Approximately six million metric tons of CO2 has been sequestered since the project began in October 2000. The CO2 is expected to be permanently sequestered in the oil reservoir. to achieve near-zero emissions. It points toward a future when environmental concerns associated with coal utilization will all but disappear. FutureGen will employ coal gasification technology integrated with combined cycle electricity generation to create a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide that can be readily captured and stored deep in the Earth. It will “push the envelope” in exploring how to use coal in a less carbon-intense manner. In this way, FutureGen will be a “living prototype” capable of introducing future technology innovations into its design. CO2 Sequestration How can we be confident that carbon capture and storage is possible before the work of the regional partnerships and FutureGen is complete? Dakota Gasification Company, a subsidiary of 44
Basin Electric Power Cooperative in North Dakota, already is capturing CO2 and transporting it over two hundred miles in a pipeline for injection into depleted oil fields in Canada. The $2.1-billion Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah, N.D., is using the Lurgi gasification process to convert 18,000 tons of lignite into valuable gases and liquids. In the process, Dakota Gas sends some 95 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) of nearly 100 percent pure CO2 to the Weyburn oilfield in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the largest carbon-storage project in the world. Approximately six million metric tons of CO2 has been sequestered since the project began in October 2000. The CO2 is expected to be permanently sequestered in the oil reservoir. To assure that it remains sequestered, the reservoir is being monitored by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle A growing number of utilities are committing to develop integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants that will be able to produce concentrated streams of carbon dioxide for capture and storage. At the same time, Mississippi Power is blazing new trails and building an air-blown IGCC plant to generate electricity from
locally mined lignite. Most IGCC designs rely on the use of bituminous coals and require air separation units to introduce oxygen during the gasification process. What makes the Mississippi Power design unique is the commitment to use low-rank coals with their higher moisture and ash content, while avoiding the necessity of an air separation unit. This design could be an important innovation because lignite represents half the proven United States and worldwide coal reserves, and avoiding need for an air separation unit would increase the plant’s efficiency in terms of electricity produced from every Btu in coal. Retrofitting Traditional Pulverized Coal Units American Electric Power (AEP) plans to install carbon-capture equipment on two of its coal-fueled power plants. This move would make AEP the first utility to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-based power plants. This is important because this new technology may allow CO2 emissions to be reduced more efficiently and at lower costs, by retrofitting existing coal-fueled plants rather than limiting the deployment of CO2 emissions control technologies to new plants. AEP is partnering with ALSTOM Power to leverage post-combustion carbon-capamerican coal council