UKCCSC News 31 March 2010

Hi Folks,

Welcome to the most UK-centric News yet, sneakily sent out while many recipients are in Edinburgh for the first (or is it second?) meeting of UKCCSC Mark II:

“UK launches national carbon capture and storage programme” ScienceBusiness (18 Mar)

“The government says the sector will be worth up to £6.5 billion and support up to 100,000 jobs by 2030.”

“As part of the strategy a new Office of CCS has been set up in the Department for Energy and Climate Change.”

URL below. And there’s more:

“£6.3 million was awarded to Scottish and Southern Energy, the utility firm that runs Ferrybridge, as a contribution to a £21 million carbon capture project at the power station”

https://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net/ebulletins/showissue.php3?page=/548/art/17300&ch=1

The strategy document is at:

https://www.decc.gov.uk/occs

And the DECC OCCS website is here:

https://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_mix/ccs/occs/occs.aspx)

2) Just down the road from here, in Edinburgh: “MSPs [Members of the Scottish Parliament] have backed calls for the Scottish Parliament to reject plans for a coal-fired power station at Hunterston in North Ayrshire.” BBC News (18 Mar)

“If the plan succeeds the plant would be the first in the UK to use carbon capture and storage technology.”

“Ministers considering the application can ignore the vote in Parliament.”

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8575353.stm

3) I’m not sure how the last item sits with this one: “Scotland announces CCS plans” Energy Saving Trust (17 Mar)

“A publication has been released suggesting that Scotland could become a world leader in carbon capture and storage (CCS).”

https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Resources/Energy-saving-news/Climate-change2/Scotland-announces-CCS-plans13

The report is here:

https://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Infrastructure/Energy-Consents/Thermal-Guidance/CCS-roadmap

4) Us again: “Making the UK’s energy systems fit for 2050” The Royal Academy of Engineering

What do we need to do to achieve the UK’s carbon cuts? There are 4 scenarios, one includes:

“…around 40 new nuclear or CCS-equipped power plants to be built (these could be fuelled by coal, biomass or gas).”

A pdf version of the report can be downloaded from the same location.

https://www.raeng.org.uk/news/releases/shownews.htm?NewsID=553

5) An anti-CCS article that’s interesting reading, from a Dominion this time.

“Canadian government ‘hiding truth about climate change’, report claims” Guardian (18 Mar)

“Canada’s climate researchers are being muzzled, their funding slashed, research stations closed, findings ignored and advice on the critical issue of the century unsought by Prime Minister”

https://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/18/climate-change-canada

6) An article about a successful EOR scheme from the USA: “Wyo. Wants More Carbon Dioxide” New York Times (16 Mar)

“What started out as an experiment, according to the company, is now the biggest carbon storage project in North America”

Anadarko “ …is injecting 5,000 to 8,000 cubic feet of CO₂ into the ground to produce a barrel of oil, which produces about 8,000 cubic feet of atmospheric carbon when it is burned. Thus, Salt Creek’s oil is now “60 to 100 percent carbon free.””

https://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/03/16/16climatewire-wyo-wants-more-carbon-dioxide-66988.html

7) If you’ve a better-than-average memory, you might recall my prediction that this would appear immediately after I’d sent out the last News, actually it was 10 days later:

“The government has confirmed funding for the next stage of the UK’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration competition. Both Scottish Power and E.On, the two remaining entries, will receive tens of millions of pounds each to fund detailed engineering studies.” World Wildlife Fund (16 Mar)

https://www.wwf.org.uk/news_feed.cfm?3766/Comment-on-carbon-capture-development-funding

8) Back to the USA, again related to EOR: “Secretary Chu Announces Up To $154 Million for NRG Energy’s Carbon Capture and Storage Project in Texas” Media Newswire (15 Mar)

“NRG will construct a 60 megawatt carbon capture demonstration facility at the company’s W.A. Parish Unit 7 in Thompsons, Texas”

https://media-newswire.com/release_1114377.html

9) I’m not sure if we’ve had this one before, the name sounds familiar but I think the news is fresh: “DOE awards cooperative agreement for post-combustion carbon capture project” Environmental Expert (15 Mar)

“The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a cooperative agreement to American Electric Power Service Corporation (AEP) for the Mountaineer Commercial Scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project to design, construct, and operate a system that will capture and store approximately 1.5 million tons per year of carbon dioxide (CO₂).”

Capture start date 2015.

https://www.environmental-expert.com/resultEachPressRelease.aspx?cid=29287&codi=157087

10) Reservoir pressure and storage capacity have been getting some publicity recently, here’s some fuel to stoke the fires: “Snøhvit CO₂ reservoirs with little capacity” Barents Observer (10 Mar)

“What we have seen is that the pressure in the reservoir increases more than anticipated when the CO₂ is injected, company press spokesman Gisle Johanson says. -This makes the storage capacity less than we had anticipated.”

There is more info if you happen to speak Norwegian.

https://www.barentsobserver.com/snoehvit-co2-reservoirs-with-little-capacity.4757670-16282.html

11) “New CO₂ ‘scrubber’ from ingredient in hair conditioners” Chemie.de (26 Mar)

“The new “scrubber” material may be less expensive and more efficient than current technologies”

https://www.chemie.de/news/e/115468/

12) “ETI to invest in carbon capture technology” LowCarbonEconomy.com (23 Mar)

“It is hoped that full-scale demonstration will be completed by 2015 with the design of a power station using the newly-developed technology, and that it will be ready for commercial use by 2020.”

https://www.lowcarboneconomy.com/community_content/_low_carbon_news/9102/eti_to_invest_in_carbon_capture_technology

and the ETI itself at: https://tinyurl.com/ykqydex