GE claims breakthrough in carbon capture
General Electric of the US and Sargas of Norway launched a new technology for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that they say will be much cheaper than rival processes and commercially viable without any government subsidy
The two companies said that they have formed an alliance to sell gas-fired plants that would capture 90 per cent of their output of carbon dioxide, which can then be injected into oilfields to squeeze out more crude.
They expect to be able to supply carbon dioxide at prices that are much lower than the capture costs faced by other prototype projects now under development, and even well below the $30 per tonne paid in the oil industry in Texas.
The companies plan for the technology to be used initially in two plants, one on the coast of Norway and one along the Gulf of Mexico.
Henrik Fleischer, chief executive of Sargas, a small company set up in 2003, said: “None of the other solutions that are in laboratories or on spreadsheets even comes close to this in terms of cost and efficiency.”
There has been widespread international interest and government support for carbon capture as a way to head off the threat of catastrophic climate change while continuing to use the fossil fuels that provide the majority of the world’s energy.
Yet the carbon capture industry has been littered with abandoned projects, budget overruns and broken deadlines.
Sargas had previously hoped to have plants in service by 2014, but now says its first projects with GE technology will be operational in 2016.
The two companies say using the captured carbon for enhanced oil recovery – injecting it into mature oilfields to raise production – will make the economics of their technology work.
In Texas, oil companies pay about $30 per tonne for carbon dioxide, generally from natural sources, to use in their fields.
For GE, the investment is part of a strategy of investing in technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and, as developed in a series of recent acquisitions, to serve the oil and gas industry.
Until recently, most of the investment in carbon capture focused on coal-fired plants, which create more emissions than gas plants, but the rise of shale production has increased interest in technology for gas-fired generation.
The world’s oilfields could only hold a fraction of total carbon dioxide output from power plants.
However, John Thompson of the Clean Air Task Force, an environmental group, said using carbon dioxide in oilfields could help kick-start the technology.
“Enhanced oil recovery allows capture technology to be deployed at scale and shave five or ten years off its development, which could be critical in avoiding the worst effects of climate change,” he said.
The two companies said that they have formed an alliance to sell gas-fired plants that would capture 90 per cent of their output of carbon dioxide, which can then be injected into oilfields to squeeze out more crude.
They expect to be able to supply carbon dioxide at prices that are much lower than the capture costs faced by other prototype projects now under development, and even well below the $30 per tonne paid in the oil industry in Texas.
The companies plan for the technology to be used initially in two plants, one on the coast of Norway and one along the Gulf of Mexico.
Henrik Fleischer, chief executive of Sargas, a small company set up in 2003, said: “None of the other solutions that are in laboratories or on spreadsheets even comes close to this in terms of cost and efficiency.”
There has been widespread international interest and government support for carbon capture as a way to head off the threat of catastrophic climate change while continuing to use the fossil fuels that provide the majority of the world’s energy.
Yet the carbon capture industry has been littered with abandoned projects, budget overruns and broken deadlines.
Sargas had previously hoped to have plants in service by 2014, but now says its first projects with GE technology will be operational in 2016.
The two companies say using the captured carbon for enhanced oil recovery – injecting it into mature oilfields to raise production – will make the economics of their technology work.
In Texas, oil companies pay about $30 per tonne for carbon dioxide, generally from natural sources, to use in their fields.
For GE, the investment is part of a strategy of investing in technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and, as developed in a series of recent acquisitions, to serve the oil and gas industry.
Until recently, most of the investment in carbon capture focused on coal-fired plants, which create more emissions than gas plants, but the rise of shale production has increased interest in technology for gas-fired generation.
The world’s oilfields could only hold a fraction of total carbon dioxide output from power plants.
However, John Thompson of the Clean Air Task Force, an environmental group, said using carbon dioxide in oilfields could help kick-start the technology.
“Enhanced oil recovery allows capture technology to be deployed at scale and shave five or ten years off its development, which could be critical in avoiding the worst effects of climate change,” he said.
You can return to the main Market News page, or press the Back button on your browser.
