Clean Coal

Oxymoron or Key to Energy Independence?

Michelle Chesebro mjchesebro@sbcglobal.net

Current Coal Usage

50% of the energy in the U.S. is generated from coal More than 500 coalfired power plants in U.S. with average age of 35 years U.S. supplies of coal projected to last from 164 -250 years

Economics and Security of Supply

Coal is plentiful and cheap Coal is found in abundance in countries with stable governments
United States, India, China

MIT concluded that coal will continue to be used to meet the worlds energy needs in significant quantities.

Greenhouse Gases
Among fossil fuels, coal is the most carbon-intensive so electricity generated by coal produces high CO2 emissions U.S. coal-burning power plants contribute 1.5 billion tons per year of CO2 Globally, coal is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions

Chinas Contribution to Greenhouse Gases from CO2

International Energy Agency now predicts China will surpass the U.S. in CO2 emissions by 2009, 10 years earlier than previous projections China uses more coal than the U.S., the E.U. and Japan combined China is bringing new coal-fired power plants online almost every week

Proposed Solution
Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) can reduce CO2 emissions significantly while using coal to meet energy needs Components:

Initial Step: Coal Gasification

Coal put in gasifier with oxygen and steam where heat and pressure are used to form a synthetic gas, known as syngas CO2 can then be captured
Before combustion (IGCC) After combustion (Pulverized Coal plants)

Product: Syngas
Composition Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Potential Uses
Power Generation (IGCC) Fertilizers & Methanol Natural Gas Gasoline & Diesel Fuels (Fischer-Tropsch)

Post-Combustion Capture
Used in conventional pulverized coal-fired power (PC) plants that produce flue gases CO2 separated out from flue gas 80-95% captured (but low concentrations to begin with in flue gas)

Post-Combustion Process
Flue gas is passed through an absorber where a solvent removes most of the CO2 CO2-containing solvent goes to stripper and is heated to release the CO2 New process being used by American Electric Power: chilled ammonia used as solvent can process larger amounts of CO2, but requires less energy

Post Combustion

Pre-Combustion Capture
Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle (IGCC) technology Used in new power plants and well suited for high grade bituminous coal

90% of CO2 removed

IGCC Process
Coal gasification to produce syngas Syngas cooled and cleaned to remove particulates and other emissions Electricity generation
Syngas then combusted with air or oxygen to drive gas turbine Exhaust gases are heat exchanged with water/steam to drive steam turbine

By introducing steam between cooler and gas clean-up, CO converted to CO2 which can be captured and stored before combustion

IGCC Process

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Coal burned to produce syngas Syngas burned in combustor Hot gas drives gas turbines Cooling gas heats water Steam drives steam turbines

Competing Technologies
Because of the differences in coal type, a wide range of technologies will need to be deployed. We should not jump on the IGCC bandwagon too quickly for research & development $$$, but continue to fund a variety of options Clear preference for IGCC or SCPC (Super Critical Pulverized Coal) cannot be justified at this time

Comparison of IGCC and SCPC

Reasons to prefer IGCC
Potential tightening of air quality standards for other pollutants reduced by IGCC, such as SO2, NOx and mercury Likelihood of a future carbon charge Possible federal or state financial assistance for IGCC

Reasons to prefer SCPC

Near-term opportunity for higher efficiency Capability to use lower cost coals Ability to cycle the power plant more readily in response to grid conditions Confidence in reaching capacity factor/efficiency performance goals

Retrofitting Costs
Major technical modifications required regardless of which technology is used Based on todays engineering estimates, cost of retrofitting for IGCC appears to be cheaper than retrofitting for SCPC Variables
Timing and size of carbon charge Difference in retrofit cost

Very possible that old plants will just have to be bulldozed because retrofitting will prove to be cost-prohibitive

Another Option UCG

Underground Coal Gasification Addresses other environmental concerns associated with coal mining

Other Technologies
Oxygen fired pulverized coal combustion (more promising for lower quality coals)
Burning coal in oxygen-rich atmosphere to produce a pure stream of CO2

Chemical looping combustion

Continually looping two stage reaction process that provides two waste streams from coal combustion The first contains carbon dioxide and water, and the CO2 can be compressed for storage

Transport of Captured CO2

Compressed to supercritical fluid
Dense as liquid Gas-like viscosity

Transported through pipelines

Or further cooled and transported in marine tankers like LNG

Sequestration

Storage of Captured CO2

Deep geologic formations such as saline aquifers Depleted oil and natural gas fields Ocean
Dissolving CO2 deeper than mile Depositing liquefied CO2 on sea floor 2 miles down

Carbon Options

1. CO2 pumped into disused coal fields displaces methane which can be used as fuel 2. CO2 can be pumped into and stored safely in saline aquifers 3. CO2 pumped into oil fields helps maintain pressure, making extraction easier

Storage Concerns
Leakage presents an immediate hazard to humans and ecosystems (CO2 is an asphyxiant) Possibilities
Blow-out at injection well Slow leak through faulty well or ground fractures

Even slow leaks negate the benefit of burying the CO2 in the first place

Regulatory Framework for Storage

Must include:
Site selection Injection and surveillance Eventual transfer of liability to the government

The goal of energy independence cannot be allowed to trump global warming concerns. Even if a regulatory framework is developed for the U.S., who will be the global carbon police?

Status of CCS Projects

Current IGCC Projects used primarily for enhanced oil & gas recovery, not CO2 storage
Sleipner in Norway Weyburn in Canada In Salah in Algeria

Need large-scale demonstration before this can be considered a viable proposal Large-scale electricity generation proposed projects:
FutureGen in the U.S. ZeroGen in Australia A number of proposals in Europe and Canada

Price of Coal
Coal is plentiful and currently cheap because the health and environmental costs are borne by the public, not the industry But price will increase
Charge for CO2 emissions to account for health and environmental costs Deploying carbon capture and storage will increase price of coal-fired power by at least 50%, with some estimating twice that amount

Grandfathering Loophole
Utilities may be tempted to invest in new power plants without capture in the hope that these plants will be grandfathered in
Expectation of free CO2 allowances under future carbon emissions regulations Benefit when electricity prices increase as a result of a carbon control regime

Congress needs to close the loophole

Coal to Liquid
The bigger hurdle for energy independence is finding a replacement for gasoline. Other countries have used a process for turning coal into gasoline (Nazi Germany and the apartheid government of South Africa). Coal Gasifier Syngas Fischer-Tropsch Process
Syngas Reactor Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons cooled = liquid fuel

Concern Coal to Liquid (CTL) development has no near-term plan to capture any of the CO2 it produces. Until it does, using the label clean coal is inaccurate.

Liquid Fuel from Coal

Second approach direct coal liquefaction coal is pulverized and mixed with oil and hydrogen in a pressurized environment

CTL
CTL with carbon capture
Will be incredibly expensive and will require government subsidies If 85% of the CO2 is captured, the liquid fuel that is produced will have the same emissions as a gallon of regular diesel

CTL without carbon capture

May be economically viable without government subsidies Will be a disaster in terms of global warming

Concerns
Technological issues for both capture and sequestration are not trivial and we are still at least five to ten years away Any sequestration method still has the potential for leaks
Impact to human health high concentrations of CO2 causes loss of consciousness CO2 makes water in aquifers acidic enough to dissolve certain types of rocks releasing toxins that seep into drinking water Any leak at all reduces the benefits of carbon capture technology, because there is no way to recapture the leaked CO2 and store it again

Big Picture
Federal funding should continue so that we can learn more about the costs and risks of burying CO2 However, coal is the fuel of the past, not the future. (Jeff Goodell) Clean coal technology is not a long-term solution to Americas (or the worlds) energy problems.