Carbon Management Implications for R&D in the Chemical Sciences and Technology (2001) / Chapter Skim
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8. Industrial Carbon Management: An Overview
8. Industrial Carbon Management: An Overview
Pages 127-146
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From page 127... ...
I call the required technologies industrial carbon management (ICM) -- defined as the linked processes of capturing the carbon content of fossil fuels while generating carbon-free energy products, such as electricity and hydrogen, and sequestering the resulting carbon dioxide.
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From page 128... ...
It then combines concentration estimates with early radioactive connective models to estimate temperature change, and compares estimated changes to observed changes with consideration given to intrinsic climate variability. Finally, it speculates about possible impacts beyond temperature such as the CO2 fertilization of plant growth.
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From page 129... ...
-8 Extraction Sequestration FIGURE 8.1 Industrial carbon management: a schematic illustrating the definitions of sequestration and separation adopted here. The output stream is labeled carbon free for simplicity; separation includes processes that take a high-carbon stream in and produce a lower carbon-to-energy product (e.g., coal to natural gas with sequestration)
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From page 130... ...
The first two, PCC and oxyfuel, involve complete combustion to CO2 and water and so are limited to producing electricity and heat, whereas PCDC produces hydrogen that may be combusted in an integrated system to produce electricity and heat or may be distributed for use elsewhere. Most discussion of ICM has focused on large-scale electricity generation, where PCC is perhaps the most obvious route to separation because it is closely analogous to existing environmental control technologies, such as flue gas desulfurization, that remove pollutants from power plant exhaust streams.
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From page 131... ...
While geological sequestration will build generally on the totality of experience with fossil fuel extraction, it will be most directly built on current practice of CO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
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From page 132... ...
The process mimics the natural weathering of magnesium and calcium silicates that ultimately react to form carbonate deposits. Integrated power plant designs have been proposed, in which a fossil fuel input would be converted to carbon-free power (electricity or hydrogen)
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From page 133... ...
The most obvious of the direct risks is due to catastrophic release of CO2, but there are also hazards from slow leaks and possible risks stemming from underground movement of displaced fluids such as induced seismically or contamination of potable aquifers. Experts in the upstream oil and gas industry are generally confident that the risks are small, and this confidence is strongly supported by the long history of CO2 injection for EOR and of underground storage of other gases, including the very large scale storage of natural gas.
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From page 134... ...
Most analysis of ICM has focused on electricity generation, but ICM can also be used to produce hydrogen, enabling deep reductions in CO2 emissions via the substitution of hydrogen for natural gas or petroleum. There are several good reasons to focus on electricity generation as an early application of ICM technologies: • Electric power plants are among the largest point sources of CO2.
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From page 135... ...
The likely cost of ICM technologies is on par with the estimated cost for large-scale wind or new nuclear. Currently, coal dominates fossil electricity supply, so replacement of coal with natural gas-fired electrical generation achieves substantial CO2 mitigation at minimal cost, but this effect depends strongly on the price of natural gas as shown in Figure 8.4.
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From page 136... ...
In sharp contrast to the introduction of new electric generating technologies, the introduction of hydrogen into dispersed stationary uses requires the development of a hydrogen distribution infrastructure -- a serious challenge -- while the introduction of hydrogen into transportation requires the development of effective hydrogen-fueled vehicles and a refueling infrastructure -- likely an even greater challenge. Yet as a means to mitigate CO2 emissions, the potential advantage of ICM over nonfossil energy sources (other than biomass)
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From page 137... ...
competed against expensive natural gas. Alternatively, the economies of scale in large ICM electric generation might lower the relative cost of electricity -- under a system-wide carbon tax -- and cause acceleration of the fraction of primary energy converted to electricity at centralized facilities.
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From page 138... ...
By reducing the severity of the threat that emission reduction poses to fossil industries and fossil-rich nations, carbon management may ease current political deadlocks. Stated bluntly, if carbon management is widely adopted and if existing fossil energy industries can extend their dominance into the new markets for carbon sequestration, then the increase in total energy costs will benefit industries that would otherwise lose by actions to abate emissions.
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From page 139... ...
In each case the basline simulation (solid line) does not include ICM, and the dotted line shows the carbon price if ICM technologies are included.
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From page 140... ...
1998. Fossil fuels without CO2 emissions.
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From page 141... ...
All of these factors will likely influence people's reaction to geological sequestration. Dan DuBois, National Renewable Energy Laboratory: I am a little more supportive of renewable energy than you are, but on the issue of how much CO2 you could use, I think you are saying 0.1% or something like this.
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From page 142... ...
One of the reasons for this is that even though renewable energy has a high initial capital cost, it is incremental. So, you can afford small increments at a time, and this helps developing countries implement renewable energy technologies.
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From page 143... ...
Obviously, producing cryogenic hydrogen requires a lot of energy itself. So you really have to talk about a renewable energy source not only to create the hydrogen, but also to compress it and to liquefy it.
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From page 144... ...
James Spearot: I basically agree with this. You will see some in cars, but they will be early prototype demonstrations and limited product applications to get the knowledge base developed, but clearly center-city buses make an ideal application for hydrogen fuel cells.
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I don't view alternate energy forms as competing approaches, but as multiple alternatives to get to the goal. I would argue that we cannot exclude any of them.
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From page 146... ...
Tom Baker, Los Alamos National Laboratory: The thing that has been disappointing for chemists in the issue of carbon sequestration has been the lack of interest in the United States in expanding funding for the fundamental chemistry of carbon dioxide. In Europe, there is a lot of focus on CO2 reuse and recycling.
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