Researchers have used liquid metals to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) back into solid coal with technology they say has the potential to revolutionize carbon capture and storage and provide a new way for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere…
Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said that a rash of coal-fired and nuclear power plants retirements is “alarming” and poses a looming crisis for the nation’s power grid
“While the Petra Nova project will certainly benefit Texas, it also demonstrates that clean coal technologies can have a meaningful and positive impact on the nation’s energy security and economic growth,” said Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
Petra Nova is the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture system, being able to capture more than 5,000 tons of CO2 per day. It is built on an existing coal unit, and delivers captured CO2 through an 80-mile pipeline to the West Ranch oilfield. This captured CO2 will boost production at the oilfield through Enhanced Oil Recovery operations. Over the next few years, oil production at the field is estimated to increase from approximately 300 barrels per day to up to 15,000 barrels per day using captured carbon dioxide.
Solar power is now cheaper than coal in some parts of the world. In less than a decade it could be the lowest-cost option almost everywhere.
According to the International Energy Agency, in 2015 coal power plants produced close to 39% of the world’s power, whilst renewables – including hydroelectric dams – accounted for 23%. However the IEA expects that number to climb to 28% by 2021, when renewables will supply the equivalent of all the power produced currently in the US and the EU combined. The IEA sees renewables growing 13% more between 2015 and 2021 than it did in its previous year’s forecast, due mostly to “stronger policy backing in the United States, China, India and Mexico.”
