U.S. DOE Plans CO2 Capture Training Simulator

Washington, DC — A new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cooperative research and development agreement to develop, test, and deploy a dynamic simulator and operator training system (OTS) could eventually help commercialize important carbon capture technologies at the nation’s power plants.

The high-fidelity, real-time OTS for a generic supercritical once-through (SCOT) pulverized-coal power plant will be installed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) Advanced Virtual Energy Simulation Training and Research (AVESTAR) Center in Morgantown, W.Va. It will be used for collaborative research, industry workforce training, and engineering education on SCOT plant operations and control under the agreement signed with Invensys Operations Management.

The SCOT dynamic model will be designed to include all process- and heat-integration connections to post-combustion CO2-capture, -compression, and -utilization processes, allowing it to serve as the baseline power plant model for DOE’s Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative (CCSI). The NETL-led CCSI is a partnership among national laboratories, industry, and academic institutions geared toward developing and deploying state-of-the-art computational modeling and simulation tools to accelerate the commercialization and widespread use of carbon-capture technologies at the nation’s power plants. By developing effective strategies for the operation and control of carbon-capture technologies, CCSI is expected to have a significant impact on the extent and rate at which commercial-scale capture processes will be scaled-up, deployed, and used.　

Working in collaboration with NETL, Invensys will develop the SCOT dynamic simulator/OTS using Invensys’ SimSci-Esscor® DYNSIM® dynamic simulation software and Wonderware® InTouch® operator training interface software . NETL and Invensys previously collaborated on the high-fidelity, full-scope, real-time dynamic simulator/OTS for an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant with CO2 capture that is currently deployed at the AVESTAR Center. The IGCC dynamic simulator also utilizes Invensys Operations Management’s software, ensuring that both simulators will efficiently coexist on the AVESTAR computer hardware.

The SCOT dynamic simulator developed under this agreement will enable the AVESTAR Center to provide a virtual test bed for optimizing the operation and control of post-combustion CO2-capture technologies. Ultimately, the collaborative research conducted through this partnership will be used to accelerate progress toward achieving operational excellence for SCOT pulverized-coal power plants with carbon capture.

Source: DOE

North Dakota - Minnesota Legal Fight Update

A federal judge reportedly has ruled that environmental groups cannot be parties to the legal fight between North Dakota and Minnesota over coal-fired power plants. Seven environmental groups had petitioned to join the action brought by North Dakota's attorney general and several coal-related groups to invalidate a 2007 Minnesota law known as the Next Generation Energy Act that limits imports of electricity from new coal-fired power plants in other states to discourage new sources of carbon dioxide. North Dakota, with huge reserves of lignite coal, claims the law violates the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause and federal law. More

Cenovus to Buy SaskPower's CO2 for EOR

SaskPower, Saskatchewan's electric utility, announced last week that it has reached an agreement with Cenovus Energy for the purchase of carbon dioxide (CO2) from SaskPower’s carbon capture and storage facility now under construction at Boundary Dam Power Station, near Estevan, Saskatchewan.

Cenovus will purchase the full volume, approximately one million tonnes per year, of the CO2 captured at SaskPower’s facility and use it for enhanced oil recovery at a project operated by Cenovus on behalf of its partners near Weyburn, Saskatchewan. SaskPower’s facility is the world’s first and largest coal-fired integrated carbon capture and storage project.

The long-term contract with Cenovus was signed at the completion of an extensive sales process. Cenovus expects to be ready to accept the CO2 when SaskPower’s integrated carbon capture and storage facility goes into commercial operation on or about April 1, 2014.

Source: SaskPower

California CO2 Permit Auction Update

Source: California Air Resources Board.
Note: Fuel distributors include wholesale natural gas and gasoline suppliers.

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At the first California Air Resources Board (CARB) auction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions permits for itscap-and-trade program in mid-November, prices for year-2013 emissions permits were at or near the $10 per ton minimum price. At a $10 permit price, the roughly 150 million metric tons of emissions covered by the program in 2013 have an implicit gross valuation of about $1.5 billion. However, since a significant share of 2013 permits are being distributed to distribution utilities and emitters without charge, impacts on the cost of energy to California consumers will be only a small fraction of the gross permit valuation. By way of comparison, California consumers across all sectors spent roughly $117 billion on energy in 2010, the latest year for which complete data are available, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

In the auction CARB sold all of the 23.1 million allowances for 2013 vintage at a settlement price of $10.09 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). For the 2015 vintage, about 5.5 million of the nearly 40 million allowances sold at a clearing price of $10.00 per ton of CO₂e. The auction reserve price–defined as the minimum allowance required to bid in the auction–was $10 per ton of CO₂e for both vintages. The fact that the auction clearing price was close to the price floor indicates that demand for allowances was modest and market participants were confident they could obtain the required allowances to meet the cap.

Emissions permits serve as an additional input cost proportional to the CO₂e emitted by the entity responsible for the emissions. The cost associated with obtaining emissions permits has the potential to decrease the profit margin from a covered entity and raise the cost of energy from GHG-intensive fuels relative to other sources.

The cap-and-trade program covers several GHGs, with CO₂ being the most significant. For the first two years (2013-2014), only electric power plants supplying power to California and industrial facilities in the state with historic CO₂e emissions greater than 25,000 metric tons are required to comply. The cap expands to include fuel distributors (such as wholesale natural gas and gasoline suppliers) over the next two compliance periods. Electric power plants importing power into Calfornia are required to comply with the cap regardless of their historic emissions level.

California imports a significant portion of its electricity from neighboring states. Power plants outside of California that sell a portion of the electricity they generate to California are subject to the cap, but only for the amount of electricity sold to California.

The Cap and Trade program intends to limit GHG emissions to an annual target of 427 million metric tons (mmt) of CO₂e from all sectors by 2020. This limit was established to help California meet the overall goals set by the state legislature to reduce statewide CO2e emissions from covered entities to the 1990 level. Most, but not all, of these emissions will eventually be covered by the cap-and-trade program.

According to the most recent California GHG Inventory (2009 data), the transportation sector was the largest source of GHG emissions in the state, followed by electricity, industrial, and residential and commercial fuel use.

To comply with the cap, the program requires all facilities to submit emissions allowance permits for each ton of emissions they produce. More than 50% of the permits will be initially distributed through auctions. Approximately 25% will be allocated to electrical distribution companies, who are required to sell their allowances to facilities covered by the rule and use the proceeds to credit ratepayers. The rest of the allowances are allocated to trade-sensitive industries as defined by the regulation as well as a market reserve fund that would be used to stabilize allowance prices.

The California cap-and-trade program is not the first mandatory cap-and-trade program for GHG in the United States. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has been in effect in the northeastern United States since 2009, but it only applies to the electric power sector.

Source: EIA

U.S. DOE Releases CO2 Storage Atlas Update

Washington, D.C.— The United States has at least 2,400 billion metric tons of possible carbon dioxide (CO2) storage resource in saline formations, oil and gas reservoirs, and unmineable coal seams, according to a new U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) publication.

This resource could potentially store hundreds of years’ worth of industrial greenhouse gas emissions, permanently preventing their release into the atmosphere, says the 2012 edition of the Carbon Utilization and Storage Atlas (Atlas IV). Capturing CO2 emissions from large power and industrial plants and putting it to beneficial use or storing it in deep geologic formations is a key element in national efforts to mitigate climate change.

Of particular importance is that over 280 billion metric tons of storage capacity has been identified in depleted oil and gas fields (including unconventional gas sources) which could accommodate storage of several decades of emission from stationary sources while simultaneously improving the energy security of the United States by enhancing oil and gas recovery.

Atlas IV was created by the Office of Fossil Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) with input from DOE’s seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships and ten Site Characterization projects. Comprising more than 400 organizations in 43 states and four Canadian provinces, the regional partnerships are testing CO2storage potential and investigating best practices for CO2 storage in a variety of geologic formations. The Site Characterization projects, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, are furthering DOE efforts to assess the nation’s CO2 storage resource by developing additional characterization data for possible storage reservoirs.

The primary purpose of Atlas IV is to provide an update on the CO2 storage potential in the United States and to showcase updated information about the partnerships’ field activities and new information from the site characterization projects. Atlas IV outlines DOE’s Carbon Storage Program and its carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) collaborations, along with worldwide CCUS projects and CCUS regulatory issues. The atlas also presents updated information on the location of CO2 stationary source emissions and the locations and storage potential of various geologic storage sites, and it provides information about the commercialization opportunities for CCUS technologies from the regional partnerships.

The data used to create the resource estimates in Atlas IV is available in interactive form on the National Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographic Information System (NATCARB) website.

Source: NETL

Using Lime for Carbon Capture

Researchers in Spain and Germany are testing carbon capture technology that uses lime-derived material in place of traditional amine-based solvents. The lime material reportedly absorbs more carbon dioxide per unit of weight than its amine counterparts and costs less than half as much to use, partly because the lime-based process uses bed reactors that are easier and less expensive to install than the scrubbing towers used with amine-based technology. Read more

The Effect of Increased CO2 Levels on Wheat Quality

Researchers in Sweden have concluded  that higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can negatively impact the quality of wheat. The study, which was recently published in the journal Global Change Biology, found that higher levels of carbon dioxide stimulate photosynthesis and increase the rate at which plants grow, forcing wheat plants to increase their uptake of nutrients such as nitrogen to a corresponding level to maintain normal nutritional (protein) value. The scientists, based at the University of Gothenburg, found that the protein content in wheat drops as carbon dioxide increases even though wheat yield may not affected, a result attributed to a dilution effect that occurs when nitrogen uptake does not keep up with the increased growth of the wheat grain. The researchers also concluded that the apparent negative effect of CO2 on the ability of plants to absorb nitrogen cannot be countered simply through increased fertilization. Read more 

New CO2 Storage Monitoring Tools Investigated

Researchers in Canada are testing new geo-electric techniques that could complement seismic tools in monitoring the injection of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into reservoirs deep underground. The goal of the research is learn more about the electrical properties of CO₂ as well as the cross relationships between seismic and electric properties. By studying the relationship between fluid nature, pressure changes and temperature changes, the scientists hope to improve their fundamental understanding of how CO₂ affects the electrical properties of rocks in the CO2 storage formations. Using a saline aquifer in Saskatchewan and a reservoir in Quebec, the researchers will test different methods of measuring electrical properties underground. More specifically, the team will test how measuring the magnetic field instead of the electric field (as is usually done) can be used to infer the electric conductivity of the rock. Read more

U.K. Report Shows Hydrogen Potential in CCS

A new report from the U.K.-based Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers (IGEM) highlights the potential for using hydrogen to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve the efficiency of renewable technologies, including wind and solar power. The report explores how hydrogen can be used as a carrier to store energy produced from a wide range of primary sources, and to power applications including electric vehicles, heating and power generation.

For example, the authors explain how excess electrical output from solar and wind facilities can be used to produce hydrogen, which can be transported and used later to produce heat or electricity with zero carbon emissions, reducing dependency on fossil fuels. Similarly, they say storing and transferring energy using hydrogen could support and complement other technologies to combat climate change for instance carbon capture and storage technology

Doha Agreement Reached on Black Carbon

At the United Nations climate change meetings in Doha, ministers from 25 countries have agreed to co-operate on policies aimed at vastly reducing black carbon (commonly known as soot), as well as methane and ozone in the atmosphere – substances known collectively as short-lived climate pollutants. Read more

EIA CO2 Emissions Update

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Outlooks 2009 - 2013
Note: Solid portions of each series show history as of each publication; dotted portions show projections. ARRA2009 denotes the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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Projections for U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions have generally been lowered in recent editions of the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO), the long-term projections of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The lowered projections reflect both market and policy developments that have reduced recent and projected growth in energy demand and its expected carbon intensity. The chart presents projected energy-related CO₂ emissions from AEOs issued since 2009 in terms of changes relative to emissions in 2005, a commonly used comparison year, particularly with regard to mitigation targets.

EIA's AEO reflects laws and regulations in place at the time the analysis was performed. New policies are incorporated in subsequent editions of the AEO as they are put in place. For example, updated fuel efficiency standards for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles were incorporated in AEO2012 and AEO2013, tending to lower CO₂ emissions relative to earlier projections. The CO₂ projection in AEO2013 generally falls below that in AEO2012, and remains more than 5 percent below the 2005 level throughout a forecast horizon that for the first time extends to 2040. However, near-term expectations of industrial growth in response to the availability of low-priced natural gas result in somewhat higher projected levels of CO₂ emissions at the end of the current decade than in last year's outlook.

From 2009 to 2013, key changes in the AEO include:

• Downward revisions in the economic growth outlook, which dampens energy demand growth
• Lower transportation sector consumption of conventional fuels based on updated fuel economy standards, increased penetration of alternative fuels, and more modest growth in light-duty vehicle miles traveled
• Generally higher energy prices, with the notable exception of natural gas, where recent and projected prices reflect the development of shale gas resources
• Slower growth in electricity demand and increased use of low-carbon fuels for generation
• Increased use of natural gas

Power sector transformation, based on decarbonization of the generation mix, occurs because natural gas and renewables gain market share at the expense of coal, reflecting:

• Resource economics—high domestic production of natural gas at historically low prices, reflecting increased production of shale gas
• Regulation—updated state renewable portfolio standards and efficiency standards, and cap-and-trade provisions of California Assembly Bill 32, as well as implementation of federal policies to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and other policies and measures at local, state, and federal levels

In addition to publishing the Annual Energy Outlook, EIA also creates a report evaluating how our projections of key energy concepts compare with realized outcomes. The AEO Retrospective Review includes additional analysis of past projections of CO₂ emissions and other energy indicators like consumption, production, and prices.

Source: EIA

Can CO2 Increase Bakken Well Production?

Researchers from the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center have announced a project to determine if injecting carbon dioxide into the Bakken formation could increase the productivity of depleted wells. The scientists estimate that pumping one percent of additional oil from the Bakken and Three Forks formations would yield an additional 1.7 billion barrels. The process, called enhanced oil recovery, has been used successfully with conventional reservoirs in other parts of the U.S. and  in Canada, but has not been tried with unconventional reservoirs such as the shale formations in the Williston Basin. Read more