New center wins £1.1 million in funding for CCS research - towards carbon negative energy

Imagine you could develop an energy system that delivers electricity while at the same time taking historic carbon dioxide - the main culprit of climate change - out of the atmosphere. With such a carbon-negative energy system, you would effectively be 'cleaning up the past', not only the future. The electricity generated from such a concept could be used to power electric vehicles, homes and industry.

Such so-called 'Bioenergy with Carbon Storage' (BECS) systems become possible when biomass fuels (solid, gaseous or liquid) are burned in power plants that are integrated with a carbon capture and storage (CCS) system. The primary energy source is carbon-neutral because it consists of plants that take CO2 out of the atmosphere as they grow. When before, during or after the combustion of the biomass, its carbon dioxide is captured and then stored in suitable sites, the electricity generated becomes carbon-negative.

Scientists have looked at this BECS concept as one of the few feasible geo-engineering options to mitigate dangerous climate change on a large scale and in a safe manner that allows societies to use energy while taking historic CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere. The system is seen as a 'geo-engineering' technique because it involves the establishment large plantations of carbon capturing energy crops at strategic sites (earlier post).

Crucial to make the BECS concept work is the carbon capture and storage phase. Both steps are currently being tested and research has been speeding up with the idea to apply CCS to power plants that burn fossil fuels (in which case the system would still be slightly carbon-positive). One of the key risks associated with CSS is the potential for leakage: the carbon dioxide that will be stored in sites such as saline aquifers or deep coal seams could escape. Now if this were to happen in a CCS system that relies on fossil fuels, the entire concept would become unviable because the leaking CO2 gas would contribute to climate change. But if biofuels were to be used, leakage would be no problem, since there would be no net contribution. In short, as Biopact's Laurens Rademakers found, the use of biomass in CCS systems could be the safest way forward for the technology.

Other carbon storage techniques resulting in carbon-negative bioenergy are based on the sequestration of biochar in agricultural soils, or on processes that lock carbon dioxide up in useful products.

It is within this context that Biopact tracks the latest developments in CCS-research. Good news comes from the University of Nottingham, where Dr Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Associate Professor and Reader in Energy Technology, has won £1.1 million (€1.6/US$2.2 million) for a new centre that is set to play a crucial role in the development of CCS technologies.

The way we will approach this problem is unique. The CICCS will bring together engineers, mathematicians, bioscientists, geographers, geologists and end-users in a 'hot-house' environment that encourages creative problem-solving. - Dr Maroto-Valer, University of Nottingham, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

The Centre for Innovation in Carbon Capture and Storage (CICCS) — due to open in October 2007 — will develop novel technologies to trap and store greenhouse gases permanently and safely, so they are not released into the atmosphere.

One of the technologies that the Centre will work on uses a natural process in conjunction with silicate-based rocks such as serpentine. When put in a reactor and under a chemical reaction, CO2 gets locked in by the rocks permanently. The end-product is a mineral such as magnesite, which can be used as aggregates for road-building or shaped into bricks for construction. If applied to a CO2 stream from biomass, we could be building houses that store CO2 emissions from the past:
energy :: sustainability :: climate change :: fossil fuels :: carbon balance :: carbon capture and storage :: carbon sequestration :: BECS :: biofuels :: biomass :: bioenergy ::

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), through the Challenging Engineering initiative, has just announced the five-year funding package for CICCS, with a view to it becoming a world leader in the development of novel processes for carbon capture and storage and establishing partnerships with major international industries and research centres:

Dr Maroto-Valer who will be the director of the new center said: “The novel technologies developed at the Centre will enable the UK to meet its targets for the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and thus help the UK to play its part in global efforts to tackle climate change.”

CO2 is the main culprit in global warming — and in the UK almost a third of these emissions come from power stations. The storage method to be developed at CICCS could cut such CO2 releases to almost zero in a safe and reliable manner.

The Centre will work on research at the interface of science and engineering, industry and international cooperation in order to accelerate technological innovation in the field and lead to a wider deployment of carbon capture and storage. The Centre will also have a strong programme of knowledge transfer and training with a range of opportunities for industrial engagement.

The Centre will promote interdisciplinary activity to bring groundbreaking ideas from basic science and develop them into new products, processes and services, as well as consider public acceptability issues.

Within the Centre a new generation of potential academic, industrial and government leaders in carbon capture and storage will be trained with a broad and interdisciplinary set of skills suitable for their future careers in industry, research or government.

Locking carbon dioxide into a useful product
One of the technologies that the Centre will work on uses a natural process in conjunction with silicate-based rocks such as serpentine, which is found in large enough quantities, and in the right places, to store all the CO2 produced by the combustion of the entire world's known fossil fuel reserves.

The CO2 extracted from burning coal is put into a reactor with the rocks and through a chemical reaction. The serpentine binds the carbon dioxide to itself, 'locking it in' permanently. This reaction does occur in nature — only far more slowly, taking place over eons of time.

Once the process is fully developed, it is estimated that the locking of CO2 will take place within minutes.

The end product is a mineral such as magnesite, which can be used as aggregates for road-building or shaped into bricks for construction. Carbon dioxide makes up 40 per cent of its weight and it would take 1,500 times more space to store the same amount in gas form.

Compared to other proposed processes for carbon storage, such as burying carbon under the sea, once the CO2 is locked inside the rock by the CICCS process, it is contained for good and cannot go back to its previous state. This is of paramount importance as ensuring the permanent storage of the CO2 has been the most controversial issue in carbon storage.

Moreover, the end result is a commercial product. Fossil fuel power plants could utilise the new process by adding a reactor to their emissions treatment system, allowing CO2 to be turned into a useful building material. The Centre's ultimate goal will be to sign collaborative agreements with power and construction companies to move forward with commercialisation of the technology.


A spokesperson for the EPSRC said: “Established in response to recommendations in the 2004 international review of engineering research in the UK, Challenging Engineering aims to encourage young researchers to develop and lead adventurous projects.

“It seeks to identify and support outstanding researchers at an early stage of their career, to achieve their potential faster through training in creativity and leadership, linking with industry, developing collaborative networks and routes to better exploitation.

“The competition required candidates to present their project proposals creatively and offered the opportunity to demonstrate their ability not only to lead far-reaching research, but also to communicate its importance to the wider world. The EPSRC makes around seven Challenging Engineering awards annually, with a total commitment of £16.3M to date.”


The processes developed by the Centre will also be attractive to oil producers, chemical manufacturers and other energy-intensive industries that have a role to play in helping the UK to meet its 2050 target of 60% reduction below 1990 levels.


The new Centre will without a doubt develop innovative ways to capture and store carbon dioxide. The first example - binding CO2 to rocks to yield a useful product - could be applied to any CO2 stream, including those coming from the combustion of solid, gaseous or liquid biofuels. This means we could soon be building our houses with bricks that contain CO2 from the past...


References:
The University of Nottingham: Nottingham centre to help UK to meet its carbon targets - July 27, 2007.

Biopact: Abrupt Climate Change and geo-engineering the planet with carbon-negative bioenergy - December 21, 2006

Biopact: Pre-combustion CO2 capture from biogas - the way forward? - March 31, 2007

Biopact: Carbon sequestration in deep coal seams feasible, but with risks - June 28, 2007

Biopact: Research warns 'dangerous climate change' may be imminent - carbon negative bioenergy now - May 31, 2007

Biopact: Report: clean coal and CCS 'feasible' in the UK - towards carbon negative energy? - May 15, 2007

EurActiv: 'Carbon-capture trials safest way forward' - Laurens Rademakers, Biopact - April 3, 2007.