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CCS demonstration projects get go ahead in US but LA says no to coal

Two carbon capture and storage demonstration projects in the US are to receive $408 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), but Los Angeles pledges to eliminate coal power.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on Wednesday that Basin Electric Power Cooperative will receive $100 million to retrofit an ammonia-based scrubbing system to its existing power station North Dakota while Hydrogen Energy International LLC gets $308 million to put towards a new integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with full CCS in California.

“Today’s announcement represents a major step forward in the fight to reduce CO₂ emissions from coal-based power plants,” said Chu.

The Hydrogen Energy International LLC joint venture with BP Alternative Energy and Rio Tinto will design, construct and operate the IGCC plant, which will take coal/petroleum coke blend combined with non-potable water and convert it to hydrogen and CO₂. The hydrogen will be used to fuel a power station, while the CO₂, which will be separated using the methanol-based Rectisol process, will be stored in nearby oil fields.

Both systems should achieve 90% CO₂ removal, with the Basin Electric retrofit capturing 1 million tons a year and the Hydrogen Energy California Project more than 2 million tons a year.

“Both the DOE and Hydrogen Energy recognize that this project may become the model for new power generating facilities throughout the world,” says Lewis Gillies, chief executive of Hydrogen Energy International.

The announcement comes as part of the third round of the Department of Energy’s Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI), a cost-sharing collaboration between the Government and the private sector.

But as the federal government presses ahead with clean coal, the city of Los Angeles has announced that it plans to eliminate the use of electricity generated from coal in any form by 2020.

Although California does not have any coal-fired power plants, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that the largest city-owned utility Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will replace the 40% of electricity that it gets from out of state sources with renewables. The remainder will be made up of gas, nuclear and large hydroelectric power generation.

The utility currently generates around 76% of its electricity from coal and gas, but has pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 60% on 1990 levels by 2020. It is aiming to achieve 20% renewables by 2010.

For further information:
www.energy.gov/
www.recovery.gov/
www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/cleancoal/
www.basinelectric.com/
www.hydrogenenergy.com
www.ladwp.com/
mayor.lacity.org/index.htm

03 July 2009

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