R&D Projects Target Cheaper Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage

In order to burn abundant supplies of coal globally while minimizing carbon dioxide emissions, cheaper methods of capturing, using, and storing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are needed. A new federal agency is on the leading edge of identifying and supporting promising technologies.

The technology options available today for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil-fueled power plants are limited and involve daunting energy penalties. They’re also expensive, adding up to 80% to the cost of power generation. Current options for using captured CO2 are mostly limited to enhanced oil recovery, which means this use of the captured, compressed, and transported greenhouse gas is limited geographically and practically. Other storage options are in their infancy and look expensive, if not cost-prohibitive. So where does that leave the power industry as it looks to a future that (especially given President Obama’s recently announced Climate Action Plan) is sure to include some sort of imperative to capture carbon emissions?

A few carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) research and pilot projects are under way around the world, but most have been on-again/off-again ventures, mostly because of uncertain regulatory, legal, and financing environments. But that doesn’t mean the issue is going away. In the U.S., the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) newest agency takes the challenge seriously and is encouraging innovative research and development (R&D) to solve the puzzle of how to keep CO2 from energy-production activities out of Earth’s atmosphere.

At the 4th Annual Energy Innovation Summit (EIS) in February, more than 20 Technology Showcase displays focused on carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). The EIS is sponsored by the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), the four-year-old sibling of the Defense Department’s DARPA. As of this spring, the ARPA-E website listed a total of 15 projects that were part of the agency’s Innovative Materials and Processes for Advanced Carbon Capture Technologies (IMPACCT) program.

ARPA-E focuses on modest-size, short-term grants for projects that are at too early a stage to attract private, venture capital. And although the funding provided by ARPA-E may be its most visible role, at least as important are the partnerships it arranges for the projects it funds. By bringing a variety of researchers, national laboratory scientists, and corporate partners together, ARPA-E connects individuals and groups that might not have had access to each other or who wouldn’t have thought they could help solve each other’s problems. Such strategic partnerships are important not just for solving technical problems but also for making the transition to a stage where private investors become interested. (For more on the agency, search for “ARPA-E Plays Matchmaker for Innovative Energy Research Projects” at powermag.com.)

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