Opinion: Carbon capture could expand Alaska’s electricity options

Alaska may be hiding a potential source of clean energy. That’s “clean coal.” More precisely, it is cleaned coal in which 95% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) has been removed from the emissions from power plant combustion. The bonus is that 100% of other pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, are removed, and most of the nitrous oxide and particulate matter are also removed in the process.

For many people, coal is a dirty word. That can’t be true. We should always be open-minded.

Coal is packed with energy. It is low cost and abundant throughout the world, especially in Alaska. About 27% of the world’s coal is in the United States, and half of it is in Alaska. The problem is that using coal as a fuel emits carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. But if we can reduce C02 emissions, what’s the problem?

A new study by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, shows that Alaska coal-fired power plants equipped with carbon capture systems to remove carbon dioxide from emissions and permanently store it underground It was shown that it is possible to approach “net purity.” -Zero’ carbon emissions.

Because of the low price of coal, the cost of power generation, including the cost of capturing and storing carbon dioxide underground, is reduced by energy sources such as imported liquefied natural gas or even conventional natural gas combined with renewable energy from wind and solar. It seems to be very competitive compared to the source. For research on UAF.

The federal clean energy tax credit, which is paid per ton for carbon dioxide stored underground, is key to this calculation, and critics say the credit is temporary and undermines long-term economics. I would argue that there is a possibility of damage. But many wind and solar projects also benefit from federal tax credits, so the same argument applies.

Carbon capture is a hot research topic today. Our university and partner team were selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead research into whether this process would work in Alaska. Importantly, CO2 capture from coal-fired power plants relies on proven technology. The basic process has been used in many industries for many years.

One coal C02 recovery project currently in development is at the Milton R. Young coal power plant in Center, North Dakota. It is owned by Minnkota Electric Cooperative, with participation from Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and major American company Kiewit.

Carbon capture is less effective in coal because the CO2 concentration from natural gas-fired power plants is lower, at about 14% of coal emissions, compared to 3% of emissions from gas plants. It works fine. This makes the technology more difficult. There is also a lot of research and development into capturing C02 directly from the air, but this is not yet ready for widespread use.

Return to Alaska. For the purpose of the study, the university used a plausible but hypothetical example: a large power plant and coal mine near Skwentna in the western Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The study assumed that a new 75-mile pipeline would be built to transport the captured carbon dioxide to the existing Beluga gas field west of Anchorage.

The Beluga oil field has a large amount of underground storage space available for CO2 storage, estimated to be enough to store carbon dioxide from Skwentna’s 400 MW power plant for more than 60 years. The example also assumes a 75-mile transmission line to the Chugach Power Association’s Beluga Generating Station near the gas field, where new power would be connected to Chugach’s existing transmission lines to serve south-central Alaska and It can supply power to the railbelt power grid that serves inland areas.

Skwentna was used as an example because it has known coal resources and companies currently exploring it. The construction of coal-fired power plants and transmission lines will also create electricity markets for communities in southcentral Alaska. With predicted shortages of natural gas from the Cook Inlet gas field, utilities in the region are looking for alternative energy sources, and this could be one of them.

I admit that building a large power plant and coal mine at Skwentna on the edge of the wilderness seems unreasonable. However, power plants and transmission lines have historically been built in areas that are difficult to access. For example, Chugach Electric’s Beluga power plant was built in the 1960s without road access. There is still no road to the Beluga factory, which is still in operation.

This theory is plausible because Skwentna is relatively close to the Beluga gas field for CO2 storage. However, it is also possible to locate coal-fired power plants with carbon capture in other locations, such as near the existing Usiberi coal mine in Healy, south of Fairbanks. But Healy is much farther from the Beluga gas field and would require a longer CO2 pipeline, about 480 miles.

It may be possible to inject and store CO2 in Healy’s underground coal seams, but there is not much research into coal seam storage. Still, the positive for Healy is that it already has a coal mine, two coal-fired power plants and long-distance power lines. The university wants to explore the potential for carbon capture there, but needs additional support.

This includes state support. UAF is currently waiting to see if Congress can fund the $2 million needed this year, matched by a $9 million federal grant, for further coal carbon capture and storage efforts.

Meanwhile, data from university research on coal carbon capture shows the amount of CO2 emitted per gigawatt-hour of electricity in metric tons (1 metric ton is 2,200 pounds; a U.S. ton is 2,000 pounds). ): Coal without carbon capture: 1,100 metric tons; Natural gas, currently: 550 metric tons. Wind power with natural gas backup (requires wind or solar backup for reliability): 250 tons. Coal with carbon dioxide capture: 100 tons.

To me, this sounds promising. It should not be ignored.

Tim Bradner Publisher of Alaska Legislative Digest and Alaska Economic Report.

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