Carbon Capture and Storage [1]
One kilo of the greenhouse gas CO2 is emitted per kWh from lignite-based electricity generation.
The energy required to operate CO2 capture systems reduces the overall efficiency of power generation or other processes, leading to increased fuel requirements, solid wastes and environmental impacts relative to the same type of base plant without capture.
IPCC Special Report on Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage Dowload here
CO2 Capture technology
- Post-combustion capture of CO2 in power plants is feasible, capturing the CO2 from flue gases. The separation is achieved by passing the CO2 -containing gas in intimate contact with a liquid absorbent or solid sorbent that is capable of capturing the CO2 . The loaded sorbent is regenerated in another vessel using heat and reduction of pressure. Membranes may also be used to capture CO2.
- Pre-combustion capture is widely applied in fertilizer manufacturing and in hydrogen production. more elaborate and costly. Reduction of CO2 content of natural gas from 4 to 2% mol is in operation in BP’s In Salah plant in Algeria and a Statoil plant at Sleipner in the North Sea. Chemical solvents, physical solvents or membranes are used.
Pre-combustion capture (IGCC - Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle) Involves reacting fuel with oxygen, air, or (less usually) steam, to produce a gas consisting mainly of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The carbon monoxide is reacted with steam to produce hydrogen and CO2, which is separated.Additional equipment is needed to remove impurities such as sulphur compounds from oil or coal.
- Oxy-fuel combustion uses oxygen instead of air for combustion, producing a flue gas that is mainly H2O and CO2 and which is readily captured. It has increased energy requirements in the separation of oxygen from air for the combustion.
- Industrial separation is being done in natural gas processing and ammonia production. Capture from these sources is not suitable for climate protection because the volumes of combustion-generated CO2 are much higher,
Capturing and storing CO2 presents no contribution to climate protection
According to EUROSOLAR, "Carbon free" power stations are still in development and could come on line at the earliest in 15-20 years. This means they cannot make a contribution to protect against climate change until 2020. Thus, they are not relevant to meeting the targets of the Kyoto protocol either. Capturing and compressing CO2 requires much energy and would increase the fuel needs of a plant with CCS by about 10-40%.It will increase the cost of energy from a power plant by 30-60% depending on the specific circumstances. [2]
Vattenfall Europe AG at Lausitz, Germany, will build a pilot power plant using carbon capture technology, compress the CO2 into a liquid and store it in underground reservoirs.
[1] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Special Report on Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage.
http://www.ipcc.ch/activity/srccs/SRCCS.pdf
[2] EUROSOLAR: "Carbon free" power stations: No protection against climate change
http://www.eurosolar.de/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=265&Itemid=12
Sequestring CO2 with algae [1]
| A 2,2 Million project wants to built a small aquaculture of microscopic
algae which are to reduce carbon dioxide from the stack of a small
power plant in Reltbrook, at Hamburg, Germany by E.ON Hanse. It uses
Haematococcus spp algae, a common inhabitant of birthbaths. Much
sunlight, warming energy, nutrtitients and lots of fresh water is
needed as input.The light efficiency of fotosynthesis bioreactors is 10 to 15 percent, According to Martin Kerner who developed the project. Professor Laurenz Thomsen from the private Jacobs University suggests to convert CO2 from the stacks of power plants into biomass, using giant bioreactors with sea water and algae located at the shore of the Mediterranean sea. | Algae culture to sequest CO2 |
One major problem will be the concentration of toxic components , such as dioxines, sulphur compounds and all the other components of fumes of power plants.
Photovoltaic electricity from the solar energy and feeding it to the grid is the best way to avoid CO2 at all. Wind energy and electricity from photovoltaic can be stored as hydrogen as fuel for traffic and fuel for power plants to run at night.
The International Climate Protection Proposal described here, is an unlimited storage for electricity. Carbon sequestring with algae is no storage of electricity, urgently needed for off shore wind parks.
[1] Handelsblatt: Kampf gegen den Klimawandel: Der Hoffnungsträger ist grün und glitschig. 02.11.2007
http://www.handelsblatt.com/news/default.aspx?_t=ft&_p=203116&_b=1346018
Wind energy storage
There are 19.000 wind generators installed in Germany. When there is a storm thy produce 20.000 megawatts (equivalent to 20 nuclear power plants), and zero when there is dead calm.
Wind mills cannot meet grid demands. They depend on how the wind blows, and sometimes has to face dead calm or excessive production when it this extra electricity is not needed.
Hydrogen to store wind energy
Hydrogen is considered to be the best way to store energy from wind generators. It can be used as fuel for transportation and as fuel for conventional thermic power plants.
Utsira is a model for renewable energy and hydrogen economy. Surplus power from the windmills goes to production of hydrogen, which is stored and used as fuel for a generator. Technology came from Norway.
The full story: http://www.hydro.com/en/press_room/news/features/utsira_windmills.html
Pumped storage hydro stations [1]
According to Leonhard and colleague, electrical energy supply based on a "wind and water" with off-shore wind power, balanced by pumped storage hydro stations, is a remotely conceivable possibility. However, this would call for a prohibitive enlargement of the existing pumped storage capacity.
With increasing off-shore wind power it would make more sense to use it for the production of secondary fuel, such as hydrogen, that can be stored, transported and distributed, Leonhard calls to develop this form of secondary energy instead of endangering the electrical grid by feeding it with ever rising quantities of fluctuating wind power. According to Leonhard there will a world wide demand for secondary fuels, such as hydrogen, that can be stored, transported and distributed.
Dispathable Wind Power System [2]
General Kompression suggest to substitute the compressor for the electrical generator in conventional wind turbine systems. Instead of producing electricity wind turbine produce high-pressure air which is accumulated underground. The wind’s energy is stored as compressed air, for later expansion and conversion to mechanical and/or electrical power. Storage options include geologic features such as salt domes, aquifers, or limestone caverns; or man-made depleted gas fields or mines; or steel pipes and tanks. The Price is 750 Mio for 500 Megawatts plant. One dispatchable windpower plant is installed in Huntorf in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Fritz Crotogino von KBB Underground Technologies, in Hannover says there must be a complicated system to cool the compressor where temperatures up to 700°C may arise. On the other side the expanding air cools the turbine as electricity is generated at the power plant. Much energy is necessary to avoid it to freeze.
According to David Marcus from General Kompression such problems can be avoided feeding the compressed air in a conventional steam turbine powered by gas, coal or nuclear origin, however, the sustainability of wind generators would thus be abandoned. [3]
[1] Leonhard, W.; Grobe, M.: Sutainable Electrical Energy Supply with wind, biomass and pumped storage
www.ifr.ing.tu-bs.de/forschung/downloads/papers/Sustainable_Energy_Supply.pdf
[2] General Compression: Dispatchable Windpower System
http://www.generalcompression.com/
[3] Spiegel.de: Windstrom auch bei Flaute: Dudelsack-Technik verspricht Energierevolution
http://www.spiegel.de/dertag/pda/avantgo/artikel/0,1958,506232,00.html
Why Hydrogen
Fuel: Hydrogen is the fuel for transportation for coming centuries.
Storage: Hydrogen can store solar electricity during day and is a fuel for night operation of conventional power plants. Hydrogen is a storage for wind energy.
Transportation
Hydrogen can be obtained by electrolysis of water where it is needed, using solar electricity from the grid. Transportation is thus reduced to a minimum. Petrol stations my produce the hydrogen from electricity of the grid. [1]
[1] http://www4.hydro.com/electrolysers/library/attachments/Brochures/06040%20Hydrogen%204s%20folder.pdf
Power Plant Cooling Systems
Water shortage forces shutdowns or inefficient operation of power plants last summer. [1]
Power plants are confronted with shortages of cooling water forcing shutdowns or inefficient operations. This is expcted to worsen as climate changes, according to Bob Goldstein, the Electric Power Research Institute's senior technical executive for water and ecological systems. He says that the cooling water awailability will decide where a power plant is going to be built.
Power plant cooling systems
Traditional, wet "open-loop cooling" system: Water from an adjacent water body is used to condense the steam needed to power turbines. What is left returns to the water source with high-temperature, endangering aquatic life.
New "closed-loop cooling": Regulates temperature through evaporation in a cooling tower. It uses 20 times less water then needed for open-loop cooling system, but the water is almost completely evaporated.
In test "dry cooling system": It uses air to cool power plants. However, it is expensive and less energy efficient than wet-cooling systems as outside temperature rises.
Conclusion
Solar photovoltaic and wind energy, following the International Climate Protection Proposal, will help to overcome water shortage as power plants will opeterate with heat generated electricity from hydrogen only at night, enforced by wind energy.
[1] World Business Council for Sustainable Development: Water woes loom as thirsty generators face climate change. 4.10.2007
http://www.wbcsd.org/Plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?ObjectId=MjY1NDk
Definitions
27.08.2007: Net Energy is not to be used any more [1]
According to Bruce Dale, a group of critics has argued that ethanol from corn has a negative net energy. Dale says that the metrics net energy is dead wrong and dangerously misleading. And it is necessary to carefully choose the metrics of comparison. According to the researcher, net energy must be eliminated from the discourse.
Dale suggests two appropriate metrics: To rate alternative fuels (e.g. ethanol) on their ability to displace petroleum; or to rate it on the total greenhouse gases produced per km driven.
The desert hydrogen economy is the winner, no matter what metrics are used.
Fuel equation of energy input and output [2]
According to David Pimentel from Cornell University, it takes more energy to make the alcohol than it produces and his negative energy equation is true for practically all forms of fuel. It takes about 1.3 gallons of oil to produce one gallon of ethanol.
Pimentel includes in his analysis the energy used to grow corn, as well as the energy used to ferment the grain, also the tractor fuel, the energy it takes to build the tractor and the energy needed to make fertilizer, and includes the human energy burned by the people doing the farm work. At the ethanol processing plant he includes the energy needed to build the plant such as steel girders, concrete, stainless steel.
Pimentel says if all the energy used to make the fuel is considered, gasoline is a looser of 10 percent.
Bruce Dale, from the Michigan State University,says Pimentel violates recognized standards guiding academic research.
According to Dale, those standards say specifically you're not to include the energy cost of making the machinery. Neither are you to include the energy cost for feeding the people that work the machinery. It's just not part of the study,
The Minnesota Legislature wants to require a 20-percent ethanol blend in gasoline by the year 2012.
[1] Dale, Bruce E.: Thinking clearly about biofuels: ending the irrelevant net energy debate and developing better performance metrics for alternative fuels Biofuel, Bioproducts and biorefining. Volume 1, Issue 1, p 14-17 Published Online: 9 Aug 2007 DOI: 10.1002/bbb.5
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/114801276/ABSTRACT
[2] Minnesota Public Radio Slide Show: The ethanol equation 21.03.2005
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/play/slideshow.php?feature=2005%2F03%2F21_steilm_ethanolenergy&slide=1
The Run To The North Pole
Cold War at the North Pole [1]
14.08.2007: USA, Russia, Canada and Denmark are disputing the rights to explore Arctic oil.
The European Union, in the meantime, should starts the new economy of hydrogen from the sun belt in Algeria, avoiding depletion of our planet. The International Climate Protection Proposal may deliver energy sufficient to avoid such unhealthy run.
Bio Fuel the cause of food shortage
Food Forum Network expects food shortage [2]
A number of companies in the German food and beverage industry in Germany is lobbying for government subsidies for biofuel crops to be eliminated.
They created the "Netzwerk Lebensmittel-Forum" ("Food Forum Network") saying that a critical shifts in crops away from foodstuffs toward biofuels crops is taking place. Even the margarine industry association point out that prices for palm and canola oil, wheat and corn have already risen dramatically.
Emission Trading Scheme
The Emission Trading Schemes Story
Emission Trading Schemes (ETS)
The German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier wants to make the Transatlantic Trade of emission trading by 2012 possible. He hopes to include China and India in this trade system.
EPA and European Union: Greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme [3] [4]
EU Directive 2004/101/EC reinforces the link between the Union's emission allowance trading scheme and the Kyoto Protocol by making the latter's "project-based" mechanisms (Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism) compatible with the scheme.
Useful links on ETS:
- Wikipedia: Emissions trading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissions_trading
- Deutscher Bundestag: Wissenschaftliche: Grünbuch „Marktwirtschaftliche Instrumente
für umweltpolitische Ziele“
http://www.bundestag.de/bic/analysen/2007/Gruenbuch_MBI.pdf
Are Carbon Credits Nonpolluting?
According to Charlers Krauthammer Carbon credit purchase isn´t helpful for environment at all:
- It is an incentive to burn more fossil fuels, because it bears the illusion of being cost free to the atmosphere.
_ It exports the cost of pollution and sacrifices to the third world. Krauthammer refers to GreenSeat which buys offsets from Ugandas Mount Elgon National Park which encroaches on land traditionally used by local farmers. [5]
Okonya, chief of the Mount Elgon National Park, said that people who live there cut down the forest as they clear the land for cultivation. He said this affected the eco-system in the area leading to inadequate rainfall. [6]
The alternative to Emission Trading
An alternative to the highly controversial Emission Trading, Europe USA and China should invest in PV desert hydrogen and clean energy will be available for generations to come, without emission, without killing for oil, without causing food shortage while farming for biodiesel and alcohol.
Some satirical sites pointing at the scapegoat function of Emission Allowances:
The Compensators [7]
The Compensators is an association which deletes emission allowances (EUAs) from the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) in order to decrease the number of emission allowances available on the markets.
Cheatneutral [8]
Cheatneutral offsets cheating by funding someone else to be faithful and NOT cheat. This neutralises the pain and unhappy emotion and leaves you with a clear conscience.
This satirical site is designed to highlight some of the issues surrounding carbon offsetting.
Instead of trading black sheep called Carbon Credit, Europe could become the initiator of hydrogen power in desert areas.
[1] http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,499775,00.html
[2] Food Forum Network: http://www.brauer-bund.de/presse/pressetexte.php3?id=494
[3] http://www.brauer-bund.de/presse/pressetexte.php3?id=494
[4] http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28012.htm
[5 ] Krauthammer, Charles: Limousine Liberal Hypocrisy. Commentary TIME March 26, 2007 ppg 24 CHIS CARLSON – AP
[6] New Vision Online, Ugandas Leading Website: Elgon Park Encroached. 5. April 2002
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/17/22692
[7] The Compensators: http://www.thecompensators.org/cms/
[8] CheatNeutral: http://www.cheatneutral.com/
The Aarhus Convention
The Aarhus Convention and the obligation to future generations [1]
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UNECE formed the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. The Convention was adopted in 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus, and entered into force in 2001.
The Aarhus Convention is an environmental agreement, linking environmental rights and human rights. It. acknowledges that we owe an obligation to future generations.:
Obligation to future generations
The Convention recognizes that every person has the right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations,
Article 1
In order to contribute to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, each Party shall guarantee the rights of access to information, public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
It establishes that sustainable development can be achieved only through the involvement of all stakeholders.
It links government accountability and environmental protection. It focuses on interactions between the public and public authorities in a democratic context and it is forging a new process for public participation in the negotiation and implementation of international agreements.
The Convention is not only an environmental agreement, it is also a Convention about government accountability, transparency and responsiveness.
[1] UNECE: Introducing the Aarhus Convention
http://www.unece.org/env/pp/