Carbon Capture

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities need to be reduced as part of U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Current carbon capture technologies are very energy intensive and nearly double the cost of generating electricity. Therefore, U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) has set a goal of developing a technology that can remove 90% of the CO₂ released from coal combustion with a 30% lower cost of electricity than the current benchmark approaches.

In addition, in August 2015, President Obama and U.S. EPA announced the Clean Power Plan to reduce CO₂ emissions from power plants - reducing national emissions by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030.

Furthermore, the U.S. and, in particular, Illinois are still have major generating capacity for coal burning. With the stable low prices of coal as compared to natural gas and other fossil fuels, coal still remains an attractive low cost option for power plants (Figures 1 & 2).

To help the U.S. meet its new goals, ISTC and its sister survey the Illinois State Geological Survey, both a part of the Prairie Research Institute, are investigating carbon capture methods at not only the lab scale but also at large pilot scale.

• Lab-scale - Developing an innovative, low-cost approach for carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture from burning coal during electrical generation
• Large pilot-scale - Testing of New Carbon Capture System