Clean-Energy.us - Information - Summary of Recent IGCC Studies of CO2 Capture for Sequestration

Summary of Recent IGCC Studies of CO2 Capture for Sequestration

2003 Gasification Technology Conference
San Francisco, California, USA
12 Oct 2003

Holt, Neville (Electric Power Research Institute)
Booras, George (Electric Power Research Institute)
Todd, Douglas (Process Power Plants)

Clean-Energy.us Summary

Technical paper summarizing recent studies (last 15 years) examining the costs of CO2 capture from various powerplant technologies. Concludes that: "This paper reports the added COE costs of capture to be 25-35% with new IGCC plants and ~60% for new PC plants at the plant gate where the CO2 is pressured up to 110 barg. These costs do not include pipeline transport and sequestration costs which will be very dependent on site location but have been estimated at 5-10$/metric ton of CO2. These additional costs imply that the additional COE for both capture and sequestration could be 40-50% for new IGCC and 80-90% for new PC plants."

The authors then ask: "The two main questions are: Is this going to be acceptable to the public? Can these costs be significantly reduced by further technology development?"

Clean-Energy.us Document No. 280


5.	Technology Development
	B.	Advanced Gasification
		2.	Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage
				Summary of Recent IGCC Studies of CO2 Capture for Sequestration

Link to Full Text File (if any)

none

Document Type	Technical Paper
Date Created	14 Oct 2003
Date Acquired	14 Oct 2003
Web Site	http://www.gasification.org
Specific URL	http://www.gasification.org/Docs/2003_Papers/31HOLT_paper.pdf
Copyright Owner	Electric Power Research Institute
Content	Pages = 9	Text? Yes	Photos? No	Graphics? Yes	PowerPoint? Yes

Authors Abstract (if any)

In response to concerns over the possible effects of fossil fuel based CO2 emissions on global climate several studies have been conducted over the past 15 years on the costs of CO2 capture from various power plant technologies. Most studies concluded that the costs of pre-combustion CO2 capture from syngas in an IGCC plant was much lower than post combustion removal from Pulverized Coal (PC) or Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) plants. While this remains true for bituminous coals the costs of CO2 removal do vary significantly between the various coal gasification technologies and the advantage in capture costs over PC plants will depend very much on the gasification technology selected. The IGCC studies surveyed in this paper cover the main gasification technologies offered by ChevronTexaco, Shell and ConocoPhillips (E Gas) as evaluated by several different engineering companies. For CO2 capture there is a distinct advantage for gasification operation at high-pressure 55-69 barg (800-1000 psig). Most studies focused on the use of bituminous coals but some have included sub-bituminous coal and lignite. Indications are that at the current state of gasification technology for low rank coals the Cost of Electricity (COE) for IGCC with CO2 capture is close to the COE from PC plants with CO2 capture for sub bituminous coals and maybe greater for lignite.

The effect of a potential carbon tax on a variety of existing and new fossil fuel power plants has also been evaluated. It is generally concluded that because of the economic advantage of their sunken investment that most existing PC plants would probably just pay the tax. This raises the broader question of just what incentives can current PC plant owners be offered to reduce CO2 emissions?

There are many significant issues concerning CO2 capture and sequestration. The major issue is whether geologic or oceanic sequestration of CO2 is permanently effective. Even if sequestration is proven successful in multiple regions the sheer scale of effort in making even a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions from US coal power plants is enormous. The costs of CO2 capture and sequestration from new IGCC plants adds 40-50% to the COE and with new PC plants the added COE costs can be 80-90%. Is society prepared to pay for these additional costs?

Contact for Additional Information

George Booras

+1 (650) 855-2471

gbooras@epri.com