A Federal Assist

ACCORDING TO THE ENERGY INFORMATION AGENCY, annual global energy-related CO2 emissions have reached 31 billion metric tons. This increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas is considered by many scientists to be a contributing factor in global climate change. Last year, the United States emitted about 5,800 million metric tons of CO2, and if left uncontrolled, it is estimated the United States will emit about 6,930 million metric tons of CO2 in 2035.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy, including its National Energy Technology Laboratory, manages a carbon capture and sequestration research and development program, including a portfolio of 9 large-scale demonstration projects, all focused on developing technologies with significant potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. An important component of this research is support of the seven Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships; public and private partnership programs that include 43 states, four Canadian provinces and over 400 research institutions, private sector companies and local governments.

The regional partnerships' activities are sequenced in characterization, validation and development phases: the characterization phase concluded in 2005 and developed an estimate of CO2 sequestration potential; the validation phase will conclude in 2011 and will provide data on the most promising regional opportunities to deploy CCS; the development phase has commenced and involves injection of more than 1 million tons of CO2 into regionally significant geologic formations.

Injection includes substantial monitoring and verification instrumentation to ensure the injected CO2 remains in the formation and the plume moves in a predictable manner. The most recent estimate of CO2 sequestration storage resources in the United States and western Canada is between 1.8 and 20.5 quadrillion tons - approximately 5,700 years of storage capability.

The large project demonstration program seeks to integrate advanced carbon capture technologies with CO2 sequestration through deep saline storage or use in enhanced oil recovery. The program includes projects that will capture CO2 subsequent to combustion, integrated gasification and combined cycle projects, the capture of CO2 from industrial processes, and oxy-combustion technology. Last year, federal support, through stimulus and clean coal appropriations, amounted to $3.4 billion and through cost-sharing requirements, leveraged about $7 billion of private sector financing for these projects.

Assuming all projects remain on schedule, significant capital and operating cost data, including construction and schedule information, will be available in the 2015 time frame. Additionally, over $600 million of appropriations has been directed to accelerate project component research into sorbents, solvents, membrane separation, compression and combustion turbine technologies that promise reductions in parasitic load and in operating expenses associated with carbon capture and sequestration for industrial processes as well as for coal- and gas-based electrical generation.

The uncertain regulatory and legislative environment facing electricity generators has resulted in reductions in research and development budgets, as well as deferments in capital and maintenance expenses.

Half the U.S. fleet is unregulated, but even regulated generation is experiencing a backlash from state public service commissions intent on avoiding large rate increases. No new coal-fired project has commenced in the last two years, no doubt in part because the myriad and staggered environmental requirements make it difficult for investors to commit funds with great uncertainty about the useful life of an asset.

Substantial wind and solar power have been built in parts of the country where those resources are most available and predictable. But intermittent power cannot replace baseload, and fossil baseload will be required until the cost and risk uncertainty of nuclear generation are resolved and new technology develops reliable and commercial-scale storage of off-peak intermittent power. The DOE's research and demonstration programs are intended to help develop cleaner baseload generation so indigenous fossil resources will be available for generation until economical nonfossil technologies become commercial.