Plant carbon capture tech to save $1,300b a year

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our or .

| Sourced From |

Power solutions provider Alstom will work together with the Australian government to develop and commercialise Global Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology as part of an initiative to reduce the amount and cost of CO2 released into the atmosphere by $1,300 billion a year.

Alstom will work alongside the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, in an effort to accelerate carbon projects through a variety of measures including the facilitation of demonstration projects and promoting necessary research – including regulatory settings and frameworks.

The participants in the team, called the CCS Institute, will also work to find a global portfolio of commercial-scale CCS technology projects, in order to achieve commercial deployment by 2020.

“We were one of the first companies working in this area to respond to this extremely welcome initiative of the Australian government,” said Alstom Power Systems senior vice president – power and environmental policies, Joan MacNaughton CB.

“We share their view that climate change is a defining challenge of our generation, and that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology must play a critical role in addressing that challenge.”

MacNaughton said that according to the IEA (International Energy Agency), CCS could provide a quarter of the CO2 emission reduction needed globally in 2050.

“The IEA analysis states that without CCS, reducing the volume of CO2 emissions to the same extent could cost $1,300 billion a year more, in today’s prices,” she said.

“Our interest in CCS technology and its commercialisation is a long-standing one. Alstom is a worldwide leader in technologies for reducing CO2 from power generation and in air quality control systems for power stations. We have developed three technologies for carbon capture: advanced amine scrubbing, chilled ammonia process and oxy-firing.”

MacNaughton said that whatever technology is employed, CO2 reduction and capture technologies are needed in both new and existing power plants. MacNaughton said these technologies should be added to existing plants as soon as possible.

“All interested parties need to work together to achieve this objective. We expect to offer CCS commercially from about 2015, assuming that the policy and financial conditions for CCS to be deployed are met. These include the regulatory framework, funding for the first wave of large-scale demo plants, and a stable and strong C02 pricing regime,” she said.

By Sarah Falson