Australia and China partner to develop carbon capture and storage technologies
Australia and China have signed a partnership agreement that will pave the way for the installation of a post combustion capture pilot plant in Beijing next year. The collaboration is a first step towards the development of 'clean coal' technologies that capture and store carbon. The pilot plant will be installed at the Huaneng Beijing Co-generation Power Plant, owned by the China Huaneng Group, a state-owned energy enterprise. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national science agency, is the partner.
Biopact tracks developments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, because they can be applied to biofuels. Such 'bio-energy with carbon storage' (BECS) systems result in the production of carbon-negative energy - the only energy system capable of doing so. Contrary to nuclear or renewables like wind or solar, BECS actually takes emissions from the past out of the atmosphere. Scientists have looked at BECS in the context of 'abrupt climate change', as the most feasible way of radically reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (previous post). If implemented on a global scale, BECS can take us back to pre-industrial CO2 levels by mid-century (earlier post, here and here).
The agreement between CSIRO and the China Huaneng Group involves post combustion capture (PCC), a process that captures CO2 from power station flue gases (more here on pre-combustion capture). PCC is seen as one of the key technologies that can potentially reduce CO2 emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent.
The PCC process (image, click to enlarge) involves four steps:
Researchers at CSIRO have already developed a transportable pilot plant that can be coupled to different types of power stations (for example for brown or black-coal-fired) to test different solvents:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: coal :: carbon capture and storage :: bio-energy with carbon storage :: geosequestration :: Australia :: China ::
The installation of the PCC pilot plant in Beijing forms part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate initiative (AP6) which first announced funding for PCC research in November 2006. Low-emission energy generation is a key research area for CSIRO and is important for China, a country that relies on coal to supply 80 per cent of its energy needs.
The AP6 program for PCC also includes a pilot plant installation at Delta Electricity’s Munmorah power station on the NSW Central Coast, with additional Australian sites currently under negotiation for PCC installation and demonstration.
PCC research in Australia is also taking place outside the scope of the AP6 program with the announcement of the Latrobe Valley post combustion capture project – a A$5.6 million endeavour that focuses on the reduction of emissions from brown coal power stations.
Top image: A post combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant at CSIRO Energy Technology’s Newcastle site. Credit: CSIRO.
References:
CSIRO: Australia and China partner for a low-emission energy future - September 6, 2007.
CSIRO: Rolling out low emission technology using post combustion capture research - s.d.
CSIRO: Post combustion capture (PCC), factsheet.
Biopact: Abrupt Climate Change and geo-engineering the planet with carbon-negative bioenergy - December 21, 2006
Biopact: Biopact to chair Sparks & Flames conference panel on carbon-negative biofuels - August 08, 2007
Biopact tracks developments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, because they can be applied to biofuels. Such 'bio-energy with carbon storage' (BECS) systems result in the production of carbon-negative energy - the only energy system capable of doing so. Contrary to nuclear or renewables like wind or solar, BECS actually takes emissions from the past out of the atmosphere. Scientists have looked at BECS in the context of 'abrupt climate change', as the most feasible way of radically reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (previous post). If implemented on a global scale, BECS can take us back to pre-industrial CO2 levels by mid-century (earlier post, here and here).
The agreement between CSIRO and the China Huaneng Group involves post combustion capture (PCC), a process that captures CO2 from power station flue gases (more here on pre-combustion capture). PCC is seen as one of the key technologies that can potentially reduce CO2 emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent.
The PCC process (image, click to enlarge) involves four steps:
- pre-cooling the flue gas
- capturing the CO2 using water-based solvent
- low-temperature stripping the CO2 from the solvent
- compressing and liquefying the stripped CO2
Researchers at CSIRO have already developed a transportable pilot plant that can be coupled to different types of power stations (for example for brown or black-coal-fired) to test different solvents:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: coal :: carbon capture and storage :: bio-energy with carbon storage :: geosequestration :: Australia :: China ::
The installation of the PCC pilot plant in Beijing forms part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate initiative (AP6) which first announced funding for PCC research in November 2006. Low-emission energy generation is a key research area for CSIRO and is important for China, a country that relies on coal to supply 80 per cent of its energy needs.
China is a nation undergoing an immense period of growth and energy security and supply is vital to support this process. With issues such as climate change at the front of our minds, this research – and the development of a diverse range of low-emission energy technologies – is now more important than ever. This is a priority for both CSIRO and the China Huaneng Group. - CSIRO Chief Executive, Dr Geoff GarrettCSIRO has been working on collaborative projects with China for over 30 years, in areas as diverse as minerals and mining technology, plantation forestry, environmental sustainability, and crop science.
The AP6 program for PCC also includes a pilot plant installation at Delta Electricity’s Munmorah power station on the NSW Central Coast, with additional Australian sites currently under negotiation for PCC installation and demonstration.
PCC research in Australia is also taking place outside the scope of the AP6 program with the announcement of the Latrobe Valley post combustion capture project – a A$5.6 million endeavour that focuses on the reduction of emissions from brown coal power stations.
Top image: A post combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant at CSIRO Energy Technology’s Newcastle site. Credit: CSIRO.
References:
CSIRO: Australia and China partner for a low-emission energy future - September 6, 2007.
CSIRO: Rolling out low emission technology using post combustion capture research - s.d.
CSIRO: Post combustion capture (PCC), factsheet.
Biopact: Abrupt Climate Change and geo-engineering the planet with carbon-negative bioenergy - December 21, 2006
Biopact: Biopact to chair Sparks & Flames conference panel on carbon-negative biofuels - August 08, 2007
2 Comments:
This is good. Now convince them to use biocoal in their reactors.
Well, just make sure to re-route the inscriptions.
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