AEP, one of the nation's biggest electric power producers, is
pushing the envelope once again. With the financial backing and vision to get
big things done, they are installing the world's first carbon capture and
sequestration (CCS) system on a large, existing coal-fired power plant. They are confident operations will begin in
2009.
Michael Morris, CEO of AEP said, “This technology is going
to save the existing [coal] fleet and save the American electrical consumer
trillions of dollars." He believes the U.S. coal fleet can have carbon
capture and storage operational by 2015, a full decade before some
climatologists warn all coal plants must stop spewing greenhouse gases or be
shut down to prevent environmental catastrophe.
The technology Morris is referring to is a new chilled
ammonia process developed by Alstom, a Paris-based maker of integrated power
plants. Hopefully, the process will be able to grab carbon dioxide from a
belching power plant stack at low cost and without sapping massive amounts of
electricity -- the main barrier for existing models.
A government document from the Department of Energy cast
doubt on the technology , but that is not stopping Morris from trying it on
AEP's 1,300-megawatt Mountaineer plant in West Virginia and shooting the
captured gas 2 miles underground on-site. Initially, the process will grab
about 1 percent of the plant's C02 output, equivalent to 20 megawatts.
One problem: if Congress imposes a tight carbon emissions
reduction regime before CCS technology is ready, the result could be very
negative. It would force AEP to shut coal plants and buy electricity from
outrageously expensive alternatives, according to Morris. It could kill the
U.S. economy, he says.
Many would disagree with his assessment. Supporters of an
extra-tough cap-and-trade bill say that a similar scheme worked to control acid
rain and that the United States and the world can't afford to watch polar ice
caps melt because of global warming.
Other activists are saying that American Electric Power needs
to invest more in alternative energy, but Morris estimates that coal plants
fitted with carbon capture technology will be much cheaper for his customers
than power generated from wind and solar farms.
If Mountaineer is a success, the company will take the
technology to a coal-fired unit in Oologah, Okla., in 2012 and try to capture
50 percent of the carbon dioxide there for use in enhanced oil recovery. Then,
Morris said, he will begin retrofitting the largest generators in his fleet.
My opinion? The technology definitely needs to be tested and
AEP seems to be the best company to do it. I applaud their efforts and vision
to do more to address the global warming issue. We’re pleased that the Enviance
System can help them with this massive project, as it no doubt will.
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