Carbon Sequestration Technology Roadmap and Program Plan 2007
Carbon Sequestration - Technical ReportAuthor: Sean Plasynski, Dawn Deel
Author Affiliation: U.S. Department of Energy
Submitted: Fri, 10/05/2007 - 21:50
Edited: Fri, 10/05/2007 - 21:56
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Copyright Status: free to download Description:
The Department of Energy (DOE) holds a conservative, yet realistic, attitude that traditional fossil fuel consumption will continue until the resource is either fully exploited or no longer economically viable. With growing concerns over green house gas emissions and global warming, the DOE recognizes that the future of fossil fuel combustion will be closely connected to the effectiveness of carbon sequestration and storage technologies that can mitigate the potential environmental consequences associated with its use.
In 2005, the United States emitted 6 billion metric tons of CO2 accounting for 22% of the world's total CO2 emissions. This number is set to increase at a rate of 1.1 percent per year. In 1997, the DOE launched The Carbon Sequestration Program to investigate the viability of carbon sequestration and storage technologies that would enable the continued use of traditional fossil fuels.
This report outlines what strategies the DOE is pursuing for capturing and storing current and future CO2 emissions. Most of the efforts are focused on retrofitting existing electrical generation facilities with both pre and post combustion technologies that capture CO2. The technologies include biomass gasification and cryogenic oxygen production as pre-combustion carbon traps, and the use of ionic chemical solvents, sorbents, and membranes as post combustion carbon traps. The storing of captured CO2 is focused primarily on geologic sequestration by injection into subterranean formations.
The end goal of the Carbon Sequestration Program is to develop a fossil fuel conversion system that achieves 90 percent flue gas CO2 capture and 99 percent CO2 storage permanence at less than a 10 percent increase in the cost of energy production. In today's market the technology to achieve these goals currently exists, however the cost of energy production would increase by 60 to 100 percent.
In realizing the variability that geography poses to carbon capture and storage opportunities, the DOE has formed seven regional research facilities across the United States to help achieve the Program goals. The Southwest Region includes CO, KS, OK, NM, UT, and portions of AZ, TX, and WY. The research facility is based at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The link to their website is www.southwestcarbonpartnership.org. The National Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographic Information System website is www.natcarb.org. Both websites offer useful information pertaining to carbon capture and storage.
The FluxFarm believes that more research must be conducted into the consequences posed by the injection of extreme concentrations of CO2 into subterranean environments, and question weather the DOE's strategy condones solutions that will only temporarily conceal the troubles faced by today's citizens for future generations to resolve.
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