Carbon Capture & Storage
Feds Give Carbon Capture $1 Billion
Carbon capture and storage technology, an idea touted by the Obama administration as a promising way to cut carbon emissions, but largely untested for large-scale base-load power plants, received a major boost recently with $1 billion in public and private funds.
Steven Chu
Three projects, located in Texas, Illinois and Louisiana, will use the funds to test large-scale industrial carbon capture and storage, which federal officials see as an important step in moving the technology toward eventual commercial deployment.
The funds come from a combination of $612 million in federal stimulus money and $368 million from private sector money. The three projects were among a group of 12 that received stimulus funds last fall and were selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to continue their work.
“Capturing carbon emissions and storing them underground is a crucial technology as we build a clean energy future and address the threat of climate change,” said DOE Secretary Steven Chu in a June 10 announcement. “These investments will create jobs and help ensure that America can lead the world in the clean energy economy.”
The projects will aim to store carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources until the demonstration period ends in September 2015. Carbon dioxide will be stored in either a deep saline formation or through enhanced oil recovery. DOE expects the projects to capture and store 6.5 million tons of carbon dioxide per year—the equivalent of removing nearly 1 million cars from the road—and increase oil production by more than 10 million barrels per year.
The awardees are Leucadia Energy, LLC, Lake Charles, La.; Air Products & Chemicals Inc., Port Arthur, Texas; and Archer Daniels Midland Corp., Decatur, Ill.
Demonstration of carbon capture and storage technology is being studied in co-op territory. Basin Electric Power Co-op, Bismarck, N.D., has received $400 million in financial commitments from the Department of Agriculture and DOE to develop the Antelope Valley Station demonstration project in which carbon dioxide would be funneled through an existing pipeline and then shipped to Canada for enhanced oil recovery.