale. Some of the region has some inactive faults and fracturing throughout the region. The project will be using a variety of monitoring techniques to determine the impact of these features on the injection operations and integrity of the storage reservoirs.
• Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership. The Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) will inject CO2 into the Tuscaloosa Massive Sandstone at two different locations (~200 miles apart) to determine the effect of the heterogeneity of the formation on the injection operations and storage capacity. For the first stage of this test the SSEB is working with an oil and gas operator to inject one million tons of CO2 per year near an existing CO2 enhanced oil recovery field. The project will inject CO2 down dip of the oil field into the saline portion of the reservoir. Extensive monitoring, mitigation and verification (MMV) will be conducted to determine the fate of the CO2 as it moves in the saline formation. The second stage of this test will be coordinated with a major electric utility in the region who will construct a post-combustion CO2 capture plant at an existing coal-fired power plant. The CO2 will be injected below the power plant for up to six years. The project will compare the results between the sites to determine effects of heterogeneity on the operation’s capacity, and monitoring requirements at each site.
• Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership. The University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) is the largest of the seven regional partnerships and includes portions of Canada in the Partnership. Therefore, the project will implement two large-scale field tests to assess the storage potential available in the region. The EERC is working with the owner of the largest gas production plant in North America to inject 1.8 million tons of CO2 into a deep saline sandstone formation in the Alberta Basin in Northwest British Columbia, Canada. Over 15% of the gas will be hydrogen sulfide. The EERC is working with a major electric utility and oil and gas company in the Williston Basin to capture and inject up to one million tons of CO2 per year into the deep (>10,000ft) carbonate saline formation which is also an oil-bearing reservoir. These tests will demonstrate the availability of storage capacity in the region, the impacts on hydrogen sulfide and other contaminants on storage integrity and operations, and heterogeneity of several different injection locations on the fate of the CO2. The project will also assess the impacts of CO2 on the different reservoirs’ seals.
• Midwest (Illinois Basin) Geologic Sequestration Consortium. The Illinois State Geological Survey is working to develop a project in the center of Illinois with the Archer Daniels Midland Corporation. The project will inject one million tons of CO2 over three years into the Mount Simon sandstone formation which covers the entire region. The Mount Simon formation is an ideal storage formation in that it has relatively high permeability, porosity, and thickness (1500ft+). Very little characterization data is available on the Mount Simon formation. The Mount Simon formation is also overlain by several hundred feet of organic shale. The project is located at one of the thickest sections of the formation. The project will inject at the base of the Mount Simon formation to measure the effects of the layers of low and high permeability on the transport of CO2, and its ability to contact more pore space. This project will also demonstrate that the Mount Simon formation will be available as the predominant storage reservoir in the region. The project is working with Schlumberger and LLNL to test the most advanced monitoring technologies, industrial reservoir models, and more recent advancements in geochemical and reservoir models. CO2 from natural gas processing plants or natural vents may inject one million tons or more of CO2 per year, depending upon cost and availability.
• Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP) - The MRCSP, led by Battelle Memorial Laboratories, will demonstrate CO2 storage in the Mount Simon sandstone formation.  This geologic formation stretches from Kentucky through Ohio and has the potential to store more than 100 years of CO2 emissions from major point sources in the region. The MRCSP will inject approximately one million tons of CO2 from an ethanol production facility.  In this area of Ohio, the Mount Simon formation is approximately 3,000 feet deep.  The CO2 will be injected on the facility site, and MRCSP will be responsible for development of the infrastructure, operations, closure, and monitoring of the injected CO2.  The MRCSP covers Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan.
• West Coast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (WESTCARB) - The WESTCARB Partnership, led by the California Energy Commission, will conduct a geologic CO2 storage project in the San Joaquin Basin in Central California.  The project will inject one million tons of CO2 over four years into deep (7,000+ feet) geologic formations below a 50-megawatt, zero-emission power plant in Kimberlina, CA.  The Clean Energy Systems plant uses natural or synthesis gas in an oxyfuel system and produces a relatively pure stream of CO2.  This CO2 will be compressed and injected into one of a number of potential storage formations below the surface of the plant. WESTCARB will develop, operate, and close the injection site as well as monitor the fate of the injected CO2.  The WESTCARB Partnership includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, and British Columbia.
• Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership (Big Sky)   

  . The Big Sky Partnership, led by Montana State University-Bozeman, will conduct a large-volume test in the Nugget Sandstone formation to demonstrate the ability of a geologic formation to safely, permanently, and economically store more than two million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). The Big Sky Partnership’s large-volume injection test will be located at the Riley Ridge Unit on the LaBarge Platform in Southwest Wyoming. The project will demonstrate the entire CO2 injection process—pre-injection characterization, injection process monitoring, and post-injection monitoring—and provide the foundation for the future development of CO2 capture and storage opportunities in the region. Big Sky plans to drill a CO2 injection well and then inject up to one million tons per year of CO2 into the Nugget Sandstone formation at a depth of approximately 11,000 feet.  These eolian sandstone formations are present throughout the region and present the opportunity to store more than 100 years of CO2 emissions from point sources in the region. The CO2 for the project will be supplied by Cimarex Energy Company’s planned helium and natural gas processing plant at Riley Ridge.

The seven large-scale field tests are required to validate and improve model predictions of scientific behavior of injected carbon dioxide at scale, demonstrate the engineering and scientific processes for successfully implementing and validating long-term safe storage of sequestered carbon, and achieve cost-effective integration with power plant systems for capture, all within their respective regional constraints, be they geologic, economic, or political. The primary goal of the large-scale tests is the development of large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects across North America, where large volumes of CO2 will be injected into a geologic formation representative of relatively large storage capacity for each region. The injection will continue over several years at a scale representative of a typical power plant.  

ATLANTA, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Southern Company today announced plans to demonstrate carbon capture and sequestration on a coal-fired power generation plant to support the development of technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI), the Electric Power Research Institute and other partners, Southern Company will build a demonstration facility to capture carbon dioxide emissions from an existing unit of subsidiary Alabama Power’s Plant Barry near Mobile, Ala.

 Beginning in 2011, between 100,000 and 150,000 tons of CO2 per year - the equivalent of emissions from 25 megawatts of the plant’s generating capacity - would be captured for permanent underground storage in a deep saline geologic formation.

 The CO2 will be supplied to the DOE’s Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), which will transport it by pipeline from the plant and store it underground at a site within the area of the Citronelle Oil Field, about 10 miles from the plant, operated by Denbury Resources. The Southern States Energy Board is leading the SECARB effort.

 ”This project will help increase our knowledge of carbon capture and sequestration, technology we must demonstrate at a commercial level in the effort to reliably generate electricity using coal with reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” said David Ratcliffe, Southern Company chairman, president and CEO.

 ”The main challenge facing deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technology is demonstrating its effectiveness at a large scale,” Ratcliffe added. “Our involvement in this and other related projects is part of our commitment to be a leader in finding solutions that make technological, economic and environmental sense.”

 With carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), CO2 released during the combustion of coal would be separated from the flue gas, compressed, and then permanently sequestered - or stored - deep underground.

 The CO2 capture technology to be used in this project, called KM-CDR™, was jointly developed by MHI and the Kansai Electric Power Company Inc. It deploys an advanced amine-based solvent that reacts readily with CO2 in flue gas before being separated and compressed so that it is ready for pipeline transport.

 The MHI process offers improved performance and lower cost than other existing capture technologies. The process has been demonstrated at smaller scale at a coal-fired generating station in Japan, and is currently being deployed commercially on natural gas-fired systems around the world. This project represents the largest coal-fired demonstration of the technology.

 ”We are excited to be a partner in this important project that will help further the global goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions for the benefit of everyone,” said Shunichi Miyanaga, executive vice president and representative director general manager of MHI’s Machinery & Steel Structures Headquarters. “The confidence our partners have shown in the MHI CO2 capture technology is a testament to the research and development efforts we have undertaken during the past 20 years. Together with our partners, we are ready to deploy and demonstrate to the world the safety and viability of commercial-scale CCS.”

An important part of any CO2 sequestration project is site selection through geologic characterization and a robust program to monitor the injected CO2. Therefore, a thorough monitoring process will be deployed to map the movement of the sequestered CO2.

 Through this project and others, Southern Company and its partners seek to support the goal of better understanding the impacts of reducing CO2 emissions from electricity generation. The project in Alabama is designed to demonstrate start-to-finish CCS technology, an important step toward commercialization.

 Plant Barry, located in Bucks, Ala., has a total capacity of 2,525 megawatts and includes seven generating units — five coal-fired units and two natural gas-fired combined-cycle units.

 Southern Company, an industry leader in technology research and development, is working with the federal government and other partners in several major CCS research projects. In one, Southern Company subsidiary Mississippi Power’s Plant Daniel is the host site for a demonstration in which 3,000 tons of CO2 recently were injected into a deep saline rock formation 8,500 feet below ground. Monitoring of its movement deep in the ground and under multiple geological seals is now under way.

 With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

SOURCE: Southern Company

Economic Benefits from Advanced Coal Electric Generation

February 11, 2009

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The energy challenges our country faces are severe and have gone unaddressed for far too long. Our addiction to foreign oil doesn’t just undermine our national security and wreak havoc on our environment — it cripples our economy and strains the budgets of working families all across America. President Obama and Vice President Biden have a comprehensive plan to invest in alternative and renewable energy, end our addiction to foreign oil, address the global climate crisis and create millions of new jobs.

The Obama-Biden comprehensive New Energy for America plan will:

• Help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
• Within 10 years save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
• Put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015, cars that we will work to make sure are built here in America.
• Ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Energy Plan Overview

Provide Short-term Relief to American Families

• Crack Down on Excessive Energy Speculation.

Eliminate Our Current Imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 Years

• Increase Fuel Economy Standards.
• Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
• Create a New $7,000 Tax Credit for Purchasing Advanced Vehicles.
• Establish a National Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
• A “Use it or Lose It” Approach to Existing Oil and Gas Leases.
• Promote the Responsible Domestic Production of Oil and Natural Gas.

Create Millions of New Green Jobs

• Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
• Deploy the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Energy Source – Energy Efficiency.
• Weatherize One Million Homes Annually.
• Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology.
• Prioritize the Construction of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline.

Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050

• Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
• Make the U.S. a Leader on Climate Change.

Houston and St. Louis, Dec 16, 2008 - ConocoPhilips and Peabody Energy today announced the filing of an air permit with the Commonwealth of Kentucky to site a state-of-the-art coal-to-natural gas facility near Central City in Muhlenberg County. The filing is a major step toward advancing development of the project into the next phase of evaluation.

The facility, to be known as Kentucky NewGas, is expected to produce enough energy to provide for nearly three quarters of a million Midwest homes. If approved, the project could also re-energize the regional economy by creating 1,200 skilled jobs during a four year construction process, 500 long term jobs and nearly $100 million in regional economic benefits each year.

The state-of-the-art “mine mouth” gasification project would use ConocoPhillips proprietary E-Gas (TM) technology to produce clean synthesis gas - virtually free of impurities - that is transformed into clean burning natural gas. Kentucky NewGas will meet regulatory standards to protect the environment, including adoption of low emissions design criteria, anticipated to be less than 5% of the emissions of a comparable sized traditional coal plant.

Kentucky NewGas would be carbon storage ready. The technology is capable of capturing carbon dioxide that ultimately could be permanently stored or used for enhanced oil recovery. ConocoPhillips and Peabody also are funding research on carbon storage in Western Kentucky through a test well project directed by the Kentucky Geological Survey. 

As the global warming battle continues, look for “coal to fuel” projects to gain momentum.

By Jim Ostroff, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter,  Jan 9, 2009

Coal is likely to be a big winner in the new Obama administration. Over the next two years or so, look for Congress to provide several billion dollars for investments in research and development to commercialize processes that transform coal into motor fuels for autos, trucks and jets.

The federal funding initiative will be part of a concerted plan that earmarks incentives to boost alternative energy, including solar, wind and geothermal power. The effort will help the U.S. reduce carbon dioxide emissions and oil dependence. But the Obama plan also recognizes that it will take decades for alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels.

In the meantime, coal will be touted as one homegrown solution to ease U.S. reliance on oil imports, which now account for nearly two-thirds of daily usage. Within 20 years or so, look for coal plants to make up to 3 million barrels a day of gasoline and diesel fuel. Rocket science won’t be required. The technology to convert coal to motor fuel was developed by Germany during the 1930s and has been used for years by South Africa’s Sasol.

Part of the push behind coal-to-fuel projects is fear of oil supply disruptions or cutoffs in the U.S., China and elsewhere. Oilbound economies aren’t convinced that the recent collapse in oil prices to $40 a barrel and less should distract them from funding coal-derived fuels. Policymakers in those countries know that the break-even benchmark of $50 a barrel for oil will be reached and exceeded in coming years, once the economic morass ebbs.

The fight against global warming continues, especially a coming era of heightened initiatives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. But that won’t knock coal out of the box. To reduce harmful emissions, some carbon content of coal-derived fuels will be removed at the processing plant and stored permanently underground. Plus, the fuel will be blended with alcohols made from biomass to yield a mixture that emits lower levels of greenhouse gases than today’s motor fuels, says James Bartis, a senior policy researcher at Rand, a public policy think tank.

Ersatz fuel will help temper world oil prices by slowing the growth in demand. Meanwhile, the new coal fuel plants likely will be built in other coal-rich countries, including Australia, China, Germany, Russia and Slovakia. Coal-to-fuel processing plants will spur the creation of a new industrial sector, too. Within approximately 20 years, look for the coal fuel industry to generate more than $50 billion in sales.

Pentagon unveils new CTL technology development program

as reported by www.futurecoalfuels.org, Sept 17, 2008

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) earlier this month unveiled a new “aggressive” program designed to enable the Department of Defense “to effectively and economically” utilize U.S. coal reserves “as part of an overall strategy to ensure a secure future energy supply for our military services.”

In a Sept. 4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), DARPA emphasized that “the military’s reliance on fuels derived from foreign oil imports represents a vulnerability that could adversely affect our national security should a disruption in these sources occur,” thus necessitating the need for a program capable of accelerating the development and use of advanced coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels technology.

“Given the abundance of U.S. coal reserves, it is reasonable to assume that coal derived fuels could play an increased role in meeting future U.S. energy needs,” said DARPA.  “

Under the program, DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office will review proposals focused on short term projects capable of demonstrating the ability to reduce the cost of CTL plant construction, further reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve the water usage performance of CTL plants.

The agency is allotting approximately $4.5 million in funding to support successful demonstration projects.  Project proposals must be submitted to DARPA by Nov. 12, with the agency pledging to issue a consolidated question and answer response document after Sept. 30 to help guide those drafting proposals.