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CARBON SEQUESTRATION: CHALLENGES AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

CARBON SEQUESTRATION: CHALLENGES AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. By Theresa Pugh Director, Environmental Services American Public Power Association Presented to: Engineering & Operations Technical Conference April 17, 2007 Atlanta, GA. WHAT IS APPA?.

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CARBON SEQUESTRATION: CHALLENGES AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

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  1. CARBON SEQUESTRATION: CHALLENGES AND UNANSWERED QUESTIONS By Theresa Pugh Director, Environmental Services American Public Power Association Presented to: Engineering & Operations Technical Conference April 17, 2007 Atlanta, GA

  2. WHAT IS APPA? • 2000 Municipal, State Utilities Which Are Community Owned • Payment In Lieu Of Taxes Returned To General City Revenue For Fire, Police, Library, Schools • Money Must Be Spent Wisely: Low Risk Tolerance For Failure • Results Must Satisfy Mayors, City Council And Utility General Managers

  3. APPA: PERSPECTIVE ON CO2 CONTROL • APPA Supports Voluntary CO2-Mitigating Steps • Signatory on the President’s Climate Vision Memorandum of Understanding to Reduce • GHG emissions intensity by 18% by 2018 • Power sector GHG by 3-5% below ’02-’03 baseline • APPA Tree PowerTM Program: • Provide shade, improve photosynthesis, reduce CO2 • Golden Tree Award: one tree per customer served

  4. APPA MEMBERS ACTIVE IN IGCC • At Least Two New Public Power IGCC Plants In Progress • Orlando Utilities Commission/Southern Company • Energy Northwest • Key Concern: Will Scheduled Outages Be More Frequent? • Many public power communities small • 6 weeks per year problematic & costly to buy on market • Energy Northwest: target 92-96% w/spare gasifier

  5. APPA RECOGNIZES IGCC OFFERS ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES • Control of Criteria Pollutants • SO2: to 99% • NOx: to < 0.05 lbs/MBtu • Particulate Matter: < 0.010 lbs/MBtu • Thermal Efficiency • Present capability: 38-40% • Future potential: to >50% • Combustion Byproducts: 1/100th of Conventional by Volume

  6. IGCC vs. ADVANCED PC: COST1 • Basis: Cost of Generating Electricity (Amortized Capital and Production) • CO2 Control NOT REQUIRED: IGCC > Advanced PC by up to 20% • CO2 Control REQUIRED: IGCC < Advanced PC by 10-20% • Alternative: What is $/MWh Premium for CO2 Control? • Advanced PC: CO2 control: 70% premium • IGCC: CO2 control: 25-35% premium • Includes conveyance cost of 2800 psig pipeline 1. Source: “Coal-Fired Generation: At The Crossroads”, EPRI Journal, Summer, 2005

  7. IGCC: GENERALIZATION • IGCC Must Be Applicable to All Coals • Current demo mix limited to narrow range • Multi-fuel designs being explored (Energy Northwest) • EPRI: Matrix of Gasifier Designs Required • 3 types of entrained-flow • 2-3 transport-flow • 8 SOA Designs Needed (Coalfleet For Tomorrow) • APPA Members Have Experienced Limited Coal Choices in Recent Years • Transportation, costs, labor, force majeur, other • Will IGCC make captive rail better or worse for utilities?

  8. IGCC: RELIABILITY • Most Reliable Demo – Wabash River – 79% • Do Public Power Towns Have To Build Two-Gasifier Designs, Or Two Separate Units? • Provisions of the National Energy Policy Act of 2005 Testify to Evolving Technology Status: • $1.8 B Clean Coal Power Initiative: 70% to IGCC • APPA supports DOE funding for R&D and pilots • $800 M investment tax credits for IGCC but not eligible for APPA members since not tradable

  9. SEQUESTRATION UNKNOWNS • Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage1 (Battelle) • “…..CO2 injection can be considered an established technology….” • “….large-scale deployment of CCS systems…….requires the continued development and field demonstration of more advanced drilling and CO2 injection schemes….” • IPCC Report2 (2005) • “…there must be hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of large –scale geologic storage projects…..” • thirteen key questions (page 204) discussed and addressed Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Storage, Global Energy Technology Strategy Program Phase 2, April, 2006. Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, Final Report, Cambridge University Press, 2005.

  10. SEQUESTRATION: WHAT’S INVOLVED? • Reference: 1 GW Generates 30,000 tons CO2/d • Inject as “Supercritical” Fluid (Acts Like Both a Liquid and Gas) • To 1/2 Mile or Deeper to Minimize Volume • CO2 Once Injected is: • less dense than encased fluids, and under pressure • Will migrate both laterally and up • Can diffuse, adsorb, mineralize, and solubilize • Can we predict the ultimate fate? • 1 GW Plume: Spreads to 100 km2 (100 m Thick)

  11. CANDIDATE CO2 RESERVOIRS Source: Batelle CCS Report, p. 17

  12. Source: IPCC Report, Fig. 5-25

  13. RISKS FROM GEOLOGIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION CO2 RISKS Global Local Release of CO2 to the atmosphere • CO2 in Atmosphere or • Shallow Subsurface • -suffocation of • humans or animals • ecosystem impacts • (tree roots, burrowing animals) • CO2 Dissolved in • Subsurfaces • -mobilization of metals, • other contaminants • Contamination of potable water • Interference with deep • subsurface ecosystems • Quantity-Based • -ground heave induced seismicity • Contamination of drinking water by • displaced brines • Damage to hydrocarbon production Source: Wilson and de Figueiredo, 2006

  14. CARBON SEQUESTRATION: SEND IN THE LAWYERS Source: Wilson and de Figueiredo, 2006

  15. LIABILITIES: SITING Source: Wilson and de Figueiredo, 2006

  16. LIABILITIES: OPERATIONAL Source: Wilson and de Figueiredo, 2006

  17. LEARN FROM THE PAST? • Per Battelle1 and IPCC2, Catastrophic Failure and Damages “Unlikely”; However: • Lake Nyos, Nigeria: Fatal Release of CO2 Resulting in 1700 Deaths (1987) • Mammoth Mountain CO2 Leaks of 1200 Tons/d Varied with Seismic Activity (1990-1995), Damaged Trees • Other Unintended Consequences: Underground Storage Tanks, MTBE • DOD Injections Of Wastes In Colorado In 1970s And Seismic Activities Carbon Dioxide Capture and Geologic Storage, Global Energy Technology Strategy Program Phase 2, April, 2006. Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, Final Report, Cambridge University Press, 2005.

  18. SUMMARY • APPA Supports Demo of IGCC, Sequestration: Broad Technology Array Required • Taxpayers Money: Always Requires Caution • Sequestration at EOR Not Same As Utility • Sequestration at Utility Sites is Highly Uncertain: Caution Should Be Exercised • Unknown consequences severe? • Long time constants: advise slow and steady • Learn From The Past: CERCLA & NRDA • APPA Supports IGCC Where Units Provide Collateral Environmental, Economic Benefits

  19. Theresa PughDirector, Environmental ServicesAPPA202/467-2942tpugh@appanet.org

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