Carbon capture and storage “stalling” in Europe, industry warns

Editor’s Note: Given that DOE expects CCS to raise the wholesale price of electricity by 70-80%, regulatory authorities may want to consult with consumers about what winning the “race” would mean to their economic future– or lack thereof.

From: BusinessGreen Plus

Succession of cancelled projects see EU fall behind North America and China in development of crucial carbon abatement technology

By Will Nichols

The carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry in Europe has “stalled”, with North America and China moving ahead in the race to develop a technology seen as vital to global emission reduction efforts.

Proposed Carbon Regulations For New Sources Continue To Meet Resistance

From: Jones Day

Article by Jennifer M. Hayes

Pursuant to new source performance standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) on January 8, any new fossil fuel-fired power plants commencing construction after that date will be required to meet new carbon emissions standards. The agency proposed one set of standards for gas-fired units and second pair of alternative standards for coal-fired units. Most new combined cycle gas-fired units already meet the proposed standard. By contrast, neither recently built nor recently proposed coal-fired units can meet the EPA’s proposed standard without using carbon capture and sequestration (“CCS”), a technology that some electric utilities are likely to assert has not yet been deployed cost-effectively on a commercial basis.

Unexpected issues delay Sask. carbon capture project

From: NewsTalk 650 CKOM

Boundary Dam Carbon Capture Project will not launch April 1

Reported by Bre McAdam

A carbon capture project in Saskatchewan will have to delay its expected  launch date because of some unexpected setbacks, according to the president and CEO of SaskPower.

It was expected to begin operations on April 1 as part of the Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan. Even though the carbon capture facility itself is built and ready to go, Robert Watson said the project was delayed after some surprise problems were discovered within the existing power unit.

Carbon Capture ‘poses Huge Gas Leak Risk’

From: The Press and Journal (Inverness)

BY RYAN CRIGHTON BUSINESS EDITOR

That would be equivalent to the annual exhaust fumes of 1.1million cars.

An environmental group said the papers revealed “some potentially major problems” but it was “reassured” that all but the worst-case scenarios could be dealt with.

A CCS project at Peterhead aims to capture carbon dioxide at the town’s power station then pump it into a depleted gas field.

But, last year, academics at Bristol University said using offshore oil and gas reservoirs “could have the potential to trigger earthquakes” and “reactivate faults and fractures”.

DOE: Coal Regs to Hike Price of Electricity ’70-80%’

From: cnsnews.com

By Matt Vespa

During the House hearing, “Department of Energy Oversight: Status of Clean Coal Programs,” Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) asked Dr. Julio Friedmann, the deputy assistant secretary for clean coal at the Department of Energy, about the additional costs carbon capture and storage technology would bring to coal plants.

“My generic question is pretty straightforward.  All of these carbon capture sequestration technologies – add cost to these coal plants could y’all give the committee, or the subcommittee, kind of a baseline estimate of how much it adds to the cost, does it double the cost, does it increase it by 25%, 50%, what’s the generic estimate?” Rep. Barton asked.

Southern Balks at Carbon Capture Requirement

From: Environmental Leader

Southern Co. has voiced opposition to a federal proposal to require new coal-fired power plants to capture their carbon emissions.

The company is building the nation’s only commercial carbon capture power plant.

At a public hearing at the EPA headquarters in Washington, industry representatives said the agency went too far in its proposed limits on carbon-dioxide emissions from new power plants, Businessweek reports.

The technology isn’t commercially available and doesn’t have the rules in place to govern its use, they said.

Read Complete Article

The Ominous Presence of an Environmental Industrial Alliance on GHG Control

 Editor’s  Note:  The CRE letter requesting that EPA conduct a structured peer review as mandated by the Data Quality Act is in  this letter to EPA on peer review ff

 CRE is reflecting upon on the strong opposition to its very straight forward proposal that EPA conduct a structured peer review  of the CCS  technology as mandated by the Data Quality Act. In our view we simply asked EPA to follow the law.  Why then the strong negative reaction to the CRE proposal?

Prospective carbon capture site lacks ceiling

From: Phys.org

by Geoff Vivian

Researchers’ early attempts to find a Perth Basin site to sequester carbon have detected a suitable porous aquifer, but they are yet to find a non-porous cap rock to contain it.

Curtin University geologist Hugo Olierook says saline water aquifers, in porous stone, are considered suitable for carbon capture and storage (CCS) if they have a layer of impermeable cap rock above.

He has been analysing the results of the Geological Survey of Western Australia’s core and wire line drilling at the “Harvey 1” well near Harvey in WA’s South West.