Carbon Credits - The Carrot for low Carbon emission

Carbon trading is a system whereby greenhouse gas emissions are limited under the Kyoto Protocol, and these caps are then allocated throughout the world market in such a way as to promote lower emissions or lessen release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Carbon credits are allocated to industrial units and governments across the globe, which authorizes the owner to discharge a limited amount of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One carbon credit amounts to the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide. This essentially entails that high-emission industries can buy carbon credits from low-emission organizations, thereby keeping the net global emissions within the stipulated cap.

Open buying and selling of carbon credits on stock exchanges allows greener energy and process usage of an organization to be incentivised and capitalized, whether the organization is a small one or a big one. Trade in carbon credits gets instant and substantial benefits for organizations with low emissions. Moreover, as the whole idea has also been expanded to countries, there would always be incentives to reduce emissions from the respective governments to local businesses, which is a great advantage as many governments are many times blamed for lack of initiative on environment.

So far carbon trading has been most successful as a method and within a short span has been able to successfully address the issue of high carbon emissions. The carbon trading business has seen remarkable growth in the last few years, and this evidences beyond doubt that the system is impactful.

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Carbon storage - A Novel Way

Whales are the largest animals on the planet, and when it comes to storing carbon, they act like trees in a forest.

It's their parting gift to the world: Each dying whale carries tons of carbon to the sea floor as its massive body sinks, storing it there for centuries where it can't harm the climate.

In this way, whales are like the world's forests, sucking climate-changing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere over their lifetime and socking it away. And according to new research, repopulating the oceans with whales could be as good for battling climate change as planting trees.

Trees convert CO2 directly into wood and leaves through photosynthesis. Whales capture CO2 indirectly. Marine phytoplankton build their tissues through photosynthesis and are eaten by zooplankton, which whales then eat and use to build their colossal bodies. A 90-ton blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, holds about 9.4 tons of carbon, which would be converted to 34 tons of CO2 if it were burned or decomposed completely.

"One key difference between whales and forests is what happens when you've reached your steady state, your maximum population size," Pershing said.

At some point, the forest reaches its maximum density where dying trees are balanced by new growth, and the forest can no longer store any additional carbon, he said. "Marine systems are unique in that the animals and plant life in the surface waters of the ocean, when they die, they can take that carbon with them down to the bottom. A fully populated whale stock will continue to export carbon through sinking of dead whales."

And Pershing notes that other large top predators like bluefin tuna and sharks can have the same effect.

More: http://bit.ly/b4HrRb

Gasification and Carbon Sequestration - A New Mix

Hydrogen Energy California LLC wants to build a power plant near Bakersfield that would put 250 megawatts of “low carbon” electricity into the grid. The source of that electricity is hydrogen, our simplest element.

The so-called HECA plant will gasify petroleum coke, turning it into hydrogen for generation and carbon dioxide to boost recovery rates at an aging oil field nearby. The plant is expected to produce up to 390 gross megawatts, including 100 megawatts of natural gas power for peak demand periods.

Estimated cost of the plant is an eye-popping $2.84 billion, but the venture hopes to complete permitting next year and start generating power in 2015.

This process isn’t revolutionary; gasification and carbon sequestration are both proven technologies. The difference is the mix: they’ve never before been combined in a power plant, HECA said.

HECA said the sequestration aspect would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent, keeping 2 million tons out of the atmosphere each year.

Putting that carbon dioxide into the aging Elk Hills oil field, instead of simply storing it an unused reservoir, could improve recovery rates at the field by 10 to 15 percent over the next 20 years.

More: http://bit.ly/ccjqPX

Capturing Carbon Emission - American Electric Power

American Electric Power, the largest consumer of coal in the United States, is retrofitting its Mountaineer coal plant in New Haven, W.Va., to capture carbon emissions and store them underground.

The site shows how the electric utility plans to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which will account for 15 percent of its output, and some of the obstacles the industry faces implementing this new technology.

More: http://bit.ly/bJLQkB

Carbon Tax - France

The French government is working towards implementation of a direct carbon tax by July 2010. On 21 January 2010, the government proposed a number of amendments to the original legislation, which is aimed at encouraging French consumers to be more energy efficient and conscious of their energy decisions.

The tax level remains at 17 EUR per metric tonne of CO₂ at over 1,000 of the most polluting sites. Main innovation of the amended bill is the inclusion of previously excluded sectors, such as power stations, oil refineries, and cement works.

These plants were exempted in the first version of the bill because they are scheduled to be subject to a European Union quota system to be implemented in 2013. EU regulation calls for emissions in those sectors to be reduced by 21% by 2020.

France aims for an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2050.

France would be the largest economy to apply a direct carbon tax, mirroring existent measures in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

More: http://bit.ly/a6b0Md

CO2 Sequestration - Leading Research, Austin

Carbon capture and sequestration is currently the most extensively studied and well understood method for reducing CO₂ emissions from large point sources. Various technologies have been developed to capture and sequester CO₂ from power plants and other emission sources.

Carbon capturing technologies varies from conventional post-combustion carbon scrubbing units to oxy-fuel combustion and chemical looping combustion which are newly investigated territories.

The sequestration stage of the process has been the most debated part of the CCS topic. This is mainly due to concerns with CO₂ leakage from the sequestration sites over time.

Research and testing of the sequestration technologies to reduce the risk of leakage is one of the key components of the development and implementation of CCS processes.

One of the main spot for CO₂ sequestration research is here in Austin, TX. The University of Texas at Austin has received a 10-year, $38 million subcontract to conduct the first intensively monitored, long-term project in the United States studying the feasibility of injecting a large volume of carbon dioxide”.

This project focuses mainly on geo-sequestration technologies for CO₂ in brine reservoirs.

More: http://bit.ly/cqYZ1x

Carbon Capture and Obama

The article titled” Making of a Clean Coal President” analyses the future action likely to be taken by the President.

Three factors have cemented Obama's support for carbon capture and sequestration technology: political necessity, economic opportunity and the backing of some of the most powerful mainstream environmental organizations operating inside the Beltway.

He ordered a high-level task force to deliver a plan within 180 days determining how "to overcome barriers to the widespread, cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years, with the goal of bringing 5 to 10 commercial demonstration projects on line by 2016."

In August of this year, he'll be handed a plan for a massive expansion of clean coal from the task force he constituted , and he may be able to use it to help Democrats in November mid-term elections, as well as in the run-up to his own re-election bid in 2012. Sure to be of value is the ongoing $120 million ad campaign from the coal lobby that is coincidentally airing new spots for clean coal .

In his State of Union message, in the paragraph devoted to clean energy innovation, he omitted solar and wind and instead listed nuclear energy, biofuels, clean coal and offshore drilling. It set off howls of protest, which he calmed a few days later by announcing that the federal government would reduce its own emissions 28% by 2020.

Obama's support for CCS has been consistent.

Further, with China already leading the world in the export of solar and wind hardware, CCS offers the prospect of being an exportable big ticket advanced technology that even the Chinese will want to buy.

With Obama's unequivocal support of clean coal, his EPA — thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Air Act — is now the last thing standing in the way of open season for the coal industry to expand without concern for carbon regulation.

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Geo Sequestration of CO2, Australia

New research on deep saline storage will soon be underway at the CO2CRC Otway Project, Australia’s only CO2 geosequestration research and demonstration facility.

“The CO2CRC Otway Project has safely injected and stored over 65,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide two kilometres underground in a depleted gas field, demonstrating that stored carbon dioxide can be effectively monitored,” said Dr Peter Cook, Chief Executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC).

“Over the past year, researchers have been able to produce an accurate picture of the stored carbon dioxide as part of the project’s rigorous monitoring and verification program. The work has lead to new techniques that can be highly useful to commercial-scale projects in the future.”

More: http://bit.ly/d32PNz

Solar Technology reduces use of fossil fuels NSW, Australia

New South Wales, Australia is the site of a pilot project where solar thermal technology reduces the use of fossil fuels. Coal and solar generate electricity using the same turbines.

Coal power plants can utilize solar to produce 15%-60% of the electricity. A higher quantity is possible, but requires significantly more modifications to be made to the coal boilers.

Mirrors, called Fresnel reflectors capture the sun’s rays and heat water in the tube above. Steam lines deliver the solar energy to the adjacent coal power plant where existing coal turbines are used to produce an electric current.

The ideal situation for retrofitting a coal power plant with solar includes:

1. A large amount of land adjacent to the plant is needed for solar collectors.

2. High quality of solar radiation.

As coal plants are to face carbon tax or cap and trade system, the solar retrofit would be a good investment and reduce these extra tax burdens.

Australia recently ratified the Kyoto Protocol and will begin trading carbon in about a year. Carbon is likely to trade for $30-$60 per ton, according to John O’Donnell vice president of Ausra. Ausra’s solar thermal retrofits are cost effective around $30 a ton.

Certain banks are including carbon emissions in the risk factor when issuing loans to power plants.

http://bit.ly/bN44lu

First Steam Turbine for Carbon Capture

Hitachi Canada has been selected to supply the steam turbine for the SaskPower Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project. It will determine the technical, economic and environmental performance of new technology.

The Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Sequestration Demonstration Project would transform an aging unit at Boundary Dam Power Station near Estevan into a reliable, long-term producer of clean baseload electricity, while enhancing provincial oil production and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A decision on whether to proceed with the Boundary Dam project will be made by the end of 2010.

It is expected to be the first steam turbine in the world designed to fully integrate a coal-fired power plant with carbon capture.

http://bit.ly/d86Apf

I agree the project will provide additional jobs, boost economy and go a long way in reducing GHG.

Power Plant Carbon Capture Profitable - Nano Patent

FIU Center for the Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions Director Surendra Saxena developed the system of reactions for a partial sequestration of carbon (CO2 and CO) from coal burning plants and zero emission production of hydrogen and hydrides; only raw material required are coal, salt and water.

In Saxena's systems electric or thermal power may be produced from coal-burning plants with zero emission of greenhouse gases. Hydrogen is produced economically with zero emission because of the low materials cost and low energy cost due to use of hot gases; use of hydrogen in transport will further reduce CO2-emission.

The site describes the actual process and works out the cost involved; from the tabled cost it actually shows a profit for sequestering carbon.

The process can be used for both natural gas and coal fired power plants.

http://bit.ly/dAryLJ

We all accept there is an urgent need to find a solution for the CO2 emitted from our automobiles and coal and gas fired power plants. Saxena’s invention may help in reducing GHG and pave the way for a clean energy future.

DOE Supports FutureGen Project

FutureGen claims to be a clean coal power project; its likely to begin functioning this year. It was proposed in 2003 but the Bush administration didn’t help much to take it forward. The huge cost involved was one of the reasons it was not promoted .However Obama’s administration has given it the green signal.

FutureGen would be a 275 megawatt facility that uses integrated gasification combined cycle technology, called coal gasification, which has the potential to capture the carbon. The technology converts coal to a vapor before the toxins are filtered out and the carbon dioxide would be separated from the hydrogen, which could be used to produce transportation fuel.

The federal government would contribute slightly more than $1 billion while private companies would add another $400 million to $600 million.

To help pay for it all, the FutureGen Alliance just announced that Illinois-based Exelon has joined its cause.

It will be operated in the early years to capture 60 percent of carbon emissions so as to validate capabilities. After three years, however, the goal is to capture 90 percent.

More: http://bit.ly/cUv4bI

The cost factor could become crucial; government is going to provide the seed capital , if the private sector is wiling to pump in the balance chances are good for FutureGen project to be set in motion quickly.

Obama has recommitted to support green energy; his policy may be a mix of clean coal,nuclear and natural gas .

However lets not forget he said America cannot afford to spin the wheel while the rest of the world is rolling forward

What Happened to Global Warming?

As the blizzard-bound residents of the mid-Atlantic region get ready to dig themselves out of the third major storm of the season, they may stop to wonder two things: Why haven't we bothered to invest in a snow blower, and what happened to climate change? After all, it stands to reason that if the world is getting warmer — and the past decade was the hottest on record — major snowstorms should become a thing of the past, like PalmPilots and majority rule in the Senate. Certainly that's what the Virginia state Republican Party thinks: the GOP aired an ad last weekend that attacked two Democratic members of Congress for supporting the 2009 carbon-cap-and-trade bill, using the recent storms to cast doubt on global warming. (See pictures of the massive blizzard in Washington, D.C.)

Brace yourselves now — this may be a case of politicians twisting the facts. There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm. As the meteorologist Jeff Masters points out in his excellent blog at Weather Underground, the two major storms that hit Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., this winter — in December and during the first weekend of February — are already among the 10 heaviest snowfalls those cities have ever recorded. The chance of that happening in the same winter is incredibly unlikely.

But there have been hints that it was coming. The 2009 U.S. Climate Impacts Report found that large-scale cold-weather storm systems have gradually tracked to the north in the U.S. over the past 50 years. While the frequency of storms in the middle latitudes has decreased as the climate has warmed, the intensity of those storms has increased. That's in part because of global warming — hotter air can hold more moisture, so when a storm gathers it can unleash massive amounts of snow. Colder air, by contrast, is drier; if we were in a truly vicious cold snap, like the one that occurred over much of the East Coast during parts of January, we would be unlikely to see heavy snowfall. (See pictures of the effects of global warming.)

Climate models also suggest that while global warming may not make hurricanes more common, it could well intensify the storms that do occur and make them more destructive. (Comment on this story.)

But as far as winter storms go, shouldn't climate change make it too warm for snow to fall? Eventually that is likely to happen — but probably not for a while. In the meantime, warmer air could be supercharged with moisture and, as long as the temperature remains below 32°F, it will result in blizzards rather than drenching winter rainstorms. And while the mid-Atlantic has borne the brunt of the snowfall so far this winter, areas near lakes may get hit even worse. As global temperatures have risen, the winter ice cover over the Great Lakes has shrunk, which has led to even more moisture in the atmosphere and more snow in the already hard-hit Great Lakes region, according to a 2003 study in the Journal of Climate. (Read "Climate Accord Suggests a Global Will, if Not a Way.")

Ultimately, however, it's a mistake to use any one storm — or even a season's worth of storms — to disprove climate change (or to prove it; some environmentalists have wrongly tied the lack of snow in Vancouver, the site of the Winter Olympic Games, which begin this week, to global warming). Weather is what will happen next weekend; climate is what will happen over the next decades and centuries. And while our ability to predict the former has become reasonably reliable, scientists are still a long way from being able to make accurate projections about the future of the global climate. Of course, that doesn't help you much when you're trying to locate your car under a foot of powder.

Read more: http://bit.ly/bDEdG5

Carbon Capture to be done at TransAlta

TransAlta is a 100-year-old Calgary company, which has become the largest investor-owned generator of renewable energy in Canada.It plans to be at the tech forefront.

The company is facing greenhouse gas issues and is at the forefront in carbon capture and sequestration; by the end of 2015, it plans to have stored one million tons of carbon dioxide underground.

Read more: http://bit.ly/carGuc

What is involved in this process of carbon capture and storage?

CCS, short for carbon capture and storage is a three-part system for collecting CO₂ emissions from large industrial sites and storing them permanently in geological formations far below the surface of the earth. Or in ocean formations or in places where crude was once there. The three components of the system are:

- a “scrubber” to remove pure carbon dioxide from an industrial flue gas stream;

- a compression-and-pipeline component to move liquid CO₂ to a storage site; and,

- a deep geological formation capable of containing compressed, liquefied CO₂ permanently.

Power Plant Carbon Capture in China

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday said it has approved a 135 million U.S. dollar loan to help China build a coal-fired integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant, whose carbon dioxide emission rate is only one tenth of a usual coal-fired plant.

The 419.59 million U.S. dollar project, scheduled to be completed in northern city of Tianjin by 2012, will be the first IGCC plant in a developing country and can generate up to 1,470 gigawatt-hours of electricity every year, the Philippines-based development lender said.

Plants using IGCC technology turn coal into a synthetic gas, removing impurities, before the gas is burned in a gas turbine, ADB said, adding that it is more efficient than other clean coal technologies but its adoption has been slow due to high costs and some perceived technology complexity and risks.

Does this mean a clean coal plant is no longer amyth?

More: http://bit.ly/d8z6uK

Smart Grid & Savvy Meters

Imagine if your washing machine is smart enough to switch off at peak demand and switches on at a time when the energy rates are low; you could be saving quite a sum every month on your energy bill.

Well, it looks like it could become true.

GE announced it was introducing a new energy information panel in partnership with OpenPeak, an expert in communications technology. The new device is able to wirelessly communicate with smart meters, smart appliances, and other ZigBee or Wi-Fi enabled devices. The smart panel keeps the energy consumer informed about fluctuating energy prices throughout the day so adjustments can be made accordingly.

The smart grid and smart appliances are the next big opportunity in energy savings,” said Marc Bitzer, president of Whirlpool North America. The Chinese government was announced as the world’s largest provider of smart grid stimulus funding. This year China is leading the way with $7.3 billion.

More: http://bit.ly/dcBjAT

Carbon Capture and Storage by Shell

Shell’s Quest carbon capture and storage project, takes a big step in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the Shell oil sands operations. If approved, Quest would attach a carbon capture and storage system to Shell’s two oil sands upgraders near Edmonton, reducing its combined carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by up to 1.2 million tonnes per year, or nearly 40 per cent.

Heavily backed by Alberta and federal governments, Quest is one of four projects aimed at giving Canada a leading position in the development of carbon capture and storage technology. Shell sees carbon capture and storage (CCS) as vital to a successful global climate-change strategy.

Seeley Shell Canada’s general manager says. “CCS is important to the environment, but we also see it as good business management.

More: http://bit.ly/du2xva

The site shows Shell,Chevron and Marathon’s strong commitment in reducing carbon footprint. I feel the strong message from United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has forced companies to wake up and take immediate action.

Energy summit for carbon footprint

Nano Patents at ARPA –E Energy Summit:

The first ever ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit” to take place March 1-3, 2010 at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in Washington, DC. It will serve as a forum for the nation’s energy leaders to share ideas, collaborate, and identify key technology opportunities and challenges.

This conference will bring together the nation’s top energy leaders and members of the scientific community to begin building the next Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies, which will create new jobs and help reduce our carbon footprint,” said Secretary Chu.

More: http://bit.ly/aaeVOf

Carbon Emission less by Drilling for Natural Gas

The article takes a hit at Obama’s suggestions of nuclear fuel and offshore drilling to reduce carbon emissions.

More: http://bit.ly/96W1r6

He feels drilling for natural gas would solve the energy requirements with less carbon emissions. He states that when you burn natural gas, the energy comes from two reactions: one that turns carbon into carbon dioxide, and another that turns hydrogen in water. Thus, from the start, natural gas generates less greenhouse gases for the same amount of energy produced.

It gets even better if you burn natural gas in a “combined cycle” power plant. In a typical, coal-fired plant, the energy released is captured in the form of heat and eventually turned into electricity. In a combined cycle plant, you capture the energy released from natural gas in two ways. First, you get the power by the expansion of the gas it heats up.

The gas expands and pushes a piston. In a combined cycle plant, the gas expands and spins a turbine, just like in a jet engine. the gas is still hot (just like the exhaust on your car). So, why not take that heat, make steam and use that steam to generate even more power? It’s great energy efficiency and a fractional carbon foot print, what’s not to like?

He goes on to say that wind power relies too much on the whims of nature and installation cost of solar energy plants are exorbitant. Read more to see why he says burning natural gas is a much less intensive carbon intensive way of generating energy than burning any other fossil fuel.

Alstom commends Obama’s CCS Task force

Carbon capture and storage technology developer Alstom has commended the Obama administration for establishing a task force to promote the development of carbon capture and storage in the US.

Alstom, a member of the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), was one of a number of companies that signed on to a full-page advertisement recently calling for Congress to take action on climate legislation as soon as possible.

Pierre Gauthier, Alstom’s US country president said, ‘Carbon capture and storage is an area where the government and the private sector need to work in co-operation. Companies such as Alstom are moving forward to commercialise this key clean technology solution, but our customers need clarity on the legal and regulatory rules that will influence decisions on how and when to apply carbon capture and storage. This task force is ideally suited to address such issues. ..’

As we know Alstom is a global leader in power generation and is in the forefront of developing innovative and environmentally friendly technologies.Gautier’s response to the task force appears to me in keeping with the concerns of the company.

More: http://bit.ly/cIgKms

Cap and Trade and its Economic implications in Penn State

Cap-and-trade program as introduced by California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry as a 923-page draft of legislation would cap the amount of carbon dioxide businesses could emit, imposing a penalty when they exceed the cap, and would require that carbon emissions be cut by 20 percent of 2005 levels by 2020.

Independent studies have shown that this could cost the country millions of jobs. Industrial states like Pennsylvania would be severely affected. The state's coal, natural gas and manufacturing industries would be especially hard hit.

According to a National Association of Manufacturers' study, coal production would fall by about 85 percent and electricity production by about 21 percent as a result of a similar cap-and-trade bill passed in the House.

Pennsylvania is also home to the Marcellus Shale, one of the largest unconventional natural gas reserves in the world. It has the potential to turn the state into a major producer of clean energy and create thousands of jobs. But the new energy tax could doom this budding industry before it has a chance to develop.

The manufacturers' study finds the House cap-and trade bill would cost Pennsylvania more than 70,000 jobs in the years ahead. But that's not all. In just six years, it would increase gasoline prices by 6 percent to 8 percent, oil prices by 6 percent to 12 percent and natural gas prices by 14 percent to 21 percent.

More: http://bit.ly/940Ph0

Carbon Credit is on Canada’s Mind

Alberta's oilsands, which contain the second largest petroleum reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia with an estimated 174 billion barrels, has been under attack from environmentalists who call oilsands crude dirty oil because of the amount of greenhouse gases that are produced when it's refined. Canada’s Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Canada will harmonize its plans to reduce carbon emissions with the United States and Mexico.

He said Canada wants to assume its fair share of responsibility, but needs to do it in a way that's is not going to damage jobs, investment and industrial competitiveness. However, Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Canada needs fixed hard targets for greenhouse gas reductions and a cap and trade system that would allow companies to trade or buy emission credits to comply with regulations. Canada has realized its international reputation is at stake if it fails to take action quickly.

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Carbon Capture in Europe

European nations agreed how they would carve up billions of euros of European Union funding to help develop advanced renewable power or carbon-trapping technology. The funding was agreed in 2008 to support Carbon Capture and Storage technology -- a method of burying harmful gases, which many power producers say is a potential silver bullet to curb climate-warming emissions from coal.

But additional costs of around 1 billion euros per power-plant have prevented CCS taking off. In its eternal quest to avoid disparities, the EU later invited pioneers of cutting-edge renewable technologies to compete for the funding, dubbed the "NER 300" and worth around 4 billion euros($5.6 billion).

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Carbon law threatens new data industry

Under the CRC scheme, public and private sector bodies will buy allowances equal to their annual carbon dioxide emissions. Organisations will then decide whether to buy extra allowance or reduce their energy consumption so that they do not have to spend as much on buying future permits. Banks, local authorities, supermarkets and water companies are all expected to fall within the scheme.

But Murray said that the system was already deterring companies from building data centres in Scotland, adding that countries such as Ireland, Holland and Switzerland stood to benefit. Murray said: "The UK government is clearly trying to use financial incentives to encourage businesses to reduce carbon emissions. In principle, there is nothing wrong with this. However, an important factor seems to have been neglected and that's the fact that businesses will do almost anything to keep their expenses as low as possible."

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Carbon Capture And Sequestration Technologies

This book focuses on technology rather than regulation and costCovers both traditional and cutting edge capture technology Contains an abundance of case-studies an worked out examples Insight into CSS technical processes. Steve Rackley, I thought was known for different kinds of books and have never known him to be an expert of CCS.

You can also look at several other similar books here

Pre-combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture

A membrane separation device that consists of a porous metal phase and a molten carbonate phase can conduct carbonate ions (CO32-) at a very high rate. The metal-carbonate membranes only conduct electrons and oxygen should be mixed with carbon dioxide in the feed to convert CO2 to CO3= ions.

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DOE/NETL CO2 Capture Technology Meet

The Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) will host the 2010 CO2 Capture Technology meeting on September 13-17, 2010, at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA.

It will provide a public forum to present CO2 capture technology development status and accomplishments made under NETL’s Existing Plants, Emissions and Capture Technology and Carbon Sequestration Programs.

This year’s meeting will cover post-combustion, oxy-combustion and pre-combustion carbon capture technologies including post-combustion solvent, sorbent and membrane technologies along with chemical looping. CO2 compression technologies will also be included. The meeting will have open registration so that in addition to researchers, participants may include employees of other government agencies, electric utilities, research organizations and state regulatory agencies.

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Carbon Storage in Australia

The site explores the merits and demerits of carbon storage underground. The study has been done with reference to Australia. The article compares the steps taken for Carbon storage by the Government and those taken by the Coalition.

The Coalition’s policy is to pay farmers, through a tender system, to store carbon in agricultural soils. The farmers will be paid $10 for each tonne of carbon dioxide stored in soil. Under the government's carbon emissions trading scheme, farmers would be paid two to four times more than the Coalition's offer.

The advantage of the government's scheme is that farmers would be paid to optimize terrestrial carbon across the country and it puts a cap on carbon pollution. Terrestrial carbon stored in vegetation and soils has a profoundly important role to play in the climate change solution but not a panacea.

Burying alone will not solve the problem. If we are to avoid dangerous climate change we also need to effectively eliminate all industrial carbon pollution within the next 40 years.

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Obama’s steps for CCS at coal plants

President Obama met the governors of coal-producing states to pledge increased support for the creation by 2016 of between 5 to 10 commercial carbon capture and storage demonstration projects. The facilities would capture carbon emissions and store them underground, where they can't trap heat in the atmosphere.

White House also announced the formation of a carbon capture and storage task force to deploy the technology on a widespread scale within 10 years. The administration proposed a slash roughly $2.3 billion in coal tax subsidies over the next decade .

The Obama administration announced it was allocating $1 billion in funds to resurrect FutureGen, a proposal to create in Illinois the world's first coal-fired power plant designed to capture and bury carbon emissions underground.

Obama said "If we can develop the technology to capture the carbon pollution released by coal, it can create jobs and provide energy well into the future."

The president said he wanted 10 commercial carbon capture and storage projects up and running by 2016. Obama said that his energy agenda is centered on promoting energy efficiency and clean energy technologies, including renewables, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage at coal-fired power plants.

He feels security depends on reducing dependency on foreign powers for oil and the world’s health depends on reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

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Exelon Corporation Joining FutureGen Alliance

FutureGen is a US government project announced by President George W.Bush in 2003. Its initial plan involved the construction of a near zero-emissions, coal-fueled power plant to produce hydrogen and electricity while using carbon capture and storage.

"As one of the nation's largest electric utilities and energy providers, Exelon's partnership on this project provides critical support to our ongoing effort to bring FutureGen to Illinois" said Governor Quinn.

FutureGen will be the first facility of its kind to demonstrate the latest technology in electric power generation while capturing and safely storing greenhouse gas emissions. It's also an opportunity for our State to illustrate clean-coal capabilities that will once again place Illinois coal on top and create much needed jobs during a critical economic time.

"We are extremely pleased to have Exelon, one of America's largest utilities, join FutureGen. Today's announcement will help to further discussions that the Alliance is having with other companies who have expressed interest in FutureGen membership. Together, we will be in a position to deliver the next generation of low carbon energy technology to Illinois and the world," said FutureGen Alliance CEO Michael Mudd.

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Algae Based Carbon Capture

Algae live on a high concentration of carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide -- pollutants that are released by automobiles, cement plants, breweries, fertilizer plants, steel plants.

Using algae for reducing the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is known as algae - based Carbon Capture technology. The algae production facilities can thus be fed with the exhaust gases from these plants to significantly increase the algal productivity and clean up the air.

About 1.8 tons of CO2 are required for producing one ton of algae. A coal power plant produces about 1 ton of CO2 for every MWh of energy produced. An additional benefit from this technology is that the oil found in algae can be processed into a biodiesel.

Advantages of algae based carbon capture are discussed - namely high purity of co2 not required, simplifies process of flue gas scrubbing, microalgae yields high value commercial products that offsets operation cost of process.

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