Carbon Capture And Sequestration Technologies Research Articles

Carbonic anhydrase as a tool to mitigate global warming.

The global average temperature breaks the record every year, and this unprecedented speed at which it is unfolding is causing serious climate change which in turn impacts the lives of humans and other living organisms. Thus, it is imperative to take immediate action to limit global warming. Increased CO2 emission from the industrial sector that relies on fossil fuels is the major culprit. Mitigating global warming is an uphill battle that involves an integration of technologies such as switching to renewable energy, increasing the carbon sink capacity, and implementing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) on major sources of CO2 emissions. Among all these methods, CCS is globally accepted as a potential technology to address this climate change. CCS using carbonic anhydrase (CA) is gaining momentum due to its advantages over other conventional CCS technologies. CA is a metalloenzyme that catalyses a fundamental reaction for life, i.e. the interconversion of bicarbonate and protons from carbon dioxide and water. The practical application of CA requires stable CAs operating under harsh operational conditions. CAs from extremophilic microbes are the potential candidates for the sequestration of CO2 and conversion into useful by-products. The soluble free form of CA is expensive, unstable, and non-reusable in an industrial setup. Immobilization of CA on various support materials can provide a better alternative for application in the sequestration of CO2. The present review provides insight into several types of CAs, their distinctive characteristics, sources, and recent developments in CA immobilization strategies for application in CO2 sequestration.

Renewable energy, carbon capture & sequestration and hydrogen solutions as enabling technologies for reduced CO2 energy transition at a national level: an application to the 2030 Italian national energy scenarios

Globally, climate change, fossil fuel depletion and greenhouse emissions are fundamental problems requiring massive effort from the international scientific community to be addressed and solved. Following the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package (CEP) guidelines, the Italian Government has established challenging and tight objectives both on energy and climate matter to be targeted by 2030. Accordingly, research activities on different topics are carried out in Italy, looking at the installation of intermittent renewable energy systems (IRES), implementation of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) on existing power plants and hydrogen technology and infrastructure penetration for accomplishing the end-users demands. The optimal integration of the above-mentioned technologies is one of the most effective weapons to address these objectives. The paper investigates different energy scenarios for meeting the Italian National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) 2030 targets showing how the combined implementation of around +12 GW of IRES and +6 GW of electrolyzers compared to the national estimates simultaneously with the CCS of around 10 Mt of CO2 per year can reduce the CO2 emissions up to about 247 Mt/year. Thanks to the adoption of the well-established software platform EnergyPlan, the integration of IRES plants, CCS and hydrogen-based technologies have been explored, and the most successful results for concurrently reducing the impact of industrial, transport, residential and energy sectors and mitigating the greenhouse emissions substantially relies on the diversifications. Results show both the technical and economic convenience of a 2030 energy scenario which implements properly hydrogen, IRES and CCS penetration in the energy system, meeting the NECP 2030 targets and maintaining both the over-generation of the power plants below 5 TWh and the initial capital expenditure to be sustained for this scenario to occur below +80% compared to the 2019 energy scenario.

Carbon capture and storage in Saskatchewan: An analysis of communicative practices in a contested technology

Despite the recognition of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) as a credible technology for reducing emissions, its implementation has been stalled, partly due to the public's perception of the technology. The literature on CCS technology diffusion points to negative public perception of the technology as a barrier to implementation, and the role of media in that framing. Yet, there remains a gap in the knowledge of media framing of a successful CCS project. This study analyzes the Saskatchewan case, the first successful commercial scale CCS technology deployment in the world and finds that the media framing of CCS technology in Saskatchewan applied a narrative/storytelling approach by deploying metaphors that connected to local values, beliefs, and norms. Also, it notes certain conditions in Saskatchewan made it possible for some frames to be advanced while others were minimized, discounted, or absent altogether in the discussion. Applying the Socio-Political Evaluation of Energy Deployment (SPEED) framework, the study highlights the role of authoritative voices, mostly within Saskatchewan's political system in reframing CCS technology from uncertainty and risk into opportunity; minimizing and sometimes discounting or ignoring the negative frames that have been identified in previous studies as a barrier. It concludes that in Saskatchewan there was a trade-off in framing, where opportunities to advance frames that emphasize how CCS technology can support long term low carbon energy transition and climate change mitigation were missed. This study adds to the literature in that it analyzes a successful case of CCS technology deployment.

Review of Carbon Capture and Methane Production from Carbon Dioxide

In the last few decades, excessive greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere have led to significant climate change. Many approaches to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere have been developed, with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) techniques being identified as promising. Flue gas emissions that produce CO2 are currently being captured, sequestered, and used on a global scale. These techniques offer a viable way to encourage sustainability for the benefit of future generations. Finding ways to utilize flue gas emissions has received less attention from researchers in the past than CO2 capture and storage. Several problems also need to be resolved in the field of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology, including those relating to cost, storage capacity, and reservoir durability. Also covered in this research is the current carbon capture and sequestration technology. This study proposes a sustainable approach combining CCS and methane production with CO2 as a feedstock, making CCS technology more practicable. By generating renewable energy, this approach provides several benefits, including the reduction of CO2 emissions and increased energy security. The conversion of CO2 into methane is a recommended practice because of the many benefits of methane, which make it potentially useful for reducing pollution and promoting sustainability.

Multi-criteria optimisation of integrated power systems for low-environmental impact

ABSTRACT This paper presents a multi-criteria optimization of integrated power systems. Five power configurations that combines the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), gas turbine cycle (GTC), steam turbine cycle (STC), organic Rankine cycle (ORC), absorption refrigeration cycle (ARC), and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) as SOFC-GTC, SOFC-GT-STC, SOFC-GT-ST-ORC, SOFC-GT-ST-OR-ARC, and SOFC-GT-ST-OR-AR-CCS were proposed, modeled, and analyzed. The proposed plants were further subjected to the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) optimization with technical and socio-economic parameters as the decision criteria. Important results suggest that the power of the proposed systems are within 207–281 MW, while energy and exergy efficiencies are in the range of 42.93–58.13% and 42.49–57.54%, respectively. The exergy destruction rate is within 206–322.9 MW. Furthermore, SOFC-GT-ST-OR-AR-CCS that integrates all the investigated power cycles, including the carbon capture proposes a CO2 emission factor of 0.029 ton/MWh, as against 0.332–0.401 ton/MWh for the other configurations. Unit cost of energy (UCOE) for all systems are within $0.059–0.141 per kWh, with the SOFC-GT-ST-OR-AR-CCS having the highest UCOE. The cost of CO2 avoidance of $110 per ton of CO2 suggests the minimum carbon tax that will make SOFC-GT-ST-OR-AR-CCS economically competitive with the best configuration that is without carbon capture. Also, the carbon capture integrated power system has the least efficiency of 42.93% because a portion (73.5 MW) of the power generation was used in the carbon capture process. Nonetheless, the TOPSIS results suggest that at 0.7312, the SOFC-GT-ST-OR-AR-CCS is closest to the ideal solution, when compared to the other configurations which fall within 0.2238–0.7312. It is suggested that policies in Nigeria should promote (i) the integration of CCS technology in power generation; (ii) the retrofitting of simple cycle power plants with medium- and low-grade thermal power technologies; and (iii) dual-fuel power plants (natural gas and biomass) to harness the benefit of carbon neutrality in biomass and good energy density in natural gas.

Transition pathways towards a deep decarbonization energy system—A case study in Sichuan, China

China has set ambitious carbon emission reduction targets to combat climate change, however, there has been little scientific focus on the achievement of deep decarbonization at the provincial level. The contradiction between rapid economic development and increasing energy utilization exacerbates the difficulty of achieving this goal. Here, we explored the feasibility of fulfilling deep decarbonization in the energy system by 2050 in Sichuan, one of the leading provinces in economic growth in China. Three transition pathways sustained by imported electricity, biomass, and natural gas were developed and simulated using the EnergyPLAN model. All the pathways utilized local hydropower, wind power, and solar photovoltaic resources. These pathways were evaluated using multi-dimensional analysis considering energy self-sufficiency, environmental sustainability, and economic affordability. We found that the energy self-sufficiency rate of the 100% electricity pathway was less than 68%, whereas those of the other pathways were nearly 100%. The CO2 emission reduction differed by pathway, with 100% electricity achieving 91.52%, biomass achieving 90.48%, and natural gas achieving 58.17%. Moreover, all the pathways achieved zero direct CO2 emissions with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. From an economic perspective, the highest system cost, i.e. 1.3 times that of the reference system, appeared in the 100% electricity pathway after introducing CCS technology, and was comparable to the energy system costs of other provinces in 2050. The methods and results of this study can serve as a basis for facilitating decarbonization in any provincial energy system in the long term.

An intelligent platform for evaluating investment in low-emissions technology for clean power production under ETS policy

This study develops an investment decision making platform for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology using an artificial intelligent (AI) algorithm featuring an optimization via a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) formulation. This computational strategy offers a smart rapid investment decision evaluation of CCS technology through several economic-environmental-technical-policy (EETP) uncertainties. This is applied to a coal-fired power plant (PP) in Shenzhen, China. Historical (2019) and forecast (2030) operations are evaluated under dynamic and static carbon price regimes. Scenario 1 under dynamic carbon pricing exhibits a positive (sustainable) investment decision for CCS deployment at 28% net revenue gain of selling electricity. Scenarios 2–4 feature negative (unsustainable) investments for CCS technology at 44%, 7% and 66% net revenue loss, respectively. Carbon price is identified to be the dominant variable/uncertainty in recognizing the sustainability outcome of CCS investment followed by the combined market trends of coal and electricity prices. This current work demonstrates a computation approach for dealing with all the uncertainties at hand and is therefore necessary and critical for rational future investment decisions and operations in clean power production (as demonstrated in this PP + CCS context), suggesting the EETP objectives cannot be met without intelligent algorithmic operations. The present analysis exemplifies the trade-offs mainly between the cost of CO2 emission and the cost of PP operation with CCS. It can be used as an indicator on the energy transformation readiness based on current and forecast global conditions. This algorithmic approach can be generalized and extended to other cleaner power production processes and to alternative energy-based industrial symbiosis (IS), which collectively aims to mitigate the use of traditional fuel (i.e. coal) and subsequently stimulating a circular economy energy transition.

The water footprint of carbon capture and storage technologies

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is an important technology to reduce fossil CO2 emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Scenarios for CCS deployment consistent with global climate goals involve gigatonne-scale deployment of CCS within the next several decades. CCS technologies typically involve large water consumption during their energy-intensive capture process. Despite potential concerns, the water footprint of large-scale CCS adoption consistent with stringent climate change mitigation has not yet been explored. This study presents the water footprints (m3 water per tonne CO2 captured) of four prominent CCS technologies: Post-combustion CCS, Pre-combustion CCS, Direct Air CCS, and Bioenergy with CCS. Depending on technology, the water footprint of CCS ranges from 0.74 to 575 m3 H2O/tonne CO2. Bioenergy with CCS is the technology that has the highest water footprint per tonne CO2 captured, largely due to the high water requirements associated with transpiration. The widespread deployment of CCS to meet the 1.5 °C climate target would almost double anthropogenic water footprint. Consequently, this would likely exacerbate and create green and blue water scarcity conditions in many regions worldwide. Climate mitigation scenarios with a diversified portfolio of CCS technologies have lower impacts on water resources than scenarios relying mainly on one of them. The water footprint assessment of CCS is a crucial factor in evaluating these technologies. Water-scarce regions should prioritize water-efficient CCS technologies in their mitigation goals. In conclusion, the most water-efficient way to stabilize the Earth's climate is to rapidly decarbonize our energy systems and improve energy efficiency.

What Went Wrong? Learning from Three Decades of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Pilot and Demonstration Projects

The delivery of operational clean energy projects at scales, is essential for addressing climate change. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is among the most important clean technology, however, most CCS projects initiated in the past three decades have failed. This study statistically evaluates the reasons for this unfavourable outcome by estimating a hazard model for 263 CCS projects undertaken between 1995 and 2018. The results indicate that larger plant sizes increase the risk of CCS projects being terminated or put on hold; increasing capacity by 1Mt CO2/y increases the risk of failure by nearly 50%. We also examined the impact of technology push and market pull policies and found that existing support mechanisms have not been sufficient in mitigating the risks associated with project upscaling. CCS deployment at the gigaton scale depends on substantially reducing project risk while increasing expectations of financial returns. Gradual upscaling, increased policy support, particularly for demonstrations of the viability of CCS, while also building a market through carbon pricing would help remedy the current imbalance between risk and return. Increasing the expected payoffs for CCS so that hundreds of real projects are brought on-line will require the co-evolution of technology innovation, institutions, investment, and deployment strategy for CCS technology.

Green tax reforms with promotion of renewable energy sources and carbon capture and sequestration: Comparison of different alternatives

The need to decarbonize economic production processes is undeniable and has been considered by most countries worldwide. Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technologies appear among the most promising routes to the decarbonization process. We propose an equilibrium model where final-goods production uses labor and energy, and energy is generated using non-polluting RES and polluting fossil fuels. The government implements a Green Tax Reform (GTR), where it imposes a tax on emissions and uses revenues to finance subsidies to RES and support to CCS technologies. We test how results change according to the priority given to RES or to CCS support. Our results show that prioritizing RES support achieves better economic results and potentially also better environmental results. Overall, our empirical simulation demonstrates that resource substitution has a stronger benefit than decarbonizing fossil fuels.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

This chapter examines U.S. laws applicable to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and identifies reforms that will be necessary for CCS to operate as a viable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions control strategy domestically. In the U.S., few, if any, new coal-fired power plants are some have been designed to facilitate economical retrofitting. In September 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to limit GHG emissions from use of CCS at some new plants. President Obama has directed EPA to propose a rule by 2014 to limit GHG emissions from existing plants. U.S. policy on CCS is potentially critical to its adoption as an emissions control strategy in other countries, as well. Adoption of CCS by high GHG-emitting countries such as China and India may require effective demonstration of both the capture technology and sequestration at commercial scale in the U.S. China has taken steps towards developing CCS technology, but more widespread adoption of CCS globally may be facilitated or accelerated by its development at commercial scale in the U.S.

Sensitivity and Techno-Economic Analysis of Leading Oxy-Combustion Power Cycles with Full Carbon Capture: NetPower and Supercritical CES

The increasing concern on climate change has led to global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) in the environment. It appears that by far the largest contribution to the greenhouse effect stems from emissions of carbon dioxide CO2. A large part of the CO2 emission are produced by the combustion of fossil fuels in conventional power plants and industrial processes. However, the Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technologies have been developed to minimise the CO2 emission to the atmosphere. Three main capture technologies (pre-combustion, post-combustion and oxy-fuel combustion) have been mainly developed for solid fuels (e.g., coal, biomass) combustion systems. However, there are many gas-fired power plants and industrial process burning natural gas as a cleaner fuel. Natural gas has the lowest CO2 emissions per unit of energy of all fossil fuels at about 14 kg C/GJ, compared to oil with about 20 kg C/GJ and coal with about 25 kg C/GJ. Although gas-fired plants emit less CO2 but still to achieve the environmental goals of the Paris Agreement it is essential to develop CCS technologies for the growing gas-fired systems. Among the available technologies, turbine-based oxy-combustion cycles (Oxyturbine cycles) are one of the most suitable carbon capture technologies for the gas-fired power plants. In this technology, natural gas is burned with pure oxygen, and temperature moderation is done by Flue Gas Recirculation (FGR) so that the exhaust gas includes mainly CO2 and water vapour ready for sequestration and storage. Recent developments in oxy-combustion technology have reduced the cost of capture and made it competitive with post- combustion technology. Several oxyturbine cycles have been introduced by means of thermodynamic analysis. However, only NetPower and Supercritical CES cycles have recently proceeded to the demonstration phase. The NetPower cycle recirculates only carbon dioxide as the working fluid, and the Supercritical CES cycle uses water as its working fluid. The Supercritical CES cycle that has best efficiency among other type of CES cycles includes high, medium and low-pressure turbines (HP, MP, and LP) and the exhaust gas from the high-pressure turbine is reheated and expanded in an MP and LP. Pure oxygen is produced in an Air Separation Unit (ASU) and directly inject into the combustion chamber. The NetPower cycle includes a single turbine with high inlet pressure and a main multi-stream heat exchanger. Pure oxygen is produced in the ASU and mixed with the recycled carbon dioxide, before being introducing to the combustion chamber. Both cycles include recycling loops and carbon dioxide purification sections. These novel cycles reduce the cost for power generation with complete CO2 capture and sequestration with nearly zero emission. In this paper, The NetPower and Supercritical CES Cycles are investigated by means of process simulation and the technologies and utilised facilities compared using sensitivity analysis. Both cycles are simulated with Aspen Plus software with the same initial conditions, and the simulation results are compared with IEA 2015 report for validation. The sensitivity of both cycles are analysed with respect to the Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT), Combustion Outlet Pressure (COP) and Heat Exchanger Approach Temperature (HET). The efficiencies are extracted for both the NetPower and CES cycles, and partial load behaviour of the cycles are investigated. The initial results show that the NetPower cycle is more sensitive to the Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT) variations in comparison with S-CES cycle. The results of this paper provide a platform for a comprehensive techno-economical and sensitivity analysis of the NetPower and Supercritical CES Cycles as the leading Oxy-combustion power cycles with full carbon capture.

Technical and economic analysis of amine-based carbon capture and sequestration at coal-fired power plants

This study assesses the overall cost of a typical 600 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant using amine adsorption Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), which is a relatively mature CCS technology. Both newly constructed and existing power plants are considered in this analysis. The existing power plants, which are the most representative coal-fired power plants in China, are grouped into three scenarios based on whether they perform desulfurization and their desulfurization rates. An Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) is used to conduct the simulation and calculations for the three scenarios. This study reveals that the CO2 capture cost for a newly constructed power plant is 150 yuan/t, whereas, for an existing CCS retrofitted power plant, this cost ranges from 162 to 185 yuan/t. Furthermore, the avoided CO2 cost ranges from 258 to 350 yuan/t for the three scenarios considered in this analysis. The simulation results also reveal that the sulfur concentration in the exhaust gases of a power plant has an especially critical impact on the capture and electricity generation costs. Controlling the sulfur concentration in the exhaust gases is therefore an important measure for reducing the CCS capture cost. As CCS requires large initial capital investments, the influences of some financial parameters are assessed. The uncertainty analysis shows that as depreciation increases from 0.12 to 0.20, the average cost of avoided CO2 increases from 214 yuan/t to 517 yuan/t, which shows that the depreciation rate plays an important role in the economic assessment of carbon costs.

Carbon capture and sequestration potential in India: A comprehensive review

Concerns due to anthropogenically forced climate change owing to emissions of CO2 are now well accepted and have resulted in several initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions. The U.N. panel (IPCC) in its latest report indicated that to contain warming at 1.5 °C, manmade global net CO2 emissions would need to fall by about 45 % by 2030 from 2010 levels and reach ‘net zero’ by 2050. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology is a process of capturing waste CO2 from large point sources, such as fossil fuel stations, so that it will not enter the atmosphere. CCS is seen a crucial climate protection technology for coal-rich countries like India having potential in massively reducing CO2 emission as compared to any other existing technology. As third largest producer of coal and fourth largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter, India’s total emissions are 7% of global emissions and is increasing at 4.5% per annum. India’s current and expected future emissions are sufficiently massive to have an adverse effect on global mitigation efforts. The IPCC studied that without CCS, the price of achieving long-run climate goals is almost 140% more expensive. However, India has been taking a cautious approach towards CCS technology due to various factors. The paper discusses on the challenges of CCS in India and a roadmap for the successful implementation of CCS in India.

The economics of CCS: Why have CCS technologies not had an international breakthrough?

Eleven years on since the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its efforts in combating climate change, fossil fuels remain the most dominant global energy source. As the total replacement of fossil fuel energy is not expected to take place immediately in the near future, the International Energy Agency has repeatedly declared carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) as a key technology for mitigating climate change. However, CCS lacks the scale required for substantial reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel power generation. Even though CCS is one of the key technologies for mitigating climate change, why has this technology not had an international breakthrough? To shed light on this question, this paper employs a simple model of energy generation, scrutinizes the economic drivers of CCS based on the analytical results, and discusses the possible obstacles that can prevent a widespread rollout of the technology. This is followed by a state-of-the-art in literature pertaining to the economics of CCS, and a discussion that points to a dichotomy between the economic theory and reality. The study concludes with some policy suggestions and directions for future research.

The Grand Challenge of Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is designed to reduce atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The CCS process captures carbon dioxide (CO2) generated at large-scale industrial sources (power plants, refineries, gasification facilities, etc.) and transports it to an injection site to be permanently stored in the subsurface. With extensive research linking GHG concentrations in the atmosphere to observed changes in global temperature patterns, CCS technology could play an important role in policy efforts to limit the global average temperature rise. Even with the wealth of experience already in place within the oil and gas industry, the obstacles to advancing CCS to the forefront of GHG mitigation technologies remain significant. Large-scale CO2 injection projects remain primarily in the realm of commercial CO2-EOR (enhanced oil recovery) projects. The key challenges to enabling CCS include cost-effective capture and transport of industrial CO2, clear access to pore space for CO2 storage in geologic formations, proven methodologies for demonstrating storage integrity, and dissemination of best practices. SPE members can play a significant role in addressing these challenges. Cost-Effective Capture of Power Sector and Industrial CO2 A major technical challenge facing capture at electric generating facilities is that the CO2 concentration in large-volume flue streams is quite low. Current removal technologies include techniques that apply amines, chilled ammonia, membranes, and ionic liquids to strip the CO2 from the flue stream. However, these technologies were developed to handle smaller-scale operations and higher-CO2-purity streams. When applied to large electric generating plants, process efficiency is reduced, and the energy penalty associated with the capture process drives up costs, increasing the levelized cost of electricity by 50% or more, depending on local factors. Also, to accommodate the substantial volumes of the CO2 and flue gas at full-scale industrial sources, the removal technologies require significant scale up and footprint for deployment. While early movers are developing large-scale capture demonstrations such as SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Project, Southern Company’s Kemper Energy Facility (Fig. 1), and NRG’s Petro Nova Facility, we are still very early on the “learning curve.” Support for more development of next-generation capture technologies and large demonstrations is required to push us down the cost curve. This involves reducing the cost of materials and construction, parasitic costs related to energy for operations, compression, and operation and maintenance costs.

Investors and Stranded Asset Risk: Evidence from Shareholder Responses to Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Events

As evidence for climate change mounts, the case gets stronger for not developing a large portion of existing fossil fuel reserves, particularly for coal as the highest emitter of CO2 per unit of energy produced. To avoid catastrophic climate change effects, reserves may become unburnable (i.e. “stranded assets”) posing significant risk to fossil fuel investors. Technology in the past has come to the rescue, so investor valuations may depend on investor perceptions for the success of technology in reducing stranded asset risk. We examine whether coal company shareholders perceive coal as such a technologically stranded asset by studying shareholder reactions to news about CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) technology breakthroughs and setbacks. We find a significant positive stock price reaction to CCS breakthroughs, but no reaction for CCS setbacks. The results suggest that investors have embedded stranded asset risk into their valuations, but also recognize the significance of CCS technology development and deployment for the economic prospects of the coal industry.

Deployment of a Geographical Information System Life Cycle Assessment Integrated Framework for Exploring the Opportunities and Challenges of Enhanced Oil Recovery Using Industrial CO2 Supply in the United States

This paper integrated the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach with a geographical information system (GIS) in order to compare greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process, utilizing carbon dioxide (CO2) from three industrial pathways. Pathway 1 is a corn-based ethanol plant with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), while pathways 2 and 3 are coal-fired and natural gas-fired power plants, respectively, with amine-based postcombustion CCS technology. The pathways were compared to a conventional crude recovery, transport, refinement, and end-use combustion baseline, which had net GHG emissions of 0.47 tCO2-e/bbl. Overall, net GHG emissions from pathways 1, 2, and 3 were lower than in the baseline case. In this LCA study, the system expansion approach was applied and the results indicated that ethanol-based CCS-EOR was notably the better alternative. However, the CO2 supply from ethanol plants is limited; they would have the capacity to produce only about 25 000 bbl/d, compar...

Proyectos CCS en el sector energético: desasfios y oportunidades

It is now recognized that this planet and the humanity are under serious threat of global warming, In the global fight against climate change, the development of low-carbon technology is a vital component to reduce future carbon emissions. Global energy model dependent on oil, coal and gas, the burning of these fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, the main responsible of this warming. Climate change is a serious threat, its impacts are already visible, and there is an urgent task to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades to prevent serious economic and social impacts. The Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), is one of the three major pathways for reducing atmospheric concentration of CO2, the other two pathways are Lowering intensities through improved efficiency and conservation, and Switching to low or no carbon fuels, such as renewable or nuclear. The CCS technology to sequester or stores the CO2, from the burning of fossil fuels, in secure reservoirs other than the atmosphere, such as the oceans, under geological formations. It has become part of a research and development initiative promoted by some Governments and industries around the world. This paper provides an overview of the role that will play the CCS in the energy sector, we discuss about the current Global activity, the LSIPs (integrated large-scale projects), and their SWOT analysis. In addition we consider the inclusion as CDM (clean development mechanism), this global trend of environmental responsibility represents a unique opportunity for developing countries to implement actions that increase the competitiveness of them, and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Study of Gas-steam Combined Cycle Power Plants Integrated with MCFC for Carbon Dioxide Capture

In the field of fossil-fuel based technologies, natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) power plants are currently the best option for electricity generation, having an efficiency close to 60%. However, they produce significant CO2 emissions, amounting to around 0.4 tonne/MWh for new installations. Among the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies, the process based on chemical absorption is a well-established technology, but markedly reduces the NGCC performances. On the other side, the integration of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) is recognized as an attractive option to overcome the main drawbacks of traditional CCS technologies. If the cathode side is fed by NGCC exhaust gases, the MCFC operates as a CO2 concentrator, beside providing an additional generating capacity.In this paper the integration of MCFC into a two pressure levels combined cycle is investigated through an energy analysis. To improve the efficiency of MCFC and its integration within the NGCC, plant configurations based on two different gas recirculation options are analyzed. The first is a traditional recirculation of exhaust gases at the compressor inlet; the second, mainly involving the MCFC stack, is based on recirculating a fraction of anode exhaust gases at the cathode inlet. Effects of MCFC operating conditions on energy and environmental performances of the integrated system are evaluated.