Projects are located in 15 different states
U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY Steven Chu announced on Sept. 7th that 22 carbon capture and storage research projects will receive a total of more than $575 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). These projects complement the industrial demonstration projects already being funded through the Recovery Act. Together, they represent an unprecedented investment in the development of advanced coal technologies with carbon capture and storage (CCS), often referred to as “clean coal” technologies.
This program supports the President’s goal of cost-effective deployment of carbon capture and storage within 10 years and helps to position the United States as a leader in the global clean energy race.
“This is a major step forward in the fight to reduce carbon emissions from industrial plants, said Secretary Chu. “These new technologies will not only help fight climate change, they will also create jobs now and help position the United States to lead the world in clean coal technologies, which will only increase in demand in the years ahead.”
Located in 15 different states, the projects include research into four different areas of CCS research: 1) Large-scale testing of advanced gasification technologies; 2) advanced turbo-machinery to lower emissions from industrial sources; 3) post-combustion CO2 capture with increased efficiencies and decreased costs; and 4) geologic storage site characterization.
Three projects involving testing of gasification technologies will take the lion’s share of the funds — a total of $312 million. These projects will accelerate the technology development by conducting tests at larger prototype, engineering scales. Following successful completion, these advanced technologies will be ready for scale-up to commercial size.
Five projects examining post-combustion carbon capture will receive a total of $90 million. Post-combustion CCS technologies are of great interest to Boilermakers, as they are the ones most likely to bring our members new work.
Fifty million dollars will go to 10 projects examining the potential for permanent geological storage of carbon dioxide. These projects, previously selected under ARRA funding, will be expanded to increase the scientific understanding and locations of geologic formations for safe and permanent carbon dioxide storage.
Visit DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy website for the full list of projects announced Sept. 7.
