CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION: PROGRESS, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES
Thursday, October 15, 2009
4:00 p.m.
129 DeBartolo Hall
Dan Connell
Research and Development Engineer
CONSOL Energy, Inc.
It is likely that some form of climate change legislation will soon be enacted in the United States, with major implications for the nation’s energy industry. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2009 and is now before the Senate, calls for U.S. greenhouse gas emissions ultimately to be reduced by 83% from 2005 levels by 2050. Such a target would require drastic cuts in emissions from a variety of sources, including coal-fired power plants, which account for about a third of the country’s total carbon dioxide emissions. Coal currently produces about half of the electricity in the United States, and the nation will likely continue to depend on this low-cost fuel as an important part of its generation mix because of its abundant domestic coal reserves, its large existing asset base of reliable coal-fired power plants, and the limitations associated with alternative energy sources. Moreover, climate change is a global issue, and developing countries such as China and India will continue to rely on coal to meet their rapidly growing energy needs. China already uses more coal than the United States, and Chinese annual coal consumption is projected to more-than double by 2030. Hence, it appears unlikely that deep reductions in global CO2 emissions will be realized without technologies for reducing CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the leading candidate for achieving these reductions.
The widespread, full-scale deployment of carbon capture and sequestration is one of the great engineering challenges of the 21st century. This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of the present state of CCS technologies. It is technically feasible to capture and sequester CO2 from power plants using commercially available or near-commercial technologies; however, CCS is very expensive, and the available technologies would have to be applied in new ways and at an unprecedented scale in order to effect the level of CO2 emission reductions being contemplated in the U.S. and worldwide. Widespread deployment of CO2 capture and sequestration using today’s best available technologies would have a substantial impact on our economy and energy supply. Retrofitting a coal-fired power plant with amine scrubbing for 90% CO2 capture can triple its cost of producing electricity and decrease its net electrical output by 30%. A new integrated gasification combined-cycle plant with CCS can have 50-100% greater capital costs and ≥60% greater cost of producing electricity than a new supercritical pulverized coal plant without CCS. Additional challenges include social acceptance and permitting of CCS projects, as well as questions regarding long-term ownership of liability for the sequestered CO2. Hence, improvements are needed to significantly reduce the cost and energy requirements associated with carbon capture and sequestration technologies and to facilitate the implementation and acceptance of these technologies. The areas of greatest need, and the work being done to address them, will be highlighted.
Dan Connell is a research and development engineer with CONSOL Energy Inc., which is the largest producer of high-Btu bituminous coal in the United States and a leader in the production of coalbed methane gas. CONSOL’s Research and Development department, located in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has provided energy and environmental research and technical services for over 60 years and is the largest private research and development facility in the United States devoted exclusively to coal and coalbed methane utilization and production. CONSOL Energy is a member of the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership, and FutureGen Alliance, and is actively engaged in researching and developing carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technologies for coal-fired power plants.
Since joining CONSOL in 2003, Dan’s work has focused on the environmental implications of fossil fuel utilization. He leads CONSOL’s research on carbon dioxide capture technologies, multi-pollutant control, and ambient air quality. Dan authored the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership’s carbon dioxide capture technology assessment, and he currently is working on projects to develop solid chemical absorption and chemical looping combustion technologies for CO2 capture. Dan recently served as Principal Investigator for the Greenidge Multi-Pollutant Control Project, a $33 million clean coal technology demonstration project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, and he is now leading CONSOL’s work on the Pittsburgh Aerosol Research and Inhalation Epidemiology Study, which aims to elucidate the health effects of fine particulate matter in the Pittsburgh region. Dan earned his B.S. in chemical engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and he has authored or co-authored a number of journal articles and conference proceedings on air pollution and emissions control. Dan is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Air and Waste Management Association, and he serves on the advisory boards for the Electric Power Conference & Exhibition and the University of Pittsburgh Academic Consortium for Excellence in Environmental Public Health Tracking.