Cleaning up energy production
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Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are playing a lead role on a combined Department of Energy and industry effort to build a 275-megawatt coal-fired plant that will gasify coal to produce electricity and hydrogen. In that gasification process, carbon dioxide would be captured and sequestered.
The program, called FutureGen, aims to design and build energy plants that maximize the efficiency of fossil fuel energy generation while minimizing the environmental effects.
"Fossil fuels are too big a source of energy right now for us to get away from completely. But programs like FutureGen will help us deal with the environmental effects of fossil fuel energy generation properly," said Gary McVay, PNNL's director of fossil energy programs. "In our research, we're developing the fundamental underlying processes to make plants operate more efficiently and more environmentally friendly."
PNNL has partnered with the National Energy Technology Laboratory to develop technologies in support of the FutureGen vision. As part of the High Temperature Electrochemistry Center (HiTEC) team, PNNL researchers are applying their expertise in material science, solid state electrochemistry and surface chemistry to develop new materials and new ways to form and manufacture them to meet the cost and performance goals of the FutureGen plant.
In addition to making plants run more efficiently, PNNL researchers are working on methods to deal with greenhouse gases that may be released from coal-fired plants. "We're working on the mechanisms to capture the carbon dioxide that comes from the burning of fossil fuels and then sequester it deep underground, preventing it from contributing to global warming," McVay said.
In support of FutureGen, PNNL scientists are involved in the DOE's Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership. The partnership, led by Battelle, which manages PNNL for DOE, will identify greenhouse gas sources in four Midwestern states and determine the technical feasibility and cost of capturing and sequestering emissions in deep geologic formations, agricultural lands, forests and degraded lands.